INTRODUCTION TO IVEY’S MODEL

ALLEN IVEY

Ivey gained a sense of economic oppression and injustice from his

parent’s painful experiences. Ivey considers himself bicultural, growing up and
navigating through his English and Cornish roots, which were not always
compatible in their messages with respect to education and achievement.
In the school environment, Ivey experienced anti-Semitic prejudice even
though he had no knowledge about Jews at the time. He did not share these
stories of oppression with his parents. Ivey learned to hate oppression in all
forms from his rural childhood. He felt fortunate that his parents’ value system
of standing up alone for righteousness provided him with a foundation for
understanding and supporting multicultural issues. His experience in Denmark
played a paramount role in developing his contextual approach to counselling.
He is the founder of the counseling centre at Bucknell University and served as
a director of counseling.

CONTRIBUTIONS

MICRO COUNSELLING

Ivey established a structured approach to training therapists in discrete

helping skills (micro skills) which includes attending behavior, open invitation
to talk, reflection and summarization, paraphrasing, and interpretation. Instead
of focusing only on internal variables, such as self-actualization, therapists can
help clients focus on external variables that may disrupt development. The early
recognition of the need to explore the cultural environment led to the realization
that appropriate attending and micro skills differ from one cultural context to
another.

DEVELOPMENTAL COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Ivey has drawn from Piaget, Erickson, and Freud to apply

developmental concepts directly into counseling in developing developmental
counseling and therapy (DCT). In 1986, Ivey suggested that development
always occurs within a cultural context, which takes into account both the
therapist’s and client’s cultural and historical backgrounds. Later, in 1991, Ivey
elaborated the cultural emphasis in developmental counseling to underline the
notion of multicultural development. He proposed that therapists should
facilitate clients’ movement through different stages of cultural identity
development. Ivey believes that therapists help clients move through stages
related to conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and
synergistic awareness by focusing on culture in counseling. In this
developmental approach, Ivey and his colleagues expanded the definition of
culture to include race and ethnicity, gender, religion, economic status,
nationality, physical capacity, and sexual orientation.

MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

Ivey’s prolific work in operationally defining the relationship between

multiculturalism and traditional theories of counseling has been influential. Ivey
and colleagues concluded that most counseling theories were based on White,
middle-class culture, and Ivey questioned the generalizability of these theories
to other cultural contexts. According to Ivey, D’Andrea, Ivey, and Simek-
Morgan, multiculturalism can be described as a meta-theory creating a
framework that illustrates how different theories of counseling and
psychotherapy represent different worldviews.

ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITY

The core of ethical responsibility is to do good and to do nothing to harm the

client or society. The bulk of ethical responsibility lies with us. A person who
comes for help is vulnerable and open to destructive action by the counselor.
The following are basic guidelines to consider as you review ethical standards
in more detail
1. Maintain Confidentiality: Counseling and psychotherapy rest on trust
between counselor and client. We as therapist are indeed in a powerful
 relationship and the more trust you build, the more power you have. It is
essential that we maintain the confidence of our volunteer client. But, at the
same time, we as students do not have legal confidentiality. Those with
whom we work should be aware of our student status.
Confidentiality is designed to protect clients (not counselors), and only the
courts, in the final analysis, can provide a guarantee of confidentiality.
2. Recognize our limitations: Maintain an egalitarian atmosphere with your
volunteer “clients,” classmates, or co-workers. Share with them before we
begin the constraints of the situation, the task we wish to work through with
them. Inform them that they are free to stop the process at any time.
Do not use the interview as a place to delve into the life of another human
being. The interview is for helping others, not examining them.
3. Seek consultation: As we practice the exercises presented throughout,
remain in consultation with our professor, workshop leader, or mentor.
Counseling and psychotherapy are often very private—it is important that
we constantly obtain supervision and consultation in our work. We may also
find it helpful to discuss our own growth as a helper with other students. At
the same time, be very careful in discussing what we have learned about our
clients.
4. Be aware of individual and cultural differences: An emphasis on cultural
issues can lead at times to stereotyping an individual. At the same time, an
overemphasis on individuality may miss background multicultural issues.
5. Remember both the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule in counseling
and therapy: Treat the client as we would like to be treated. Treat clients
the way they want to be treated. Put yourself in the place of the client. Every
person deserves to be treated with respect, dignity, kindness, and honesty.
6. Give special attention to ethical treatment of children and their rights.
BASIC HUB OF COUNSELING STAGES

