COUNSELLING AND
PSYCHOTHERAPY
LEARNING MICROSKILLS
ENCOURAGING, PARAPHRASING AND
SUMMARIZING
• These techniques all either encourage the client
to keep talking, or think about what they are
saying.
ENCOURAGING
• Encouragers are of verbal or non-verbal signs
to the patient to go on speaking.
• Verbal encouragers: “Go on, uh-huh, mmm, or
repeating key words client has said” (what are
chinese verbal encouragers?)
• Non-verbal encouragers: nodding, open-hand
gestures, smiling and warmth (also attending
behaviour), silence
ENCOURAGING TASK:
• What are your natural encouragers? Discover
your natural way of encouraging by listening to
your partner without really saying anything and
encouraging them to go on speaking.
PARAPHRASING
• Paraphrasing is saying back to the client the
main point of what they have said to you. It is
not precise repetition – you add your own words.
• If it is done too often, or too mechanically
(parroting) or just insensitively, it can frustrate
and upset clients
• Done correctly, it makes a client feel like they
have been heard and understood, and
encourages them to speak further and more
deeply.
PARAPHRASING EXERCISE
• With your partner, roleplay a counselling session and try
paraphrase the main aspects of what they say, before
changing roles.
• If this skill is done correctly it can open a new world for
you – mostly, people do not do this in ordinary social
interaction, which is why sometimes people can feel like
nobody ‘really’ listens to them
• For Clarifying – have to be careful that are you sure use
that at this point*** if the convo is keep going, the client
will correct you. LISTEN is more important
SUMMARIZING
• Summarizing is a technique where you make a
statement about the main points a patient has stated
over a long period.
• Beginning a session: a counsellor can summarise the
previous session
• Midway in session: can help a person see what they
have been focussing on in session and move deeper
into that focus
• End of session: can help the person think about what
was useful about session or come to some
resolution/conclusion
REFLECTION OF FEELING
• Reflection of feeling is a very important skill. It
is like paraphrasing, but it focuses on the feelings
the client is having about what they are saying –
you could say it ‘gets to the heart of the matter’.
Sometimes you can have a whole session where
you do this, and it can be helpful.
• This means it is very important to observe the
emotions of the person correctly; it can frustrate
the client if you reflect the wrong feelings too
REFLECTION OF FEELINGS EXERCISE:
• Observe the lecturer demonstrating this skill with a student
• In your pairs, roleplay a counselling session where you mostly just
reflect the feelings back to the person of what they are feeling.
• it is different with interputation of a feeling
• Try NOT to response to the client that is seeking for agreement in
tracking**
WHAT ABOUT UNCONSCIOUS
FEELINGS?
• Sometimes a client seems unaware of what they
are feeling. Sometimes there can be a different
message in their words from in their body
language. Sometimes a counsellor wishes to
bring the ‘unconscious’ feeling to the client’s
attention (especially in the psychoanalytic
approach).
• Clients will most often resist this or refuse it, so it
is a careful skills that will take a long time to get
right. You must also judge carefully when to use
it.
POSITIVE VS NEGATIVE FEELINGS
• Sometimes a counsellor will deliberately reflect a
positive feeling back to the client, to help shift
their feelings into better ones, or to help calm
them. Also, sometimes, there is little point in
exploring bad feelings the person has already
explored.
• But sometimes clients have a need to focus on
bad feelings more, and will feel unheard or
frustrated if the counsellor just wants to hear
positive feelings. Also, just because a client
resists focussing on bad feelings, doesn’t mean it
