HELPING EDUCATORS
ENGAGING MINDS
Instructor’s Guide
THE HELPING INTERVIEW:
Enhancing Therapeutic Communication
Series 684
684.3 Responding and Closing
This Instructor’s Guide contains:
Objectives, discussion questions, practice exercises, quizzes, and answer keys for all of the
programs in The Helping Interview series. Institutions who have purchased Series 684 from
Concept Media have permission to duplicate any of the contents of this Instructor’s Guide for
teaching purposes.
Version 1
THE HELPING INTERVIEW:
Enhancing Therapeutic Communication
Program 684.3: Responding and Closing
Objectives
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After completing this program, the learner will be able to:
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Discuss two general concepts in responding.
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selective responding
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focusing
Demonstrate four basic responses.
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minimal encouraging
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paraphrasing
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reflecting a feeling statement
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summarizing
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Discuss distortion in responding.
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Describe closing the helping interview.
Discussion Questions
1. What classes in therapeutic responding have you taken? What specific guidelines were you
given?
2. What techniques do you use for closing a helping session?
3. When ending a session, do you feel awkward or uncomfortable? If so, what do you think
causes you to feel that way?
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
2004 Concept Media
PRETEST
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QUESTIONS
Responding is replying to the client’s ideas and feelings.
By responding, helpers communicate to the client how well they
understand the client’s situation.
Selective responding is most effective when factual statements by the
client are chosen by the helper.
By selective responding caregivers have the ability to steer the
interaction.
The client’s own feelings should be the focus of an interview.
A helper’s use of the client’s name and frequent use of the word “you”
help the client focus on himself/herself.
Minimal encouraging only refers to verbal prompts.
Short phrases such as “Tell me more.” and “Uh-huh.” are examples of
minimal encouraging.
By the use of minimal encouraging the helper molds or steers the
interaction.
Minimal encouraging and paraphrasing are synonyms.
Paraphrasing centers primarily on the feeling aspect of the client’s
conversation.
Paraphrasing clarifies things for the client and puts matters into
perspective.
Assessing a client’s feelings involves observing nonverbal behavior
and listening to voice inflection as well as the content of statements.
There is no place for intuition in when assessing feelings.
The responder frequently uses phrases such as “You feel..” at the
beginning of reflecting feeling responses.
Tentative statements are not recommended in reflecting feeling
statements.
Reflecting feeling responses should, when verbalized, match the
emotional level of the client.
The first reason a client gives for a feeling may not be the real reason.
Clients usually acknowledge when a helper has responded accurately to
their feelings.
Summarizing statements cover a longer period of time than
paraphrasing.
Distortion is sometimes therapeutic.
It is important to end a helping session at the specified time.
Summarizing is often a part of closing.
New topics can be suggested as part of closing.
The person may be asked if he/she has any questions during closing.
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
ANSWERS
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2004 Concept Media
Practice Exercises: Role Playing
These role-playing exercises are designed for three persons who take turns being the helper, the client, and
the observer.
Exercise No. 1: Selective Responding and Focusing
Client: Starts an interaction on any subject lasting approximately five minutes.
Helper: Practices appropriate responses to the client’s statements.
Observer: Watches, focusing on the following:
ƒ Cite when the helper selectively responded to the client’s statements that dealt with feelings.
ƒ How did selective responding influence the direction of the interaction? Describe another direction it
could have taken had the helper responded differently.
ƒ Cite instances in which the interviewer used the personal pronoun “you” or the name of the client.
Describe the effect upon the client’s response.
Exercise No. 2. Minimal Encouraging
Client: Engages the helper in a five-minute interaction on any subject.
Helper: Uses minimal encouraging as frequently as possible.
Observer: Gathers information regarding the following:
ƒ How successful was the use of minimal encouraging in keeping the interaction going?
ƒ The number of times the interviewer varied the minimal encouraging responses – changed from
nonverbal to verbal responses, from one-word questions to short phrases.
ƒ His/Her own emotional response to the helper using only minimal encouraging.
Exercise No. 3: Paraphrasing
Client: Interacts with the helper for 3-5 minutes on any subject.
Helper: Uses paraphrasing almost exclusively.
Observer: Focuses on helper’s responses by answering the following questions:
ƒ How accurate was the helper’s paraphrasing? Explain.
ƒ Was distortion ever evident in the helper’s responses? If so, when?
ƒ In general, did the interaction remain at the cognitive level or did it become focused on emotional issues?
Explain.
Exercise No. 4: Reflecting Feelings
Client: Needs to be creative and pretend an emotion, for example, to act sad, happy or anxious, or any other
emotion.
Helper: Responds appropriately to the client’s statements.
Observer: Gathers information regarding the following:
ƒ Did the helper seem to understand the feeling(s) the client portrayed?
ƒ Was the phrase “you feel” used in the responses?
ƒ When were tentative opening phrases used?
