Ineffective techniques
The first counseling session is less effective and applies a less effective counseling technique. It is evident throughout the session and the conversation occurring between David and the counselor that the two are not on similar grounds. One can identify that they have not developed a therapeutic relationship and to a certain extent, it would seem that they are arguing. The session is less effective as one can identify the client has not changed his mindset and the end of the session. Instead, David believes the counselor is pathetic. It is an indication that the session has not worked. The target of the session and the counselor is for the client to take responsibility for his actions. It is true that David keeps blaming everyone else for what happens to him and does not take responsibility for his actions which have dire consequences. Therefore the counselor wants David to take responsibility and from there identify ways of dealing with his maladaptive behavior. However, the counselor uses confrontation which is a counseling technique aimed at confronting the client’s behavior thus driving them to take responsibility for their actions.
As a counseling technique, confrontation aims at addressing the defensiveness present in the client. Therefore it should be presented in a gentle and supportive manner. The focus is for the client to explore the conflict that exists in their story and situation in a more profound manner with the goal for counseling being to develop and new idea that will benefit the client. For confrontation to work, it is necessary for the client to portray ignorance concerning the client’s issue. The counselor needs to adopt an unknowing stance or demonstrate a state of confusion towards the client (Hutchinson, 2014). Here the client will focus more on expressing themselves more to the counselor for him or her to understand the client’s situation. Even when identified as the confrontation technique, it is necessary that the counselor does not show direct confrontation towards the client (Okun & Kantrowitz, 2014). For instance, it would be unprofessional to tell the client that he or she is making excuses for their situation while it would be more professional to for the counselor to identify the conflict the client is developing and try to address it.
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The current session demonstrates how the counselor is using confrontation ineffectively. Right from the start of the session, the counselor directly confronts David for what he has done wrong. In such an instance David would view the counselor just as unfriendly as the parents and the gym teacher because they are blaming him for what he feels is not his fault. The counselor continues doing so throughout the session which makes David defensive even more than when he came to the session. It prevents the development of a therapeutic relationship between the client and counselor and the eventual success of the session.
Effective interventions
The second session between David and the client is effective and applies effective interventions. Here one can notice the subtle way in which the counselor responds to David’s explanation of what happens. As identified, confrontation requires an expression of support and gentleness by the counselor towards the client. Throughout the session, one can notice that the counselor executes confrontation effectively as they both communicate well during the session and in the end, one can see that David agrees with what the counselor expresses. The counselor in this session needs the client to take responsibility for his actions. The client does not see anything wrong he did and therefore does not recognize the importance of him being in the counseling session. Thus, the counselor is looking to show David that he did do something wrong and that he was lucky because there were no dire consequences that resulted from his actions. One effective aspect of the session is how the counselor uses confrontation to approach David’s situation. As is necessary, the client needs to demonstrate confusion or a certain level of ignorance towards the client’s issues so that the client can express himself more (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2018). The session demonstrates how the counselor executes confrontation smoothly as he gets David to trust him by showing confusion concerning his issue. It makes David connect more with the counselor as he explains what happens. Even when David explains his story, the counselor does not directly tell him that what he did was wrong but instead uses small talk to keep the session in balance. He does so by asking what type of car David’s teacher drives. One can see that confrontation is applied effectively during the session.
It is evident that the counselor applies various counseling skills that make it possible for the two to develop a therapeutic relationship. One technique is the use of small talk where the counselor asks David the type of car that his teacher drives. In this instance, David manages to talk about something that interested him and further feels that the counselor does not judge him making it easy for him to trust the counselor. One can identify that the counselor engages in the effective exploration of David’s issue. It occurs when the counselor expresses to David that he or she is not aware of his side and would like to know what happened from David. The exploration skill is effective in helping the counselor understand the client’s issue in its entirety and identify how the client feels about the situation. In so doing, the counselor can determine a more effective strategy for the client to apply in addressing his issue.
References
Hutchinson, D. (2014). The essential counselor: Process, skills, and techniques. Sage Publications.
Okun, B., & Kantrowitz, R. (2014). Effective Helping: Interviewing and counseling techniques. Nelson Education.
Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2018). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and practice: Skills, strategies, and techniques. John Wiley & Sons.
