In everyday conversation, you probably find yourself pausing, listening, and reflecting on what the other person is saying. These naturally occurring moments of silence are arguably as important to the communication process as the spoken words are. Counseling sessions are no different—it is often an appropriate technique to sit in silence with your client(s). For example, a counselor may remain silent in order to allow a client to ponder what she or he just said or to facilitate smooth transitions between topics and a natural progression of clients’ thoughts. Silence may be used effectively in conjunction with other nonverbal skills, such as body language and eye contact, to build the therapeutic alliance. On the other hand, abrupt silences and prolonged unproductive silence can damage that alliance.
For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources and consider how and when you might use silence to benefit a client.
Post by Day 4 an example of when using silence as a technique might benefit a client in a counseling session. Then, explain how you might use the technique in that particular situation. Finally, explain the degree to which you are comfortable using silence as a technique with a client.
Be sure to support your initial post of the week with specific references to the Learning Resources and the current literature.
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The role of silence in counselling session
Human beings abhor silence in a similar manner nature abhors vacuum and at the same time rush to fill it with immense alacrity. Silence tends to feed people’s imaginations and provokes numerous types of anxious conjurations making it an ideal technique for counselling. One of the ways through which silence facilitates is motivating clients to answer questions asked. This is because a person is likely to get a question correct if given time to think about it. The other importance of using silence is that it makes a counsellor effective. This is because it gives him or her enough time to think before speaking…
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