Microskills training

1. Introduction

Version followed: the microskills hierarchy and five-stage session as organised in Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett, Intentional Interviewing and Counseling, 10th ed. (Cengage, 2023; chapter order verified from the publisher's table of contents). Skill definitions come from the 8th–9th edition as described in secondary sources. The training procedure follows the original microcounseling paradigm (Ivey et al., 1968; Ivey, 1971) as reported by Aldridge & Ivey (1975). Details below that rely only on secondary or student-note sources are tagged.

What it is. Microskills training (microcounseling, microtraining) is not a therapy. It is a training paradigm plus a skill taxonomy. Allen E. Ivey and colleagues developed it from 1966 onwards; the first monograph appeared in the Journal of Counseling Psychology in 1968. It breaks the helping interview into single, behaviourally defined communication skills ("microskills"), which are taught one at a time with a written description, video models, recorded practice, self-observation and feedback. The skills are arranged in a hierarchy, from attending and listening up to influencing, and then assembled into a five-stage interview that can carry any theoretical orientation [source: SAGE Encyclopedia of Counseling 2008; Daniels & Uhlemann 2004; Aldridge & Ivey 1975; Cengage TOC]. In Ivey's later work Mary Bradford Ivey and Carlos Zalaquett are co-authors, and Mary Bradford Ivey, Norma Gluckstern Packard and Allen Ivey wrote the companion Basic Attending Skills [source: Alexander Street record].

How change happens (the model's claim). Clients change through what they say and do in response to specific counsellor behaviours. The authors argue that a clinician who has mastered the skills can "anticipate and predict how clients will respond" to each one [source: TPC review quoting the 8th ed.]. The work proceeds in order: listening fully to the client's story and strengths, agreeing goals, helping the client "restory" the problem through focusing, confrontation, meaning and influencing skills, and generalising the change into daily life through action planning. Movement is tracked against the anticipated client response for each skill (the Ivey Taxonomy) and the Client Change Scale [source: Cengage TOC; Brainscape Ch. 8 and Ch. 10 student decks, uncertain]. The 10th edition frames this with neuroscience (neuroplasticity, memory); treat these as the authors' claims [source: Cengage TOC].

2. Framework

Microskills has two frameworks that work together: (A) the skill hierarchy, which sets the order for learning and the menu of in-session responses, and (B) the five-stage session, which organises any interview or course of counselling. A third element, (C) the microtraining procedure, is how a clinician acquires each skill.

A. The microskills hierarchy (10th ed. order, foundation to top)

[source: Cengage 10th ed. TOC; Penn State RHS 301 (citing 8th ed.); TPC review]. Earlier editions and teaching sites draw this as a pyramid. The base is sometimes given as Rogers' core conditions plus ethics and multicultural competence [source: Penn State RHS 301]. Some secondary sites add Egan's SOLER or "immediacy" as separate rungs; these are not Ivey's labels [uncertain] [source: open-exam-prep].

B. The five-stage session (10th ed. names)

[source: Cengage TOC; Brainscape Ch. 8 and Ch. 1 student decks, uncertain on wording]. The stages are not strictly linear: the authors describe a "circle" of counselling and decision-making that loops back as needed. The model extends a classic three-step problem-solving model (define problem, define goals, generate and select alternatives) by adding the relationship and action stages [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].

Session count and format. The microskills texts do not prescribe a number of sessions [uncertain: not found]. The five stages can run within a single session (including a 15–20-minute practice interview) and also across a whole course of counselling, depending on the theory used. Format is individual face-to-face; the 10th ed. adds telehealth. Skills are presented as transferable to interviewing, counselling, psychotherapy, coaching, management and medical interviewing [source: Cengage TOC; Brainscape Ch. 8, Ch. 1, uncertain].

C. Microtraining procedure (clinician learning cycle)

The original paradigm, as used by Aldridge & Ivey (1975), ran in this order: (1) a brief recorded baseline interview (5 minutes); (2) reading a written manual on one skill; (3) watching video models of effective and less effective use, then discussion with the trainer; (4) watching one's own baseline recording and identifying where the skill was used or missing; (5) planning the next interview with the trainer; (6) a second recorded interview. Training for one skill took 30–45 minutes [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 139–140]. Move to the next skill once the target behaviour is reliably present on recording and the client's response matches the anticipated response [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

