Project Guidelines for Mini Counseling Audio Session 1
This audio will be of a coaching session conducted with a person you choose focusing on a health behavior change. In this session, I will be listening for building rapport, how you ask open ended questions, and your active listening skills. This is obviously just the beginning of a session, so you can simply end the audio if you reach 5 minutes at a good stopping point. You should start off the session with some rapport building questions and small talk. You should have 3-4 open ended questions prepared that you want to know about the client, but I want you to actively listen to what the client is saying and respond appropriately, so you may not use the questions you have prepared because the client may take you in a different direction. That is okay. You are simply listening to what is going on with the client—no problem solving or goal setting yet. AND DO NOT READ A SCRIPT!
You are focusing on Helping Clients Clarify the Key Issues Calling for Change. Focus on the following: o Help clients tell their stories (keeping the overall goal of helping the client manage the interpersonal dimensions of his problem) Help clients develop new perspectives that help them reframe their stories. (help clients identify significant blind spots related to their problems— effectively challenged, blind spots yield new perspectives that help clients think more realistically about problems, opportunities, and solutions.)
Help clients achieve leverage by working on issues that make a difference. (prioritizing those issues that will have significant impact.)
Example of possible health behavior changes to talk about with a client: quit smoking, exercise more, eat healthier, add strength training, hydrate properly, decrease stress, improve sleep habits, improve relationships (socialize with supportive friends and family), take medications as prescribed, practice mindfulness or meditation, food shopping, reduce calories, manage stress, etc.
Next Steps:
This audio should be no longer than 5 minutes in length. Please upload the audio piece to the dropbox and label it with your name, date of session, and Audio Session #1
Complete the Health Counseling Observation Checklist for Audio 1.
Thoroughly listen to your audio session and complete the checklist with specific examples.
Provide verbatim examples to illustrate your comments.
Summarize strengths, weaknesses, and ways to improve at the end of the checklist.
Upload the completed checklist to the same drop box. (So you should have the actual audio AND the completed checklist in the drop box.)