Due Date: Check course profile
Weight: 40%
Format: Essay, presented in APA format and using Griffith Health assignment format guidelines.
Marked out of: 100 (marking criteria below).
Word Limit: Maximum of 2,000 words (electronic word count from beginning of first paragraph to end of last paragraph, excluding reference list & appendices).
Aim: The aim of this assessment item is to develop your knowledge of how to successfully use micro-skills, and to give you an opportunity to reflect on the development of your own micro-skills for your future practice.
Task Description: For this task you need to write a 2000-word essay in which you critically analyse and evaluate the skills and approach of a counsellor demonstrated in a short 14-minute, video and reflect on the development of your own micro-skills. Throughout your essay you should refer to specific examples from the video and support your analysis with references to appropriate literature.
Steps for Completing your Assessment
- Before watching the video, study the relevant content on micro-skills in the course site.
- Watch the assignment video a few times and take notes about what micro-skills you saw the counsellor display (including the time on the video, e.g., 10:12) and what you can analyse in your assignment. When watching the video think about…
- Which micro-skills did you see the practitioner use in the session? (i.e. observing, summarising, attending, reflection of feeling, reflection of content, questioning, minimal encouragers)
- Were the skills used effectively?
- What was the impact? How could you tell?
- What micro-skills helped or hindered the process?
- How did the micro-skills contribute to the counselling relationship?
- What worked well or not so well in the session, and why?
- What could have been done differently? What are your suggestions for change or improvement?
- In your essay you should critically analyse and evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the session (i.e., how micro-skills were used and the impact on the discussion with the client). For example:
Open questions are often used by practitioners as they invite people to tell their story in their own words without leading them in a specific direction (Smith, 2017). In the video, open questions were used several times (2:35, 4:22, 5:36) and this enabled the practitioner to learn more about the client. Open questions can also allow for a richer, deeper conversation to occur and this can help to build a sense of safety for a client (Brown, 2010). This was demonstrated when the client began opening up about XXXX (2:45).
Sometimes the practitioner used closed questions which can …. The practitioner could have instead used …… For example, “ “. This might have resulted in …..
- At the end of your essay, you need to reflect on the development of your own microskills. Some questions to consider in your reflection include:
- Which micro-skills do you feel comfortable or uncomfortable using, and why?
- Which micro-skills do you think you need to develop further? How might you do this?
- Before writing your assignment read through the marking criteria below as it contains more in-depth information about the breakdown for marks.
- Before submitting your work, review your draft against the marking criteria below to ensure you have covered all areas.
Tips for Completion
- Focus on the skills and approaches used by the counsellor and use examples to illustrate your points. Look specifically for the micro-skills listed in Topic 5 – i.e., Observing; Attending; Questioning; Minimal encouragers; Reflection of feeling; Reflection of content; & Summarising.
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