1. EMPATHETIC RELATIONSHIP

Carl Rogers (1957, 1961) brought the importance of empathy to

our attention. He made it clear that it is vital to listen carefully, enterthe
world of the client, and communicate that we understand theclient’s
world as the client sees and experiences it.
 Putting yourself “in another person’s shoes” or viewing theworld
“through someone else’s eyes and ears” is another way to describe
empathy.
Current practice is to describe three types of empathic understanding:

a. Subtractive empathy:Counsellor responds and gives back to the client

less thanwhat the client stated, and perhaps even distort what has been
said. In this case, the listening or influencing skills are used
inappropriately.
b. Basic empathy:Counsellor’s responses are roughly interchangeable
with those ofthe client. The counsellor is able to say back accurately,
what the client has said.Skilled intentional competence with the basic
listening sequence demonstratesbasic empathy. Rogers pointed out that
listening in itself is necessary andsufficient to produce client change.
c. Additive empathy:Counsellor’s response that add something beyond
what theclient has said often are additive. This may be adding a link to
something the client has said earlier. Or, it may be a congruent idea or
frame of reference thathelps the client see a new perspective. Feedback
and own self-disclosure, used thoughtfully, can be additive.

In a counselling setting, empathetic relationship can be developed by initiating

the session, developing rapport and structuring.

Eg. “Hello, what would you like to talk about?” “What might you like to see as
a result of our talking today?”

i. Function and purpose:

Build a working alliance and enable the client to feel

comfortable with the counselling process. Explain what is likely to
happen in the session or series of sessions, including informed
consent and ethical issues. Discover client reasons for coming to
you.
ii. Commonly Used Skills

Attending, observation skills, BLS, information giving to help

structure the session. If the client asks you questions, you may use
self-disclosure.
iii. Anticipated Client Response

The client feels at ease with an understanding of the key ethical

issues and the purpose of the session. The client may also know you
more completely as a person and a professional and has a sense that
you are interested in his or her concerns.

2. MULTICULTURAL INFLUENCE

Multicultural competence is imperative in the interview process.

Awareness of our clients’ multicultural background enables us to
understand their uniqueness more fully. We live in a multicultural world
where every client you encounter will be different from the last and
different from you in some major way.
Without a basic understanding of and sensitivity to a
client’suniqueness, the interviewer will fail to establish a relationship
and true grasp of a client’s issues.You may anticipate the client’s
response to your exhibiting multicultural competence.
Critical to awareness is that interviewing and counselling have
now become globalphenomena. The early history of
interviewing,counselling, and therapy is populatedprimarily by famous
White male European and American figures, such as Sigmund Freud,
Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, etc. While their contributions are legion, they
all give at best only minor attention to cultural difference orto women.
The multicultural movement in counselling grew out of
dissatisfaction of minorities, women, gays/lesbians, people with
disabilities, and other groups who felt that traditional counseling and
therapy were not working effectively for them. A general theory of
multicultural counselling and therapy(MCT) has been developed to
address this problem. Feminist therapy is an example of a culturally
specific approach to new ways of working with women.
 Awareness, Knowledge, Skills, and Action for Multicultural

Competence

I. Awareness: Be Aware of Your Own Assumptions, Values, and Biases.

Awareness of yourself as a cultural being is a vital beginning to

authenticity. Unless you see yourself as a cultural being, you will have
difficulty developing awareness of others. The competency guidelines also
speak to how contextual issues beyond a person’s control affect the way the
person discusses issues and problems. Oppression, discrimination, sexism,
racism, and failure to recognize and take disability into account may deeply
affectclients without their conscious awareness. Is the problem “in the
individual” or “in theenvironment”? For example, you may need to help
clients become aware that issues such astension, headaches, and high blood
pressure may be results of the stress caused by harassmentand oppression.
Many issues are not just client problems but also problems of a larger
society.
II. Knowledge: Understand the Worldviewof the Culturally Different
Client

Worldview is formally defined as the way you and your client interpret
humanity andthe world. People of different historical, religious, and cultural
backgrounds worldwideoften have vastly different philosophic views on the
meaning of life, right and wrong, andpersonal responsibility versus control
by fate. Because of varying multicultural backgrounds,we have different
worldviews in the way we see and think about people. Often central to
differences in worldview are micro aggressions, which mount over time,
resulting in damagenot only to the psyche, but also to the body.
Traditional approaches to counseling theory and skills may be
inappropriate and/or ineffective with some groups. We also need to give
special attention to howsocioeconomic factors, racism, sexism, heterosexist,
and other oppressive forces mayinfluence a client’s worldview.
III.Skills and Action to Cope with the Resultsof Discrimination and Build
Cultural Health

“Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily

verbal,behavioural, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or
unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial
slights and insults toward people of color”(Sue, 2010).
Microaggressors are often unaware that they are harming another
person.Repeated racial harassment (or bullying) can literally result in
posttraumatic stress. Whatseems small at first is damaging through
repetition.

