Suzzane Case Study

3. Reorient client as necessary, do not go along with client’s delusions or hallucinations, help client establish what is real and unreal, and monitor for altered thought process.

This nervousness made me breeze over asking the client if they had any questions about the confidentiality agreement. It is crucial to make sure you give the clients an opportunity to ask questions. Still, if this is not done it can discourage the client from opening up and potentially set a bad stage for the session. Additionally, I found myself unable to maintain eye contact at times with my client, due to uneasiness and a loss for words. When stuck on what to say next, I more often than not would look away from the client to collect my thoughts. Yet, this seemed to create some discomfort within the situation toward the client themselves. Eye contact is important to make sure the client realizes you are in the moment with them, making them a top priority. A loss in this concept can create animosity towards the goals of the session. Likewise, without affirmation there can be negative consequences to your session and the emotional state of the client. Often clients are coming to social workers in crisis and are emotionally unbalanced. Therefore, affirmations of the client’s strengths help them grow in confidence in figuring out a treatment plan for their situation. This attribute is something I almost completely disregarded because I was so focused on analyzing the situation that I forgot to acknowledge the strengths within the client. I was very intent on trying to find the root of the

My goals for the session were to introduce myself to the client, understand the client’s concerns, learn her background and current situation for several areas relevant to her life and her concerns, such as medical, family, legal, educational, and vocational. I

Let Client know what is happening, at all times, the client should know what is going to happen, to help them understand and reduce their anxiety, and maintain their dignity.

Due to Marks very depressed state, the initial interaction required a great deal of empathy and high degrees of compassion. When first engaging a client, it is important to be compassionate and empathetic and listen without interrupting, prompting or advising (Berg-Weger, 2013). Reflecting and summarizing content delivered in the session is a valuable way to let the client know that you are actively listening to what they are saying

In my opinion, I did a good job about open ending and close ending questions. I tried to ask what I need to know about the client’s issue which was Depression. I used reflection, paraphrasing and summarizing during this session. I had a tendency to ask questions fast, I need to work on that. I will need to use more silence time after each question to give the client more time to think. When I watched the video, to me it seems like I push him to answer the questions fast.

The client appeared to be nervous and shy initially in the first session. As we continued the session and worked into the following session, the client was more open about her life and career aspirations. My impression of the client is that she is a rather intelligent, caring, and ambitious individual. She disclosed that she has Dyslexia but she has ambition and drive to get tasks accomplished. Mallory has an age appropriate level of functioning and is very “persistent” and a detailed organizer. She mentioned other strengths such as being able to talk to people and always being on task.

The book states that the mission of encouraging, paraphrasing, and summarizing is that, “clients need to know that the counselor or psychotherapist hears what they say, sees their point of view, and feels their world as they retell their experience.” (Ivey et al., 2010, p. 138) When we have to do our audio tapes I feel as if my greatest strength lies on encouraging, paraphrasing and summarizing. One of the concepts that I use with this particular skill is acceptance. Acceptance towards the client helps them feel comfort with the counselor knowing that they are able to be themselves and talk about their most horrific, or even best experiences without being judged. When a counselor encourages the client, the client is able to elaborate more on the topic he or she was speaking

In self-reflection, I realized that I felt compelled to fill in the gaps in between shared statements. In part, this is likely due to the fact that I find silence to be awkward and I fear that allowing for moments of silence may not be as productive as more assertive conversation. However, upon further review of the recording, I am more aware of becoming willing to consider moments of silence to allow to happen organically. I see the possible value in these moments; especially if they happen when a client is deeply contemplating and visualizing possible

Though I like to think that I won’t have any issues concerning boundaries like the ones mentioned in the text such as duel relationships, or attraction for or from the client, I know that this can happen. I would love to say that these will not be an issue for me but then who knows what the future holds. I would like to think that I

Darryl was able to experience some empathy and self-awareness. Susan and Dolly’s non-verbal communication of indicating for the therapist to help the group was brought to the here and now. The dialogue between Susan and therapist would continue until Susan identifies her dismissive behavior towards Ali, Does Ali feel unheard when she continues to suggest medication? Does Ali feel like Susan is trying to fix him? The therapist would continue to use contract statements, such as “I wonder”, to help members come to their own conclusions; since they exhibit lack of personal insight and to illuminate how they make other members feel. As a facilitator during this session, I was aware of some counter transference of wanting to rescue Ali since he reminded me of my younger

The therapeutic communication video states the condition in which the interviewer should conduct themselves during the interview. It is important the patient does not feel judged, because this may cause the patient to withdraw from the conversation. It is stated the interviewer must appear empathetic and genuine in the responses to the patient’s

The client seemed very confused as though she was not sure of what to say and looked up the ceiling taking pauses, blinking, sighing as she spoke about the presenting issue. i nodded continuously to

If the client feels “safe” in the session, this can be very powerful for them. As sessions occur, the client will feel more comfortable in trusting the clinician with their feelings, attitudes and emotions. The client is able to present their needs and problems in ways that only they can express. Another factor that may resonate in the sessions may include transference and counter-transference. Transference is when the client’s attitudes, feelings and emotional conflicts from past events begin to be directed to the therapist, while Countertransference is exactly the opposite, when the therapist’s attitudes, feelings, and emotional conflicts from the past are directed towards the client (Transference and Countertransference, 2011). There are not too many positive factors with Countertransference, except being able to recognize it, when it exists, and be able to work out any conflict. A client’s experiences can affect their feelings, emotions, and behaviors towards their therapist. If the therapist remains their professionalism, and sets the proper limits and boundaries, a client can work through past experiences that are affecting their functioning. In a lecture, it is the role of the counselor to recognize the client’s experience; reflect and process the client’s emotional state, as well as process their own emotional reactions to clients and their issues. When clients can work through their problems from past

In chapter 7, Hill mentions minimal verbal behaviors that can help to encourage the client to continue with their story and that we are attending and listening. I agree that this can be helpful in encouraging the client to continue with their story, though I am concerned that it would not be enough. The content of these chapters have helped with the realization that although we already know the words, being comfortable and fluent with the phrases and open-ended questions can be similar to learning an entirely new language. To illustrate, in doing the role-play with the intake, I found it most challenging to simultaneously keep to the script and actively listen to the story that was being narrated.