0:05 [Music]
0:08 hello and welcome to our Channel if you
0:09 are interested in becoming a counselor
0:11 in the UK then you are in the right
0:13 place today we're going to talk about
0:15 the five core counseling skills that are
0:17 essential for anybody looking to make a
0:19 difference in the world of
0:22 counseling these five skills are the
0:23 most important ones that you will learn
0:25 as a counselor adopting them early on
0:27 will ensure the safety of you and your
0:29 clients and it'll add Great Value to
0:32 your port folio of skills by learning
0:33 what they are and how to implement them
0:35 early on you will set yourself in great
0:37 stad for the start of your counseling
0:40 Journey so let's dive in first skill we
0:41 have is active listening so this
0:44 involves not just hearing but truly
0:46 understanding what the client is saying
0:48 it is showing empathy being fully
0:50 present and responding appropriately so
0:52 in practice this could be summarizing
0:54 what the client has said giving it back
0:56 to them in their own words and asking
0:58 clarifying questions to make sure you
0:59 really grasp what it is they're trying
1:01 to say
1:03 but let's use an example so if a client
1:05 is talking about a difficult
1:06 relationship they have with a family
1:08 member it's not uncommon for people to
1:11 get nervous flustered start talking very
1:13 quickly rushing a story or
1:16 stuttering by actively listening we can
1:18 recognize and respond to this so ways
1:20 that we could do that would be offering
1:23 calm non-verbal and verbal forms of
1:25 communication this could be nodding
1:28 slightly leaning forward offering gentle
1:30 eye contact instilling a sense of calm
1:31 in the
1:34 conversation another example could be if
1:37 somebody is upset and talking about a
1:38 difficult relationship that is
1:41 containing a complex timeline of events
1:44 or multiple people we could offer
1:46 empathy and acknowledge how complex that
1:49 situation must be for them we can repeat
1:51 parts of the story back to them without
1:53 emphasis or bias just to make sure we've
1:54 understood them
1:56 correctly an additional Point here is
1:59 that sometimes by hearing their story be
2:01 told back to the by a third party that
2:03 can offer a really nice change they
2:04 might be able to see the situation from
2:06 a different point of view or maybe just
2:08 add some clarity just because it's been
2:10 told to them by somebody else active
2:12 listening is one of those skills that is
2:15 so important for building trust it can
2:16 ensure that the client knows that their
2:20 story is heard and therefore valued our
2:22 second skill is empathy but let's unpack
2:24 this a little bit because we hear this
2:26 term get thrown around a lot so in this
2:29 context empathy could be trying to put
2:31 yourselves into your clients shoes to
2:33 understand their emotions and see their
2:36 experiences from their point of view
2:38 this is one of those skills that can be
2:40 really vital for building that Rapport
2:42 between you and the client it doesn't
2:44 necessarily mean that you have to agree
2:46 with everything they say but rather
2:48 acknowledge their experience and offer
2:51 them compassion and understanding some
2:52 people will argue that empathy is the
2:54 most important skill that a counselor
2:57 needs it's often a trait that draws
2:59 people into these roles so chances are
3:00 if you're cons considering a career in
3:01 counseling you might already have
3:04 developed very strong ability in having
3:06 and creating and showing empathy to
3:08 other people but this is a capability
3:10 that is Evergreen and it can always be
3:12 worked on because of how important
3:14 empathy is it is firmly stressed in our
3:17 cpcab level two counseling qualification
3:19 which is the first qualification that
3:22 you would need in order to become a
3:25 counselor our cpcab level two course
3:28 brings everything back to empathy
3:30 because it truly is at the heart of
3:32 counseling you will engage in eye
3:33 openening conversations learn to work
3:36 with diversity and difference and maybe
3:39 even uncover biases that you may have
3:41 it's about learning to set those aside
3:44 and truly notice and appreciate the
3:46 needs of others rather than
3:49 ourselves our third skill is effective
3:51 questioning effective questioning is the
3:54 ability to offer open-ended questions
3:56 that kind of encourage the client to
3:59 explore their feelings and emotions on a
4:00 deeper level
4:02 doing this can really help clients
