REFLECTION OF FEELINGS

 Sometimes we reflect the feelings and not the

content
 First we have to realize the underlying feeling
 This way we help our clients realize their
feelings and cope with them
 Feelings may be mentioned by the client or may
be underlying
 We want to encourage the expression of feelings
or show our client that we understand him/her
and that we are close to him/her e.g.I’m the
only one who works that hard- That makes you
mad, right?
 “How” the client is speaking is important
and not “what” he is saying
 “If I understand right, you feel...”
 “It seems like you feel...”
 Sometimes feelings are not clear or people
have more than one feeling at the same time
Example:
 A client is describing a fight he had with his
father who didn’t want to lend him money.
While mentioning how angry he is at his
father, he bursts into tears.
SUMMARIZING

 Often at the beginning of a session

summarizing a previous one
 Often closing a discussion
 We summarize the most important points to
make sure we’ve understood right
 We may link information from many different
sessions where the client doesn’t see a
connection e.g. Last week you were saying
that...and now you are saying that...
SUMMARIZING

Tips:
 Pay attention to the different topics and
feelings of the client
 Be brief and direct
 Avoid your own interpretations and opinions

 Video (summarizing and asking open-ended

questions)
Video: Psychotherapy examples part 3 :open and
closed questions
 Exercises in Class
MAKING INTERPRETATIONS
 Interpretations or explanations that provide
clients with insight into issues and conflicts
outside their conscious awareness e.g. how
the events from our client’s childhood
continue to influence in the present
 Making an effective interpretation has to do
with more than ensuring the accuracy of the
content. The challenge lies in the when and
how of your delivery. When we give an
explanation prematurely it makes the client
defensive or ruptures rapport.If it’s given too
late, we’re inefficient.Timing is crucial.
MAKING INTERPRETATIONS
 It’s best if we can raise questions and let the
our clients make their own interpretations
 -Do you see any connections between [your
childhood or previous relationship or
interaction with me] and now?
 -Why do you think you end up in the same
emotional place so often?
 -What do you think led you to feel this way?
 -How did you learn to respond in this
manner?
USING METAPHORS
 Some therapists use metaphors to make things
clearer. By assigning visual images to a
particular feeling we help clients identify and
expand their understanding. Metaphors are not
“one size fits all”. They are only effective
when they fit the client’s understanding and
circumstances.
 e.g. “You seem like a cork in the ocean,pushed
around by whatever comes along...” or
 “...a leaf in the wind caught up in currents.
One minute you are blown one direction,the
next another”
CONFRONTING
 When our clients have difficulty seeing things
that are important for progress we need to
consider using confrontation
 We can only confront when we have
demonstrated enough empathy
 You can’t force and that extra effort won’t
help;in other words don’t get trapped into
arguing. What the client takes from the
confrontation is a matter of choice
EXAMPLE OF CONFRONTATION
 “What you are saying is that you can’t find the time to go to
a meeting. What I hear is that lots of other things are more
important to you than going to a meeting. I see that as
denial, meaning some resistance on your part to accepting
the fact that you’ve lost control over alcohol. It seems that
way to me because if you really accepted your limitation
with alcohol and your need to abstain completely from using
it, then hardly anything would be more important than
getting to a program that offers you hope.I think you’d find
the time to go for treatments ,even every day of the week,
if you had a potentially terminal illness and if treatment
could mean the difference between life and death.That is
the way it is with alcoholism.It’s an illness, it’s chronic and
progressive, and it can lead to premature death.How do you
feel about that?”
CONFRONTATION
 Video (video 7)
CLOSING THE SESSION
 It’s a good idea to warn clients that the
session time is coming to an end so that they
are not caught off guard.
 It is important that the therapeutic
framework is clear
 Maybe we can summarize in the end or ask if
they have questions or how they feel
 Ending a session on time (video)
BASIC RESOURCE
 Heaton,J.A. (1998).Building Basic
Therapeutic Skills A Practical Guide for
Current Mental Health Practice,1st Edition,
USA: Jossey-Bass