© January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved.

Financial Empowerment Center Counselor Training Curriculum Topic 8: Counseling & Coaching Skills

I 3 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Questions to Think About How to make a client feel comfortable to discuss personal issues? What are my ethical responsibilities as a counselor? How can I make appropriate referrals to other agencies/organizations?

I 4 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Counseling vs. Coaching Counseling Skills – Basics Application of Skills Cultural Competence Confidentiality/Privacy and Ethics Supervision of Counselors Agenda

I 5 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Counseling vs. Coaching Relationship may evolve from counseling to coaching Initial interactions in counseling may involve helping client: Through a crisis Stabilizing circumstances Acquiring self-confidence and self Coaching relationship develops later where client sets and achieve goals with coach’s guidance

I 6 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. 6 6 How is a coach different from a counselor? CoachCounselor Role is to guide, motivate, encourage Role is to facilitate client’s understanding of self The relationship between coach and client is a partnership that facilitates specific aims The relationship is that of guide and explorer Focus is on setting and achieving goals, and finding solutions Focus is on generating understanding and insights about issues that shape the client’s life or behavior Perspective is focused on the here and now, and future oriented Perspective is often oriented toward developmental issues and their roots I 6

I 7 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Effective Counseling Skills Basis for work with clients Build rapport and trust with clients Reduce misunderstandings and conflict Enhance effectiveness of work

I 8 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Counseling Skills - Basics Attending Asking the Right Questions Paraphrasing Summarizing Reflecting Diffusing Difficult Situations Being Culturally Competent Making Appropriate Referrals

I 9 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Attending Being present Orient oneself physically and psychologically Give undivided attention to client: When s/he is speaking How s/he is behaving or what is being done

I 10 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Attending Encourages the client to be open and talk Allows the client to know that counselor is listening Demonstrates empathy

I 11 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Application of Attending Posture of Involvement: May be Issues of Culture at Play Face client squarely Nod head Eye contact Relax Appropriate body motion

I 12 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Application of Attending Creating a Non-Distracting Environment Quiet, private space Hold phone calls and interruptions Ask for permission if an interruption is expected © April 26, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. All rights reserved.

I 13 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Asking the Right Questions Two Types of Questions 1.Open ended question 2.Closed ended question © April 26, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. All rights reserved.

I 14 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Open-Ended Questions Questions not easily answered by “Yes,”, “No,” or one-or two-word responses. Examples: “ How can I help you today?” “ Please tell me why that is?” “ What was your response to her statement?” “What factors did you consider in that decision?”

I 15 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Open-Ended Questions Start an interview Engages the client Creates opportunity for client to elaborate or be specific Motivate clients to communicate

I 16 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Closed-Ended Questions Questions easily answered by a “Yes,” “No,” or one or two-word response Examples: “Do you have credit cards?” “How many credit cards do you have?” “Do you pay only the minimum balance?”

I 17 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Closed-Ended Questions To gather basic and/ or specific information To quickly assess parameters or breadth of the issue or case To focus the topic of discussion To guide a client who is too scattered

I 18 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Paraphrasing Counselor confirms the content or substance of the client’s message. Example: Client: “I’m paying more than the minimum payment on my highest interest rate card.” Counselor: “Your strategy of paying off the higher interest rate cards is a good one.”

I 19 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Paraphrasing Informs client that counselor is listening and understands Reinforces and clarifies points for client Encourage the client to elaborate Validates client’s perspective or position Allows counselor to confirm accuracy of perceptions

I 20 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Application of Paraphrasing Clarify issues for counselor, e.g. large amounts of information is involved Ascertain what is going on with client – dynamics, reactions to events outside of issue at hand Help client to clarify thoughts when making a decision

I 21 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Responses to Avoid Minimizing concern or being dismissive Analyzing and Interpreting Giving over-simplified advice Pronouncing judgment

I 22 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Summarizing Highlighting or emphasizing main points Distilling the client’s message

I 23 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Summarizing Begin a new session with orientation; or review progress and begin on the same page End a session – reiterate important points, orient toward future goals Identify a common theme or pattern To pace a session To segue to new topic Focus client’s thoughts and decide how to proceed Agree upon basis for mutually exploring goals

I 24 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Application of Summarizing Paraphrase important points from content of the client’s messages Identify patterns or themes Use an appropriate lead in to the summary; “You seem to be saying…” Verbalize client’s response to the summary Gauge the effectiveness of the summarization; “How do you feel about what was just said…”

I 25 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Reflecting Verbalizing Client’s Emotion Based On: Client’s verbal and non-verbal behaviors Reasonable inferences about what the client might be experiencing emotionally Careful choice of words required

I 26 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Purpose of Reflecting Helps Clients Feel understood Express more feelings Manage feelings Discriminate among various feelings

I 27 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Application of Reflecting Verbalize and Reflect Emotions Back to Client Only After: Listening closely to client’s verbal cues and carefully observing nonverbal behaviors Identify the feeling the client is experiencing Gauge the intensity of emotion Give client feedback in the reflection Stop to check accuracy of reflection

I 28 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Diffusion Identifying client’s distress when reflecting Verbalizations reflecting client emotion aimed at calming the client and helping to re-focus Use words to convey empathy

I 29 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Cultural Competence Make no assumptions about client’s cultural understandings, knowledge or behavior patterns Common areas for misunderstanding: Silence Smile Head nodding Eye contact Physical proximity (personal space) Greetings (physical contact) Gift giving Choice of language/words Agreements/contracts Family relationships

I 30 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Privacy Trust relationship Inform clients about limits of confidentiality Limit case discussions to private areas Protect private documents Document client consent for sharing information

I 31 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Confidentiality Protect client’s information Do not disclose information to third parties without client consent, i.e. counselor’s family members, colleagues, other agencies, etc.

I 32 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Ethics Information obtained from clients or counseling sessions may not be used to the counselor’s benefit Avoid appearance of impropriety Personal relationships Financial transactions

I 33 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Supervision of Counselors Review cases and case management for compliance and quality control Provide feedback Provide professional development and education Raise awareness of strengths and weaknesses Provide support and guidance

I 34 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Referrals Financial assistance or related areas SKC ABC Your Money Helpline Resource Guide Financial Empowerment Network Provider Financial Empowerment Center 211 Non-financial assistance such as medical or health issues Washington Connection - Washington Health Plan Finder

I 35 © January 23, 2013 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund All rights reserved. Topic 8 Exercise #1 Two volunteers will act as co-counselors. Two volunteers will play the role of Lily and Joe. Demonstrate how the counselors might handle this scenario. Role Play Lily is a stay at home Mom. She made an appointment to see the counselors about the financial problems her family is having. Her husband at first refused to come with her. Then he begrudgingly agreed to join her. They couldn’t get a babysitter, and so they had to bring their 3 year-old daughter with them. They got into a fender-bender just an hour before arriving 25 minutes late for their appointment. Joe blames Lily for rushing them for the “stupid appointment”. Lily tells Joe that if they cannot fix their financial problems caused by him running up debt, she might divorce him. He said that she could go get a job and contribute…