Final Counseling Skills Reflection

Throughout the semester I have been able to learn about and practice helping skills and the art of motivational interviewing. Reflecting on my experiences, I have noticed numerous areas of growth and aspects of my counseling style that I will continue working on long after the semester is over. I recognize that the end of the semester isn’t the finish line for my counseling skills, they are forever a work in progress. I need to continue to utilize and work on my skills throughout the rest of the program and even once I am a professional in the field. After re-watching my counseling videos from the start of the semester to the end, I can physically see the growth in my skills, which is encouraging. While my counseling skills have grown through this course, I begin to think about ways to continue developing my skills and how I will utilize them in my future work.

As it relates to my growth throughout the semester, I am now asking more questions, paraphrasing more, feeling more comfortable interjecting, and am providing more intentional and meaningful summaries. It was clear that my earlier sessions lacked direction, as I tended to let the client talk instead of interjecting and helping to focus the conversation. In my later sessions, I began asking more intentional open questions to help with the engaging and focusing processes. By doing so, the sessions had a more defined structure and I was able to better guide the discussion to produce change talk from my clients. While I still haven’t mastered the skill of eliciting change talk, I have improved over the course of the semester. When it comes to the skill of reflective listening, I do feel more comfortable interjecting. I recognize it is my role and job as a future career advisor to be able to interject and thus help guide sessions with my clients. The skill of reflective listening has been one of the more challenging areas for me and I am proud of the progress I have made throughout the semester. As my confidence with interjecting has grown, I have noticed an increase in my usage of intentional paraphrasing to help clients view their story in a new light. As the semester progressed, I began trying out various word choices while paraphrasing to elicit insight and change talk from my clients. Not every paraphrasing decision worked the way I wanted it to, but I think that is the beauty of advising; an advisor doesn’t have to get it right the first time, they will almost always have the opportunity to reframe their paraphrasing or question. Throughout the semester I have realized that an advisor/counselor isn’t meant to solve the problem(s) a client may have; rather, be able to actively listen, pick up on verbal and nonverbal cues, and guide sessions in a way that allows the client to realize they had the answer(s) all along. While I have improved my skills and abilities throughout the semester, I am far from having mastery over the process of advising/counseling. However, I am proud of the progress I have made throughout the semester and look forward to continuing working on my helping and motivational interviewing skills.

While I am encouraged by the growth in my counseling/advising skills, all that I previously mentioned are skills I can and need to continue working on and improve upon further. For example, while I have noticed my increased usage of interjecting and paraphrasing, it is still a skill that requires me to be more intentional. After watching back on my sessions, I noticed even towards the end of the semester I didn’t always interject and paraphrase at times I now think could have been beneficial. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I am determined to continue working on interjecting and being more intentional with the paraphrasing I provide, as it’s my job as an advisor/counselor to do so for my clients. Another skill area I recognize I need to improve upon is the evoking stage of the motivational interviewing process. Reflecting on my sessions this past semester allowed me to see that I am able to engage with my clients, build rapport, and begin focusing in on the heart of the matter they present. However, I noticed my difficulty in evoking change talk from my clients. At times, it seemed like my clients were beginning to provide change talk, but then shortly after, they would revert back to sustain talk. I still haven’t quite figured out what I can do differently to move clients away from reverting back to sustain talk. As I mentioned previously, my use of more intentional paraphrasing might help to better guide the clients to elicit change talk. I know it will take practice and patience on my part as I work on how to better utilize paraphrasing and improve my ability to evoke change talk from my clients, however, I am determined to continue developing my skills.

Throughout the semester I have had opportunities to watch and reflect on the progression of my helping and motivational interviewing skills. As the semester draws to a close, I begin to think about how I can continue developing and working on my skills outside of the classroom. While many of my cohort members have the chance to practice helping and motivational interviewing skills in their graduate assistantships, I don’t have that opportunity. I recognize the limitations of my situation and because of that, I sought out an experiential learning opportunity. As of now, I am in the process of working through the logistics for me to work on the career development side of the Career Center. If everything works out, in the spring I will start being trained-in and exposed to the process of conducting student appointments. I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue developing my helping and motivational interviewing skills through direct appointments with students. Another way I will continue working on my skills is by utilizing them in my interactions with others. I think it is important to take the skills we learned in class and incorporate them into everyday conversations. I have and will continue to practice active listening, being cognizant of my nonverbals, as well as being intentional with questions that I ask others. Through frequent usage of the skills, I am giving myself the opportunity to grow and develop every day. I look forward to continuing honing-in on my advising/counseling skills throughout the rest of my graduate experience, as they will allow me to be an effective career advisor.