Counseling
Counseling
Counseling
INTRODUCTION
Most of the time, we get on with life, but sometimes we are stopped in our tracks by an event
or situation that we do not, at that moment, have the resources to sort out. Most of the time,
we find ways of dealing with such problems in living by talking to family, friends, neighbors,
priests or our family doctor. But occasionally their advice is not sufficient, or we are too
embarrassed or ashamed to tell them what is bothering us, or we just don’t have an
appropriate person to turn to. Counselling is a really useful option at these moments. In most
places, counselling is available fairly quickly, and costs little or nothing. . The counsellor
does not diagnose or label you, but does his or her best to listen to you and work with you to
find the best ways to understand and resolve your problem.
DEFINITION OF COUNSELING
1. Behavior (Overt changes in the ways client act, their coping skills, decision making skills,
and relationship skills).
2. Beliefs (Ways of thinking about oneself, others, and the world) or emotional concerns
relating to these perceptions.
The term ‘counselling’ includes work with individuals and with relationships which may be
developmental, crisis support, psychotherapeutic, guiding or problem solving . . . The task of
counselling is to give the ‘client’ an opportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways of
living more satisfyingly and resourcefully.
(BAC 1984)
Counselling denotes a professional relationship between a trained counsellor and a client.
This relationship is usually person-to-person, although it may sometimes involve more than
two people. It is designed to help clients to understand and clarify their views of their life
space, and to learn to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed
choices and through resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature.
(Burks and Stefflre 1979: 14)
Counselling is the skilled and principled use of relationships to develop self knowledge,
emotional acceptance and growth, and personal resources. The overall aim is to live more
fully and satisfyingly. Counselling may be concerned with addressing and resolving specific
problems, making decisions, coping with crisis, working through feelings or inner conflict or
improving relationships with others. The counsellor’s role is to facilitate the client’s work in
ways that respect the client’s values, personal resources and capacity for self determination.
GOALS OF COUNSELLING
Transfer of therapeutic learning to outside situation. Change is made in the real world
of the client. The client acquires adaptability and planning skills in problem areas.
Awareness and acceptance of self in conflict. The client understands self and
recorders thinking about self.
Specific symptom removal. There is a focus on personal concerns and a resolution of
psychological symptoms, confused objectives, or specific problems.
Strengthened ego functioning. Client behaviour becomes more congruent with inner
ego state.
Awareness of positive inner recourses. The client develops greater feeling of
adequacy, mastery, competency, creativity, and responsibility. Learning to respond to
and control the environment. The client is adapt to or changes conflictual situations in
a self-satisfying manner.
Awareness of negative thoughts and feelings. The client is better able to accept,
integrate, and change distressing feelings, through re-education and reordered
thinking about negative thoughts and feelings.
CHARECTERISTICS OF COUNSELLING
Brammer and shostrum (1982) state. “the heart of the therapeutic process is the relationship
established between counsellor and client”. When the counsellor has an authentic caring
relation with a client, that client response to the relationship by becoming fully involved in
the counselling process,
3. Counseling is concerned with decision- making skills and problem resolution.
4. Counseling involves the client learning new behaviour of formulating new attitudes.
Steffire (1970) stated that “counselling is a learning- teaching process, for the client learn
about his life space...if he is to make meaningful and informed choices, he must know
himself the fact of his present situation , and the possibilities.. as well as the most likely
consequences of the various choices’’. Counselling strategies often focus on client
recognition of behaviours to be changed steps to change them. Client action and behaviour
change are crucial outcomes of the counselling process.
5. Counselling is the mutual enterprise on the part of counsellor and counselee and, as much,
is based on respect for the individual.
Boy and pine (1982) indicate that an effective counselling relationship is one in which the
client and counsellor engage each other as equals. Both the client and counsellor jointly are
involved in the counselling process. Counselling goals are selected and refined by the
counselee as well a by the counsellor.
6. Counselling cannot be specifically defined since it is changing entity, but there are skills
common to all such facilitative relationships.
Guidance is the process of helping people makes important choices that affect their lives,
such as choosing a preferred life style. While the decision- making aspect of guidance has
long played important role in the counselling process. One distinction between guidance and
counselling is that guidance focus on helping individual chooses what they value most,
whereas counselling focus on helping them making changes. Much of the earlier work in
guidance occurred in school and career centres where an adult would help a student make
decision, such as deciding on a course of study or a vocation.
