Counselling Skills for trans peer supporters mentors Counselling

Counselling Skills for trans peer supporters & mentors

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Today’s Content counselling v emotional support some core micro-skills of counselling skills practice and role-play emotional first aid for anxiety, depression and trauma building a safe, supportive alliance Self-care further resources

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors What is counselling? …professional activities that utilise an interpersonal relationship to enable people to develop self understanding and to make changes in their lives…A clearly contracted, principled relationship that enables individuals to obtain assistance in exploring and resolving issues… - PACFA A collaborative inquiry, in which a therapist supports, and at times challenges, a client to reach deeper understandings, to help move them towards positive change and personal fulfilment.

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Informal emotional support Empathy and affirmation to temporarily ease symptoms of distress Comes from a social not professional relationship (each having their own rules and conventions) Doesn’t generally include challenge Less structured, with no clear contract, goals or treatment plan Does not involve conscious use of interventions

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Assumptions of the Solution. Focused approach ‘Collaborative’, ‘strengths-based’ & ‘constructivist’ The client is the expert in their own life The client already possesses the raw materials for their own personal growth and development Focus in on present and future possibilities and strengths

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors 5 Solution-Focused micro-skills 1. Restating & Paraphrasing 2. Acknowledging & Normalising 1. Skills, Possibilities and exceptions (mining for inner resources) 1. Scaling 1. Open Questions (Broadening, not narrowing the conversation)

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Activity 1: restating & paraphrasing 1. Find a partner 1. Choose a speaker and a listener 1. Take 5 minutes for the speaker to talk about significant events or experiences of the day or week 1. Listener restates and paraphrases, where appropriate, to support the expansion of the story 1. Swap roles and repeat

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Phrases for acknowledging and normalising 1. I can hear how hard this is for you right now 1. With what you’ve been through, I’d be surprised if you weren’t feeling this way right now 2. I know you’re really suffering and you’re right, it’s just not fair

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Scaling questions 1. On a scale of ‘ 1’ to ‘ 10’, with ‘ 10 representing the happiest you’ve ever felt and 1 representing the most unhappy you’ve ever felt, where would you be today? 1. What has stopped you slipping below ‘ 2’? 1. What’s one thing you think you could do today to take that up to a ‘ 4’?

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Questions for uncovering hidden skills, possibilities & exceptions 1. So, even though you felt like (shutting yourself away), you still managed to (venture out and seek support). How did you manage that? 1. Can you tell me about times when you don’t feel (depressed)? What are you doing differently then? 2. You seem to have the ability to cope with a lot of obstacles and not let them defeat you. Have you always had that strength? Where did that come from?

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Activity 2: micro-skills practice 1. Facilitator role-plays a peer 1. Two volunteers become peer supporters, drawing on the micro-skills to engage the peer in a supporting conversation 1. Reflect on the role-play

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Emotional first aid for depression & anxiety Healthy eating (supports the body to support us) Satisfying sleep (restores body and mind) Regular physical exercise (releases endorphins) Social connectedness (we are not an island) Meaning (a purpose helps us get out of bed)

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Emotional first aid for posttrauma and panic attacks What’s my name? What day is it today? Look around the room and name three things that include the colour green Feel your feet pressing into the floor, place your hands on your thighs and describe the texture to me Feel how your breaths are becoming slower and deeper You are here with me and you are safe What’s my name?

Counselling skills for peer supporters & mentors Building a safe, supportive alliance The right place Confidentiality Contract / agreement Admit to mistakes and limitations Be congruent, be you

The Rainbow Service Feel free to contact Chris Pye at the Rainbow Service from Relationships Australia, to discuss any of this presentation or to explore further support for a peer Ph: 1300364277