• Intentionality. Have several possible responses ready for any client statement and choose deliberately. In practice: if one skill does not get the anticipated response, switch skills rather than repeat it [source: TPC review; Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain].
• Anticipated client response. Every skill has a predicted effect, catalogued in the Ivey Taxonomy (10th ed. Appendix I). In practice: judge each intervention by what the client does next, not by how well you delivered it [source: Cengage TOC; TPC review].
• Predictable but not guaranteed. The taxonomy gives some predictability but no certainty, and leaves room to be flexible when the unexpected happens. In practice: hold predictions loosely [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].
• Single skills, behaviourally defined. Skills "should be behaviorally identified" so they can be taught and transferred (Aldridge & Ivey 1975, p. 143). In practice: practise and self-rate one observable behaviour at a time.
• Learn bottom-up; listen before influencing. The higher skills (confrontation, self-disclosure) need mastery of attending, observation and questioning first [source: Penn State RHS 301]. In practice: if influencing fails, go back to the BLS.
• Ethics and multicultural competence as the foundation. In practice: obtain consent and explain confidentiality limits in Stage 1, and adapt eye contact, questioning pace, focus and disclosure to the client's culture [source: Cengage TOC; TPC review; AIPC].
• Cultural intentionality and context. Problems sit in family, community and culture. In practice: routinely use the cultural/environmental focus and do not treat systemic oppression as only an individual issue [source: Cengage TOC (social justice, Soul Wound); AIPC focusing].
• Strengths and wellness. Every story includes strengths; resilience is the goal of counselling. In practice: ask about what has worked and what the client does well before restorying [source: Brainscape Ch. 1, Ch. 8, uncertain; Cengage TOC].
• Empathy and the core conditions underpin the skills. In practice: a technically correct reflection without warmth and genuineness does not count as attending [source: Penn State RHS 301 citing Rogers].
• "Influence is a part of all interviewing" (Ivey & Ivey, quoted by AIPC). In practice: even listening shapes what the client talks about, through selective attention. Notice what you choose to reflect, and use influencing skills openly and ethically [source: AIPC influencing skills].
• Theory-neutral integration. Microskills are the building blocks of many theories; the 10th ed. shows six approaches. In practice: use the hierarchy as the common language, then add the methods of your chosen theory in Stage 4 [source: Cengage TOC; TPC review (CBT transcript appendix)].
• Generalisation is built in. Skills learned in the lab or the session fade unless there is a transfer plan. In practice: end every session with an action plan and review it next time [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 142–145; Cengage TOC].
• Skills can be taught to clients. Counselling skills need not be "the strict province" of professionals (Aldridge & Ivey 1975, p. 143). In practice: psychoeducational microtraining of clients is part of the model.
• Personal style. The endpoint is the clinician's own integrated style, not a script [source: Cengage TOC ch. 14].
• Scope: interviewing, counselling, psychotherapy, coaching. The text treats these as different uses of the same skills. Counselling is described as more intensive and personal than interviewing; psychotherapy addresses deeper-seated difficulties that take longer; coaching as a short- to medium-term, strengths-focused, collaborative relationship [source: Brainscape Ch. 1 deck summarising the text, uncertain]. The coaching bodies' own boundary statements (ICF, EMCC, AC) are not drawn on here [uncertain]. In practice: in a coaching or brief-counselling role, use the microskills to screen for clinical need and refer (see section 5) [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

The inventory has three groups: A. microtraining procedures (for the clinician, a supervisor, or for training clients); B. attending, observation and the basic listening sequence; C. focusing, confrontation, influencing and action skills, plus integration tools. All example wording is illustrative (my own) unless quoted and cited. Definitions follow the 10th ed. structure; detailed wording of each definition was confirmed only through secondary sources (AIPC, Penn State, student decks), so the steps are a close paraphrase and some are [synthesis].

A1. Microtraining cycle (single-skill practice)

• Purpose / when: To learn or retune one skill, when starting the method, or when supervision or recordings show a skill is missing [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975; Daniels & Uhlemann 2004].
• Steps: (1) Record a 5-minute baseline interview with a role-play or consenting client. (2) Read a one- or two-page definition of the target skill. (3) Watch a model of effective and ineffective use, then discuss the difference. (4) Watch your own baseline recording and mark each instance of the skill used and missed. (5) Plan the next interview: which client statements to respond to and how. (6) Record a second short interview and compare. Repeat until the skill is consistent, then add the next rung of the hierarchy [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 139–140; repeat-until-consistent rule is synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative, to a role-play partner): "For the next five minutes I'm only practising paraphrasing, so I may sound a bit repetitive. Just talk about something real but not too heavy."
• Watch for / working: Countable change on the recording. The 1975 study measured eye-contact breaks, extraneous movements, posture, interviewer talk-time percentage, number of topic changes and client ratings. Fewer topic jumps and less clinician talk-time are early signs of success [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 140–141].

A2. Self-rating recordings and transcripts against the Ivey Taxonomy

• Purpose / when: To find out what you actually do in sessions; for portfolio or competence review [source: Cengage TOC (Appendix I; Portfolio of Competencies); TPC review (transcripts with process comments)].
• Steps: (1) Transcribe 10–15 minutes of a session (with consent). (2) Label each clinician statement with its microskill. (3) Next to each, note the anticipated client response and the actual client response. (4) Count the proportion of listening and influencing responses, and list the missed chances (for example, a feeling word not reflected). (5) Set one target skill for the next session [synthesis built on the published taxonomy].
• Example language: not applicable.
• Watch for: Long chains of questions without reflections (see Questions below); influencing skills used before the story has been summarised and confirmed. The detailed portfolio levels are not drawn on here [uncertain].