DIFFRENCE BETWEEN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELING
A growing number of people are undertaking counselling skills training and it is of value to
consider reason for this growth. Perhaps the most significant is that of social change, which is
producing an inevitable increase in recognition of and demand for counselling. The
counselling skills movement owes most to the work of Carl Roger, who describe the quality
of empathy, genuineness, and warmth as essential to the client- centred counselling
relationship and enhance all forms of helping.
SOLER
S → Squarely face the client. Sitting facing the client gives the impression of
attentiveness and involvement.
O → Open posture. An open posture can show that you are available to listen.
It can be gained by sitting with your hands either by your side or resting on
your lap if you are writing things down.
L → Lean towards the client slightly. This indicates that you are involved and paying attention.
E → Eye contact. Maintain appropriate eye contact. It signifies “I’m with you, I want to hear you,
and you are interesting to me”.
R → Relaxed. Try to remain relaxed with the client. Fidgeting (continuously moving about or
looking at the clients’ notes) is distracting for the client and gives the impression that you are not
interested in what they are saying.
These are the essential qualities for developing good relationship with the client.
1. Congruence
Congruence implies that the counsellor is being genuine. That is, they are matching their
external behaviour and expressions with their internal feelings and thoughts. The
counsellor presents them self without pretence, expressing their feelings and attitudes
spontaneously and therapeutically. This does not mean that the counsellor should share all
their feelings and thoughts impulsively, as disclosure should be appropriate to the
therapeutic relationship. A congruent counsellor facilitates honest communication with
the client.
Respect and positive regard are defined as the belief in each client innate worth and
potential and the ability to communicate this belief in the helping relationship. This belief
once communicated; provide clients with positive reinforcement relative to their innate
ability to take reasonability for their own growth, change goal determination, decision
making, and eventual problem solution. It is an empowering process that delivers
message to client that they are able to take control of their lives and, with facilitative
assistance from the counsellor, foster change.
3. Empathy
Empathy is shown when the counsellor is able to accurately understand and be sensitive to
the feelings and experiences of the client. That is, to sensitively grasp the subjective world of
the client, by understanding the client’s situation, the choices they have made, and show
consideration for the outcomes that have developed. Empathy creates trust and safety within
the therapeutic relationship and provides a basis for rapport building. It involves listening,
understanding, and communicating that understanding so that the client can comprehend their
situation more fully, thereby facilitating constructive change.
Egan (1994) identified both primary and advanced level of empathetic
understanding. At the primary level, it is the ability to understand, identify and communicate
feelings and meaning that are at the surface level of the client disclosures. At the advanced
level, it is the ability to understand, identify, and communicate feeling and meanings that are
buried, hidden, or beyond the immediate reach of a client. Such feelings and meanings are
more often covert rather than overt client expressions.
Warmth is the ability to communicate and demonstrate genuine caring and concern for
client. Using this ability, counsellor conveys their acceptance of clients, their desire for client
well- being, and their sincere interest in finding workable solutions to the problems that
clients present.
6. Cultural awareness
Cultural awareness addresses the counsellor’s openness and motivation to understand more
about one’s own cultural diversity as well as the cultural diversity that client bring to the
helping relationship. Such understanding is the cornerstone on which all the core conditions
rest. This understanding, based up on the both education and life experiences, should enable
culturally aware counsellors to increase their sensitivity to the issues that confront clients. It
should enable them to develop insight into the many variables that affect client and should
enable them to place client issues, problems, and concerns in their proper perspective.
MICRO- SKILLS
Counselling micro- skills can be broadly grouped under the following headings.
I). Observation.
II).Active listening.
III).Responding.
IV).Giving feedback.
V).Use of questions.
VI).Challenging.
VII).Disclosure skills.
VIII).Instructions.
I. Observation
b). Behaviour
A person general appearance is reflection of the way in which he/she wishes to seen and
gives an indication of how he/she would like to be. It is an outward expression of the internal
attempt to form a personal identity. Counsellor need to be careful about the way in which
they interpret a person’s general appearance. As a counsellor, we all have our own personal
prejudices and stereotypes. Consequently, people’s appearance can seriously influence the
way we feel towards and relate with them. We need to careful that we do not over interpret
and we need to take time to get to know the person so that we understand who he is and what
is happening internally.
b).Behaviour
An individual behaviour can give a counsellor useful information about ways in which to
match and join. For example, consider the case of a client who is really talkative and has poor
boundaries. In this case, it would be inappropriate for a counsellor to respond by being quite
and withdrawn; instead, the counsellor would need to match the conversation style of the
client and in this way to allow joining to occur with ease. Joining requires the counsellor to
match the client behaviour while being congruent and appropriate and by doing so to validate
it and confirm that it is acceptable for the counsellor.