What do we do with instances of microaggressions and harassment in

counseling?
• Seekto move the perceptual frame and interpretations of life
issues and concerns, and buildresilience and build strength
through skilled use of communication skills.
• With individual clients, first watch for signs and stories that

represent microaggressions.

• Draw out the story sensitively, and be willing to self-disclose

andshare your support appropriately.

• Enlightened use of the many available theoreticalalternatives is

important, particularly multicultural counseling and therapy
(MCT)and social justice advocacy.
• Often just sitting with a client is not enough. Watch for

teachers and other influential persons who may be problematic.

Seek help fromcommunity leaders.
• Help clients name the issue and identify

contextual/environmental factors. Educate clients to understand

their goals, expectations, and legal rights—and provide tools
toaddress the situation.
• Apply advocacy skills and exercise institutional intervention
 skillson behalf of clients if needed.

• Use the guidelines offered by the Multicultural and Social

Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) (Ratts, Singh,

Nassar-McMillan, Butler, &McCullough, 2015) in practice. At
the same time, we must not impose our beliefs onclients. The
client needs to be ready to act.

WELLNESS

This model does not deny human problems and difficulties. Rather they seek to
present an alternative approach to these problems through a wellness
approach. If clients’ issues are discussed in an atmosphere of positive
psychology and strength, we will enhance our chances for enabling them to
work through complex issues.

Clients come to us to discuss their problems, their issues and their concerns.
They are talking with us about what is wrong with their lives and may even
want us to fix things for them. There is no question that our role is to enable
clients to live their lives more effectively and meaningfully. But an important
part of this process of problem solving is helping client discover their strengths.

The counselling profession’s wellness approach is a way of life oriented toward

optimal health and wellbeing, in which body, mind ,and spirit are integrated by
the individual so that he or she may live life more fully within the human and
natural community. The wellness model speaks specifically to a holistic view
of wellness.

A contextual /holistic view of wellness

The wellness model is holistic and refers to a self-in relation, the person-
incommunity, and individual-in-social context. All parts are related to the
whole, thus the self is actually indivisible and self is developed in connection
to others. Any change in any part of the self affects the total individual and
others as well. In addition, major changes in contextual factors may be as
important as or more important than individual change. we should not forget
that individuals can change the surrounding context.

Wellness model

Myers & Sweeney (2005) developed a model of wellness. This model provides
us with a useful map of possible places to search for strengths and resources in
the client. Important in the wellness model is the environment and client social
contexts. When considering any client, we need to be aware of family,
neighbourhood, and community for it is here that the client will most often find
supports and, of course, the source of many difficulties as well.

This model presents 17 dimensions of wellness basic to optimal health. These

factors organized into five sections, have direct implications for helping clients
become aware of their capacities and strength. Seventeen dimensions are a lot
to deal with, but if you first focus on yourself and your own wellness strengths,
you will have an initial understanding of the power of the positive in the
interview.
MICRO SKILLS

Microskills are single communication skill unit and it identifies the

behavioral foundations of intentional counseling and psychotherapy. They are
the specific communication skills that provide ways for you to reach many types
of clients. They will clarify the “how” of all theories of counseling and therapy.
Effective use of microskills enables us to anticipate how clients may respond to
our interventions. Counseling microskills can be used either in direct response
to the needs of the counseling process or in conjunction with any of counseling
strategies. The microskills hierarchy summarizes the successive steps of
intentional counseling and psychotherapy. More than 450 microskills research
studies have been conducted (Ivey & Daniels, 2016) and Iveys model has been
tested nationally and internationally in more than 1,000 clinical and teaching
programs. Microcounseling was the first systematic video-based counseling
model to identify specific observable counseling skills. It was also the first skills
training program that emphasized multicultural issues. Some of the most
valuable research findings include the following: (1) We can expect results from
microskills training, (2) Practice is essential, (3) Multicultural differences are
real, (4) different counseling theories have varying patterns of skill usage, (5)
If you use a specific microskill, then you can expect a client to respond in
anticipated ways, (6) Neuroscience and brain research support clinical and
research experience with the microskills approach.

THE MICROSKILL HIERARCHY

The skills of interviewing rest on the base of ethics, multi-cultural

competence, and wellness. On this lies the micro-skill of attending behaviour,
questioning, observation skills, encouraging, paraphrasing, and summarizing,
reflection of feeling, confrontation, focusing, influencing silks and strategies.
ETHICS, MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE AND WELLNESS

Ethics

The base of the Microskill hierarchy is laid in ethics which is used by all major
helping professions that have codes or guidelines for ethical practice.

● Keep good practice.

