The ability to effectively listen to and support others dealing with personal concerns in everyday settings, rather than professional clinical practice. Progress from empathic listening to structured counseling and crisis response.
A counseling skill set designed for anyone who finds themselves in a helping role in daily life — managers, parents, mentors, and friends. By learning systematic techniques such as non-judgmental listening, emotional reflection, session structuring, and cognitive reframing, you help others find their own solutions. This guide focuses on everyday helping competence, not professional licensure.
The first step into counseling skills (corresponding to UK QCF Level 1). You can listen to someone's story without interrupting, express basic empathic responses such as "That sounds tough" or "I can see why you feel that way," and focus on the other person's emotions rather than jumping to advice or opinions.
What Comes Next
If you've checked off most of this list, you're ready to practice using open-ended questions and emotion labeling techniques to deepen conversations. Rogers(1951)'s Person-Centered Approach suggests unconditional positive regard and genuine empathy are the core conditions that facilitate the other person's self-exploration and growth.
Classifies counselling skills into 5 tiers (introductory → foundation → intermediate → professional → specialist) with explicit competency requirements and qualification criteria at each stage, directly informing Level Guide boundary design.
Systematizes 30 core counselor competencies into 4 categories (attitudes, personality, knowledge, skills). Provides concrete evidence for checklist items including communication, relationship building, empathy, and multicultural competency.
Structures the counseling process into 3 stages (exploration → goal setting → action) and presents key techniques for each stage (active listening, SOLER, reframing, SMART goals, etc.), used as behavioral evidence for level-specific checklist items.
Defines counselling skills competency standards for non-specialist practitioners. Its 3-stage structure (recognize, respond, refer) and ethical boundary setting align with L1-L3 design, lending credibility to the scope and standards of non-professional counselling.
