Person Centred Counselling
Daryl Ashton, our care coordinator has a foundation degree in person centred counselling from Staffordshire University.
03/10/2019
Daryl Ashton, our care coordinator has a foundation degree in person centred counselling from Staffordshire University.
The counselling that I do specifically is very much about putting the person first and understanding their needs. You learn to listen differently when you train to become a counsellor, and you are actively listening, It’s basically about seeing people on a different level rather than just speaking to them. When you actively listen you are, in a sense, reading between the lines. Listening and responding to them and trying to understand what they are actually hoping to say. Some people mince their words, and understanding what it is they want to get out of the conversation, rather than just hearing what’s on the surface can be really beneficial.
I have found that my background is extremely helpful when I’m working with customers. When you go in to do a care call it can be very overwhelming – imagine someone walking into your house and telling you what to do! It can be daunting, and it’s possible that the customer might not want the care that they receive. It can be incredibly difficult for someone to lose some or a lot of their independence, so being able to go in and understand where they’re coming from, and getting to the route of that problem can help you understand how they want their care done rather than just going in and completing a task. Getting to know them on that next level can make customers feel more comfortable and at ease.
I also feel better for having the knowledge to understand their needs; everyone has their little quirks, and if you actually understand them you don’t see them as being “awkward” or “unreasonable”, you can see why they’re asking for certain things to be done. For example sometimes a customer likes things done the way their spouse used to do them, so it’s a memory of them that they treasure. Once you understand that quirk it makes it a lot easier for that relationship to move forward.
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I see what I do as a quicker way of getting to know someone. I feel I have a lovely relationship with my customers because of my skills in communication. If you are going to visit them every day for months you will get to know them that way eventually, but because of my education I know what signs to look for. Although my degree is in person centred counselling I’ve also done courses in CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy) and gestalt counselling as well. Gestalt is very much about body language and picking up on actions. An example on where it is beneficial to have these skills is personal care. If you’re helping someone in this way they might be quite specific as to how they want it done – if they tense up, shudder or flinch you need to understand why they may be doing that. If you approach it with them in a straight forward and kind manner by asking “am I doing this wrong, is there a better way I can do this for you?” then they are far more likely to give a straight forward answer back.
With regards to CBT, that is very much focussed on phobias. When I say phobia a lot of people think of spiders or the dark, but you can have a phobia of losing your independence which is what a lot of our customers experience. Going down the CBT route is about taking what the customer can do and relating it to what they want to do, then finding that middle ground with a lot of reassurance. CBT is basically teaching a brain to think differently, and I help my customers adjust to their change in circumstances, whatever they may be.
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