E1202A Diploma of Counselling Module 3: Tony's Case Assessment

This assignment analyzes a counselling session with a client named Tony, addressing his complex issues including limited attention span, job loss, alcoholism, and family problems. The solution is divided into four parts: identifying Tony's concerns, outlining steps to work through these concerns, detailing steps for monitoring the counselling process, demonstrating effective communication skills, and discussing barriers to communication. It further explores the use of micro-skills like active listening and feedback, explaining when to include these skills, their impact on Tony's potential for growth, and specialized skills for emotional reactions. Finally, the assignment identifies issues that cannot be addressed and provides research on organizations for referral, including a referral form with client details and agency information.

COUNSELLING

Table of content
Part A 3
1. 4 steps to identify Tony’s concerns 3
2. 8 steps to work through Tony's concerns 3
3. 8 steps for monitoring the counselling process 4
Part B 4
1. Demonstrating effective communication skills 4
2. Barrier to effective communication between Counselor and client 5
Part C 5
1. Using micro skills during counselling sessions 5
Active listening 5
Providing feedback 5
2. Explaining: 5
When to include the micro skills? 5
Impact of the skills on Tony’s potential for growth 5
Specialised skill in response to Tony's emotional reactions 6
Part D 6
1. Identifying the issue that cannot be we helped with and researching the organisation that
Tony can be referred to 6
References 8

Part A
1. 4 steps to identify Tony’s concerns
I. Tony is has a very limited attention span and has issues with authorities. This is evident
by the fact that Tony still lives in his car the majority of the time even though he has a
house or can make use of homeless shelters.
II. Tony has lost his interest in the job after injury at the workplace and this has led to
severe financial scarcity.
III. Tony is also an alcoholic and this has even disturbed the peace in his household
because he is always willing to spend on purchasing alcohol.
IV. Domestic troubles and disrespect from his own children and wife have led to a serious
case of depression and separation issues for Tony.
2. 8 steps to work through Tony's concerns
I. One of the steps identified is implementing the opposite action theory in which an
individual is directed to do things opposite to what has been planned (van Luenen et al.
2018).
II. To deal with separation anxiety and depression, Tony needs to be subjected to
psychotherapy and this is a very vital step throughout the entire counselling process (van
Luenen et al. 2018).
III. Tony should at least make an effort to be presentable and mingle socially as this will
help in boosting confidence and motivation.
IV. Tony needs to set small and achievable goals that when fulfilled will give Tony a sense
of satisfaction and responsibility.
V. To deal with Tony ’s lack of seriousness and fickle-mindedness, it is necessary for Tony
to develop a daily necessity schedule that will provide motivation to accomplish his daily
routines.
VI. Tony needs to be also counselled in the aspect of communication so that they can mend
his ways with his family by apologising for his behaviour. The family is a very strong
pillar of support that can be vital for Tony's improvement.
VII. To give Tony the right push, it is advisable that he attends Anonymous meetings where
the can listen and get inspired by stories of other individuals in the meeting
VIII. Tony also needs to get for physiotherapy so that the can recover from his work-related
injury and make further improvement.

3. 8 steps for monitoring the counselling process
I. The most vital step is to analyse and monitor the various factors that have been
responsible for influencing fluctuating Tony’s behaviour.
II. The next logical step is to determine whether the factor can be modified, enforce or
eliminated.
III. Initiating conversations with Tony to keep track of the issues the faces and the
progression the made during availing the counselling
IV. The entire counselling session needs to be carefully planned, organised as well as
coordinated by focussing on Tony’s feelings
V. It is very necessary to transform the counselling sessions into goal setting sessions to
help Tony move on with his life.
VI. Establishing a coherent and respectful relationship with the client during the counselling
session so that they feel safe and secure when discussing their problems.
VII. Allow Tony to self assess their own progress by giving them progress feedback and
collecting vital information by making use of feedback assessment forms
VIII. Taking into consideration the reflective as well as development processes that can be
useful in monitoring and evaluating the internal and external techniques of the
counselor's
Part B
1. Demonstrating effective communication skills
1. Building rapport Hello Tony! It's good to see you healthy. How can I help you
today?
2. Empathy Are you sure you alright with how the things are?
3. Respect Please feel free to share your feelings and we can stop
anytime you want if you feel uncomfortable talking about it.
4. Clarity Can you elaborate on what you feel?
5. Open ended question How do you think on improving your present condition?
6. Closed question I think you should mend things up with your family. Isn’t
family the cornerstone of every happy man’s life?