Mood and affect is the another important observation skills. Consider the case of a person
whose parent has died. He may be inwardly experiencing a high level of depression and
sadness, but may outwardly demonstrate hostility and anger. In such a situation, the
counsellor needs to be able to go beneath the presenting affect so that the person is able to
identify, own, and experience the underlying mood. In deal with that fully so that, as a
consequence, the client can move into a deeper level of experiencing with recognition,
acceptance and ownership of the underlying mood of depression and sadness.
A major goal in counselling is to help the client to feel better. This means that in the long
term both affect and mood need to be influenced by the counselling process.
When observing the speech and language of the client counsellors need to attend to;
What is said
How it is said
The language used
What is said – The content of what the individual says tells the counsellor what the person is
thinking and gives an indication of her beliefs, ideas and general constructs about his world.
while listening to the client, the counsellor can gain information about the person’s
intellectual function and thought process. This will include information about the individual
ability to remember things accurately, to think logically, to use abstract thinking and to
concentrate. This information is required to enable the counsellor to select suitable strategies.
How it said - The counsellor need to note whether the conversation has some logical
sequence or is totally disjointed with the continual introduction of unrelated ideas. Sometimes
an individual conversation may be disjointed as a consequence of the person being
overwhelmed by current circumstances. In this case, the counsellor may need to help the
individual to structure the conversation so that information is presented more clearly.
The language used- The language used by the client gives an indication of the client’s ability
to be articulate and to be made to express ideas clearly. This information can be helpful in
enabling the counsellor to select counselling strategies to match the client’s intellectual
ability. Counsellors working with young people need to learn the meaning of the jargon
words, so that they can understand and speak the language of the client. Where a counsellor is
unsure of the meaning of the particular word it is best to be honest about this and to ask the
adolescent directly. ‘’ What does that word mean- it’s new to me ?? it might also be useful to
seek clarification of words which can have a variety of meanings in contemporary situation.
“Active listening intentionally focuses on who you are listening to, whether in a group
Or one-on-one, in order to understand what he or she is saying. As the listener, you
Should then be able to repeat back in your own words what they have said to their
Satisfaction. This does not mean you agree with, but rather understand, what they
Are saying”.
Active listening is designed to help the client to recognize that the counsellor is attending
carefully to what is being said, to help the counsellor join empathically with the client and to
encourage the client to continue talking. By utilising active listening, the counsellor helps the
client feel understood and this encourages the client to disclose information. Active listening
includes the following.
1).Non- verbal responses – the counsellor’s non- verbal responses are likely to give a client
an indication that the counsellor is listening, an indicating of the counsellor’s level of interest
in what is being said, and information about the counsellor’s attitude to them. Non- verbal
response include making appropriate eye contact, acknowledging what has been said by
nodding or by using appropriate facial expressions, and matching the individual body
postures and movements.
By accurately observing non-verbal behaviour, a counsellor can gauge the affect her/hiswords
and actions have upon the client. A counsellor can also gauge the effectiveness of their words
by carefully observing the facial expression and eye contact of a client. If a counsellor asks a
question that the client may find embarrassing to answer, the client may lower their eyes, or
their head, or look away. This will tell the counsellor that the client might be uncomfortable
with that statement or question. There are three sources of information about an individual’s
feeling sand thoughts in the visual channel: facial expression, eye accessing cues, posture and
gestures.
2).Encouragers
The counsellor is listening and to encourage the client to continue talking counsellors can
use a range of minimal responses or encouragers, encouragers can be either verbal or
nonverbal responses that affirm that the counsellor is actually listening to what is being
said. An example of a non-verbal minimal encourager includes:
• a head nod
• a raised eyebrow
• a smile.