A3. Microcounseling-based supervision

• Purpose / when: Supervising trainees with any theoretical orientation [source: Daniels & Uhlemann 2004, describing Russell-Chapin & Ivey's Microcounseling Supervision Model].
• Steps: The supervisor reviews recorded segments, names the microskills used, compares them with the five stages and with intentional alternatives, and sets the next skill target. Details of the published MSM rating form are not drawn on here [uncertain]; steps beyond this outline are [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "At minute 12 she said her mother 'never noticed'. What were three ways you could have responded, and what would you expect from each?"
• Watch for: The supervisee being able to produce alternative responses and predict their effects.

A4. Teaching microskills to clients (psychoeducational microtraining)

• Purpose / when: For clients whose difficulties include communication or social skills (for example adolescents, couples, workplace conflict). Ivey's group taught attending behaviour to ninth-graders with the same paradigm [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975].
• Steps: (1) Explain a single skill (e.g. eye contact and staying on topic) in plain terms. (2) Show or model good and poor examples. (3) Run a short role-play, recorded where appropriate. (4) Review it with the client and point out what they did well. (5) Rehearse again. (6) Agree an individual transfer plan: where, with whom and when the client will practise it this week. The 1975 authors warned that skills not reinforced in daily life fade [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 142–145; step 6 detail is synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's try just one thing: when your partner talks, look at them and try to stay on their topic for one minute before you add your own point."
• Watch for: The skill appearing outside the session (ask for specific instances). Adjust cultural norms for eye contact.

B1. Attending behaviour

• Purpose / when: In every session and at every stage. Clients talk more about what you attend to, so attending is also the basis of selective attention [source: Penn State RHS 301; Aldridge & Ivey 1975].
• Components and steps: (1) Eye contact: look at the client naturally without staring, and adjust to cultural norms; some clients find direct gaze intrusive. (2) Vocal qualities: use a warm, even tone and an unhurried pace, and notice where your own voice changes. (3) Verbal tracking: stay with the client's topic and avoid topic jumps; notice words the client emphasises, repeats or leaves out. (4) Body language: use a relaxed, slightly forward posture; consider seating angle, distance and barriers such as a desk; mirror only where natural. (5) Silence: allow pauses rather than filling them [source: Penn State RHS 301 (components); Aldridge & Ivey 1975 (eye contact, posture, verbal following); AIPC (silence)]. Teaching sites often summarise these four components as the "3 V's + B" [uncertain: shorthand not confirmed].
• Example language (illustrative): Little or no talk. Mostly minimal encouragers that repeat the client's key words: "...the deadline."
• Watch for / working: The client talks more, longer and more personally, and you change topic less [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975 measures]. With telehealth, look at the camera at key moments and check the client can see your face [synthesis].

B2. Observation skills

• Purpose / when: Throughout. Read nonverbal and verbal behaviour and notice discrepancies that later guide focusing and confrontation [source: Cengage TOC ch. 4; Penn State RHS 301].
• Steps: (1) Note the client's nonverbal behaviour (posture shifts, facial expression, breaks in eye contact, gestures) and especially changes in it. (2) Note verbal patterns: key words, "I" versus "they" statements, concrete versus abstract talk, repeated themes. (3) Note mixed messages, for example a smile while describing anger, or saying a relationship is fine while the body signals fear. (4) Hold these as hypotheses; check them out loud only when you choose to [source: Penn State RHS 301 (examples); steps 2 and 4 are synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "I notice your voice dropped when you mentioned your brother. What's happening as you talk about him?"
• Watch for: Cultural meanings of nonverbal behaviour; avoid over-reading single cues.

B3. Open and closed questions

• Purpose / when: Mainly Stages 2–3. Open questions invite the story; closed questions get specific facts (intake, risk, triage) [source: AIPC five microskills; open-exam-prep].
• Steps: (1) Open with "what", "how" or "could". The secondary summaries say "could" is the most open, "what" tends to draw facts, "how" process and feelings, "when" and "where" timing and setting. (2) Avoid "why", which tends to make clients defensive; rephrase as "what led to...". (3) Follow every one or two questions with an encourager, paraphrase or reflection. (4) Use closed questions deliberately to pin down detail, for example in risk assessment [source: AIPC (Ivey & Ivey 2003)].
• Problems to avoid (per Ivey & Ivey 2003 via AIPC): bombarding or grilling; several questions at once; questions that are really statements of the counsellor's view; rapid questioning that does not fit the client's culture; too many "why" questions.
• Example language (illustrative): "Could you tell me what brings you in today?" / "What happens just before the arguments start?" / "Is this the first time you've felt this low?"
• Watch for / working: Fuller, more detailed answers to open questions; short, precise answers to closed ones. If answers shrink, cut back on questions and reflect more.