4:05 potentially gain a new understanding of
4:07 their situation so for example instead
4:09 of asking did you feel sad you might ask
4:11 how did you feel about the situation how
4:13 did it affect you and that can offer the
4:15 client more space to open up a
4:17 conversation that can Harbor a level of
4:21 deeper understanding fourth skill is
4:23 setting professional boundaries this is
4:25 so important for harboring a safe and
4:28 respectful environment for both you and
4:31 your clients this can be an umbrella
4:32 term and it could contain a lot of
4:35 different variables and factors but as a
4:37 brief overview it could mean being clear
4:40 about the limits of the therapeutic
4:42 relationship making sure that we avoid
4:45 those dual relationships and conflicts
4:47 of interest and it also means ensuring
4:49 that the client's needs are at the focus
4:53 of the work at all times let's unpack
4:54 this and talk about that a little bit so
4:57 it's a bit of a gray and subjective area
4:59 but the Baseline Code of Ethics in
5:01 therapy is that a counselor shouldn't
5:02 really see their client if they can't
5:04 remain objective and this could be for a
5:07 few reasons for example imagine you want
5:09 to see a client that you actually know
5:11 outside of work as maybe a friend or a
5:13 family member a lot of people would
5:14 argue that this wouldn't work because
5:17 you couldn't remain unbiased and that
5:18 could make it very difficult to set
5:20 those professional
5:22 boundaries another really good example
5:23 here is that you have two different
5:25 clients that actually know each other
5:27 outside of therapy so maybe they're in a
5:29 relationship or their friends and family members
5:30 members
5:32 technically this is allowed and some
5:34 people might even advocate for it but it
5:37 can create these murky Waters in the
5:39 example that they end up talking to you
5:41 about each other or seeking therapy
5:43 because of their relationship that could
5:45 in theory make it quite hard to remain
5:48 unbiased and objective an obvious
5:50 example here as well of what would not
5:52 be allowed is this dual relationship
5:54 between a counselor and a client perhaps
5:57 of a romantic interest that obviously
5:58 wouldn't be ethical and it wouldn't be
6:00 allowed making sure that we create these
6:03 adaptive and comforting deliveries of
6:05 counseling is very very important for
6:08 maintaining good ethics in everyone's
6:11 work and lastly our final skill number
6:14 five is selfawareness this is the
6:16 ability to understand your own emotions
6:19 biases and reactions it's also crucial
6:21 for remaining objective as it can help
6:23 you manage your response to a client
6:25 this all comes back to frequent
6:27 self-reflection and supervision because
6:29 that can make sure that your personal
6:31 issues never interfere with the work
6:32 with a
6:35 client I'd say there are three key
6:37 reasons why self-awareness is crucial
6:40 for counselors so let's quickly touch on
6:43 them firstly I'd say it's all about
6:45 uncovering biases and assumptions making
6:47 sure that we recognize these can ensure
6:49 that we don't damage the therapeutic
6:52 process or hurt your
6:55 objectivity then managing your emotions
6:58 counseling is an emotional job by Nature
7:00 making sure that you understand your own
7:02 emotional triggers can reduce the
7:04 chances that you ever get upset during a
7:07 session and then ethical practice so
7:09 having that self-awareness can ensure
7:11 that counselors know when they might be
7:12 working outside of their professional
7:15 boundaries or having any personal issues
7:17 that may affect their professional
7:19 judgment so to quickly recap the five
7:21 core counseling skills that we discussed
7:24 were active listening empathy effective
7:27 questioning professional boundaries and
7:29 self-awareness mastering these skills or
7:31 at least becoming familiar with them
7:33 early on can greatly enhance your
7:35 Effectiveness as the counselor if you're
7:36 interested in becoming a counselor in
7:38 the UK make sure you check out the
7:41 estrany connect website for our cpcab
7:44 level two course in counseling skills
7:46 this is the first qualification that you
7:48 would need to become a counselor in the
7:52 UK all of our cpcab courses are forly
7:54 recognized by the bacp which is the UK's
7:57 leading membership body for counseling
7:59 and we have many study hubs across the
8:01 UK and you can also access content
8:03 online if you found this video helpful
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