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6 Mar 2007

Counselling Questions


At this stage of my course we have to start practising our skills. This is done by recording practice counselling sessions using friends, family and fellow students. We then have to critique our performance.
I have not done mine yet, purchasing the recorder tomorrow and think i will practice on my mate Aly.

So this next lot of counselling info will be questions that you need to ask yourself, especially if there is an area in your life that needs changing.
I am doing this with a particular goal or scenario in mind, so if you also have one in mind, that might help.
Lets start with Client Commitment.

Help clients ask themselves these kind of questions as they struggle with committing themselves to a program of constructive change. This could be anything, looking for a new job, marriage problems, weight issues, giving up smoking, confidence etc.

  • Am i ready for change in this area at this time?
  • How badly do i want what i say i want?
  • How hard am i willing to work?
  • To what degree am i choosing this goal freely?
  • How highly do i rate the personal appeal of this goal?
  • How do i know i have the courage to work on this?
  • Whats pushing me to choose this goal?
  • What incentives do i have for pursuing this change?
  • What rewards can i expect if i work on this agenda?
  • If this is goal is being imposed by others, what am i doing to make it my own?
  • What difficulties am i experiencing in committing myself to this goal?
  • What can i do to get rid of lack of incentives and overcome the obstacles?
  • What can i do to increase my commitment, and stay committed?
  • In what ways can the goal be formulated to make it more appealing?
  • To what degree is the timing for pursuing this goal poor?
  • What resources can help me?
I will post my answers in a day or so.
Anyone is free to have a go, either on your own or leave it in the comment box.

6 comments:

  1. Here's mine!

    Am i ready for change in this area at this time?
    Yes!!

    How badly do i want what i say i want?
    From 1-10, a 10

    How hard am i willing to work?
    Pretty hard, though it's work done within, so it might be hard.

    To what degree am i choosing this goal freely?
    100%

    How highly do i rate the personal appeal of this goal?
    A 9

    How do i know i have the courage to work on this?
    Because I always overcome and am strong.

    Whats pushing me to choose this goal?
    I want to move on with my life and stop having dreams and bad feelings about this.

    What incentives do i have for pursuing this change?
    A smile that lasts longer

    What rewards can i expect if i work on this agenda?
    Feeling free from guilt and shame for what happened, happiness and more trusting.

    If this is goal is being imposed by others, what am i doing to make it my own?
    It is not.

    What difficulties am i experiencing in committing myself to this goal?
    Not in committing, in executing.

    What can i do to get rid of lack of incentives and overcome the obstacles?
    I don't have lack of incentive. I lack the know how.

    What can i do to increase my commitment, and stay committed?
    NA

    In what ways can the goal be formulated to make it more appealing?
    It is appealing already. But I can ask for help (did) and actively work on changing my thoughts.

    To what degree is the timing for pursuing this goal poor?
    It isn't.

    What resources can help me? Claire. ;) My friends, family, myself, books, meditation, God.

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  2. I'll give it a go, what the hey?

    Ready for change? Most definitely!

    How badly do I want it? Pretty badly I guess.

    How hard will I work? Probably not hard enough knowing me!

    To what degree am I choosing this freely? Not very freely if I'm being honest! Guilt is more the motivation!

    Personal appeal? Well, the results would be personally appealing.

    Do I have the courage? I believe that I do but willpower is another topic altogether!

    What's pushing me? The waistband on my jeans!

    What incentives do I have? See the above!

    What rewards can I expect? Looser waistband on my jeans!

    Being imposed by others? Nope, this one is all mine!

    Difficulties in committing myself? There are lots of them!

    What can I do to overcome? Get off my dead behind and start moving.

    What can I do to increase my committment? Dangle a carrot in front of my nose maybe.

    In what ways can it be more appealing? Well, it's never really all that appealing but has to be done.

    Is the timing poor? The timing is always poor when it comes to this kind of thing but there's no time like the present!

    What resources can help me? The support of friends and the knowledge that I'm doing something good for myself!

    Bet you have no trouble guessing what I'm talking about here!

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  3. Claire, these are good questions. I can't answer them honestly, because I have worked through my major issues. When doing volunteer work, I tell people I help mentor: There is nothing you can do to stay out of prison until you're completely committed do do whatever it takesto change.

    Linda, it's what ladies are always talking about. ;-)

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  4. Tomcat, you are TOO right!! I think it was one of the curses we got while being thrown out of the Garden of Eden!

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  5. Great answers Mags and Linda!
    I always love your insight, tomcat.
    I will put up my answers soon and then we move onto the next round.

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  6. You're welcome Claire. :-)

    Linda, does my bum (using the Brit here out of respect for Claire) look fat in these jeans? ;-)

    Claire, one thing to watch is that if the answers to your questions come back too casually positive, you're client may be acting on the super-optimism thinking error.

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