Client, The Counsellor and the Unsuitable Friend, The

Synopsis

Two counselling lecturers take part in a 30-minute counselling session and then give their comments on the way in which the session was conducted.

The tape was recorded in three separate sessions. In the first of these a client and counsellor simply took part in a 30 minute counselling interview in a video studio. In the second they returned to the studio and watched the tape that they had made, recording their comments on the work they had done. The third session was recorded as a result of feedback from professionals in the field, and involved the counsellor in recording further reflections on the way in which he had worked, the way in which he perceived the session, and in making suggestions about the way in which the tape might be used.

The manner in which this material has been edited allows those who watch it to see an introduction from the counsellor, then the session itself, and then a re-run of the session accompanied by an analysis from both the client and counsellor. The shared experiences of both give a heightened insight into the ways in which sessions can progress, the ways in which they can go wrong, and the ways in which, despite this, they can be "good enough".

Though the session was in fact "staged" in order to make the video - the "client" being a colleague of the "counsellor", and a counsellor herself - the material being worked with represented the genuine concerns of "client", nothing being fabricated for the recording. Though the relationship between counsellor and client inevitably contaminated the work to some extent, what remains still offers a useful window into counselling practice.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2003

Year of production

2003

Subjects

Mental Health and Counselling

Keywords

counselling; interpersonal skills; skills training

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£35.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

76 minutes

Year

2013

Distributor

Name

Concord Media

Email

sales@concordmedia.org.uk

Web

http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

01473 726 012

Address

Rosehill Centre
22 Hines Road
Ipswich
IP3 9BG

Notes

A long-established, not-for-profit organisation with a large collection DVDs, specialising in the sectors of general and mental health, child care, race relations, war and peace, addictions, the third world, ecology, civil rights, personal relationships, educational issues, and social work training. Concord also handles titles made for the Graves Medical Audio-visual Library. Sale on DVD. Formerly known as Concord Video and Film Council. In 2014 Concord began to offer selected films as Video on Demand, via Vimeo.

Name

University of Wales, Newport

Email

carolyn.jenkins@newport.ac.uk

Web

http://shop.newport.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=15&Itemid=1 External site opens in new window

Phone

01633 432148

Address

School of Social Studies
Allt-yr-yn Campus
PO Box 180
Newport
NP20 5XR
Wales

Notes

A series of DVDs produced by members of the counselling team at the School of Health and Social Science. The videos are intended to give training in counselling techniques, both in person and on the telephone, to trainee counsellors and those who may need to use some counselling in the course of their job. Some of the programmes are marketed "in house", others are more widely available through Concord Media.