Minimal encouragers also include appropriate silences. Clients often need time to process
what has been said, and will often do this in a brief period of silence. Clients will usually
regain eye contact with you when they have finished thinking. Examples of verbal minimal
encouragers such as ‘mm- hm’, ‘yes’, ‘right’, ‘really’ and ‘ok’. It need to be recognized that
these response not only indicate that the counsellor is listening attentively, but also carry
meaning. They may convey indications of counsellor’s attitude, including approval and
disapproval there are also a number of short response such as ‘tell me more’, ‘I see’, i
understand’, ‘is that so’ and ‘go on’ which can be used non-responding to the client, the
counsellor’s tone of voice and speed and volume of talking need to match the client’s style
and energy. The timing of minimal encouragers is important, as over use can be disruptive
and intrusive. They need to be inserted at regular intervals and spaced appropriately.
Accenting and amplifying involves a combination of verbal and non-verbal messages to feed
back and emphasize what the client has said. The counsellor can do this verbally and also by
using gesture, facial expression and voice intensity so that what the client has said is
intensified and made news worthy. By doing this the counsellor demonstrates positive
support for what the patient is saying and encourages the patient to continue.
Accenting and amplifying are particularly important skills to use when counselling
adolescent and should be used more than when counselling adults. This is because these skills
enable the counsellor to validate what the adolescent is saying and also to join pro-actively
with enthusiasm in the conversation, paralleling typical adolescent communication.
Reflection of content and feelings were skills identified by Rogers (1955), as being
important in counselling. Reflection of content involves reflection back the content of what
the client has just said. For example, if a person has been talking about the way in which he/
she has been in conflict with his brother recently, a reflection of content might be ‘your
brother and you have been fighting recently’ or you have told me that ‘your brother and you
have been fighting recently’ or ‘so, your brother and you have been fighting recently. When
counselling, counsellors do not repeat what the client has said, but pick up the most important
content information and, using their own words, feeds this back to the client.
Reflection of feelings involves reflecting the client’s basic feelings. The reflection may be
as a result of things which the client has directly told the counsellor or may be the result of
things which the client has directly told the counsellor or may be the result of non- verbal
behaviour by the client. For example, the counsellor may have noticed tears tears or a change
in tone of voice. Example of reflection of feeling are’’you feel sad’’ or’’ you ‘re sad’’.
Sometimes, reflection of content and feelings are combined, as in the statement; ‘you are sad
because you have lost your best friend’.
4).Matching the client language
There are three ways in which counsellor need to match client use of language: the use of
vocabulary, representational style, and metaphor.
Some individual make use of word from culture- specific vocabularies. They also may
attribute meanings to words which are different from commonly accepted meanings. If
counsellors wish to join effectively with these young people and to communicate effectively
with them, they need to understand, and perhaps use, language which is familiar, natural and
comfortable for them. Counsellor may therefore need to learn from their client so that they
are able to understand and communicate with them with them using words which gave
meaning for them.
To provide concise, accurate, and timely overviews of the client’s statements and help
organise their thoughts
To help the client review what they have said in the interview
To stimulate a thorough exploration of themes which are important to the client
To provide organisation for an interview
To let the client know that they have been heard.
When to summarise
It is useful for the counsellor to summarise:
To conclude an interview
When the client has finished describing a particular event or situation and before they
go on to the next issue
1) Giving compliments
This technique is that, the counselling situation can provide an opportunity to give people
positive feedback to help them to feel OK about themselves. It is appropriate for counsellors
to compliment client on their behaviour during the counselling process where such feedback
is likely to be useful. They can also be complimented for decisions which they have made or
actions they have taken which demonstrate their personal growth.
Compliments need to be used sensibly or they may be seen as patronising. Appropriately
given compliments enable the client to feel OK and to continue developing with confidence.
Compliments given as feedback may also indicate that the counsellor has heard and
understood the client story.
4). Normalizing
All people are in a changing world. As a consequence, they frequently become troubled by
their emotions, responses and behaviors. Often these troubling emotions, responses and
behaviors will be normal for the situation. Even so, at times, people may believe that they are
starting to ‘go crazy’, because they are experiencing high levels of emotional feelings which
they have not previously experienced. In situations such as these it can be helpful for
counsellors to tell the individual that what they are experiencing is normal for the situation, if
that is genuinely the case.