● Protect their clients

● Safeguard their autonomy

● Enhance the profession

DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

ACA (2005) focuses the preamble to their code of ethics on diversity as

a central ethical issue. The ACA recognises diversity and embrace a
crosscultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and
uniqueness of each individual within social and cultural contexts.
WELLNESS

The client’s issues are discussed in an atmosphere of positive

psychology and strength, which will enhance the therapist’s chance of enabling
the client to work through complex issues.
ATTENDING BEHAVIOUR

Ability to make contact with another human being through listening and talking
as well as by non-verbal means is of utmost importance in counselling.
Listening is especially critical it enables them to continue to talk and explore.
Attending behaviour is considered the foundation of micro-skills. Attending
behaviour was first introduced to the helping field by Ivey et al (1968). Listen
before you leap!

The skill of attending behaviour consists of four central dimensions they are

“3 V’s + B”

• Visual/ eye contact

• Vocal qualities

• Verbal tracking

• Attentive and authentic body language

OPEN AND CLOSE QUESTIONS

Questions are an essential component in many theories. Especially, cognitive

behavioural counselling, brief counselling and career decision- making work.
Sometimes questions are the only way to fill in data that is missing

• Open questions: those that can’t be answered in few words and wherein
one encourages the client to give maximum information as possible.
Typically begins with what, how, why and could.
• Closed questions: they can be answered in few words or sentences.
Here one can focus on specific concepts and obtain information. The
guiding of the conversation lies on the interviewer. It often begins with
is, are or do.
CLIENT OBSERVATION SKILLS

The three basic concepts that can help develop a foundation for continued
growth in understanding what goes on between you and the client are:

Nonverbal Behaviour

Nonverbal communications can be different in various cultures .Data shows that

about 85% or more of one’s daily communication is nonverbal in nature.
1)Facial expressions:

It is one of the most important aspect to focus on for nonverbal communication.

Seemingly small and subtle changes are important to what a client is
experiencing and requires a lot of work and practice. The way in which the
brows furrow or the breathing pattern gives way to so much information.
However, caution must be taken when interpreting the meaning of these
observations as they are in the end only just interpretations.

2)Body language:

Hand and arm gestures may indicate how you and the client are organising
things. Random gestures may point to confusion, where as a person seeking
control move them in straight lines.

Verbal Behaviour

Language is basic to counselling. The useful dimensions for verbal observation:

selective attention, client key words, “I” statements and “other” statements, and
abstract and concrete conversations.

1. Selective attention:

Clients tend to talk about what they believe we are interested in and are
willing to hear. Your theory of choice is a determining factor in how you
listen to others (psychoanalysts hear about dreams, existentialists listen to
clients talk about meaning in life, etc.). At the beginning we usually draw
out client’s stories and issues from their ow language perspective and
consider how the client talks and makes meaning.
2. Key words

If you listen carefully to clients, certain words appear frequently in their

description of situations. Noting their key words and helping them explore
facts, feelings and meanings underlying those key words may be useful.
These key words are often the constructs by which the client organises the
world. Verbal underlayingthrough vocal emphasis by intonations and
volume help clients stress the single words or phrase is another helpful clue
in determining what is important to the client. Using key words help
facilitate your understanding and communications with them.

3. Concreteness versus abstraction

Concrete/situational style are skilled at providing specifics and examples of

their concerns and problems. This helps you know precisely what happened
from their point of view. They have difficulty in seeing from another’s
perspective. Children are primarily concrete in there talk.

Clients who are more abstract or formal operational have strengths in

selfanalysis and are skilled at reflecting on their issues. They however, talk
in such broad generalities that it is hard to understand them.

In both cases we need to implement the other. Abstract clients must be

probed for specifics (Could you give me an example?) while concrete
thinkers must self-examine and self-report (What is the one thing you
remember most about this?).

4. “I” statements and “other” statements

Client’s ownership and responsibility for issues will often be shown in the
eye statements and other statements. Some client’s attribute the difficulties
solely to themselves others see the outside world as the issue. A woman who
is sexually assaulted may believe that she provoked the incident clearly see
that others and environment are at fault. When working with alcoholic often
a part of recovery is to help them move to the critical “I statement” that “I
am an alcoholic”. Another part of recovery is recognising others and
showing esteem for others thus balancing the “I” and “other” statements.
Discrepancies

One of the major tasks of counsellor interview is to identify basic discrepancies,

mixed messages, conflicts or incongruities in the client’s behaviour and life.

• Discrepancies in nonverbal behaviour:

Mix messages are often conveyed when parts of the body lack congruence, for
example a client’s smile is coupled with a tightly closed fist.

• Discrepancies in verbal statement:

In a single sentence a client may express two completely contradictory ideas.

“This is a lovely office, it’s too bad that is in a bad neighbourhood”.

