This time, I'd like to talk about questions to find out what someone likes in counseling.
Do you like counseling when you visit a medical institution?
Counseling is one of the most important factors in determining your motivation for treatment and whether or not to visit the clinic.
What do you think when you hear that there is a way of asking questions to find out the person's preference in this counseling?
It sounds fishy, but according to the study I'm going to introduce, there are four questions that make it easier to determine a person's preferences.
The study
The results of an online survey of 480 people showed that four things are important to know about a person's preferences.
・To do or not to do homework
・Focusing on a goal or not focusing on a goal
・To teach skills or not to teach skills
・Take leads, allow client leads.
・Give structure, allow no structure.
・Use techniques, don't use techniques
・Give advice, don't give advice.
・Techniques and clients, clients and therapists
・Explanatory therapy, helping clients find coping strategies
・Therapist's focus, client's focus
・Focus on behavior, focus on emotions
・Talk about self, don't talk about self
・Encourage difficult emotions
・Encouraging difficult emotions - Expressing or not expressing strong emotions
・Talk about the relationship
・Focus on the therapeutic relationship, do not focus on the therapeutic relationship
・Include or exclude the client in goal setting
・Giving or not giving difficult opinions
・Teaching or not teaching thought processes
・Focus on feelings, focus on thoughts
・Allow silence, don't allow silence.
・Explore dreams, don't explore dreams
・Focus on the past, focus on the present.
・Focus on childhood, focus on adulthood
・Determine method, include client in decision
・Informal, formal
・Be supportive, confrontational
・Support behavior unconditionally, support behavior challengingly
・Interrupting, not interrupting
・Understanding, help
・Being challenging and gentle
・Contrast with the present
・Warm and friendly, cold and friendly
・Focus on strengths, focus on weaknesses
・Social, non-social
and these are the questions that the survey found to be most helpful in understanding the other person.
・Therapist-led, client-led
・Emotional intensity
・Past and present
・Intense support, focused challenge
If we can elicit these questions from the client, we can understand their preferences and find the best way to approach them.
Let me explain.
Some of these questions may be asked directly, and some may not.
For example, who will take the initiative in treatment? For example, "I will suggest a treatment plan, but you will have the right to decide if you want to continue with the treatment I suggest or if you want to decide. This is the kind of question you should ask.
It depends on whether the question is asked in a calm manner or with emotion, and which temperature is preferred.Should we focus on resolving past events, or should we intervene to focus on what they want to do in the future?
It is also useful to ask the person's preference whether the support for the intervention should be generous or limited to emergencies.
Conclusion
Knowing the preferences of the other person is something that everyone would like to know, if they can know it with a good feeling.
There are only four things you need to know, but if you don't practice, you may not be able to ask them well, or you may end up making them even more cautious.
If you are going to practice this, I recommend that you do it after you have practiced it, but it is a good method that I have tried and I recommend it.
