Frame of Reference - Integrative Counselling

In Episode 237 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly take us through this week's three topics:

In 'Theory in Practice', we'll look at frame of reference.

Then in 'Practice Partner' Rory and Ken will discuss record keeping in counselling.

And lastly in 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Ali Bate on integrative counselling.

Frame of Reference [starts at 02:41 mins]

When working with clients, you may be faced with an individual who has views very different to your own. This is when frame of reference becomes increasingly important.

The key points of this discussion include:

It is natural to want to defend your opinion or belief when faced with opposition - but this is obviously not an option within the therapy room.

Try to understand why somebody is thinking the way they are - try to get into your client's frame of reference.

Your frame of reference is made up of your experiences, culture and upbringing - this is what makes your 'truths'.

It's useful to recognise your own frame of reference - journaling is a great place to do this.

Understanding someone else's frame of reference doesn't mean you have to agree with it.

Try your best not to feel under attack when faced with a frame of reference different from your own.

Seek CPD to help with working with diverse client groups - this will expand your ability to be empathetic.

Record-Keeping in Counselling [starts at 16:24 mins]

When starting your own private practice, you are responsible for more than just session notes - and these will need to be stored appropriately.

The main points of this section on record-keeping in counselling include:

When running your practice you'll be in charge of:

Invoices and receipts

Date and time of appointments

Any forms of communication with the client (texts, emails, etc.)

Contracts

Any kind of assessments or interventions you carry out

These will all need to be kept securely and confidentially, as they all include a client's personal information.

Look at legal and ethical regulations on record-keeping in counselling, and keep only what is required.

Ensure your notes are accurate and include only fact - no opinions or assumptions.

It's unwise to use free software to store client information - it will not be secure.

Integrative Counselling [starts at 34:41 mins]

In this week's 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Ali Bate on integrative counselling.

The key points of this discussion include:

Integrative counselling uses elements of other models alongside your main modality to better fit to client, instead of trying to fit to client to the model.

This gives flexibility to how you work, but still maintains the authenticity of the concepts that make up your integrative model.

Training is integrative - seek workshops and CPD to broaden knowledge and skills.

Discuss this training with your supervision and find your reasons for wanting to develop the way you practice.

Ask yourself if you have the skill set for this particular client.

Find areas that interest you - this is where you will do your best learning.

Links and Resources

Counselling Skills Academy

Advanced Certificate in Counselling Supervision

Basic Counselling Skills: A Student Guide

Counsellor CPD

Counselling Study Resource

Counselling Theory in Practice: A Student Guide

Counselling Tutor Shop

Facebook group

Website

Online and Telephone Counselling: A Practitioner's Guide

Online and Telephone Counselling Course

In Episode 237 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly take us through this week’s three topics:

• In ‘Theory in Practice’, we’ll look at frame of reference.
• Then in ‘Practice Partner’ Rory and Ken will discuss record keeping in counselling.
• And lastly in ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Ali Bate on integrative counselling.

Conditions of Worth - Making a Counselling Business Plan Part 2

In Episode 236 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are back with this week's three topics:

Starting with 'Theory in Practice' we'll look at conditions of worth.

Then in 'Practice Partner' we continue last week's discussion on business planning.

And lastly in 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Kel O'Neill about working with eating disorders in therapy.

Conditions of Worth [starts at 03:04 mins]

Linking to last week's topic of introjected values, this week we look at conditions of worth - how they come to be, and things you as a therapist can do to help your client.

The main points of this discussion are:

Conditions of worth are most often given to us by our primary caregivers, and can be reinforced by partners, friends or society.

As well as someone being told they are not worthy, conditions of worth may present themselves differently, e.g. a child who has been told they are 'clever' or 'academic' may feel a sense of failure if they are suddenly faced with something they struggle with. They have been conditioned to believe that in order to be worthy, they must conform to these standards of 'clever' and 'academic'.

We live in a world that reinforces the importance of worth e.g. being evaluated on the job you have or the clothes you wear.

As a counsellor you will help the client to find out who there are, not who they've been told they are.

This might be done through respectful reparenting, or challenging the views they hold of themselves.

We ultimately know who we are, and clients must learn to live as their own view of themselves rather than others.

A crucial factor of this will be unconditional positive regard from the counsellor.

Making a Counselling Business Plan Part 2 [starts at 25:40 mins]

In this section, Rory and Ken return for business planning 02 - a continuation of last week's segment.

The key points of this discussion include:

Think about who your clients will be: have you trained to work with couples or children and young people? Are you a supervisor who will take on supervisees? If you have done further training in a specialised area, will you use this?

Consider where your practice will be and the type of clients you'll be able to work with - will this affect how much you charge? For example if you set up in a wealthy area, people may be happy to pay more for your services.

Think about your working hours when setting prices - how much time does it take you to travel to and from sessions? Will you be able to place sessions back to back instead of spread over the week in order to cut down travel?

Consider these things from a position of safety - if you make the decision during the planning process, you place yourself in the best position possible.

Will you set up a cancellation policy?

Where will you get your clients from? Are you relying of referrals?

Doing this planning takes away surprises.

Try talking to someone already in private practice.

