Basic Responding Skills

• Basic responding skills, also known as listening skills, indicate a counselor's ability to accurately hear and understand the counselee
• Use of minimal encourages involves verbal and nonverbal behaviors of the counselor, expressing interest in the client's story
• Restatement and paraphrasing involve restarting what the counselee has shared without altering the meaning, allowing for a deep understanding of the client's experience
• Reflection or feelings is the capacity to reflect on the emotions or feelings the counselee has about a particular event
• Summarization in counseling attempts to bring together all the important parts of the discussion
• Areas of specialization in counseling include:

  • School counseling
  • Mental health or clinical counseling
  • Rehabilitation counseling
  • Industrial counseling
  • Marriage and family counseling
  • Private practice
  • Community counseling
• Career opportunities for counseling professionals include roles such as:

  • Elementary and high school counselors
  • College counselors
  • Teaching in academia
  • Workshop facilitator
  • Community counselor
  • Marriage and family counselors
  • Career counselor
  • Substance abuse counselor
  • Rehabilitation counselors
  • Researcher