• Discrepancies between what one says and what one does:

A parent may talk of love for a child will be guilty of child abuse.

• Discrepancies between statements and nonverbal behaviour:

The client me talk over desire to repair a troubled relationship while

simultaneously picking at his or her clothes. Client’s make small or large
physical movements away from the interviewer when they are confronted with
the troubling issue and feel in adequately supported by the interviewer.

• Discrepancies between people:

Noting interpersonal conflict is a key task of the counsellor. You will find that
one of the predominant issues you face in interview is discord and arguments
among people. Mediation in particular focuses on this type of discrepancy.

• Discrepancies between client and a situation:

In such situations the client’s ideal world is often incongruent with what really
is. The councillor’s task is to work through these issues in terms of behaviour
and attitudes. Discrimination, heterosexism, sexism represent situational
discrepancies.
 • Discrepancies between you and the client:

One of the most challenging issues occurs when you are in the Client or not in
synchrony. In such cases you interpret or reframe the situation differently from
how the client has been presenting it. Or you may face differences squarely and
openly discuss your mutual lack of communication at that moment.

ENCOURAGING, PARAPHRASING AND SUMMARIZING

When one is encouraging, paraphrasing and summarizing one is actively

involved in the interview. These are the basic empathic understandings and
enable you to communicate to the clients that they have been heard. Active
listening demands that you participate fully by helping the client by distilling,
shortening and clarifying what has been said. It is essential that you have a non-
judgemental attitude in which you listen to the clients without evaluating them
and what they say as “good” or “bad”.

Encouraging

Encouragers are a variety of verbal and nonverbal means that a counsellor can
use to prompt clients to continue talking. Such as head nods, open gestures,
positive facial expressions, “Ummm” and “Uh-huh”. Silence accompanied by
an appropriate nonverbal communication is another type of encourager.

Key words and direct restatements have shown more effect on what clients talk
about. Key words contain 1-3 words while restatements are longer. The focus
however, is staying very close to the client’s language, most typically changing
“I” to “You”. All encouragers facilitate client talk unless they are overused or
used badly. Excessive head nodding and too much parroting can be annoying
and frustrating for the client. On the other hand, lack of its usage may indicate
that you are not interested or involved. Single-word encouragers often lead to
client talk about deeper meanings.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing feeds back to the client the essence of what has just been said. The
counsellor shortens and clarifies the client’s comment. If your paraphrasing is
accurate then you’ll obtain a response such as, “Yes, that’s right”. Accurate
paraphrasing will help the client stop repeating the same story. There ae some
clients whose stories no one has ever bothered to hear accurately and they just
want to tell it until someone gets it right. Once the client feels they are heard
they often move on to the next topic. Paraphrasing may be in your own words
but must reflect the main ideas and concepts rendered by the client’s view and
not your own.

Summarizing

It is similar to paraphrasing but is useful to distil and clarify what the client has
said over a long span of time. It is useful to begin or end an interview and also
when moving to a new topic. Summarizing encompasses a longer period of
conversation and at times may cover an entire interview or a series of issues
discussed over many interviews.

The interviewer attends to verbal and nonverbal comments from the client over
a period of time and then selectively attends to key concepts and dimensions,
restating them for the client as accurately as possible. A checkout at the end of
the summarization is necessary for accuracy.

REFLECTION OF FEELING

The first task in eliciting reflecting feeling is to identify the key

emotional words expressed by the client. However, there are unspoken feelings
expressed by the client that they may or may not be aware of. These are
expressed nonverbally. Reflection of reveals underlying complex and
sometimes conflicting emotions.

It is seen that many of us are not trained to focus on another person’s

emotional experience as general social conversation ignores feelings unless its
prominent. The primary emotions of sadness, anger, happiness, fear, disgust and
surprise are validated across all cultures in terms of facial expression and
language. However, client’s express emotions in ways that are less clear. Words
such as puzzled, sympathy, guilt, pride, jealously are social emotions made up
from the primary emotions and learned in the cultural/environmental context.
(guilt = anger + sadness + fear)
 The skill of reflecting feelings is aimed at assisting others to sense and
experience the basic part of themselves. A common task for counsellors is to
help sort out mixed feelings toward significant people in the client’s life.
Sometimes even a brief acknowledgment of feelings is more appropriate than a
deeper exploration of it.

Positive Emotions in the Reflection of Feeling

Research shows that positive emotions broaden the scope of people’s

visual attention, expand their repertoires for action and increase their capacities
to cope in a crisis. If one were to recall a specific situation where you
experienced a positive emotion it is likely that you will smile, your body tension
reduce and the blood pressure may change in a positive direction. Thus, when
you experience emotions the brain signals for bodily changes and hence
emotions are the foundation for all out thinking experience.