2. Barrier to effective communication between Counselor and client
Perhaps the biggest barriers affecting the effective communication between a and client are
perceptive as well as psychological barriers. These two barriers have been identified keeping in
mind the current case of Tony who has been perceiving situations differently than other people
(Amanullah & Firdos, 2018). His disability to stick to a schedule and callousness may be also
responsible for affecting the communication process. Tony needs to be enlisted for confidence
boosting programmes that persistently motivates the person to accomplish a set goal and can
be very useful for better communications.
Part C
1. Using micro skills during counselling sessions
I. Active listening
The process of intently listening to another person so as to gather necessary information
form the speaking pattern and subtle hints while talking is known as active listening
(Altabef et al. 2017). It also involves reaffirming the information by relating the client’s
words which makes the other person feel acknowledged and helps in exploring the
issues better.
II. Providing feedback
Feedback is a guiding mechanism that can be used for improving the progress condition
of the individual in question (James, 2015). It also improves communication and
engagement. However feedback forms must not be too critical and must have an
allowance for the individual to share their opinions on the recorded observation.
2. Explaining:
a. When to include the micro skills?
Active listening is a very important skill in counselling and this skill needs to be
implemented from the beginning of the counselling process until the end of the relation.
This helps in making minute observations that will help in better evaluation. Feedback
can be given to the client at intermittent periods so that they can themselves assess how
far they have actually progressed.
b. Impact of the skills on Tony’s potential for growth
Actively listening to Tony will make him feel understood and acknowledged which is a
good thing in counselling sessions as this means that the person will be more willing to
participate in the programme and will show more engagement (Campion & Levita, 2014).

Feedback will help Tony to assess his own strengths and weaknesses and also work as
a guide that the can use to change his lifestyle and behaviour for the better.
c. Specialised skill in response to Tony's emotional reactions
For reacting to the emotional reactions of Tony perhaps the most suitable micro skill is
active listening as this will allow Tony to vent out his frustration and allow the counsellor
to make note of information that may have been previously hidden (Cook, 2015).
Part D
1. Identifying the issue that cannot be we helped with and researching the organisation
that Tony can be referred to
The issue of developing a willingness to change his situation, can’t be helped if Tony is not
wanting to do so himself.
Real Matters Counselling Services - Referral Form
Referring agency
Name: Real Matters
Telephone number: 61-2-7167-2698
Address: #3, Downing Street, NZW - 2020
Name of referring counselor: Phuc Yuu
Email address: [e-mail]
Client details
Name: Tony
Phone number ( if client can be contacted): NA
Address: NA
Postcode: NA
D.O.B: 16/01/1985
Is an interpreter needed? If yes, which language? No
Details of clients problem/ enquiry
Patient suffering from acute depression syndrome having cluster B traits
Reason for referral and expected outcome
Alcoholism and separation anxiety
Agency referred to

Name: Model mind
Contact name ( if known): Jenni Lee
Address: Paul street, NZW
Telephone number: 61-1-9865-5364
Email address: NA
Appointment date ( if known): 12.04.2019 Time (if known): 10 AM
Client authorisation for referral
I authorise my case to be referred to the above agency for the support
Client signature………………………..Date………………………………...
Counselor signature………………………….Date……………………………...
*Source: asauk.org.uk, 2013

References
Altabef, D., Meier, S., Reynolds, A., Delucia, J., and Friedling, L. (2017). Therapist response to
a distressed client: Differences in active listening and changes in negative affect. Counselling
and Psychotherapy Research, 17(3), 234-239.
Amanullah, M., and Firdos, S. (2018). Counselling Psychology: Concept, trend and medical
setting. International Journal of Psychology and Counselling, 10(3), 22-28.
Campion, M., and Levita, L. (2014). Enhancing positive affect and divergent thinking abilities:
Play some music and dance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(2), 137-145.
Cook, E.P., 2015. Understanding people in context: The ecological perspective in counseling.
John Wiley & Sons.
James, I. A. (2015). The rightful demise of the sh* t sandwich: providing effective feedback.
Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy, 43(6), 759-766.
Rowan, J., 2016. The reality game: A guide to humanistic counselling and psychotherapy.
Routledge.
van Luenen, S., Garnefski, N., Spinhoven, P., Spaan, P., Dusseldorp, E., and Kraaij, V. (2018).
The benefits of psychosocial interventions for mental health in people living with HIV: a
systematic review and meta-analysis. AIDS and Behavior, 22(1), 9-42.