ƒ What direction did the interview take? Did it center on feelings or did it focus on cognitive issues?
Discuss why and evaluate the effectiveness of the interaction.
Exercise No. 5: Closing a helper-initiated interview
Helper: Closes a helper-initiated interview regarding the client’s personal problem.
Client: Participates in the dialogue as appropriate.
Observer: Listens carefully for the following information:
ƒ Did the helper attempt to summarize the interview? If so, evaluate the process.
ƒ Did the helper seem uncomfortable in closing? If so, describe how this was manifested.
ƒ What, if any, new information was discussed near the end of the closing? Describe and evaluate how the
interviewer handled it.
ƒ Was the client told that the interview was drawing to a close? If so, describe what was said and evaluate
its effectiveness.
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
2004 Concept Media
EXAM
1 A caregiver's responses:
a. address the ideas and feelings the clients have verbalized.
b. give clients insights into their own thoughts and emotions.
c. help clients clarify their situation.
d. a and b
e. All the above
2 Selective responding:
a. entails addressing all of the client's concerns.
b. requires the caregiver to make judgments regarding various statements.
c. focuses the interaction.
d. b and c
e. All the above
3 A general rule for selective responding is to respond to statements that concern:
a. close relatives of the client.
b. basic facts.
c. emotions.
d. controversial subjects.
4 Choose the MOST therapeutic response to this client's statement. "The timing of this is
pretty bad because I'm going out of town next week, but I have to have a talk with my
husband. I'm worried about his treatment of our son, Kyle. He's so strict with him, so
unbending, and unloving that Kyle is staying away more and more. He's at his friend's
house more than he is at home."
a. "You're going out of town next week."
b. "You're concerned about your husband's relationship with Kyle."
c. "Kyle is staying away from your house more and more."
d. "Kyle is spending a lot of time at his friend's home."
5 The focus of a helping interview should be on:
a. the family dynamics.
b. the circumstances that prompted the client to seek help.
c. a situation that the client finds problematic.
d. the client's feelings.
6 Which of the following statements helps a client focus?
a. "You don't feel strong enough to go back to work."
b. "So then your boss got mad at your administrative assistant."
c. "Laurie, you got very angry when he left the house."
d. a and c
e. All the above
7 Minimal encouraging:
a. is a verbal response to a client.
b. can be verbal or nonverbal.
c. involves restating to the client the essence of his/her last few comments.
d. involves phrases that energize or empower the client.
8 In minimal encouraging:
a. the client directs the course of the interaction.
b. the caregiver steers the interaction.
c. the caregiver remains detached from the situation.
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
2004 Concept Media
d. therapeutic encouragement is lessened.
9 Paraphrasing:
a. centers on the cognitive aspect of the client's message.
b. focuses on the feeling aspect of the client's message.
c. is a synonym for maximal encouraging.
d. a and c
10 An advantage of paraphrasing is that it:
a. clarifies issues for a client.
b. puts things in perspective for him/her.
c. allows a client to see the accuracy of the caregiver's listening.
d. a and b
e. All the above
11 Reflecting feelings:
a. involves observation of both verbal and nonverbal expression.
b. requires responding in a way that gives back to the client the feelings he/she has expressed.
c. should be based solely on solid evidence.
d. a and b
e. All the above
12 Which of the following statements is/are reflecting feeling response(s)?
a. "It sounds as if you're unhappy with your step son."
b. "You feel sad that you're not a friend to your sister."
c. "Perhaps you feel angry because of the way you were treated."
d. a and c
e. All the above
13 Change in a client's feelings may signify that the:
a. caregiver's responses should also change.
b. interaction has failed.
c. caregiver should continue with the original feeling responses.
d. interaction should be halted.
14 Summarizing covers:
a. a longer period of time than reflecting feeling statements.
b. a broader range of events and information than paraphrasing.
c. both feeling and cognitive statements
d. b and c
e. All the above
15 Distortion:
a. occurs when a caregiver misperceives what the client has said.
b. involves inaccurate feedback to the client.
c. can be therapeutic at times.
d. a and b
e. All the above
16 Closing a helping interview:
a. should include bringing up a new topic.
b. may go longer than the allotted time if an important topic is mentioned.
c. involves summarizing and recapping plans.
d. b and c
e. All the above
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
2004 Concept Media
ANSWER KEYS
Pretest Answers
1. True
10. False
19. True
2. True
11. False
20. True
3. False
12. True
21. False
4. True
13. True
22. True
5. True
14. False
23. True
6. True
15. True
24. False
7. False
16. False
25. Tru
8. True
17. True
9. False
18. True
Exam Answers
1. e
2. d
3. c
4. b
5. d
6. d
7. b
8.a
9.a
10.e
11.d
12.e
13.a
14.e
15.d
16.c
Instructor’s Guide for Program 684.3 Responding and Closing
Permission to duplicate for classroom use granted to purchaser only
2004 Concept Media