Challenging and Confrontation

 Challenging skills might be used during the second stage of counselling according to Egan, when the trust has already been established between the client and the counsellor. There are some principles of effective challenging that need to be considered before clients are challenged.

 

 

First of all, challenging should be done in order to move the client towards new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Secondly, it can only be done effectively if the counsellor is attuned to the client first, trust is established, this can be followed by more provocative forms of challenging.

Thirdly, it should evolve from the client’s own insight through the process, the focus should be on the client’s agenda. The counsellor might feel an urge to challenge certain aspects of the client, supervision can help to find the balance regarding this. Next, it should be done with empathy and compassion in a sensitive and tactful way. Also, finding the optimal level of challenging is important, too much can make the client feel ashamed or guilty, consequently clients can get defensive or resistant. The same is true for timing. However, insufficient challenging can cause stagnation in the therapy. Also, the client can be involved in the challenging process, asking for permission to challenge can make a huge difference in how the client perceives being challenged.

In addition, encouraging clients to self-challenge can enable them to be more self-aware and make better choices and take responsibility for their actions. Challenging unused strengths can also be effective to move the client forward in certain situations. Although, this depends on the orientation of the therapy. Humour can also be used. Finally, staying open to being challenged by the client can be useful, this way the counsellor models this attitude.

By using challenging skills we can help clients to identify inconsistencies or discrepancies in their own behaviour or in relation to others and by being challenged new perspectives might be developed. Challenging skills include immediacy, counsellor’s self-disclosure, advanced empathy and giving information.

Using the skill of immediacy can be a powerful tool to openly discuss what is going on in the relationship between the client and the therapist in the here and now. Self- disclosure can be beneficial but it has some dangers too so the following factors should be taken into consideration: context, the nature of the problem, timing, extent, non-verbal behaviour and intervention. Self-disclosure can be beneficial if the client feels understood by the counsellor by having the same human experience. It can also encourage clients to confront more painful issues, it can bring the client and counsellor closer together, they can establish a deeper relationship. Dangers include: the client can get confused or upset, attention can be shifted from the client. The client might worry about the counsellor.

All in all, self disclosure should be measured, accurately judged and well-timed. We also have to bear in mind that confidentiality is not a reciprocal agreement.

 Using advanced empathy can enable clients to identify aspects of themselves that are in a deeper more intuitive awareness. Unspoken concerns can be understood. Non-verbal cues can help the counsellor to identify these for example when there’s a discrepancy between the client’s content and the facial expressions.

Bibliography:

The Skilled Helper Egan, Gerard Dr. 2018. Mason

Psychodynamic Counselling in Action, Jacobs, 1988, Sage