Research examining the life of nuns showed that those who expressed more
positive emotions in early life lived longer. Therefore, searching for wellness
strengths and positive assets will help your client and you. Negative emotions
must be observed but a base of positive emotions may help cope with the
negative aspect better.

Noting Emotional Intensity

Clients have varying levels of intensity with which they describe emotional
experiences. Some may be overwhelmed by emotions while others may use
cognition to avoid looking into their feelings.

In Developmental Counselling Therapy (DCT) key observational skills have

been identified to help organise the dept of the emotion the client is
experiencing. Once you are aware of how the client’s style of experiencing
emotions you will be able to help them explore the world of affect and feeling.

Confrontation

It is to challenge another person over a discrepancy or disagreement

between his thoughts, feelings, and actions. The skill of confrontation is not to
be used in a way of threatening a client or applying a negative focus, but to
Confront and also support. The counsellor gently brings about awareness in the
client and makes them aware of something that they may have overlooked or
avoided. As, some clients contradict themselves unconsciously.

Confrontation is not a direct, harsh challenge. Think of it, rather, as a more

gentle more skill that involves listening to the client carefully and respectfully;
and, then, seeking to help the client examine self or situation more fully.
Confrontation is not “going against” the client; it is “going with” the client,
seeking clarification and the possibility of a creative New, which enables
resolution of difficulties.

Confrontations account for only 1% to 5% of interviewer statements (Hill &

O’Brien, 1999). This is because too much of confrontation makes the client feel
like they do not have a problem, but are the problem.

There are 3 steps to confrontation

1. Listening and Identification (mixed messages, discrepancies, and

incongruity)

• They can be verbal or non-verbal.

2. Clarify and clearly point out issues. Bring about Awareness.

• On these Incongruities, and

• Assist the client to work through them

3. Listen, observe, and evaluate the effectiveness of your intervention on

client change and growth

THE FIVE STAGE INTERVIEW STRUCTURE

The five stages are also a structure for decision making. Eventually, all clients
will be making decisions about behavior, thoughts, feelings, and meanings.
Each theory gives different attention to these, and they use varying language,
names, and techniques

Benjamin Franklin as the originator of the systematic decision-making model.

He suggested three phases of what he termed problem solving:

(1) Empathic relationship.

Initiate the session. Develop rapport and structuring. “Hello, what would you
like to talk about?” “What might you like to see as a result of our talking today?”

• Function and purpose: Build a working alliance and enable the client to
feel comfortable with the counseling process. Explain what is likely to
happen in the session or series of sessions, including informed consent
and ethical issues. Discover client reasons for coming to you.
• Commonly used skills: Attending, observation skills, BLS, information
giving to help structure the session. If the client asks you questions, you
may use self-disclosure.
• Anticipated clients response: The client feels at ease with an

understanding of the key ethical issues and the purpose of the session.
The client may also know you more completely as a person and a
professional—and has a sense that you are interested in his or her
concerns.
(2) Story and strengths.

Gather data. Use the BLS to draw out client stories, concerns, problems, or
issues. “I’d like to hear your story.” “What are your strengths and resources?”

• Function and purpose: Discover and clarify why the client has come to
the session and listen to the client’s stories and issues. Identify strengths
and resources as part of a strengthbased positive psychology approach.
• Commonly used skills:Attending and observation skills, especially the

basic listening sequence and the positive asset search.

• Anticipated clients response: The client shares thoughts, feelings, and

behaviors; tells the story in detail; presents strengths and resources.

(3) Goals

Set goals mutually. The BLS will help define goals. “What do you want to
happen?” “How would you feel emotionally if you achieved this goal?” One
possible goal is exploration of possibilities, rather than focusing immediately.

• Function and purpose:If you don’t know where you are going, you

may end up somewhere else. In brief counseling (later in this chapter),

goal setting is fundamental, and this stage may be part of the first phase
of the session. All the same, openness to change and exploration are
good places to start.
• Commonly used skills: Attending skills, especially the basic listening
sequence; certain influencing skills, especially confrontation (Chapter
10), may be useful.
• Anticipated clients response:The client will discuss directions in which
he or she might want to go, new ways of thinking, desired feeling states,
and behaviors that might be changed. The client might also seek to learn
how to live more effectively with stressful situations or events that
cannot be changed at this point (rape, death, an accident, an illness). A
more ideal story might be defined.
(4) Restory

Explore alternatives via the BLS. Confront client incongruities and conflict.
“What are we going to do about it?” “Can we generate new ways of thinking,
feeling, and behaving?”

