ABSTRACT
My aim in this chapter is to pull together some ideas for using the skilled helper model in the training of counsellors and helpers. Here I have attempted more explicitly to offer my own experience as a trainer whose approach is essentially derived from Egan’s work. As such, this chapter contains rather more suggestions for exploratory training exercises and guidelines than previous chapters. It is designed to be of practical assistance to those trainers and trainees who have an interest in developing their knowledge and experience of how to apply the model as an integrative, client-responsive framework. At the heart of the chapter lies a conundrum that I hope I have managed to present as a productive paradox, rather than a baffling contradiction. This is the central paradox inherent in any counsellor training programme that aims to help trainee therapists develop the capacity to use an externally imposed model as the vehicle for constructing their own personally determined counselling approach.
