Counselling microskills: what they are, with examples and how to practise them

Counselling microskills are the small, specific things a counsellor does in a conversation: making eye contact and nodding, and in words clarifying, reflecting, paraphrasing, summarising and asking open questions. Researchers who study communication training describe them as skills that help a practitioner build empathy and listen actively, and as transferable across client groups and settings (Reith-Hall and Montgomery, Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2019). This page gives an example of each verbal skill and shows how to practise them, with a partner or with an AI client.

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The microskills at a glance

The review protocol cited above divides microskills into non-verbal ones and verbal ones. The names in this list are the protocol's. The one-line descriptions and the example lines are ours, written for this page.

• Non-verbal

  Eye contact and nodding

  The two non-verbal microskills the protocol names.

• Verbal

  Asking open questions

  A question that invites more than a yes or no.

  “What was going on when you decided to come?”

• Verbal

  Reflecting

  Giving back what the client said or felt.

  “It sounds like the work pressure has been following you home.”

• Verbal

  Paraphrasing

  Restating the content in your own words.

  “So the deadline moved twice and nobody told you.”

• Verbal

  Summarising

  Pulling several points together.

  “Let me check I have this: sleep is poor, work is heavy, and you are not sure who you can talk to.”

• Verbal

  Clarifying

  Checking you understood.

  “When you say 'a lot', do you mean the hours or the people?”

How many counselling microskills are there?

It depends on who is counting. The Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors lists five in one article and eight in a later one:

The 2019 review protocol names the verbal skills differently again: clarifying, reflecting, paraphrasing, summarising and open questions. So there is no single agreed list, and this page uses the names each source uses.

Three of the skills, as the two articles describe them:

• Attending behaviour

  Showing interest through eye contact and mirroring the client's non-verbal cues. The article calls it "the behavioural aspect of building rapport".

  Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (16 October 2009), "Five Counselling Microskills"

• Questioning

  Open questions (what, how, why, could) explore an issue; closed questions (yes or no) gather specifics. The article warns that asking too many questions can signal that the counsellor holds all the answers.

  Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (16 October 2009), "Five Counselling Microskills"

• Noting and reflecting

  Brings the emotional side of the client's story in by naming the underlying feelings.

  Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (9 August 2012), "A Summary of Eight Counselling Microskills"

The five skills Practicium rates

Every session on Practicium is rated on five skills:

• Opening and contracting
• Open questionsOn the protocol's list
• Reflection and summarisingOn the protocol's list
• Holding back advice
• Boundaries

Open questions, reflection and summarising are on the protocol's list above. Opening and contracting, holding back advice and boundaries are other counselling skills that the app rates; this page does not claim that the protocol's list covers them.

How to practise them

A session with an AI client is typed, so eye contact and nodding can only be practised with a person.

One skill at a time

This is our suggestion, not a finding from research:

1. 1

   Choose one microskill for the session, for example open questions.

2. 2

   Read the transcript afterwards.

3. 3

   Look at the rating note for that skill before the next session.

Common questions

What it is, and what it is not

Practicium is practice for people learning to counsel. It is not therapy, it is not a service for people seeking help, and it does not give advice to the public.