• Function and purpose: Generate at least three alternatives that might

resolve the client’s issues. Creativity is useful here. Seek to find at least
three alternatives so that the client has a choice. One choice at times may
be to do nothing and accept things as they are. The system of restorying
will vary extensively with different theories and approaches.
• Commonly used skills: Summary of major discrepancies with a

supportive confrontation. More extensive use of influencing skills,

depending on theoretical orientation (e.g., psychoeducation,
 interpretation, reflection of meaning, feedback). But this is also possible
using only listening skills. Use creativity to solve problems.
• Anticipated clients response: The client may reexamine individual

goals in new ways, solve problems from at least those alternatives, and
start the move toward new stories and actions.
(5) Action

For generalizing session learning to “real life.” “Will you use what you
decided to do today, tomorrow, or this coming week?”

• Function and purpose: Generalize new learning and facilitate client

changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in daily life. Commit the
client to homework and an action plan. As appropriate, plan for
termination of sessions.
• Commonly used skills:Influencing skills, such as directives and

information/explanation, plus attending and observation skills and the

basic listening sequence to check out client understanding.
• Anticipated clients response: The client demonstrates changes in

behavior, thoughts, and feelings in daily life outside of the interview

conversation. Or the client explores new alternatives and reports back
discoveries.

FOCUSING

Focusing skills are ways in which a counsellor elicits information from the
client by directing the conversation (or client’s story) into particular areas. Ivey
identified 7 areas in Counselling, to bring about broader perspectives about
client’s stories, giving them insight from different points of view, and thus
providing potential solutions.

1. Individual focus

The counsellor focuses totally on the personal aspects of the client, like
the demographics, history, and reasons why the client sought
counselling. Frequent use the client’s name brings about individual
focus and the feeling of importance. The counsellor uses questions like,
 “Joan, tell me a little about yourself” or “Joan, are you the oldest
daughter in the family?”

2. Main theme or problems focus

Where the counsellor focuses on the reason why the client sought
counselling. Using questioning and other skills, the counsellor brings
about information about the present problem that the client is dealing
with.

3. Other focus

Since no problem is truly isolated, it is important to gather information

about the client’s interactions with various people of society. This
includes persons like friends, colleagues, extended family members and
other individuals.

4. Family focus

Close relationships can be either therapeutic or toxic. Having a

bad relationship with individuals that we are close to causes significant
distress in our lives. These individuals comprise of siblings,
parents/children, and even chose friends who we treat as close as family.
Depending on the family structure, such as nuclear or joint families,
different types of family systems deal with distinct problems. It is the
responsibility of the counsellor to bring out this information with a little
more diligence as there are more emotions involved.

5. Mutual focus and immediacy

This area of focus is on both the client and the counsellor, in the
present moment. The counsellor focuses on using “we” statements, and
talks about what is going on in the session; that is, the here and now.
Attempts are made to put the counsellor and client on an equal level.
The type of statements and questions differ depending on how early or
late the session has progressed.
 ● (early in the session)“Vanessa, you have a lot on your plate, but
we will work through your issues. Right now I can almost feel
your hurt.”

● (later sessions)“Vanessa, we’ve been working together for 2

weeks now. I sense at this moment that you felt angry at what I
just said. I’m glad that you can openly express your feelings to
me.”

6. Interviewer focus

At a particular point in the counselling interview, the counsellor

has the liberty to share one’s own experiences and reactions in reference
to the information received from the client. The counsellor uses
statements such as, “I felt really confused and worried when my mother
had the same illness. I simply didn’t know what to do. Is that close to
the way you feel?” or “I can understand your frustration with the car. It
happened to me last week.”

7. Cultural/environmental/contextual & broader issues such as the impact

of the economy
Allen Ivey emphasises on the importance of how a client is
influenced by the community (in which they grew up), and the way in
which this influences their beliefs, feelings, thoughts and behaviours. It
is important that he counsellor focuses on the aspects of gender, race,
ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, etc.

8. Reflection of Meaning and Interpretation/Reframing

It is the responsibility of the counsellor to explore deeply held thoughts

and bring out meanings associated with these thoughts and their underlying life
experiences. This helps clients search more deeply into these aspects of their
own life experiences with the help of the counsellor through introspection.
Reflection of meaning facilitates clients in finding deeper meanings and values,
providing a guiding sense of vision and direction for their lives. The goal of
interpretation/reframing is to provide a new way of restoring and understanding
thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, which often results in new ways of making
meaning.

The how of meaning

● Help many clients facing extreme difficulty

● Help clarify cultural and individual differences

▪ Same words often have varying underlying meaning for each client because
of their differences in culture, race, religion, etc.

