Seventh Exchange Reflection

The following interactions were derived from the writer’s therapy session with JO on 06/29/17. With the first exchange, the writer attempted to build rapport, and find out if JO had participated in therapy before, and, if so, what about therapy had worked for her. This appeared to be successful, because JO subsequently shared what she liked about certain therapists and what she did not like about others. The writer asked this question to build rapport and find out what had worked for JO in the past, so he could attempt to emulate it. The second exchange highlights the writer implementing reflection, empathy, and paraphrasing. The writer implemented these interventions at this point because it was early on in the session, and he wanted to demonstrate that he was actively listening and creating a safe and supportive environment
In addition, the writer wanted to demonstrate that he was still listening and integrated in the therapeutic relationship. While this intervention may have worked, it was difficult to determine. After clarifying her comment, she simply stated “yea”, but did not elaborate further. At this point, the writer should have continued with clarification questions to obtain further information about the topic being discussed. For the seventh exchange, the writer issued a directive question to in an attempt to help her realize the possibility that she can take a proactive approach to resolving her issues with her parents. This intervention was not successful in helping her come to this realization. Rather, she stated what happened in the past and did not appear to consider the possibility of bringing up the topic again. Moreover, this intervention was not successful because the writer should have asked some follow-up questions about what would happen if she did bring it up