B4. Encouraging

• Purpose / when: To keep the client talking and to steer gently through selective attention. Used throughout [source: Cengage TOC ch. 6; open-exam-prep].
• Steps: (1) Use nonverbal encouragers (nod, open gesture, expectant pause). (2) Use minimal verbal encouragers ("Uh-huh", "Go on"). (3) Restate one or two of the client's key words. The key word you pick steers the next part of the story, so choose it on purpose [source: open-exam-prep (forms); step 3 rationale is synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): Client: "...and then I just froze at work." Therapist: "Froze?"
• Watch for: The client expands on the word you restated. If they do, the encourager worked.

B5. Paraphrasing

• Purpose / when: To feed back the essence of what the client has said (content and thoughts), checking understanding and helping the client hear their own story [source: Cengage TOC ch. 6; open-exam-prep].
• Steps: (1) Optional lead-in with the client's name or "Sounds like...". (2) Restate the key content in a shorter form, using some of the client's key words and some of your own. (3) Add a check-out ("Is that right?") [source: structure is synthesis, consistent with secondary definitions].
• Example language (illustrative): "So the promotion came with twice the travel, and you're trying to work out whether the family can manage that. Have I got that right?"
• Watch for / working: The client confirms ("Yes, exactly") and adds more, or corrects you. A correction is also useful.

B6. Summarising

• Purpose / when: To pull themes together across a longer stretch or a whole session. Use at the start ("last time"), at transitions between stages and at the end [source: Cengage TOC ch. 6; open-exam-prep].
• Steps: (1) Gather the main facts, thoughts, feelings and strengths heard. (2) Name the links or conflicts between them. (3) Check them out with the client. (4) Use the summary as a bridge to the next stage, for example from story to goals [synthesis on steps 2 and 4].
• Example language (illustrative): "Let me pull this together. Work has become relentless, you've stopped seeing friends, and you feel flat most evenings, yet you've kept running twice a week. Does that capture it? If so, maybe we can think about what you'd like to be different."
• Watch for: The client agreeing and adding priorities. Use summaries to slow down a client who is flooding you with material.

B7. Observing and reflecting feelings

• Purpose / when: The core of empathic understanding. Use when emotion is stated or visible, especially in Stages 1–2 and during restorying [source: Cengage TOC ch. 7].
• Steps: (1) Observe feeling words and nonverbal signs of emotion. (2) Optionally use the client's name or a sentence stem ("You feel..."). (3) Name the feeling, including mixed feelings. (4) Optionally add the context ("...because..."). (5) Use a present-tense reflection when the emotion is happening now. (6) Check it out [source: open-exam-prep (definition); steps are synthesis aligned with the definitions].
• Example language (illustrative): "You sound both relieved and a bit guilty that you said no to her. Is that close?"
• Watch for / working: The client confirms or refines the feeling, and their affect deepens or settles. If the client is overwhelmed, slow down and shift to paraphrase or summary (see section 5).

B8. The basic listening sequence (BLS) as a unit

• Purpose / when: To draw out the full story in Stage 2 and to check goals in Stage 3. The authors say the BLS also applies to management and medical interviews [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].
• Steps: Open question, then encourage, paraphrase, reflect feeling, closed question if needed, and summarise. Cycle through this per topic [source: Cengage TOC ch. 5–8; order is synthesis].
• Example language: As in B3–B7.
• Watch for / working: Clinician talk time falls and the client brings out facts, feelings and thoughts in their own words [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].

B9. Strength and wellness search

• Purpose / when: Stage 2 and whenever the client is stuck in a problem-saturated story. It builds resources for restorying [source: Brainscape Ch. 8 ("story and strengths"), uncertain; Cengage TOC (resilience)].
• Steps: (1) After hearing the concern, ask about times it was less of a problem, things that went well and personal, family and cultural supports. (2) Reflect these strengths back explicitly. (3) Record them for use in Stages 3–5 [synthesis based on the stage name].
• Example language (illustrative): "You've told me what's been hard. What's gone well at work, even a little, in the past month?"
• Watch for: Brief brightening or energy. If the client shows minimisation or shame, acknowledge the struggle first.

B10. Five-stage session using listening skills only

• Purpose / when: A core training exercise in the text (10th ed. ch. 8), and a full client-led session format [source: Cengage TOC].
• Steps: (1) Empathic relationship: greet the client, structure the session (time, confidentiality limits, purpose), and make an open invitation. (2) Story and strengths: use the BLS on the concern plus a strength search. (3) Goals: ask what an ideal outcome would look like, and paraphrase and summarise it. (4) Restory: ask about past solutions and alternatives using questions and reflections only, without advice. (5) Action: ask what the client will take away and do, then summarise [source: stages from Cengage TOC and Brainscape Ch. 8; step content is synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): Stage 3: "If things went really well, what would be different a month from now?" Stage 4: "What has worked for you before when you felt like this?" Stage 5: "What's one thing you'll try this week?"
• Watch for: The client producing their own goals and options. This shows how far listening alone can go before influencing is needed.