Sometimes individual may react in ways which are disappointing for them, and they may
have expectations of themselves which are unrealistic. Once again, it can be useful to
normalize such responses and behaviors. Clearly, normalizing needs to be done in cases
where unacceptable responses and behaviors are not minimized
5).Reframing
Individuals interpret the world around them from their personal experiences and life
circumstances. Events can be interpreted in many ways such as positive or negative,
enlightening or unhelpful, challenging or frustrating, depending on the particular viewpoint
or outlook of the individual. It is not uncommon for a client to come to counselling with low
self esteem, which may influence the way in which they perceive a particular situation.
Reframing helps the client to look at a situation or experience in a different light or with a
new perspective. By reframing, the counsellor offers a new meaning or interpretation by
recasting the client’s message in a light that is more likely to be helpful or supportive of
change. Reframing often utilises a positive perspective, and may enable the client to perceive
their situation differently and more constructively
Reframing examples:
Client: My wife is always nagging me about my drinking. That’s all she ever talks to me
about these days.
Counsellor: It sounds like your wife really cares about you, and she is concerned about your
health. I guess she expresses it in a way which angers or frustrates you. Perhaps you can
encourage her to tell you that she is worried about you in a different way.
Client: I use the pills because I can’t seem to relax around my son. The minute I turn my
back he’s up to something.
Counsellor: I get the impression that you are really important to your son and that he wants
lots of attention from you.
Client: If I don’t use speed at work, I can’t get the job done.
Counsellor: I’m impressed with your work ethic. Not all people would be as concerned as
you are to complete work tasks.
IV). USE OF QUESTION
Questions during the counselling session can help to open up new areas for
discussion. They can assist to pinpoint an issue and they can assist to clarify information that
at first may seem ambiguous to the counsellor. Questions that invite clients to think or recall
information can aid in a client’s journey of self-exploration. Counsellors should be
knowledgeable about the different types of questioning techniques, including the appropriate
use of them and likely results. It is also important to be aware and cautious of over-
questioning. Asking too many questions sends a message to the client that the counsellor is in
control and may even set up a situation in which the client feels the counsellor has all the
answers. In determining effective questioning techniques it is important to consider the nature
of the client, their ongoing relationship with the counsellor and the issue/s at hand. There are
main types of questions are
1).Closed questions and open questions
Questions can be divided into two types: closed questions and open questions. Closed
questions demand a specific response which may be very limited. An example of a closed
question is ‘Do you use drugs?’ This question is likely to lead to the answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and
little else.
An open question is one which elicits a wide range of descriptive answers. For example,
instead of asking the closed question ‘Do you take drugs?’, the counsellor might ask the
question ‘What do you think about taking drugs?’ This requires the person being questioned
to think about possible answers and to describe an attitude or belief. It is more likely to result
in an open discussion than a single-word answer.
Both types of question are useful, although generally the open question is more helpful in
counselling because it encourages a conversational response and makes self-disclosure more
likely. At times, closed questions can be useful, particularly when specific information is
required. For example, when enquiring about a patient intent to suicide, answers to closed
questions may enable the counsellor to make decisions about the ongoing safety and
protection of the young person.
2).General information-seeking questions
We commonly use the general information-seeking question in everyday conversation. We
ask these questions in order to get information, these questions are prefaced with words that
indicate the counsellor’s genuine curiosity and interest, the client is likely to feel important as
a source of information. For example, the counsellor might say ‘I’m curious about your
interest in collecting comics. What kind do you enjoy the most?’
This may enable the person to verbalize thoughts related to the internal experience. By doing
this, these thoughts can be processed, the counsellor is aware of them, and can achieve
empathic joining and help the client move ahead. Similarly, if a person seems to be stuck and
unable to speak, the counsellor might ask ‘Can you tell me what is happening inside you right
now? What are you experiencing internally?’
4).Circular questions
Circular questions come from the Milan model of family therapy (Palazzoli et al., 1980). A
circular question is a non-threatening way of getting information from the person. Instead of
asking the individual directly about how he feels or what he thinks, or what his attitude is, the
counsellor asks the individual how someone else feels or thinks or asks what his or her
attitude might be. For example, a counsellor might ask ‘If your father were here, what do you
think he would say about you needing to come for counselling?’ By asking circular questions
such as these, the counsellor effectively invites the individual to talk about someone else.
This is less threatening than asking the individual to talk about himself. Often, having
answered a circular question, the client will continue by talking about his own feelings,
beliefs or thoughts because he wants to make it clear whether he agrees or disagrees with the
person who Was mentioned in the circular question.
