Taking Care of Yourself as a Counsellor

When faced with a tricky situation whilst using your counselling skills, refer to the helpful tips below. It is very important to remember to take:

• A deep breath.

• Your time. Pauses and silences are always shorter than you think.

• A different tack from questions. Questions give you the agenda and responsibility – try giving the agenda and responsibility back to the help-seeker.

• Note of emotion words and reflect them back with more weight.

• Note of feelings, thinking, and behaviour and summarise them.

• Courage to be honest (as long as it’s in the help-seeker’s best interest). Admit you don’t know what to do, don’t know what to say, feel muddled, and so on.

• Summaries seriously. Don’t underestimate the usefulness of summarising.

• Time to consult others and to reflect on the situation.