Reference no: EM132239294

Questions

Answers should be at least 100-175 words for each question and reflect critical thought. Whenever possible, please try to relate the course content to real-world applications from your work experience. Be sure to cite all sources as well.

1. Since the work of psychotherapy is sometimes referred to as "Talk Therapy" (albeit I generally do not really like the term), it makes sense that we would place an emphasis on communication. However, this is something that we have all been doing every day for the vast majority of our lives, so why do we make this emphasis now? What, if any, is the difference between communication in a social setting and communication in the therapeutic context?

2. Yes, I agree with you that it can be quite easy for thing to go awry with communication in the therapeutic context. Sometimes we may not even be fully aware of what even happened when we notice a client has become upset in the session. We are getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here, and we will be studying more about this later in the course, but how might we use the counseling skill of immediacy help when we notice that something has gone amiss in the session?

3. What are some ways to tailor your communication to your clients' needs? Why might it be important to adjust how we communicate depending on the needs of the client? If we change how we approach clients based on their needs, do we risk not being "genuine" and coming across to clients as being "fake"?

4. Yes, there can be a myriad of reasons why we might need to adjust our communication style when working with a client. As you indicated, when working with clients who are highly reserved or even frightened by the therapeutic setting and process, we would need to work with them in a way that helps build a feeling safety and empathy.

From my experience, there are some settings in which we might frequently encounter angry or hostile clients. How do you think you might need to adjust and tailor your communication when working with a client who highly agitated?

5. How might we need to change our verbal cadence and word choice when working with clients who have cognitive delays or when working with younger children?

6. Class, what suggestions would you provide to help avoid discounting the information, skills, and content of this course - even if it might seem very fundamental?

What are the potential risks of not fully engaging in the tasks of learning (and mastering) the basic counseling skills we will cover in this course?