B11. Note-taking during the session

• Purpose / when: To keep a record of key words, strengths and goals for summaries and treatment planning [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].
• Steps: Ask permission. Write brief key words only. Look up as the client speaks. Never let writing displace attending.
• Example language (illustrative): "Is it okay if I jot down a few words so I get things right?"
• Watch for: Breaks in eye contact during emotional disclosures; put the pen down.

C1. Focusing (contextualising and broadening the story)

• Purpose / when: Stages 2–4, when the story is told only from one angle ("it's all me" or "it's all them"), and to bring in family and culture [source: Cengage TOC ch. 9; AIPC five microskills (Ivey & Ivey 2003)].
• Focus dimensions: client (the person, using their name); main theme or problem; others involved; family (defined broadly); mutuality (the client–counsellor relationship, "we", here and now); interviewer (the counsellor's own reactions or disclosure); cultural, environmental and contextual (gender, ethnicity, religion, class, community, social and economic conditions) [source: AIPC, which names seven foci but heads six; the "others" focus appears within the problem focus].
• Steps: (1) Notice which focus dominates. (2) Deliberately ask or reflect from one or more missing foci. (3) Summarise across foci to show the wider picture. (4) Optionally draw a genogram or community map (see C10) [steps 1–3 synthesis consistent with source].
• Example language (illustrative): Others: "What's your manager's side of this?" Family: "How did your family handle conflict when you were growing up?" Mutuality: "How are we doing together on this right now?" Cultural/contextual: "How does being the first in your family at university play into the pressure?"
• Watch for / working: The client talks about new perspectives and reduces self-blame or other-blame. Secondary sites sometimes list here-and-now "immediacy" as a separate skill; in this guide it is handled through the mutuality focus [uncertain about labelling].

C2. Empathic confrontation (with the Client Change Scale)

• Purpose / when: Stage 4 (sometimes 2–3), when there are incongruities, mixed messages or conflict that keep the client stuck. In Ivey's usage it is a gentle skill rooted in listening, not a harsh challenge [source: Cengage TOC ch. 10; Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain; AIPC].
• Types of discrepancy: within the client (two verbal statements; verbal vs. nonverbal; what the client says vs. what they do; thoughts vs. feelings vs. actions); between the client and the external world (for example, unfair role expectations); between counsellor and client [source: Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain; AIPC].
• Steps: (1) Listen and identify the conflict, using observation and the BLS. (2) Point out and clarify the incongruity in a supportive, non-judging way, often with an "on the one hand... and on the other hand..." structure or a "you say... and you also..." structure, then help the client explore it. (3) Evaluate the change with the Client Change Scale. If the client does not move, use a different skill [source: AIPC; Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain].
• Client Change Scale (CCS) for evaluating the response: level 1, denial (distorts the story or blames others); level 2, partial examination; level 3, acceptance and recognition but no change yet; level 4, generation of a new solution; level 5, transcendence (new, larger and more inclusive patterns) [source: Brainscape Ch. 10 student deck summarising the text, uncertain on exact wording]. Use the CCS in session to choose the next move, and across sessions to track progress on a key issue [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "On the one hand you really want more time with your sister, and on the other hand, the last three weekends something else came first. How do you put those together?"
• Watch for / working: Movement up at least one CCS level. Change is usually gradual, so do not expect transcendence in one session. A vague "I'll think about it" is not a new solution [source: Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain]. If the client becomes defensive, return to reflection of feeling.

C3. Reflection of meaning

• Purpose / when: Stage 4 (and 2), when the client is exploring values, purpose, loss, life transitions or spiritual questions. It helps clients restory their lives [source: Cengage TOC ch. 11; AIPC].
• Steps: (1) Ask meaning-eliciting questions (what the event means to the client, what it says about what they value). (2) Listen for value words (e.g. loyalty, fairness, freedom, faith). (3) Reflect the implicit meaning or value back, linking it to the experience. (4) Explore how the meaning could guide goals and action [source: AIPC (definition and "same holiday, different meanings" illustration); steps synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Underneath the anger at the restructure, it sounds like what matters most is being treated fairly, and that has guided a lot of your career choices."
• Watch for / working: The client uses value language, reflects more deeply and describes goals that fit their values.

