Lesson 5: Client Observation Skills

Attention

Sometimes it seems like you have to keep track of so many things...after practice...and really, after this class...things will start to "gel" and you will start to feel comfortable in your own role as a counselor.

In preparation for this Lesson, read Chapter 5 in your textbook

Learning Outcomes

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

  • Explain the potential importance of non-verbal expressions
  • Identify key verbal patterns that occur in the counseling session
  • Knowledge about etiology, progression, and treatment of major disabling conditions (MHRT/C Outcome)
  • Contrast abstract and concrete statements
  • Demonstrate appropriate responses to discrepancies

Teaching

Observing Human Behavior

A skilled counselor is concerned with facilitating human development...understanding your clients, their behavior, their thoughts, and their feelings, will be central to that effort.

Non Verbal and Verbal Cues provide us CLUES as to what is going on...we are observant of these cues and use them to explore the deeper aspects of a person.

Non Verbal Cues

  • Visuals and Facial Expression
  • Tone
  • Body Communication

While there may be a lot that we can assume about a person's state of mind when we see certain non verbal cues, we have to be sure to not PRESUME that we are correct all the time...we investigate and we are continually willing to be wrong.

Verbal Cues

  • Patterns of Selective Attention (what does your client focus on)
  • Key Words (verbal underlining)
  • I-statement and other-statements (is this about them or about someone else)
  • Abstract vs. Concrete (are generalities being stated or specifics...sometimes we want one or the other)

Why concrete AND abstract are good...

There are times when we want to get details about an event from our client. They may say that something has happened with a statement like..."I had a bad day." We might want to know a bit more about what exactly a bad day means...so we ask for examples and details.

At other times in the counseling process we like to see our clients make generalizations that reflect insight on their part...a client might say something like..."Oh, it is almost like I'm attracted to people like that!" We might not necessarily jump all over this, but we would certainly have the client explore this issue in more depth.

Discrepancies

Can you tell when someone is lying to you?

Can you pick up quickly when someone has said something but there are cues that indicate that the opposite might be true?

As counselors we can sometimes see the "bigger picture" and point out when people are being inconsistent in their thinking patters. We are not talking about schizophrenia here...but about discrepancies between what someone is saying in words and their actions/emotions/tone/body language, etc.

We usually want to address these...we might say...

"Well Sondra, on one hand you say that you are independent, but you seem to quickly move from having one person living with you to another...what is that about?"

Observing Non Verbals and Verbals

You, by the nature of you being here, are likely sensitive to these cues. You have depended on them to get you this far! In this class I'm going to ask you to continue to depend on them but to explore these "hunches" with care. We can be too eager to be "right" about what is "really going on"...we need to remain open to have the client run the show.

We have to be cautious about thinking we understand what is going on too early in the session. We will practice observing these verbal and non verbal cues in class and in limiting our assumptions about their meaning.

Etiology of Major Disabling Conditions

One of the key aspects of our role is to be observant for the behavioral expressions of the major disabling conditions so that we can report the onset and progression/status of a person's mental illness.

Consider the major behavioral observations we might make of the following conditions:

  • Schizophrenia
  • Depression
  • Bi-Polar
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Personality Disorders (BPD, DID, etc)

Assessment

Lesson 5 Discussion

Many of you come into this field and are very intuitive about how you "read" people. I'm going to ask you to reflect on this ability and share a story as to where you were able to really pinpoint what was going on with someone. Pay special attention to your interactions in this week. Reflect on how body communication impacted the way you reacted to a person...how it may have shown an "emotion" or an "attitude" and how you changed your approach to take this into consideration.

Lesson 5 Quiz

  1. Select a disorder from the list in the notes in the Lesson Plan. For that specific disorder research the symptoms that are most common for this condition.
  2. Using the web as a resource, look up what sort of therapy is indicated (recommended) for this particular condition (be sure to cite your source within your answer)