Working with Eating Disorders in Therapy [starts at 40:00 mins]

In this week's 'Practice Matters' Rory speaks with Kel O'Neill on why eating disorders should be more widely considered a specialist field.

In this discussion on working with eating disorders in therapy, the main points include:

The risk is high when working with eating disorders.

Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all mental health conditions - as does eating disorders as an umbrella group. This is split between both the medical risk and the risk of suicide.

It is essential that there is a depth of knowledge on eating disorders when working with them in therapy.

If you are in doubt of your own knowledge on how to work with eating disorders in therapy, it would be sensible to have specialist supervision or secondary/support supervision with a specialist.

In Episode 236 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are back with this week’s three topics:

• Starting with ‘Theory in Practice’ we’ll look at conditions of worth.
• Then in ‘Practice Partner’ we continue last week’s discussion on business planning.
• And lastly in ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Kel O’Neill about working with eating disorders in therapy.

Introjected Values - Carl Jung's Theories on Ego and Self

In Episode 235 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are back with this week's three topics:

Firstly in 'Theory in Practice', we look at introjected values.

Then in 'Practice Partner', Rory and Ken discuss making a counselling business plan.

And lastly in 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Dr. Jessica Bockler about Carl Gustav Jung's theories on ego and self.

Introjected Values [starts at 02:40 mins]

We start today with Rory and Ken discussing introjected values, and how these may present themselves in the therapy room.

The key points of this discussion include:

Introjected values are views we adopt from our caregivers and society.

Some people struggle when they find themselves having a view through their own experience that opposes these values.

Introjected views are unseen to the person who holds the value - to them, it is a 'truth'.

In therapy, you have to treat disarming these 'truths' carefully.

A sign of introjected values may be that the client recognises that their beliefs are different from the values they know.

When people 'find themselves' this is an example of recognising and stepping away from these introjected values in order to find your own.

It is important to remember that these introjected values don't exist solely within the client, they exist within us too.

Making a Counselling Business Plan [starts at 21:01 mins]

In a discussion that will be continued in next week's podcast, Rory and Ken list a few things that you might want to think about when making a business plan for your counselling service.

The main aspects of this discussion include:

A business plan is a layout of what your business will look like - complete with your motivations for starting your own private practice.

Consider things like whereyour sessions will take place - will they take place in your home? Online? Will you rent a space or go to the clients' house? What considerations are necessary due to this choice?

Think about the cost of set up and what you might need e.g. comfy seating, stable internet, a work email, lockable filing cabinet, a clock, tissues, you may even consider a card reader.

Consider accessibility to clients who may use a wheelchair or have other mobility issues.

Part of making a counselling business plan is thinking about how you will advertise your business.

Take into account costs to yourself (such as possible travel costs) when deciding how much you'll charge.

When making a counselling business plan, consider too whether you'll set up as a sole trader or a limited company - research the differences and decide which is a better fit for you.

Carl Jung's Theories on Ego and Self [starts at 40:47 mins]

In this week's 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Dr. Jessica Bockler about the theories of Carl Gustav Jung including the collective unconscious and archetypes.

The key points of this discussion include:

The collective unconscious is something primal and that we are unaware of.

We embody archetypes that can be seen throughout history in art and literature - things like heroes, sages, rebels etc.

When working with archetypes you will encounter what is called the shadow - this is a place where all the traits we've been told are bad about ourselves are kept e.g. maybe a young boy has been consistently told that boys don't cry, and this will create an adult man who holds back from showing such emotion.

We are able to see qualities in other people that we don't like within ourselves (projection) - it takes looking within and taking ownership over these traits to fully explore this.

Carl Gustav Jung also looked at dreams vs active imagination. He decided that dreams where the conscious mind is not in charge is good for free flowing engagement with deeper materials,

In Episode 235 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are back with this week’s three topics:

• Firstly in ‘Theory in Practice’, we look at interjected values.
• Then in ‘Practice Partner’, Rory and Ken discuss making a counselling business plan.
• And lastly in ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Dr. Jessica Bockler about Carl Gustav Jung’s theories on ego and self.

How to Use the Core Conditions in Counselling - Business Mindset for Counsellors

Back with a new season of the Counselling Tutor Podcast after the academic break, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are thrilled to be back with today's three topics - two of which are brand new:

We start with 'Theory in Practice', looking closer at how theories you learn apply within sessions. This week we focus on how to use the core conditions.

Then in 'Practice Partner', Rory and Ken will discuss aspects of setting up your own private practice, focusing this week on having a business mindset.

And lastly 'Practice Matters' returns, where this week Rory speaks with Christine Shore about using humour in therapy.

How to Use the Core Conditions in Counselling [starts at 04:38 mins]

The core conditions: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard (UPR) are considered essentials of counselling, but reading and writing about them in essays, is different from using them in practice.

The key points of this section include:

Congruence - being real and genuine within sessions will make a client feel more comfortable, and thus more likely to open up. It is important to understand that it's okay for you to be you.

Empathy - putting your own stuff aside and listening to a clients frame of reference. The more you know about yourself, the easier empathy will come.