C4. Interpretation / reframing

• Purpose / when: Stage 4, to offer a new frame of reference on the problem so the client can act differently. The frame can come from a theory or from the counsellor's own perspective [source: Cengage TOC ch. 11; AIPC influencing skills].
• Steps: (1) Make sure the story has been heard and confirmed. (2) Offer the new frame tentatively, labelled as a possibility, and choose a frame that builds on strengths. (3) Check its fit with the client and their culture. (4) Link it to a possible action [synthesis consistent with AIPC definition].
• Example language (illustrative): "One way of looking at your 'stubbornness' is that it's what got you through your training. The question might be where it still helps you and where it now costs you."
• Watch for: The client adopts or modifies the frame and starts new talk about the problem. Rejection is useful information. Never impose an interpretation.

C5. Self-disclosure

• Purpose / when: Sparingly, to build trust, normalise, or model, when the disclosure serves the client [source: Cengage TOC ch. 12; AIPC influencing skills; open-exam-prep].
• Steps: (1) Ask yourself whether this is for the client's benefit. (2) Keep it brief, relevant and usually present tense ("I feel..." in reaction to the client) or a short past example. (3) Return the focus to the client straight away with a check-out [synthesis consistent with sources].
• Example language (illustrative): "I've also found it hard to ask for help at work. What makes it hardest for you?"
• Watch for: The client's focus going to you, or the client feeling burdened. If so, stop disclosing.

C6. Feedback

• Purpose / when: To give the client concrete, accurate information about how others, or the counsellor, see them, as a basis for growth [source: Cengage TOC ch. 12; AIPC].
• Steps: (1) Ask permission. (2) Give specific, concrete and non-judgemental observations of behaviour. (3) Include positive feedback and possibilities for growth. (4) Keep it brief and check the client's reaction [source: AIPC (concise, emphasise positives); steps 1 and 4 synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Can I share what I noticed? When you described the meeting, you spoke clearly and calmly. You also apologised four times. What do you make of that?"
• Watch for: Defensiveness (go back to listening) or curiosity (keep going).

C7. Logical consequences

• Purpose / when: Decision-making in Stages 4–5, to help the client foresee the likely results of alternatives [source: Cengage TOC ch. 12; AIPC].
• Steps: (1) List the options with the client. (2) For each one, explore the likely positive and negative consequences, as the client sees them first. (3) Add any consequences the client has missed, framed neutrally ("if... then..."). (4) Summarise and invite a choice [synthesis consistent with AIPC definition].
• Example language (illustrative): "If you take the job, what do you expect to happen with the kids' routine? And if you stay, what happens six months from now?"
• Watch for: A choice the client owns. Avoid coercive "warnings".

C8. Directives / instruction

• Purpose / when: Stage 4–5, to ask the client to do something specific: an in-session exercise (for example relaxation, imagery, role-play, thought-stopping or other theory-specific tasks) or homework [source: Cengage TOC ch. 12; AIPC ("information and directives")]. The specific list of directive exercises in the text is not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps: (1) Explain why and get agreement. (2) Give a clear, concrete instruction, one step at a time. (3) Check the client understood (ask them to restate it). (4) Do the exercise with them and then debrief it [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's try something. Sit back, put both feet on the floor and breathe in slowly for four counts... and out for six. Again... What did you notice?"
• Watch for: Compliance without understanding, or cultural discomfort with directive styles. Use the client's restatement as your check.

C9. Psychoeducation / information giving

• Purpose / when: To give useful information (for example on stress, sleep, career options or resources) that opens new possibilities [source: Cengage TOC ch. 12; AIPC ("information and broad suggestion")].
• Steps: (1) Ask what the client already knows. (2) Give brief, accurate, relevant information. (3) Ask what fits the client's situation. (4) Link it to the action plan [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if I said a bit about how stress affects sleep? ...Which part of that fits you?"
• Watch for: Lecturing. Keep the client talking more than you.

C10. Stress management and therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC)

• Purpose / when: Building resilience. The 10th ed. places stress management and TLC in the action skills, and Appendix V gives a TLC assessment instrument used in treatment planning [source: Cengage TOC; TPC review (stress management)].
• Steps: (1) Assess current lifestyle areas with the client using the TLC instrument (do not reproduce its items here). (2) Choose one or two areas the client wants to change. (3) Use psychoeducation, directives and logical consequences to plan small, specific steps. (4) Review them each session [source: TOC for the existence of the instrument; content and the area list uncertain; steps synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Of the areas we looked at, which one would make the biggest difference if it improved a bit?"
• Watch for: Plans that are too ambitious. Avoid specific weight or exercise targets; set the client's own small steps.

C11. Family genogram (and community/cultural context mapping)

• Purpose / when: To support the family and cultural focus, usually in Stage 2 [source: Cengage TOC (Appendix III)].
• Steps: Draw the family across generations with the client, add significant events, relationships and cultural or community influences, and explore strengths and patterns. The detailed procedure in the appendix is not drawn on here [uncertain]; steps are [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's sketch your family on paper. Who should go on it, including people who were 'like family'?"
• Watch for: Emotional activation around losses or trauma; pace it.

