3 Techniques Your Counsellor May Use to Support You in Sessions

Last Updated on February 28, 2025 by Prath

Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW

A counsellor teaching meditation techniques to the client.

Some people believe that counsellors give advice. Others believe that counselling is based on vibes – or rather, wisdom.

While wisdom and intuitive knowledge are important to build a counsellor’s therapeutic style – counselling is evidence-based and scientific.

It is also significantly different from advice. Counselling is a psychological science that supports clients and helps them engage in the right habits to resolve their problems.

Counsellors in Australia are trained to find the appropriate approaches based on individual client needs. This requires a wide range of expertise in multiple counselling methods.

Moreover, professionals may also receive extensive training in areas such as communication, mindfulness, or trauma-focused skills.

This article highlights some of the most common and effective techniques counsellors may use to improve your mental well-being.

This Article Contains:

3 Helpful Counseling Methods & Approaches

Counselling services may include many methods to change human behaviour. Most of these techniques focus on feelings, thoughts, and habits, which the counsellor may apply in a supportive and reliable environment.

“Counsellors draw on different techniques to change the forms in which they deliver messages to clients for the purpose of relating truths in ways that can be heard.”

– Conte, 2009, p. 2

Counsellors may interact with clients and adapt their chosen approach based on their therapy style, specialisation, and client’s preferences.

When used effectively, the counselling methods can:

Elicit changes in your thought process and emotional patterns

Help you view the world from a fresh perspective

Improve your relationships with your loved ones

All the skills are provided through clinical expertise. Hence, it’s important to know that the methods in this article are intended to help set expectations for what counselling may involve.

The therapeutic techniques below can help with a range of issues, such as generalised anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and depression. The list of techniques are:

1) Empty Chair Technique

2) Communication Methods

3) Grounding

1) Empty Chair Technique

Do you have ‘unfinished business’ with yourself? Maybe you haven’t truly acknowledged and moved on from your breakup. Or are you putting off talking to your mom after a big fight?

Any emotions or thoughts that you haven’t resolved are your unfinished business. If mental distress is left unresolved, it can contribute to issues such as mood swings, anxiety, or stress.

The empty chair technique used in gestalt therapy is applied during counselling sessions to help you confront and resolve any conflicts in life.

The name of the skill is almost self-explanatory:

During sessions, you may be asked to face an empty chair and talk to that furniture as if it were the person you’re having conflicts with. The chair could be your mother you’ve just fought with or perhaps a friend you’re struggling to connect with.

Suppose you’ve had a conflict with someone. In that case, you may relate to the fact that we usually repress feelings, hesitate to be vulnerable to initiate the first conversation and let our thoughts interrupt sleep.

It is common to avoid resolving conflicts due to the fear of retribution, vulnerability, and the possibility of being misunderstood.

However, under the aegis of a counsellor, you can give form to your vague thoughts. For example, the technique can help you:

Confront thoughts that you may be avoiding

Develop a compassionate dialogue to gain clarity and self-understanding

Explore life decisions and analyse the diverse aspects of any situation

Identify and cope with projections (ie attributing aspects of yourself to others)

2) Communication Methods

As social beings, we love connecting and finding a sense of belonging by communicating with others. And good communication often leads to a positive social life and well-being.

But what does good communication look like? And what kind of communication skills do counsellors in Australia equip clients with?

“It is the encounters with people that make life worth living.”

– Guy de Maupassant

Good communication involves these 4 facets:

Fact: What the communicator is saying

Self-revealing: Information about the communicator

Relationship: What the communicator thinks about the receiver

Appeal: What the communicator wants the receiver to do

For example, the wife (communicator) who says, “We don’t have enough groceries for the week,” may indicate the need for the husband (receiver) to buy groceries rather than the fact that there are no groceries at home.

However, if the husband focuses on the relationship facet of communication, he might assume that the wife is complaining about his inefficiency and may retort by saying, “You never plan ahead either.”

In most cases, the receiver perceives what is being said very differently.

During professional counselling, you may learn about the four facets and develop skills to:

Interpet messages as they were intended

Focus on the actual facts of what the communicator has said

Ask healthy questions to clarify whether you understood the communicator’s message

Common Communication Techniques

1) Nonviolent Communication

This skill teaches you how to communicate with others in a non-judgmental way. Specific techniques include learning to:

Communicate your observations without interpreting them

Talk about your feelings without judgement

Express your needs in a healthy way

Request your needs without demanding

2) Active Constructive Responding Model

Your offline or online counsellor may use the ACR model to help you communicate in an active and constructive way.

Here’s an example of how the model works:

If a friend of yours who has social anxiety says, “I was so anxious at the party, but I still managed to talk to a person!”

There are four ways you may react:

a) Nurturing (active constructive): “That’s awesome! I’m so proud of you. How did the conversation go?”

b) Cold (passive constructive): “Oh, nice”

c) Ignorant (passive destructive): “Anyway, I actually spoke to more than 5 people and made several friends…”

d) Hurtful (active destructive): “1 person? That’s barely anything to be happy about”

To improve your communication, your counsellor will use the model to help you build the habit of conversing in an active, constructive way.

3) Grounding

Grounding is a technique used during counselling sessions to help clients:

Stay present and mindful of the current situation

Engage in mindfulness techniques to prevent or identify a trigger

Reduce symptoms of issues such as social anxiety or panic attacks

The grounding skills focus on several different aspects, such as:

Focusing on your thought patterns

Physical grounding techniques to become aware of all senses

Soothing techniques to improve self-compassion and kindness

Below are some techniques that counsellors may use to support you in sessions.

a. Body Scan

During a body scan, your counsellor will guide your attention towards different parts of your body. The scan usually starts from your head and face and ends with focusing on your legs.

Think of a body scan as a meditation. You may be asked to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and clear your thoughts.

When you scan your body parts, you may feel a tingling or prickly sensation – this is normal.

Often, while your mind is busy thinking unhelpful thoughts, your body may be doing something else. By using this technique to scan the body, your counsellor may help you pull away from the noise and ground you in the present.

b. Recognising Thought Patterns

The most important aspect of grounding techniques is recognising, labelling, and accepting one’s thoughts rather than trying to control or change them.

There are many different types of thoughts. For example,

“I will never become as successful as my cousins” is a comparison thought

“I am so bad at this” is a self-critical thought

“Nothing good will ever happen to me” is a negative prediction thought

“My friend hasn’t replied to me, so they must hate me” is black-and-white thinking

During counselling sessions, your counsellor may ask you to close your eyes and take a deep breath.

Through reflective dialogue, they may guide you to focus on your thoughts as you find yourself drifting away from your breath.

The key during this exercise is to avoid judging or evaluating your thoughts. For example, if thoughts such as “I’m good for nothing” pop up in your mind, you simply have to label the thought as a ‘self-critical’ and observe it with curiosity.

Recognising thought patterns may take intentional effort, and counsellors may equip you with the right mindfulness skills.

Conclusion

The effects of any mental health issues can be distressing. However, combining professional counselling and psychoeducation can make change and healing possible.

Although Counsellors in Australia may vary in their approach and theoretical underpinnings, all professionals share the foundational principle of helping people change or grow in life.

Therapeutic approaches mainly focus on a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Counsellors commonly use techniques such as the empathy chair, communication skills such as nonviolent communication, and grounding methods such as body scans.

If you’re ready to book counselling in Australia, reviewing our diverse group of counsellors may help.