UPR - you will meet people with different values and views from your own; it is necessary for you to pause your own value system and hear the clients'. Realising that everybody, even those with views different from your own, deserve to be free of pain.

These are all areas of personal development that have to be worked on, nobody can do them straight away.

Practicing these skills outside of sessions, during your everyday life, can be very difficult. They are difficult to maintain, but as with most things, it will get easier with time.

Business Mindset for Counsellors [starts at 20:38 mins]

Running a business isn't something necessarily taught during core training, but through the 'Practice Partner' section, Rory and Ken will share some of their thoughts and tips when it comes to setting up and running a private practice.

The main points of this section are:

Putting a monetary value on your skills can be very challenging; especially considering counselling is very much a helping profession.

It can feel like you are exploiting people by charging for your services, but there will always be people who choose to pay, there is no exploitation in the exchange.

It's important to value yourself - you have worked hard for your training (and paid for it.)

Everyone who chooses to pay for private practice, is making the waiting list shorter for those who can't afford it.

You may need to look at, and confront, your relationship with money - if you often say you're bad or irresponsible with money, why is that? Who first introduced this idea to you? This is something you can take to supervision.

Paying household bills such as gas and electricity - is you running your home business. You're already most of the way there in terms of having that mindset, and being capable of running your practice.

Using Humour in Therapy [starts at 39:28 mins]

In this week's 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Christine Shore about using humour in counselling.

The key points of this discussion include:

Sometimes clients are able to come to a point of realisation that allows for relief and joy - and with relief and joy, sometimes comes humour.

Seeing an enthusiasm for life come through within a client - why be serious or stoic about that?

You're sitting with another human being, taking yourself too seriously can hinder more than it'll help.

Having a small laugh with a client can improve the therapeutic relationship - it shows the client that you're a human too.

When using humour in therapy,

Back with a new season of the Counselling Tutor Podcast after the academic break, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are thrilled to be back with today’s three topics – two of which are brand new:

• We start with ‘Theory in Practice’, looking closer at how theories you learn apply within sessions. This week we focus on how to use the core conditions.
• Then in ‘Practice Partner’, Rory and Ken will discuss aspects of setting up your own private practice, focusing this week on having a business mindset.
• And lastly ‘Practice Matters’ returns, where this week Rory speaks with Christine Shore about using humour in therapy.

Phenomenology - New Beginnings

In Episode 233 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast - the last of the season - your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly take us through today's three topics:

In 'Counselling Foundations', we look at phenomenology - the philosophy of perception.

Then in 'Focus on Self', we think about new beginnings.

And lastly in 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with Sally-Anne Armitage about using the skill of focusing in counselling.

Phenomenology [starts at 02:03 mins]

Listen as Rory and Ken discuss the tongue twister of the day - phenomenology.

The key points of this discussion include:

It is the philosophy of experience and perception.

How we interpret the world, our place in the world, and what is happening around us - this will be completely individual to ourselves.

To enter the clients frame of reference is to understand their phenomenological view.

How you engage with the world will be different from others.

Should counsellors offer a gentle challenge to alter a client's worldview or opinion on something?

The phenomenological way we view things can change.

New Beginnings [starts at 19:56 mins]

Plenty of focus is given to endings within our lives, but focusing on new beginnings is just as important.

In this section Rory and Ken discuss some of the main things you can consider when it comes to your new beginnings:

Maybe try and place more emphasis on beginnings than endings - think about where you're going, not necessarily where you've been.

Thinking, 'what's next?'

With every ending there is a beginning - try not to dwell of the endings.

New beginnings can come in different forms with different feelings - excitement, nervousness.

Embrace the new beginnings.

Using the Skill of Focusing in Counselling [starts at 30:38 mins]

In this week's 'Practice Matters', Rory speaks with good friend Sally-Anne Armitage about using the skill of focusing in your counselling practice.

The main points of this discussion include:

You might begin by asking the client where they want to start, or if there's something in particular they would like to prioritise speaking about.

Using the skill of focusing in counselling also means picking up on incongruence - very carefully watching clients' actions, tones, and emphasis.

Taking the clients closer to their own frame of reference.

Saying what you observe, inviting the client to be themselves.

Some things to be thoughtful of:

Not using your own frame of reference - almost everything should be coming from the client, not you.

Our intervention should go back into the client - not leading to new. Lead the client 'in' not 'out'.

Transference and your own experiences may make it difficult to use focusing and stay in the client's frame of reference.

Don't try to solve or analyse - listen.

Links and Resources

Counselling Skills Academy

Advanced Certificate in Counselling Supervision

Basic Counselling Skills: A Student Guide

Counsellor CPD

Counselling Study Resource

Counselling Theory in Practice: A Student Guide

Counselling Tutor Shop

Facebook group

Website

Online and Telephone Counselling: A Practitioner's Guide

Online and Telephone Counselling Course

In Episode 233 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast – the last of the season – your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly take us through today’s three topics:

• In ‘Counselling Foundations’, we look at phenomenology – the philosophy of perception.
• Then in ‘Focus on Self’, we think about new beginnings.
• And lastly in ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Sally-Anne Armitage about using the skill of focusing in counselling.