5).Choice questions
Choice questions have their origin in reality therapy (Glasser and Wubbolding, 1995). These
questions imply that the person has choice about the way she thinks and behaves. Examples
of choice questions are:
‘What would have been a better choice for you to have made at that time?’‘What would you
like to do now? Would you like to continue talking about this issue or would you like to leave
it there for now?’ ‘If the same situation arises during the coming weeks what do you think
you will do? (Will you do this, or will you do that?)’
Such questions about the past, present or future enable the individual to look at the likely
consequences of different behaviours. By exploring choices and consequences, the person is
better prepared for future situations.
8).Externalizing questions
These questions have their origins in narrative therapy (White and Epston, 1990). What
externalizing questions do is to separate the problem, or central issue, from the person. By
doing this, the client is able to feel that she can control her problem, or central issue, if she
wishes, because it is something external to her which can be controlled, rather than something
inherent ‘n her which cannot be controlled.
A good example of the use of an externalizing question relates to anger control where a
counsellor might externalize the anger from the person by saying: ‘My impression is that
your anger has control of you rather than you having control of it. How does your anger
manage to trick you into letting it control you?’ Externalizing questions often lead to
discussion about issues of control. Control issues are important for person who are struggling
with the desire to have more control of their lives but may be reluctant to accept
responsibility for controlling their own behavior. Externalizing questions are often followed
up with exception- oriented questions in order to assist with the promotion of change.
9).Exception-oriented questions
A number of useful types of question have their origin in brief solution focused therapy.
Exception-oriented questions aim to promote change by drawing attention to times or
situations where an undesirable behavior does not occur. Examples of exception-oriented
questions are:
‘When do you ever not get angry?’ -
‘When do you not get into arguments with your father?’
‘In what situations do you have control of your impatience?’
Exception-oriented questions aim to help the individual to discover that there are times and/or
situations where they behave differently, and to recognize what it is that enables them to
behave differently. Gaining understanding in this way enables the person to recognize that he
can take more control of his behaviour and/or his environment. By recognizing this, he may
be able to make choices to bring about positive change.
10).Questions which exaggerates consequences Examples of this kind of question are:
‘How come things aren’t worse, ’‘How did you avoid falling apart?’
These questions can be used to help a person recognize that he/ she has coped extremely well
under adverse situations. They are aimed at encouraging the client to view thier behaviour in
a positive light and discover unrecognized strengths. Such questions can be extremely useful
for person who is unsure about how well they are coping with life.
11).Miracle questions
Miracle questions are used to help the client begin to find hypothetical solutions to the
problems they are experiencing. Typical miracle questions are:
‘If a miracle happened and the problem was solved what would you be doing differently?’
‘If things u-hanged miraculously, what would life be like?’
This sort of question appeals to the person because it lets them use their imagination to
explore what would be different if their situation changed for the better. As a result of
thinking about ways in which things might change, they are likely to explore new ideas which
might be useful in helping them to make changes.
12).Goal-oriented questions
Goal-oriented questions are direct questions and are similar in some ways to exception-
oriented questions because they invite exploration of ways in which things could be different.
This type questions help individual to identify broad changes which they might like to make.
In exploring how things could be different, goal-oriented questions invite the client to look
ahead to the future. Examples of goal-oriented questions are:
‘What do you think your life would be like if you didn’t get angry?’
‘How would you know that you had resolved this problem?
‘When you think about . . . can you identify any particular goals?’
Other goal-oriented questions identify perceived restraints, which in the young person’s mind
interfere with his ability to achieve particular goals. They help the client to identify ways to
overcome these restraints. Examples are:
‘What stops you from achieving your goal?’
‘What would you need to do to achieve your goal?’
13).Scaling questions
Scaling questions have their origin in brief solution focused therapy. Scaling questions often
lead into goal-oriented questions as they are related to goals. They help the individual to be
specific when identifying and discussing goals. Example of scaling questions are:
‘On a scale of 1—10, 1 being hopelessly incompetent and 10 being really
competent, where do you think you fit right now?’
‘On the scale of 1—10, where would you like to be in the future?’
‘If 1 corresponded to being an honest and upright citizen, and 10corresponded to being a
hardened criminal, where would you like tobe?’
Scaling questions lead into goal-oriented questions. For example, the
Counsellor might ask: ‘What will you need to do to reach this point on theScale?’
V). CHALLENGING