Verbatim Tape 1: Reflection

I believe I could have done a much better job of asking the client better questions in order to

facilitate more thorough responses from her. I tried hard to focus on reflecting the content

presented to me, however, given that it was my first experience with anyone in a counseling

setting, I believe I failed to reinterpret her expressions and direct them back at her while allowing

for openings for her to let the conversation flow into different areas of her life. Also, I believe

there was no organized structure to my questions as I simply asked questions as they arose in my

head rather than asking what would be most beneficial for her. If I had done this better, her

responses most likely would have been much more thorough which would have allowed me to

consequently ask better questions. The flow that counselor is meant to generate and keep up is

meant to allow the client to explain her problems sufficiently and then further expand on those

issues to illuminate the situation. However, the way I approached it, was more in line with two

good friends talking with each other. Although this is not bad or ineffective per se, in the

counseling relationship, there should be considerable progress in terms of how much the client

becomes aware of her issues, even in the first session. Compared to the counseling session

videos that I have seen so far as part of this, as well as other courses, I lacked some coherency in

general and the responses by the client highlighted that. I believe if I did a better job of choosing

which parts of the content presented to me are reflected, then there would be much better flow

overall as opposed to just choosing the most convenient topics for me. Also, I should have done

a better job of building off the client’s responses as opposed to relying mostly on the form that

the client filled out outlining her issues. I do believe that I did a decent job of making the client

feel safe and in trustworthy hands. I occasionally attempted to sympathize, relate, and bring

some humor into the conversation to brighten up things slightly.