Focusing on the central problem

Abstract

You might like to stop for a moment to think about the skills that we have discussed so far. We’ve talked about ways in which we can join with a person by listening attentively. We’ve talked about the way in which we can use short responses, that is expressions like, ‘Ah hum’, ‘Yes’, and ‘Ah ha’, to let the person know that we are listening. We have discussed the way in which we can let the person know that we are listening and understanding by reflecting back in our own words the things that have been said. We have also discussed the way in which we can identify emotional feelings and reflect those back so that the person can get more fully in touch with their emotions and deal with them. All of the skills we have discussed so far enable us to join with the person and to encourage them to continue talking about their problems.