Professional Documents
Culture Documents
General Information
Skill dependent on active listening; demonstrates to the client that you are listening and
trying to understand his situation
A way of checking rather than assuming that you know what is meant
One way to show empathy, shows that you have an interest in what the person has to
say
Pathway for engaging others in relationships, building trust, and fostering motivation to
change
Encourages further explorations of the problem
Appears easy, but takes hard work and skill to do well
Reflections
Actively listening to the client, and then responding with a statement that reflects the
essence of what the client said, or what you think the client meant.
Reflect the client’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors
Statements are less likely than questions to evoke resistance
Start off with simple reflections, the goal is to learn complex reflections well and use them
as a tool to promote change
Format
Reflections are statements, statements ending with a downward inflection (as opposed to
questions)
Avoid “Do you mean…” or “What I hear you saying is….”. this can appear patronizing
Simple Reflection: repeat the client’s words or an element of the statement (E.g. Client: “I
did not have a good day”; Counselor: “You had a bad day” or “You did not have a good
day”)
Reflecting emotions: Noticing the emotion behind a behavior or statement, then saying it
out in the open for the client to hear (e.g. “You have tears in your eyes, you seem to be
sad/ frustrated, angry”)
Complex Reflection: A hypothesis as to what the talker is getting at. Formulated as a
statement and not a question. Integrating underlying feeling, values, and unsaid portions.
(e.g. Client: “I do not care if I ever see my parents again. They have let me down so
many times anyway, I can deal on my own”. Counselor: “You are angry with your father
and your rather not have contact than go through the pain of loss again”
Stating/Questioning vs. Reflections