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Pawn reflecting has a queen
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If there is one thing
in counseling that I struggle to grasp would be revealing meaning back to our
clients. Why do we need to reflect meaning? What purpose does reflective
meaning provide for me as the counselor and my client? I struggled to have an understanding of the
importance of reflecting mean back to my client.
Furthermore, it feels unnatural, uncomfortable, and strange to interrupt a
person to indicate one's word or phrase. Anais Nin stated, “We don’t see things
as they are, we see things as we are (pp 122).”
Leontiev said, “meanings are
built from a person’s past experiences, which are alloyed with firm beliefs,
fuzzy ideas, and unconscious schemes or prejudices ( 2007, pp 123).” Why do we
need to reflect meaning according to Young it helps us to understand the client
at a deeper level while pushing the client to go deeper (2017). Reflecting
meanings provides the client a different perspective of the sense of the word
or phrase. Additionally, it creates insight into the individuals own thoughts
and feelings to help him/her better understand the self. It essentially gives
the clients a different view of his/her beliefs has they process the
information to or from the counselor. Reflecting meaning allows you to go deeper
with your client to by peeling back layers in their life to get to the root of
the problem while providing a sense of empathy to create a safe environment for
the client.
However, it is important for
a counselor to establish a healthy therapeutic relationship with the client to
allow a safe place for the individual to discuss the root issues within the
self. Focusing on the reflective meaning and avoid close-ended questions will
provide a better route to ensure the client gets to where they want to be.
References:
Leontiev, D. A. (2007). Approaching
worldview structure with ultimate meanings technique. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 47, 243-266.
Picture
Reference: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chess-mirror-447130387?utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=Pixabay&utm_source=44814&irgwc=1
Young, M. (2017).
Learning the art of helping, 6th
edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 0-13-416578-0
Ben, I really enjoyed reading your post. I understand the struggle of reflecting meaning throughout the counseling session. I am, however, beginning to see the importance of the technique. For me personally, it forces me to be very attentive to everything the client says. There is no room for daydreaming when I have to be prepared to reflect. As you shared, reflecting meaning also allows for the client to see his or her current situation through a different perspective. I think as we continue in our counseling careers it will become easier to apply the reflecting component in session. Think, we are only in our second semester and have so much more to learn.
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