Page 21 - PartA

Counselling Skills

For example:

‘You feel angry because you were passed over for promotion.’

Reflecting can also be done physically by the counsellor adopting the mirror image
body language of the client. This is referred to as ‘mirroring’ and is one way of helping
achieve rapport, so that the other person can feel more comfortable and safe.

It involves the counsellor adopting aspects of the client’s behaviour, particularly body
language, but also gestures, tone of voice or forms of speech. However, counsellors
must be subtle in the use of this technique – if it is too obvious the client will think that
they are being made fun of.

In everyday life, people tend to do this naturally. When with others, you might suddenly
notice that you and the person you’re with have adopted the same posture. Or at a
social occasion you might notice that people who are getting on well together lift their
glasses to drink at the same time. These are natural signs of being in rapport with
each other.

R Further Research: Paraphrasing and reflecting

Use the link below to find out more about paraphrasing and
reflecting. If you need help using the internet, you should seek
advice from your tutor or your local library.

If the link does not work when you type it into your browser, simply
search for ‘reflecting and paraphrasing in counselling’ in a search
engine and you will find the link in the results page.
www.counsellingtutor.com/basic-counselling-skills/reflecting-and-
paraphrasing/

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