Summary Feedback
<Institution>
1) Nonverbal behavior & attending behavior
Overall, the nonverbal behavior and attending behavior of the counselor are good. He was able to maintain eye-contact and serious tone. His facial expression also reflected a sense of calmness and attentiveness. In addition, he was just sitting still without unnecessary movement.
2) Professionalism
Did the counselor introduce him/herself and describe the purpose of the session?
Yes. The counselor introduced himself at the beginning of the counseling session, and he also explained its purpose.
Did the counselor display nervous laughter and/or talk over the client?
No. The counselor seemed professional and he did not display nervous laughter and/or talk over the client.
Did the counselor spontaneously (meaning the client did not use the language first) use
inappropriate or unprofessional language?
No. The counselor never used any unprofessional language during the counseling session.
3) Time
Did the counselor end the session on time?
Yes. The counselor ended the session on time.
4) Listening Skills
Was the counselor listening?
Yes. The counselor was listening. From time to time, he paraphrased what the client said before asking the next question, and this served as a proof that he was paying attention to the client’s message.
What is one cognitive message and one affective message the client communicates to
the counselor?
The counselor provided an affective message during the time when he was talking about how it’s great that the client’s experience in the class is reaffirming. This evokes a positive emotion because it shows a sense of emotional support to the client. The same is true when the counselor agreed the some of the client’s courses are pretty heavy. This allowed the client to feel that he was being understood. On the other hand, he presented one cognitive message when he sorted out that the client was probably anxious about his classes and how it would turn out (“that’s probably anxiety evoking”).
Does the counselor appear to accurately pick-up on these messages?
Yes. Because there was a smooth exchange of information (questions and answers), there is no doubt that the counselor accurately received the messages from the client.
5) Focus of the session
Did the counselor keep the focus on the client?
Yes. No unnecessary information or issue was discussed, and no interruption from the part of the counselor was seen. These showed that the counselor was focused on the client and his concerns.
Did the counselor jump into advising & problem-solving?
No. The counselor only asked questions that can help the client sort out his concerns and the solutions he have in mind, but he never gave any advice or solution to the client’s issues.
6) Asking Questions
Did the counselor ask questions that were relevant to the client?
Yes. For instance, to understand why the client seemed to be having trouble with time management, he asked the number of credit hours the client has, and after he got the answer, he gave a follow-up question to know whether the client was involved in other activities.
Did the counselor primarily ask more open-ended, indirect, or closed ended questions?
Most of the questions that were given by the client were open-ended.
Provide an example of one open-ended/indirect and one closed-ended question. If
open-ended/indirect questions were not asked, give an example of a closed-ended question and offer a suggestion for how the counselor could have asked the same question in an open-ended manner.
An example of open-ended question that the counselor asked was “What are your future aspirations?”
7) Responding
What nondirective responding skills did you observe (e.g. silence, reflection/paraphrase, clarification, reflection of feeling, summarization)?
Most of the time, the counselor used paraphrasing as a nondirective responding skill.
If observed, provide one example of each skill (brief transcript or description of how the counselor used the skill).
An example instance when the counselor used paraphrasing can be observed at the beginning of the session. The counselor paraphrased the issues encountered by the client in order to show that he was able to understand what they are about to discuss.
8) Strengths
What are at least three things that the counselor did well?
Three main strengths may be observed from the counselor. First was his ability to maintain eye-contact, which was quite important in showing attentiveness. Another was his ability to ask relevant questions and provide follow-up questions when necessary. Lastly was his ability to paraphrase the client’s response. This allowed the client to know that he was being heard and understood.
9) Weaknesses
What are at least two things that the counselor could improve upon?
The counselor did well, but taking advantage of body language can help improve his skills. For instance, after the client shared his issues at the very beginning of the session, he asked the counselor if he got what he meant. This was probably because he was not sure if the counselor understood it. This could have been prevented if he was able to use nonverbal cues (noticeable nodding) right away. There were also times when he asked questions that did not seem to be complete (“How often do you use this plan? Every day or”). A complete question, preferably open-ended, would help establish professionalism as it lets the client know that the counselor knows exactly what he wanted to ask.
