Clinical Counseling in Speech-Language Pathology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key counseling concepts, models, techniques, and clinician skills relevant to speech-language pathology practice.

Counseling (in SLP)

A primarily listening process aimed at understanding clients’ struggles and helping them cope with life changes due to communication disorders. Not just about the problem, also about the solution

Content Counseling

Gathering and providing factual information to clients or caregivers; the area where SLPs usually feel most comfortable.

Affect Counseling

Listening, empathizing, and allowing clients’ emotions to surface; focuses on feelings rather than facts.Imagine their point of view.

ASHA Scope of Practice – Counseling

SLPs address emotional reactions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors stemming from communication or swallowing disorders by providing education, guidance, and support.

Behavioral Theory

A counseling model emphasizing that environment shapes behavior through reinforcement, punishment, and conditioning. Shaping behavior to what you want or what you don’t want.

Does not consider the person’s past or thoughts

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior recurring (central to behavioral theory).

Punishment

A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior recurring.

Extinction

The reduction of a behavior when reinforcement is withheld.

Classical Conditioning

Learning through pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the response.

Operant Conditioning

Learning in which behaviors are shaped by their consequences (reinforcement or punishment).

Humanistic Model

Counseling approach that aims to remove external barriers preventing the client's natural drive to grow so clients can achieve self-actualization and reach their highest potential.

Focuses on the present rather than the past and negative behaviors

Client-Centered Approach

Humanistic technique emphasizing unconditional positive regard and meeting clients where they are to facilitate and open the client to change.

Requires clinician to detach biases and understand people’s perspective

Unconditional Positive Regard

Accepting and valuing clients without judgment, regardless of their behaviors or feelings.

Existential Approach

Humanistic branch helping clients pursue goals despite confronting mortality, freedom, loneliness, and meaninglessness.

Focus on free will, self-determination, and personal responsibility

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Emotional problems stem from dysfunctional thinking; seeks to change thoughts, behaviors, and core beliefs.

Thoughts drive our emotion not the situation

Cognitive Restructuring

CBT technique of identifying and replacing distorted thoughts with more realistic ones to ultimately change how one feels.

Put clients into situations to test assumptions → Notice the thoughts → Discuss with the therapist if your reasoning is ture

Control Fallacy

Cognitive distortion where one believes either having no control over life and being a helpless victim or total control over everything, including others’ feelings.

Fallacy of Fairness

You assume the world is inherently fair and feel negatively when you inevitably encounter an unfair situation

Heaven’s Reward Fallacy

Belief that struggle and hard work will inevitably bring a just reward.

All or Nothing Thinking

You look at things in absolute, black and white categories

Overgeneralization

You view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat

Mental Filter

You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives

Discounting the Positives

You insist that your accomplishments or positive qualities “don’t count”

Jumping to Conclusions

Mind-reading- you assume that people are reacting negatively to you when there’s no definite evidence for this

Fortune Telling- You arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly

Magnification or Minimization

You blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance inappropriately

Emotional Reasoning

You reason from how you feel, “I feel like an idiot so I must be one”

Should Statements

You criticize yourself or other people with “shoulds” or “shouldn’ts” or “musts” or “oughts” or “have tos”

Labeling

You identify with your shortcomings. Instead of saying “I made a mistake” you tell yourself “I am a jerk”

Personalization and Blame

You blame yourself for something you weren’t entirely responsible for, or you blame other people and overlook ways that you own attitudes and behavior might contribute to a problem

Family Systems Theory

View that a family is an interdependent system and a client is one piece of that family; communication problems must be understood within family context.

Emotional problems must be viewed in the context of the family

Optimal Family Characteristics

Clear communication, adaptable roles, fair conflict resolution, balance of closeness and independence, and stability with change.

Multicultural Theory

Counseling stance that values cultural sensitivity, respect, and inquiry into clients’ unique cultural beliefs and practices.

When a culture might have trouble with trusting SLPs, try:

Presenting evidence-based resources or showing testimonials from people who come from similar backgrounds

Eclectic (Integrative) Approach

Combining techniques from multiple counseling models to meet individual client needs.

Isolation and Intimacy

Concept that strong emotions can create a sense of isolation, and counseling bridges the gap to foster connection.

Dialectics

Finding a middle path where two seemingly opposing truths can coexist, facilitating change while validating and seeing people for who they are

Diagnostic Interview

Structured conversation used to gather information for assessment, prognosis, and treatment planning.

Content Response

Clinician response providing information or facts to a client question. Info about their condition, info about research-based treatment, info about pathology

Affect Response

Clinician statement that identifies and reflects the client’s feelings.

Counterquestion

Clinician asks a question back to encourage client responsibility and exploration of viewpoints.

Reframing

Offering a new perspective to broaden a client’s view of a situation.

Affirmation / Validation

Acknowledging that a client’s message was heard and understood but does not mean agreement

Paraphrasing

Restating the client’s main message to confirm understanding and provide another perspective. Often feels validating or encourages more thought

Sharing Self

Selective clinician self-disclosure to build rapport, show humanity, and offer alternative perspectives.

Clinical Silence

Purposeful pauses that give clients space to think and continue talking.

Active Listening

Non-judgmental, mindful attention to both verbal and nonverbal to show empathy, aiming for empathy and attunement.

Minimal Encouragers

Brief verbal or nonverbal cues such as “mm-hmm” or head nods that signal attentiveness.

Clinician Self-Awareness

Recognizing and minimizing one’s own biases, emotions, and mental ‘chatter’ to remain fully present with clients. This allows for observing, availiability, and client agency

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Ability to identify, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and perceive emotions of others.

To improve observe your own feelings, practice responding and not recating, and stay humble

Avoid Emotions

Researchers found that clinicians avoid emotions which might be rooted in the need for control or the fear of intimacy