Co-Counselling International (UK)

Fundamentals: course aims and objectives

David Colbourne

May 1996

with grateful acknowledgements to Michele Bosc and Breda Hill

My overall aim is to enable you to gain:

• Experience and competence in the application of ground rules and negotiated contracts.
• The ability to work on your personal issues in a group, in triads and in pairs.
• Competence in the reciprocal practice of shared counselling skills.
• The ability to apply skills in chosen areas: personal, social, occupational, political. An introduction to the CoCounselling culture.

My objectives are continuously evolving and will include:

1. Clienting ("Working"):
   1. Developing increased self-awareness and emotional competence
      1. Develop the ability to client with a "balance of attention"
      2. Recognise, accept, value, own (rather than project) and voice our feelings
      3. Understand and use catharsis (discharge) as part of a self-healing process.
      4. Discharge distress appropriately.
   2. Developing insights and clarity of thought
      1. Re-evaluate past experience
      2. Separate past distress from present-time challenges
      3. Recognise fixed, inappropriate behaviour patterns
      4. Choose creative, healthy, appropriate responses to life situations.
   3. Enhancing self-esteem
      1. Confront negative social and cultural messages.
      2. Acknowledge personal qualities, strengths and skills
      3. Believe in own self-worth
   4. Develop Life Action Skills
      1. Deal constructively with stress and challenging situations
      2. Clarify and solve problems
      3. Set directions and goals
2. Counselling ("Helping"):
   1. Acknowledge boundaries and demonstrate good practice
      1. Practice confidentiality, reciprocity, timekeeping, unconditional positive regard and respect for client.
   2. Free attention
      1. Offer non-judgemental, focused empathy, fully present for the client.
   3. Ability to manage restimulation
      1. Recognise when restimulation takes place, when personal distress aroused, when free attention is compromised.
      2. Deal with it appropriately.
   4. Develop listening skills
      1. Practice silent active listening.
      2. Observe body language and process cues.
   5. Acquire Intervention skills
      1. Support the client, encouraging their self-directed process.
      2. Challenge patterns through timely and appropriate interventions.
      3. Develop non-attachment to interventions, flexibility in their use.
      4. Follow and not lead the client
3. Common Objectives:
   1. Know and apply in practice sufficient theory, principles, "culture" and language to co-counsel with any other person who has completed a CCI Fundamentals.
   2. Develop a range of groupwork skills:
      1. Free attention in a group
      2. Participation: giving and receiving
      3. Negotiation and decision-making
      4. Ability to celebrate others
      5. Participation skills in self and peer assessment

David Colbourne +44 (0)1993 776733

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