Page 173 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Unit 16: Interview Process in Counseling

may employ another lead—the reflection of feelings. He may say, “you feel like....” Here the Notes
counselor’s role is one of making the counselee understand. The counselor may explore. This is
suggested by “yes, go on” or “tell me more about it”, etc. The counselor’s role here is one of searching.
Counsellors, therefore, employ different leads and play different roles designed to elicit feeling or
facilitate understanding or action. In the latter two contexts, namely, understanding and action, the
counselor may summarize the client’s expressions, attempt a tentative analysis and interpret the
client’s expressions and feelings. He may resort to direct questioning to investigate a wider area or
delve into the client’s feelings. Usually the counselor provides reassurance, support and
encouragement to help build the confidence of the client. To ensure action the counselor may, in
addition to assurance, employ techniques such as suggestion, persuasion, urging and even cajoling.
What kind of technique the counselor should use, and with what type of client, cannot be explained
as a matter of formulae or thumb rules. Much depends on the counselor’s intuitive judgement born
out of his experience and the situation on hand. In some specific situations, the counselor may give
advice in addition to information to facilitate acceptance. This should not, however, be mistaken for
the type or kind of advice given by parents, teachers, friends, neighbours and well-wishers. In
essence, the advice given by a counselor on closer examination would be found to be no advice at
all. Usually, it takes the form of the question, “What do you think you would do ?” as an answer to
the client’s question, “What do you think I should do ?”

16.4.3 Silence
Silence perhaps is the most difficult technique to master for most counselors who are teachers. More
often than not, they are prone to think client-silence as synonymous with counselor failure. Naturally
they feel embarrassed and get annoyed with the situation. However, silence is a time honoured
technique employed by pastoral (clergy) counselors. There are certain qualitative differences in this
mode of response. For instance, there could be a pause in the conversation. This pause could extend
into an uncomfortable silence. The counselor may view this as a refusal on the part of the client to
communicate.
As has been mentioned, the counselor may also employ silence as a technique. He may use it
deliberately for organizational purposes or to terminate the counseling session.

16.5 Relationship Techniques
The goal of the counselor is to bring about the desirable change in the client’s behaviour. The
behaviour exhibited by the client as a result of counseling is the proof of his acceptance and action
as influenced by the techniques designed by the counselor.

Rogers (1942) stresses the importance of relationship techniques, the first among which is the reflection
of feeling. The client usually talks about his feelings in an unconcerned way as if his feelings are
something apart from himself. This method serves as a defense mechanism. The counselor, by
trying to make the client reflect on his own feelings, directs the attention of the client to himself. He
makes the client see that the feelings are part of the subjective self, and when once understood and
appreciated, they cease to be bothersome. But this is very difficult to accomplish. It is not only
intangible but also very subtle. The counselor, according to Rogers (1951), attempts to mirror the
client’s attitudes and feelings for his improved self-understanding. The word ‘mirror’ is very
important in this context. Notwithstanding the fact that several mirrors distort, sometimes
grotesquely, the counselor is supposed to be like a neutral surface reflecting the client’s feelings
back to him such that he is able to gain a better understanding of himself. There is a real danger of
misunderstanding this issue. When we say understanding feelings, usually it is understood as
intellectualizing feelings, or in other words, the deaffecting of affections. By reflection of feeling and
self-understanding is meant a better appreciation, identification and expression of feeling and not
the negation of it. The expression of feelings is actually encouraged by the reflection technique. As
feelings are the source of most problems, clients have a marked tendency to disown and distrust

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