Caption: Hands, Compassion, Help,
Old, Care
URL: https://pixabay.com/en/hands-compassion-help-old-care-699486/
A counselor should be equipped with
many skills to assist clients through counseling. Nevertheless, one skill that
is critical for a therapist to possess is the skill of reflecting feelings.
Such skill is necessary to build and maintain an empathic connection with
clients. As a counselor, we will often find ourselves serving as a teacher
because some clients will learn how to express their feelings from observing
and modeling our behavior (Murdock, 2013). In certain families and cultures,
people are discouraged from talking about their feelings (Young, 2017). Although
it is beneficial to discuss one’s thoughts and emotional state, some believe it
is inappropriate. Clients who have learned to always suppress their emotions
will have to relearn how to communicate their feelings. They will also have to
change how they view emotions (Young, 2017). To build the therapeutic
relationship and teach clients new and healthy ways to express how they feel, a
therapist must utilize empathy (Kwon & Jo, 2012). Empathy involves
understanding how someone feels and being able to communicate this
understanding to them (Clark, 2010). It is quite different from sympathy, which
people are accustomed to portraying in their personal relationships (Clark,
2010). Sympathy is used to demonstrate that you share a person’s feelings of
hurt and pain. (Clark, 2010). Also, it is primarily used to comfort someone
when they are experiencing suffering. In counseling, empathy is more useful and
effective because clients do not need us to feel for them, they need us to feel
with them.
Clark, A. J. (2010). Empathy and
sympathy: Therapeutic distinctions in counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32(2), 95-101.
Kwon, K. I., & Jo, S. Y. (2012).
The relationship among counselor experience level, empathic accuracy, and counseling
outcome in the early phase of counseling. Asia
Pacific Education Review, 13(4), 771-777.
Murdock, N. L. (2013). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A
case approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Young,
M. E. (2017). Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and
techniques (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
***My text is highlighted even after I re-posted several times, so I am posting my blog in the comments as well***
ReplyDeleteA counselor should be equipped with many skills to assist clients through counseling. Nevertheless, one skill that is critical for a therapist to possess is the skill of reflecting feelings. Such skill is necessary to build and maintain an empathic connection with clients. As a counselor, we will often find ourselves serving as a teacher because some clients will learn how to express their feelings from observing and modeling our behavior (Murdock, 2013). In certain families and cultures, people are discouraged from talking about their feelings (Young, 2017). Although it is beneficial to discuss one’s thoughts and emotional state, some believe it is inappropriate. Clients who have learned to always suppress their emotions will have to relearn how to communicate their feelings. They will also have to change how they view emotions (Young, 2017). To build the therapeutic relationship and teach clients new and healthy ways to express how they feel, a therapist must utilize empathy (Kwon & Jo, 2012). Empathy involves understanding how someone feels and being able to communicate this understanding to them (Clark, 2010). It is quite different from sympathy, which people are accustomed to portraying in their personal relationships (Clark, 2010). Sympathy is used to demonstrate that you share a person’s feelings of hurt and pain. (Clark, 2010). Also, it is primarily used to comfort someone when they are experiencing suffering. In counseling, empathy is more useful and effective because clients do not need us to feel for them, they need us to feel with them.
Clark, A. J. (2010). Empathy and sympathy: Therapeutic distinctions in counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32(2), 95-101.
Kwon, K. I., & Jo, S. Y. (2012). The relationship among counselor experience level, empathic accuracy, and counseling outcome in the early phase of counseling. Asia Pacific Education Review, 13(4), 771-777.
Murdock, N. L. (2013). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A case approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Young, M. E. (2017). Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and techniques (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.