Lesson 11: Reflection of Meaning


Attention


Learning Outcomes

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

  • Define reflection of meaning and describe its potential value to the interview
  • Explore examples in your own life of how experiences have had profound meaning for you
  • Demonstrate the ability to explore meaning with a client

Teaching

Finding Meaning

Meaning could be described as at the heart of interviewing, counseling, and psychotherapy. Ultimately, many believe our behavior, thoughts, and feelings are organized by meaning systems...our values, our important attitudes, and our beliefs.

What sense does one make of life?

All else can be brought back to this central question.

When your clients have an important life experience, asking them, "What sense do you make of that?" or "What does that really mean to you?" can transform an interview into a depth exploration and clarify what occurred.

What does meaning do?

  • Organizes life experiences
  • Creates metaphors for emotions, thoughts, and behaviors

When do we know a client is talking about meaning?

  • Words that describe beliefs, values, and attitudes

Ways to draw out meaning:

  • What does that mean to you?
  • What sense do you make of it?
  • What values underlie your actions?
  • Is that important to you?

Reflecting meaning:

  • You mean...
  • It sounds like you might mean...
  • Sounds like you value...
  • Use client's words

Discernment

  • This is the process of sifting through our experiences to find patterns and meaning
  • Discern, distinguish, and sort out past and current meaning
  • Shifting clients toward deeper meaning as to the value of their experiences
  • Key for making changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Logotherapy

  • Finding meaning and lessons in all of our experiences
  • Victor Frankl (concentration camp survivor)

This app is actually a version of Victor Frankl's book...this is OPTIONAL for this course, but an incredible read on the relationship between meaning and trauma.

 


Assessment

Lesson 11 Discussion

Have you every heard the saying "Things happen for a reason." Well, whether it might be true or not, or whether God might behind it all or not, an important step in recovery to to try and discover what can be learned from an experience...coming to an understanding of how a situation, pleasurable or painful, has changed us.

Share a story from your life, or from someone else's life, that touches on this experience.