Assessment of Egan's Skilled Helper Model: COU202 Counselling Practice

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Gerard Egan's Skilled Helper Model, a structured approach to counselling that emphasizes a solution-focused methodology. The report details the three stages of the model, outlining the specific skills counsellors utilize in each stage to facilitate client progress. Case studies are presented to illustrate the practical application of the model, including examples of effective communication skills such as active listening and empathetic responses. The report also explores the usefulness of the model, highlighting its strengths in building therapeutic relationships and providing a fluid framework for client engagement, while also acknowledging its limitations, such as potential rigidity and lack of adaptability to individual client needs. References to relevant literature are included to support the analysis.

Skilled Helpers Model

Introduction
Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper Model is the
eclectically constructed counselling delivers an
organized and solution concentrated basis for
the counsellors, psychotherapists and the
hypnotherapists. It is a 3 stage model in which
every state contains of particular skills that the
counsellor uses to support the client move
forwards in their life. Egan measured his
technique to be more about avoidance than
treatment (Riggall, 2016).

Stages
There 3 stages of this model
Stage1: The first activity of this model is to find
the mentee and gain knowledge about what
happening and then reflect it back (Wosket, 2008).
Stage 2: In this stage the existing views are
challenged. The mentee is encouraged to think
about the other ways of dealing with the issues
Stage 3: This stage includes action planning by
asking some questions like what are the likely
ways forward in the circumstances (Tamadoni, et
al., 2017).

Examples of cases
Case study 1: a patient name John had a
brain injury, and receiving counselling
session. The counsellor used effective
communication skills like active listening.
Case study 2: the patient name Brown has
the memory loss issues and stated that he is
frustrated. The counsellor understand the
situation and responded by using effective
words and used active listening.

Usefulness
The model can be useful to understand the
importance of Skilled Helping & Problem
solving objectives to guide new counsellors
through the procedure of developing vital
skills to allow other individuals to cope their
circumstances appropriately and efficiently
(Riggall, 2016)

Pros and cons
Pros
it can help the counsellor to build an therapeutic
relationship with the client.
The model has fluidity, permitting the mentee or client
to move freely in and out the three stages (Midwinter
& Dickson, 2015).
Cons
the process deteriorates and might bend in on itself,
captivating the client in reverse and taking to
reformulate the objectives again
the model as a whole, is not very adaptive to the
individual (Shorrock, 2011).

References
Riggall, S. (2016). The sustainability of Egan’s Skilled Helper Model
in students’ social work practice. Journal of Social Work
Practice, 30(1), 81-93.
Wosket, V. (2008). Egan's Skilled Helper Model: Developments and
Implications in Counselling. Routledge.
Tamadoni, M., Janbozorgi, M., Azarbaijani, M., Afrooz, G. A., &
Tabatabaei, S. K. R. (2017). A study to assess the effectiveness of
training package and group counseling with framework of skilled
helper model on social, intellectual and occupational wellness of the
students. An International Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal For
Rapid Publication, 153.
Shorrock, M. (2011). The philosophical challenges within counselling
psychology: Can Egan's model help?. Counselling Psychology Review.
Midwinter, R., & Dickson, J. (2015). Embedding counselling and
communication skills: a relational skills model. Routledge