C12. Action plan and generalisation (Stage 5)

• Purpose / when: End of every session and at termination. The 10th ed. stresses an Action Plan for homework and generalisation [source: Cengage TOC; Aldridge & Ivey 1975 on transfer].
• Steps: (1) Summarise the goal and what was worked on. (2) Ask the client to name one specific action (what, where, when, with whom). (3) Anticipate obstacles and plan for them. (4) Check commitment ("Will you do it?"-style question). (5) At the next session, review what happened, praise any attempt and adjust. (6) Near termination, add relapse-prevention planning [source: Cengage TOC; TPC review (relapse prevention); Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain; steps 3 and 5 synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "So the step is to call your cousin on Thursday evening and ask about the weekend. What might get in the way? ...How sure are you, out of ten?"
• Watch for: Vague plans. Without a follow-up plan, clients often do not carry out what was decided [source: Brainscape Ch. 8, uncertain].

C13. Integration with theory and determining personal style

• Purpose / when: Once the hierarchy is mastered, to deliver specific theories with microskills and to settle a personal style [source: Cengage TOC ch. 13–14; TPC review (CBT transcript appendix)].
• Steps: (1) Take a theory you use (e.g. person-centred, CBT, brief solution-focused, crisis counselling). (2) Map which microskills it relies on at each of the five stages; for example, CBT leans on directives and psychoeducation in Stages 4–5. (3) Record a session and classify it with the taxonomy to check that you are doing what the theory requires. (4) Note which skills you naturally favour and which you avoid, and practise the avoided ones with A1 [synthesis on steps; the six theories in the 10th ed. were not individually confirmed, uncertain].
• Example language: varies by theory.
• Watch for: Reliance on one or two skills regardless of the client.

5. Handling problems

The sources cited give only the general rules: if a skill does not get the anticipated response, try another; use the CCS to judge confrontation; build in action plans because change fades without them [source: Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain; Aldridge & Ivey 1975]. Everything else below is [synthesis] unless tagged.

• Stuck client (circling the same story; CCS level 1–2). Check that the story has actually been summarised and confirmed; often Stage 2 is not finished. Switch focus to another person, the family or the cultural context (C1). Do a strength search (B9). Then use a gentler confrontation that names both sides without pressing. Track the CCS across sessions instead of pushing for movement in one session [synthesis; CCS from Brainscape Ch. 10, uncertain].
• "Resistance" or defensiveness. Treat it as information about fit, not as client failure. Common causes in microskills terms are too many questions (especially "why"), influencing before listening, or a cultural mismatch in eye contact, pace or directness [source: AIPC (question problems); rest synthesis]. Response: drop to attending plus reflection of feeling, and use the mutuality focus: "I may have pushed too fast. How is this going for you?" (illustrative).
• Over-talkative or flooding client. Use summaries frequently to structure the material, closed questions to pin down specifics, and selective attention through encouragers on the key theme. Agree on priorities using the five-stage structure [synthesis].
• Very quiet client. Increase structure in Stage 1, use more closed questions and concrete prompts, and allow silence without rescuing too quickly. Watch whether quietness is cultural, situational or a sign of low mood [synthesis].
• Emotional overwhelm or dissociation. Slow down. Shift from reflecting feeling to paraphrase and summary (content is cooler than affect). Ground the client in the present with orienting questions about the room and time, and use a breathing directive (C8). Do not push confrontation or deep reflection of meaning while the client is overwhelmed. If trauma memories surface, the microskills hierarchy is not a trauma-processing method: stabilise, close safely and refer to or move into a trauma-focused treatment with readiness assessment [synthesis; the 10th ed. covers stress, trauma and crisis (Cengage TOC), but its content is uncertain].
• Risk of harm to self or others. Use closed questions directly and calmly within your standard risk-assessment protocol. Follow your service's safety-planning and duty-to-warn or duty-to-protect procedures, including lethal-means counselling (safe storage or removal). Ethics is the foundation layer of the hierarchy [source: Cengage TOC (ethics); procedure synthesis].
• Non-adherence to the action plan. Review it without blame ("What got in the way?"). Check whether the plan was the client's own and concrete enough; make it smaller; use logical consequences (C7) to revisit the value of the change; and reflect the meaning (C3) of the goal to reconnect motivation [synthesis].
• Ruptures (the client feels misunderstood, criticised or pushed). Name what happened through the mutuality focus, reflect the client's feeling about you, own your part with a brief self-disclosure, and ask what would help. Then return to the BLS until the client confirms understanding [synthesis]. Note that one reviewer said the text under-emphasises the working alliance, so add alliance-repair knowledge from other sources [source: TPC review].
• Cultural mismatch. Do not apply Western norms for eye contact, self-disclosure or direct confrontation by default. Ask about preferences and use the cultural/environmental focus. Consider family or community involvement [source: AIPC (eye contact norms; cultural problems with rapid questioning); Cengage TOC (multicultural); response synthesis].
• Mechanical, "textbook" responding (common for new learners). Clients notice formulaic stems. Vary them, use the client's own key words, and work toward personal style (C13). Re-run the microtraining cycle (A1) on the weakest skill with recordings [synthesis].
• Over-reliance on influencing skills or advice-giving. Count listening versus influencing responses on a recording (A2). Run a listening-only five-stage session (B10) to rebalance [synthesis built on Cengage TOC ch. 8].
• Skills learned but not transferred into real sessions or, for clients, into daily life. Build an individual transfer plan and reinforce it with review [source: Aldridge & Ivey 1975, pp. 142–145].
• Telehealth. Attending cues are reduced. Look at the camera at key moments, describe your nonverbals aloud if needed ("I'm nodding"), check the client's privacy and safety at the start, and agree a plan for when the connection drops [synthesis; telehealth content in the 10th ed. uncertain].
• Coaching or counselling role reaching its limits: when to refer for clinical care. The text separates coaching (short to medium term, strengths-focused) and counselling from psychotherapy for deeper-seated difficulties [source: Brainscape Ch. 1, uncertain]. The ICF, EMCC and AC boundary documents are not drawn on here [uncertain]. Refer, or move to a clinical assessment, when there is [synthesis]: suicidal or self-harm thoughts or behaviour; risk to others or safeguarding concerns; symptoms of a mental disorder that impair daily functioning for more than a few weeks (e.g. persistent low mood, panic, intrusive trauma memories, psychotic experiences, mania); substance misuse affecting functioning; eating-disorder signs; repeated failure of action plans because of emotional rather than practical barriers; recent trauma or abuse; or the client asking to work mainly on the past or on symptoms rather than goals. Use the BLS to hear these well, closed questions to clarify them, and psychoeducation (C9) to explain the referral as care, not rejection. Agree a warm handover.

