Interviewing Stages

This has meant that new approaches have to be made so that clients can access a type of interview at a time and in a place to suit them. To meet individual needs this has meant me offering telephone guidance or home visits to accommodate their requirements. I have also signposted them to online services such as webinars about CV building and networking and useful clips as well as online chats with prospective employers. I also offer events that may give them additional options and opportunities. I have also had to discuss the timing of one to one support with clients, as some prefer to have the interview in the early stages of resettlement to point them in the right direction, whereas others like to carry out their own research and start to make plans and use the interview to reassure them and challenge their options to get more out of it. This also means I can tailor my advice and guidance to the career path they are considering.

Open-ended question are a good way to start conversations as the client cannot just answer with a yes or no. It forces them to give you more information which makes it easier to understand and provide care for them. This would help Josephine connect more with her healthcare providers and her husband.

In my opinion the beginning of the counselling session is one of the most important stage of the process, the client will be very nervous and will not fully trust the process they are about to embark on, their unknown journey they will be nervous. The Client may hold back what they are feeling until they have gained the trust of the counsellor, and know they are safe and in a confidential environment.

I also used open questions during the interview. Koprowska(2005) describes open questions as being designed to give freedom of choice, enabling service users to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words. I used these open questions as a follow-on to closed questions to develop a conversation and gain an understanding of Miss Allen’s feelings. Asking her, “who is Mr Smith?” followed by “why does he want you out of the house”, helped establish what she felt about

'....exploration may be essential in order to create a basis for offering further help, for example by using other strategies such as goal setting or action planning.'

d. Using an open question with a client could be useful in getting the client to discuss what is on their mind. Affirmations can instill self-efficacy in a client by boosting their confidence level. Reflections can be useful to reiterate what the client is discussing, such as repeating (reflecting) what the client says so the

Exploration is helping the client explorer their feeling, problems or issues. The elements in this stage;

Step one is defining the problem. This means that you need to see the current crisis the way that the client is seeing it right now. In this step you need to employ what is known as core listening skills, being empathetic, being genuine and showing acceptance or positive regard for their situation.(James, 2004)

4. Assess the relevant areas competence-and of missing knowledge, skills, experience, or expertise-in regard to the relevant aspects of the situation.

Using three different appropriate interview techniques identify each technique as you work towards appropriate interventions with the client. To do this you will need to develop a brief dialogue. Remember to consider any ethical and cultural issues.

Accurate empathy - accurately sensing the client's world and communicating that understanding. Genuineness - self-awareness, honesty and openness; being real (not phony). Unconditional positive regard - accepting and valuing the client as a unique and worthwhile person, being nonjudgmental. Active listening - listening carefully and empathically to the client's story with undistracted attentiveness to 1) gain an understanding of the client's problem, 2) learn how the client thinks, feels and acts, 3) discover the client's strengths, assets and personal power, and 4) build rapport with the client. This includes maintaining comfortable eye contact and open body posture. Reflecting - mirroring the client's thoughts and feelings to demonstrate active listening and encourage the client to continue speaking. This includes: Restating - repeating verbatim the main thought or feeling expressed by the client. Paraphrasing - stating, in your own words, the main thought or feeling expressed by the client. This 1) lets the client know you are working to understand what they are communicating, 2) brings focus to the client's communication, 3) allows the client to correct any misperceptions or misunderstandings, and 4) encourages client self-exploration. Summarizing - summarizing, in your words, a set of thoughts or feelings expressed by the client. Open-ended questioning - Asking questions that require more than a minimal or one-word response by the client. They usually begin

What is the purpose of the open ended question? Formulate three open ended questions that might be used to sell the product/service in your sales plan. (Chapter 10)

Find out what is similar and common between you as the worker and the person as the client and affirm the similarities and commonalities.

There are issues of confidentiality, understanding what’s in the client’s best interest, the rights of the client, and using the techniques to best assess the client. It is also important to maintain a professional relationship with clients.

The fourth skill is probing or questioning. Probing is asking questions or making statements that will hopefully encourage the client to open up about his or her life and discuss the issues that are occurring. When using this technique it is important to remember not to push the client because if you push them by probing into their life to aggressively or rapidly firing questions at them then they will shut down the process or refuse to continue with the counseling session.