● Meaning is often implicit (it is helpful to lead clients to explore and

clarify meaning)

• First by eliciting meaning through exploration

• And then by reflecting meaning

Interpretation/reframing (at its deepest level)

Viktor Frankl constantly reframed his experience in the German

concentration camp by integrating the here-and-now positive reframing with
meaning. In the middle of the terror, where a natural response is to express
intense anxiety and distress, he was able to enjoy the beauty of a sunset,
remember his times with his wife, and was able to enjoy and focus on tasting
and eating a small bit of bread

The major reframe of such traumatic experience, of course, is “I

survived” or “You survived.” Despite the traumatic experience (war, rape,
accident), you are still here with the possibility of changing a part of the world.

Influencing skills and strategies

The counsellor possesses a lot of influence over the client’s ‘Center of

Being’, and it becomes stronger as the client-counsellor relationship progresses.
The skills of confrontation, focusing, reflection of meaning, and
interpretation/reframing have a substantial amount of interpersonal influence in
the relationship. However, this influence cannot be taken for granted or be
misused. Counselling and interviewing are for the client, not for the counsellor.
The use of influencing skills must be done only with full client participation in
the session. It is important to provide disclosure of what is going to happen in
the session before hand through contracts and psychoeducation. It is an
important part in maintaining a relationship and working alliance throughout
the interview. For example, a Doctor or Nurse a nurse discloses that an injection
is going to hurt a little before proceeding with the task. If this is not done, or
false information (saying this will not hurt at all) is given, the patient’s level of
trust in the professional will decrease. Disclosure tends to build comfort and
trust even when the next step of the interview may not be comfortable.

While using Influencing Skills: Listen, Then Act, following the “1-2-3

model”

1. Listen

2. Assess and influence

3. Check Out and Observe Client Response

There are a total of five influencing skills

1. Self-disclosure

Research reveals that clients of counsellors who self-disclose report lower

levels of symptom distress and like the counsellor more (Barrett & Berman,
2001). Self-disclosure is when the counsellors reveal information about
themselves. This must again be done efficiently and the right time. Sometimes
counsellors can end up spending too much time on your own issues and neglect
the client. Hence there are four dimensions of self-disclosure.

1. Listen, following the “1-2-3” model

2. Use “I” statements

3. Share and describe your thoughts, feelings, or behaviours briefly

4. Use appropriate immediacy and tense

2. Feedback

Clients often require reassuring responses about the information they provide
and guidelines regarding how to move forward from the present situation.
Hence feedback must be given keeping few points in mind.

1. The client receiving feedback should be in charge

2. Feedback should focus on strengths and/or an issue the client can do

something about

3. Feedback should be concrete and specific

4. Feedback should be relatively non-judgmental and interactive

5. Here-and-now, present-tense feedback can give real immediacy to the

interview

6. Feedback should be lean and precise

7. Check out how your feedback was received

Feedback can be Positive, Corrective and Negative. Positive feedback must be

used most frequently, as it helps the client restory in more constructive
direction, by focusing on their positives and resources. Corrective feedback
must be when the client expressed discrepancies between what they feel, think,
and do.

3. Logical consequences

This is to influence the thinking of the client and make them think in a way that
they explore specific alternatives, and the logical positive and negative concrete
consequence of each possibility. It is a way of bringing them to realize the
consequence of each decision, whether positive and negative. The counsellor
uses statements like, “If you do this . . . , then . . .” The Strategies to being about
this kind of thinking can be brought about,

1. Through listening skills, then summarize

2. By using questions and brainstorming

3. By outlining both the positive and negative consequences

4. By encouraging client decision making

Some counsellors use the method of preparing a decisional balance sheet,

wherein the client is made to weigh the pros and cons of each decision they are
willing to make, eventually achieving some process goals.

4. Information/Psycho education

Here the counsellor shares specific information with the client, such as career
information in terms of career guidance. In certain counselling sessions,
especially towards the end of the session, the counsellor gives advice or
opinions on how to resolve issues and provide useful suggestions for personal
change. In the process the counsellor helps them develop a wellness plan,
teaches them how to use micro skills in interpersonal relationships, and
educates them on multicultural issues and discrimination.

5. Directives

Directives are the means of providing clients with specifics for action. When
counsellors use directives, they use an expansion of the “1-2-3” pattern by, 1.
Involving clients as co-participant in the directive strategy

2. Using appropriate visuals, vocal tone, verbal following, and body

language

3. Bing clear and concrete in their verbal expression and time the

directive to meet client needs

4. Checking out whether their directive was heard and understood

This helps the clients re-story and take concrete action in their issues. The
counsellor also provides directives as homework (methods of coping until the
next session), such as The Relaxation Response, Mindfulness, Positive
Imagery, and Thought-Stopping.
REFERENCES

1. Ivey, A., Ivey, M., &Zalaquett, C. (2016). Intentional interviewing and

counseling (9th ed.,). United States of America: CENGAGE learning.