What are some of the basic counseling skills that you learned in COUN 505 that you see applied in this video? Give specific examples.

            Dr. Warren’s positioning is the first basic counseling skill I noticed during the video.  While she was not directly squared to Erika, she had a very open posture and she was inviting.  She made good eye contact with Erika and she was an appropriate distance from her.  Her voice was at an appropriate volume and she sounded empathetic.  She also allowed Erika to direct the focus of the counseling session at the very beginning by asking her what brought her to the counseling session (Warren, 2006).  This demonstrates Dr. Warren’s approach to facilitating a therapeutic environment.  She used minimal encouragers effectively and I especially enjoyed her use of door openers, “Could you tell me a little more about your school experiences,” “What your experiences were like,” Warren, 2006).  When Erika appeared to get off topic with discussing her school experiences and her parents’ influences, Dr. Warren used confrontation to refocus her onto discussing her school experiences (Warren, 2006).

            Dr. Warren also used paraphrasing effectively after a lengthy narrative by Erika.  She discussed why she had attended college, selected a double major, and other specifics of her degree.  Dr. Warren paraphrased the statements and asked an open-ended question to elicit more information specifically about what motivated her to feel like she was earning her education (Warren, 2006).  Throughout the entire session, Dr. Warren was empathetic and she demonstrated acceptance and respect.  She focused on the goals of counseling and she was able to keep Erika’s focus on her career goals (Warren, 2006).

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Reference

Warren, A. (2006). Career counseling: Skills for guided discovery and career assessment [Video File]. Microtraining Associates. Retrieved from http://search.alexanderstreet.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/view/work/1778822