Egan’s Skilled Helper Model may be an appropriate framework to use in order to help the relationship. There are three main stages of that process. The first one is the current situation. This stage is used as an exploration tool to understand what is the issue of the individual and how the case influences the individual. The second stage is to figure out the desired outcome instead of current circumstances. The final stage is to identify the way how counsellor can support the individual and what kind of steps an individual should be done in order to change the current situation into a desirable reality. The whole process may be closed in three short sentences. We need to find the answer to:
- What is going on?
- What outcome I want?
- What steps need to be done to get what I want?
Answer to those questions will zoom collage attention to a positive outcome rather than stay in current circumstances. The role of the councellor is to be a silent leader of college transformation.
At every single stage, we may adopt psychological techniques to help the process be more efficient.
In phase No.1 we can expand the customer story and put attention on creating safe environment when a patient may take a look at past circumstances from a different point of view. We may influence our patients to use change circumstances sub-modality in order to ease experience. According to Erik Erikson psychologist.
In phase No.2 the most appropriate way seems to be a brainstorm of ideas and conceptions leading to find the best possible outcome.
In phase No. 3
One step further we can help patients to visualize the desired outcome or even propose writing affirmation or action plan. The free creative flow of ideas and exploring patient ideas are on this stage important. It depends on individual cases however, embodying the outcome with writing help to clarify the final outcome. Before we move to the process of writing an action plan all of the ideas should be screened against fisability. The role of the counselor on this stage is paramount, thus, a piece of good advice will influence pathways and procedures of moving forward. The action plan should always include chunking the project into the smallest possible actions.