Sources

Sources

• AE Intentional Interviewing and Counseling, 10th Edition: Cengage Asia (publisher page, table of contents)
• Book review: Intentional Interviewing and Counseling, 8th Edition (The Professional Counselor)
• Aldridge & Ivey (1975), The Microcounseling Paradigm in the Instruction of Junior High School Students in Attending Behavior: full text PDF (Canadian Journal of Counselling), with its abstract page
• Daniels & Uhlemann (2004), Supervising the Counsellor Trainee in the New Millennium (Canadian Journal of Counselling)
• Counseling Skills Training: SAGE Encyclopedia of Counseling (2008)
• Basic Attending Skills, 5th ed.: Alexander Street record
• Five Counselling Microskills (AIPC), secondary
• Influencing Skills (AIPC), secondary
• RHS 301 Lesson 1: Microskills (Penn State World Campus), secondary
• The 5-Stage Counseling Process and Active Microskills (open-exam-prep), secondary; mixes in non-Ivey models
• Chapter 8: 5 Stage Counseling Session flashcards (Brainscape), student notes, used only where tagged uncertain
• Ch10 Cengage flashcards (Brainscape), student notes on empathic confrontation and the CCS, tagged uncertain
• Chapter 1: Intentional Interviewing flashcards (Brainscape), student notes, tagged uncertain

Further reading (not drawn on): Ivey & Daniels (2016), Systematic interviewing microskills and neuroscience, International Journal of Listening [uncertain]. The textbook itself was available only via unauthorised uploads, which were not used.

Books and papers cited

• Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2023). Intentional Interviewing and Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society (10th ed.). Cengage.
• Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2014). Intentional Interviewing and Counseling (8th ed.). Brooks/Cole.
• Ivey, A. E., & Ivey, M. B. (2003). Intentional Interviewing and Counseling (5th ed.). Brooks/Cole (as cited by AIPC).
• Ivey, M. B., Gluckstern Packard, N., & Ivey, A. E. (2014/2015). Basic Attending Skills: Foundations of Empathic Relationships and Problem Solving (5th ed.). Microtraining Associates.
• Ivey, A. E. (1971). Microcounseling: Innovations in Interviewing Training. C. C. Thomas.
• Ivey, A. E., Normington, C. J., Miller, C. D., Morrill, W. H., & Haase, R. F. (1968). Microcounseling and attending behavior: An approach to prepracticum counselor training. Journal of Counseling Psychology monograph supplement.
• Aldridge, E. E., & Ivey, A. E. (1975). The microcounseling paradigm in the instruction of junior high school students in attending behavior. Canadian Journal of Counselling (then Canadian Counsellor), 9(2), approx. pp. 138–145.
• Daniels, T., & Uhlemann, M. (2004). Supervising the counsellor trainee in the new millennium. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 38(3), 139–141.