Lesson 10: Focusing


Attention

We spend some time trying to figure out what the focus of the counseling is going to be...we know that many times the client may not know what the "real" issue is at the beginning. Don't be afraid to throw a few arrows trying to find it!


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify areas in which counseling may focus on client cognitive and emotional complexity
  • Identify areas of "Personal Focus"
  • Identify areas of "Environmental Focus"

Teaching

Focus

When someone enters counseling they may or may not be aware as to why they are there! This may sound surprising, but it is not uncommon for there to be "smokescreens" or simply a sense of "something is not right" on the part of the client.

On the other hand, a client may need help in identifying which of many issues they want to work on "right now", assisting in prioritizing what is going on.

Smokescreens

While this term has a negative connotation to it, it is actually our best clue to what might "really" be going on...it is our starting point.

The "smokescreen" is the presenting issue that might be the "test" for getting into other, more deep issues. It is more "surface". It is "real", but it is probably not the main issue.

Personal Focus

Much of counseling has a "personal focus" and you may choose to focus the client in one of the following ways:

  • Individual personality or behavior
  • Main theme or problem
  • Focus on "other"
  • Family
  • Mutuality (the immediate counseling relationship)
  • Interviewer
    • Feedback
    • Opinion
    • Advice
    • Psychoeducation

Environment Focus

Sometimes the counseling session might focus on issues related to cultural or environmental issues. (This is not to be confused with the environmental focus of Behavior Management, which is really a Personal Focus)

  • Moral/Religious
  • Legal
  • Gender
  • Economic
  • Health
  • Education/Career
  • Ethnic/Cultural
  • Stigma

Prioritization

Some of our best work comes from helping the client FOCUS on a particular problem...helping them prioritize based on a number of factors:

  • Immediacy/Emergency
  • "The Person in the Room"
  • Practical/Doable
  • Steps in a Process/Recovery

Assessment

Lesson 10 Quiz

  1. Consider the complexity of your own life. How do you go about maintaining focus with all of what you have going on? Share your cognitive strategies as well as your more pragmatic ones (making lists, prioritizing tasks).
  2. Describe how your skills prepare you to be a good/bad role model for you clients who are also trying to focus their lives?