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From: Justine, graduate student
Date: 17 Oct 2007
Time: 19:46:53 -0500
Remote Name: 66.190.12.177
Echoing many others, I also enjoyed the article and believe you bring up such an important point! I definitely agree that good therapy should be listening and not an “I can fix you” approach. This issue was actually touched on recently in my fluency course. We addressed the need to listen to your client’s beliefs and feelings, and what they want to get out of therapy. If we don’t use a “client-centered” approach by taking their needs and wants into consideration, no progress will be made, just as you stated. Also, I believe sometimes we get so caught up in the mechanics of how the session should be run or sometimes continue talking to fill in silences or awkward pauses; both of which avoid actually listening to the client. I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind when beginning the therapy process with future clients. Thanks again for your great article!