It’s so important to know the theory behind your counselling – but it’s just as important that we know how to apply this knowledge practically through our counselling skills. In this section, Rory and Ken discuss the importance of skills-first learning for counsellors:

• Can you apply your learning? Are you able to put your knowledge into practical skills?
• Within sessions, every client and every session might present something new:
  • Do you know when to break confidentiality?
  • Are you able to recognise when a client may require referral to a specialist?
  • Are you able to contract competently?
• Consider how you’d set up your counselling room to accommodate an autistic client, e.g. are there any sensory distractions such as a ticking clock?
• It’s easy to get lost in theory – but in practice it can be the little considerations and actions that matter most.
• Ask yourself what’s next – how do you need to adapt to this new knowledge you learn?
• One size won’t fit all, sometimes theory needs to be tweaked within practice.