Running head: MODELING SKILLS

Assignment 7: Modeling Skills

Aisha Abdelmula & Tyler Bauer
University at Buffalo

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Assignment 7: Modeling Skills

Counseling is a skill that is useful in various circumstances. Student affairs professionals

use counseling skills to offer guidance and support to the populations they come in contact with.
These skills are necessary to create and maintain trusting relationships with students. Faculty can
use counseling skills to aid in the career planning process and for referrals to appropriate
departments. In our advising scene, two colleagues, who happen to be in the same academic
program, met to discuss the end of the semester and as well as summer plans. The helper pulled
from her understanding of the literature and resources on effective counseling to support the
helpee. Even in informal circumstances, counseling skills are beneficial. In this paper, we will
explain the helping techniques that were utilized in our recorded session from the perspective of
Reynolds (2009) and Parsons (2004).
Nonverbal behavior dictates emotions on the subconscious level. When in a helping
session, the helpee should be the major focus and concern of the helper. Keeping an engaging
posture and presence lets helpees know that they are being heard and that their issues matter.
In our recorded session, Aisha (the helper) utilized the SOLER technique to maintain an active
listening stance. She faced Tyler (the helpee) at a 150 degree angle and kept an open position.
She leaned in slightly while maintaining consistent eye contact. Her eye contact was not so
intense that Tyler felt threatened or uncomfortable. Instead, Aisha seemed relaxed and calm
which Tyler mirrored as he eased into comfort. The layout of the space aided in the openness and
formality of the session. There was not a physical object to obstruct the helpee and helpers plain
of sight which allowed conversation to flow easier. Tyler felt the space made it accessible to
display internal emotions and conflicts. Essentially, there were no distractions.
In the video, Tyler was having a difficult time deciding whether or not he should attend

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class or participate on his volleyball team. Using Parsons (2004), Aisha was able to utilize
pathfinding to aid Tyler in his decision making. Brainstorming was a common theme within the
recorded session due to Tyler's cognitive process as a talk to thinker. The volleyball league,
being located in a bar, could have led Aisha to make assumptions about Tyler's habits. Instead,
Aisha was able to suspend judgments, focus on the different outcomes and build upon them
using a cost/benefit approach (Parsons, 2004). By using this approach, Tyler was able to
recognize that "each path generated brings with it costs" (Parsons, 2004, p. 124). The issue that
Tyler had was around missing out on the social interactions involved while at the volleyball
game. The cost of not attending class outweighed the benefits of interacting with friends at the
game.
Aisha pulled from relevant helping theories and literature to help support Tyler with his
problem. She centered her solving techniques to the present issues at hand. This is indicative of
various humanistic theories. Aisha worked under the assumption that Tyler had the ability to
make meaning of his own experiences and was entirely free to make his own decisions,
regardless of any coaching from her. She also utilized the dimensions of systems theory when
thinking about how to Tyler, volleyball was not just about playing a sport. She understood that
the playing of the game had everything to do with the relationships Tyler had to his new friends
and colleagues. Aisha knew that the sport was also about interactions with other people and the
degree to which these interaction contribute to, maintain, and define (Reynolds, 2009, p. 90) his
wellbeing.
Aisha effectively underwent the three phases of helping (Reynolds, 2009) in her response
to Tyler. First she established rapport with Tyler through asking him about his day and his first
semester of school, easing into learning about the dilemma at hand. Tyler was able to casually

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mention his situation in conversation which led Aisha to ask open and guiding questions. These
questions helped Aisha understand his problem, as well as to help figure out the solutions by
encouraging him to take action. Though minor in perspective, Tyler felt comfortable to share his
situation and employed the help of his classmate. Aisha utilized helping techniques to effectively
counsel Tyler on making a decision he felt proud of.

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References

Parsons, R. (2011). Fundamentals of the helping process (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland
Press.
Reynolds, A. (2009). Helping college students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.