Stages of psychological consultation

Psychological counseling usually consists of the following steps:

Establishing contact.

Establishing and maintaining contact. There is contact when the consultant is heard and understood, they want to hear and understand. Sometimes you need to be more solid, sometimes warmer — look here, but you always need to be attentive to the client. See →

Clarification of the situation and request.

Request definition. The client tells, the consultant understands the situation and understands the request. “What is wrong with you is understandable. What you do not want — heard. What do you want?» — As a rule, general words are heard, often in negative formulations (get rid of, stop), but this is already a step forward. Formulation of the image of the desired result, for the client — the overall goal of the conversation. What do we want to come as a result of our conversation? What result will suit you? «Speak out — and it’s good» «Make a list of what to do — and start doing it» See →

Building a concept about customer problems

What are the main difficulties of the client, what needs to be worked on. See Synton-map of personal diagnostics.

Thinking out a plan.

Development of an action plan. The psychologist needs to develop two plans that he must keep in mind. The first is a plan of what the client should do to solve his problem. The second is a plan of how, in what sequence and in what form to present all this to the client. It is necessary to ensure that the client was able to understand the plan, accept it, become interested in the plan and begin to implement the plan. See →

Format, setting the client to work.

Presenting an action plan should set the client up for future work. Recommendations need to be adequately presented, “sell” is expensive. To “sell” recommendations cheaply means to destroy them, to substitute them for the “Yes BUT” game. Before making recommendations, you need to make sure that the client is ready to work. Typical formula: «I will provide you with references in exchange for your willingness to work.» See →

Implementation of the plan, work with the client.

The implementation of the plan is actually a psychological consultation. Sometimes it is a joint search for a solution, sometimes a specific instruction from a specialist. The direction and content of the work is determined both by the client’s request and the psychologist’s vision. We give a new vision of the present and technical tips.

Homework: the work of the client himself.

A consultation is usually just preparation for what is to be continued in life. The client must receive a task, what he needs to do after the consultation. The clearer, more objective, more specific the description of his future actions, the better. Tasks should be within the client’s strength (simple) and fit into his philosophy of life (do not cause internal protests). Important points: adapting the result to reality (how exactly will you do what you decide?), fixing decisions (best in writing), checking the environmental friendliness of recommendations (If you do this, will it suit you? Are you ready for the consequences that could it cause?).

The end of the consultation is a test to see if the client understands you and what he is going to do. Are there doubts, blocking fears? If necessary, final motivation and support, sometime pumping of responsibility. Fixing the result: suggestions for action and positive. Ensuring the client exits in a resourceful state (calmly, cheerfully, confidently).

Common Mistakes

Accordingly, typical errors:

• Listening to complaints without defining the positive goal of the client, lack of clarity: “What do you want? — I want …»
• Cheap Tips: Recommendations without a decent «sell». Telling the client what to do without defining their intentions. As a result, it turns out that the woman only wanted to complain, and that she was “not ready” to change anything.
• Explaining what is happening instead of looking for a solution.