TECHNIQUES IN

THE COUNSELING
PROCESS
Prepared by:
Mrs. Melanie M. Quitco
1. Listening/Attending Technique
2. Reflections/Clarification Technique
3. Leading Technique
4. Interpretation
5. Instruction
6. Structuring
7. Capping Technique
 The counselor in this stage attempts
to be an active listener, injecting
comments and questions only to start
the client talking and to keep him
going.
 In this stage, it is very important that
you are “with” your client PHYSICALLY,
VERBALLY and PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
 The counselor has two purposes in
doing this technique;
a. He wants to show the client that he is
listening and trying to understand
him, and he is giving the client the
opportunity to correct him if he
misunderstand;
b. He is trying to help the client clarify
the essence of what he is expressing
in a confused way.
a. Mirroring – repeating almost
exactly what the speaker
says.
b. Paraphrasing – involves using
other words to reflect what
the speaker has said.
c. Clarification
Example:
Client: “My ex-wife phone me yesterday,
she told me that our daughter Liza is
very ill after a car accident. I am feeling
very scared for her. They live in France,
so I am going to travel to see her, and I
have been redundant, I don’t know how I
can afford to go.”
Counselor: “So Dante, you have had some
bad news about your little girl, who has
been involved in an accident. You are
frightened for her and also have
worries over money now you have lost
your job.”
c. Clarification – the counselor clarify his
understanding instead of using a question.
Example:
“My father and my brother are always
fighting, I am really angry with him”

You need to know whether “him” refers to the

brother or the father.
 The counselor plays a more active role
in the counseling process, interjecting
some of his own ideas and taking
responsibility for the direction they
are moving.
 The most common leading technique
is general question such as “Tell me
something about your family?” or
“What are your plans in the future?”
 This refers to an attempt of the
counselor to help the client put his
thoughts and feelings into a more
coherent and more organized structure.
 Interpretation represents some
reasonable approximation of the truth
and the truer interpretation turns out to
be more helpful it will be for the client.
 Thisis designed to clarify the
nature of the behavior to be
changed and to test out
certain procedures which may
effect the desired change.
 The counselor explains very clearly in
the interview the nature of the
relationships, the role each plays, the
sort of help offered, the task ahead
and the amount of time available.
 This is to reduce the client’s anxiety
and increase his positive attitude
toward the counselor.
 It consist of changing the
subject to something less
intense yet still propelling the
interview forward.
 It involves changing a
conversations direction from
emotional to cognitive.