I think that in these instances open questions were a better choice to make because at times reflection seemed to cause the client to pause and loose his direction. Or he may have needed to think more about how to respond. I found it difficult at several points in the interview to stay on topic because there was so much being stated by the client. I found it difficult to choose what to reflect on. I need to work on finding an opening where I can reflect without causing the client to pause. It does seem to me that some clients’ find it strange to answer reflections.
I notice that in their facial language they seem to pause as if wondering why I am saying what they have just said, back to them. This may be my distorted perception of the effect of reflection. 4. ) Reflection of Feeling: I reflected feelings five times during the interview. First of which was in response to the client being overwhelmed. The rationale for this was to bring awareness to “too much on the client’s plate. ” The second one was to reflect how he worried about how his significant other felt. The rationale behind this is bringing awareness of his feelings towards his girlfriend.
The third reflection was to point out how he is currently processing his feeling of being overwhelmed. The rationale behind this is to help him find hope. The fourth reflection was to bring awareness of his worry of how he is seen by others. But I paraphrased a previous statement about wreckage from his past and asked him to elaborate on the process of change he has gone through. This seemed to frustrate the client because his tone and demeanor changed. I think sticking with just the reflection would have helped the client stay on topic. The last reflection of feeling was to emphasize his previous statement of feeling normal.
I thought it was important to bring awareness of how the client currently feels about himself as a “normal person. ” All but one of these reflections of feelings was satisfactory for the interview. They did not impede the client in any way and helped emphasize important feelings to bring awareness to. 5. ) Reflection of Content: I reflected content four times during the interview. The first of which was to reflect his statements about change and growth and to highlight his opportunity to show how much he has changed his life. Some of this reflection seems to also be a paraphrase of his previous statements.
After this reflection, I asked a closed question which seemed to “shut the door” on the hope I was trying to help him find. The second reflection was to bring awareness to how much he has processed his issues thus far. This followed a reflection of feeling. I think it would have been better if I would have separated the two different types of reflection. It might have given the client a clearer picture of how he is currently processing the issue. The third reflection was intended to shine some hope on his opportunity to show that he is a new person and has changed everything about himself.
I personally do not think it would have went any further because the client does not seem to be ready to show his positive progress in recovery to an authority figure. Or it could be that the shame he feels is causing him to doubt his ability to make his case for an appeal. The last reflection of content was intended to summarize all the positive changes and growth the client has made in his life and discussed with me during our session. The intent was to shine a light on his growth in life and how he is currently working through the issues as we spoke.
Two of these reflections helped the client by shining some light on his success’s and two of them damaged the interview by causing some confusion. 6. ) Encouragers and Summaries: I utilized encouragers twenty times throughout the interview. The three encouragers I used are uh-hmm, nodding my head, and yes. These seemed to help the client continue discussing his issues. I think they also helped to show that I understood what he was saying. I also think I used to many encouragers and need to space them out more when using them. I summarized twice during the interview.
The first summary was to show the client that I heard and understood what he was saying about his progress in recovery. My intention in this summary was to bring awareness to the major points that he spoke of and to highlight the positive changes and growth he has made thus far in his life. I tried to keep my tone of voice softer than his and to put an emphasis on the major points. I also used hand gestures to try to help me emphasize these points. My hopes were to help the client become aware of his progress on processing the issues we have discussed in the session. The second summary was at the end of the interview.
My intent was to show the client I listened and retained the information he discussed with me. I also intended to bring the session to a close in the following way. By highlighting the major points in a positive way back to the client and inviting him back for another session to discuss any of these issues again, or to hear any updates he may have to discuss with me. I think I brought the session to a smooth ending without being to abrupt. 7. ) Overall Evaluation: A. ) Give Yourself a Number Grade and Explain, Why. I gave myself a grade of (91) because, I provided insight into the preparation of the interview with clear descriptions.
Explained the time frame and how I kept track of the interview. Described how I planned for the interview. Gave clear descriptions of my attending behaviors of eye contact, body language, vocal qualities, verbal tracking and pacing. Stated my observations of the client’s nonverbal, verbal behaviors and provided unique insight into my perception of the client’s discrepancies. By describing my use of open and closed ended questions, I pointed out why I did what I did, and the effects these questions had upon the interview and client.
Stated my difficulties of staying on topic and gave the reasons why I found it difficult. Explained my use and rationale behind my reflection of feelings and content and gave the reasons why they did or did not work well in the interview and with the client. Pointed out the encouragers used during the interview and explained why I used too many during the interview. Lastly, I described the summaries I used and the rationale behind them. My intent in this evaluation was to point out what I did, right, wrong, how this effected the interview, and how I can improve my interviewing skills.
I did quite well for my first interview and pointed out many improvements that need to be made in my performance. I also pointed out what I did right and how it affected the interview. By pointing out my faults, actions and reactions of myself and the client, the solutions to these faults, and the positive characteristics of my interview. The area of skills I will need to improve upon the most, without a doubt are my reflection skills. I hope to be able to improve as a counselor and receive a grade of (A. )
