The triads and the first video recording have been an interesting experience for me.

I have

also learned a lot through reading and the feedback from the teacher’s assistant and the feedback

from my peers. This is the first that I have enjoyed hearing feedback from my teacher and my

classmates, and I think it is because it has caused me to learn and grow each time. I believe I

become more comfortable each time I practice counseling with my classmates. Growing to be

more comfortable each time is a positive thing, but I also noticed some negatives or weaknesses I

have so far that I need to work on. Learning about the use of open questions, closed questions,

reflection skills such as reflections of feeling, reflections of meaning, and paraphrasing have

been very beneficial. I also noticed things like minimal encouragers and verbal encouragers are

things I use often in my day to day life. Mirroring is also something I typically do often.

Learning how they could be used in counseling has given me some hope since I use them

naturally.

When I first started the triads, I was incredibly nervous. I did well when I used minimal

encouragers and verbal encouragers. I was also good at being attentive through my eye contact

and posture. I also started out with decent reflections. I was pretty hesitant when using open

questions and reflections in the beginning because I was trying not to ask any leading or closed

questions, but I learned later that closed questions can be helpful in certain situations such as

clarifying facts or needed details regarding the client’s story. After reading that, I felt a little

more comfortable knowing that I could use closed questions when it is most needed.

I noticed that I have a weakness when it comes to questions. Sometimes when I become

more comfortable in the session, I accidentally ask a closed question, and then I get nervous

again trying to fix my mistake. I think in those situations, I ask closed questions because I think I

know what the client means and I want to ask about it, but In that situation I could turn it into a
reflection of meaning or feeling, or I could rephrase the question. Sometimes I am in the middle

of asking a closed question and it causes me to ask the question slowly in order to rephrase it as

an open question instead. I thought asking open questions would be a lot easier than it was

because I thought I would not possibly ask someone something that could influence their answer

or show any biases. It is harder than it looks because it is so easy to want to lead or rush things

along when I feel Like I understand the client, but my job is to guide them and not to lead them

into any particular direction. I tend to take my time to think about other ways to say things so

that the phrasing would be the most beneficial, but looking back on my videos, I always notice

something that could have been said or said differently.

I feel like I have improved since I have started. I hear less noise in my brain when

listening to the client. Originally, I had trouble paying attention and thinking of what to say, but I

read about finding the main points of a client’s story and reflecting back on it. Somehow, that

has helped me because in my friendships, I am usually good at helping them by reflecting

sometimes and I do that by looking at the main points in their stories and seeing what stands out

to me showing me how they may be feeling or what the main meaning is, and that has helped me

come up with questions, and reflections, but separating the way I talk to my friends and the way

I talk to my clients is still something I need to work on because it is okay to ask leading

questions in friendships, but in counseling I have to rephrase what I am trying to ask. I also have

started to ask too many questions in comparison to the amount of reflections I give. That is

something I need to remember to change and work on. I think I could be afraid of reflections in a

way because maybe I am afraid of being wrong about what a client is trying to say so, instead I

ask a question about it. I also enjoy getting a client to think about their feelings or situation

through questions. I like reflections too, but I need to get used to them. When I talk to my
friends, my reflections are simple for example, I may say “You feel sad” or “You are afraid of

hurting their feelings”. The conversation also involves less listening as well, so there is less to

paraphrase or reflect on. I find it a bit intimidating to listen to a long story without interrupting

and quickly summarize what I got from it, but I am learning to take main points and connect

them to form a big picture. So, I am confident I will improve on my reflections. I notice myself

becoming more comfortable each time, so it gives me some encouragement to remain positive.

Now, I am able to make mistakes and happily learn from them instead of feeling a lot of

disappointment.

In order to improve, I plan on continuing to show interest and understanding by nodding

while listening and saying “yeah”, “umm hmm”, “I see”, and “I understand” because these are

phrases I naturally say to show understanding and encouragement. I will probably practice when

I help my friends with their problems. I will also practice open questions when talking to my

friends so that it can become more natural. I do not have to worry about making mistakes with

my friends, so I would not have the nervousness I get when practicing in front of my classmates.

I will also continue to practice mirroring when engaging in conversations with people.

In conclusion, I am feeling more and comfortable the more I practice, and even with my

mistakes, it is helping me to grow and remain positive. I find it helpful to watch my classmates

and receive feedback. It gives me more ideas on what I should work on and since I know what I

need to do to improve, it gives me more confidence that I can do this and get better. I am getting

better at my reflections and I feel I can naturally use mirroring, minimal encouragers and verbal

encouragers and it is helping me enjoy the process of learning and practicing my skills. I will

also continue to practice my skills with others in my day to day life until it becomes more

natural.