3.1 Describe and Use a Range of Basic Counselling Skills to Demonstrate Active Listening.

Questions

Here I will look at Open, Closed and Clarifying Questions. With an open question they are generally not answered with a yes or no answer and the speaker is given the opportunity to further explore their position and put across their feelings, for example ‘how did J’s behavior affect how you were feeling about M?’ whereas a closed question is usually replied to in a confined manner because the listener has been specific about the information they want to know about with the speaker answering in a short or one word response and not leading to further expansion of the subject being spoken about. A closed question is usually not productive in getting the speaker to explore their situation further, for example; ‘Where did that happen?’ A clarifying question is used to ensure that the speaker is being followed correctly and the listener is understanding exactly how they are feeling about the situation they are talking about. It is very important that assumptions are not made about the speakers situation and the facts and the speakers feelings are fully understood for example; ‘Can you tell me more about what you mean by easy?’

Summarising

Summarising is where the listener recaps in a concise way what the speaker has been expressing either during or at the end of a session and highlights the most significant points, pointing out the speakers thoughts and feelings and retelling them back to the speaker as accurately as possible. It is a very relevant part of the listeners role as it ensures the speaker has been understood and gives the opportunity for the speaker to correct the listener if they have misunderstood what the speaker was expressing.