[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Lisa LaSalle
Date: 12 Oct 2010
Time: 11:20:20 -0500
Remote Name: 137.28.24.25
Listening, in one word. One of my favorite quotes about counseling in our field is "People don't care what you know until they know that you care." Caring comes through understanding. Understanding comes through listening. So listening and learning and basic caring (unconditional regard ala Ken Moses' work) are the first steps towards establishing rapport and trust. Dr. David Luterman, professor emeritus, has provided many good resources for us as clinicians entering into this trust relationship with clients. I also firmly believe that unsolicited advice "falls on deaf ears," so we really need to listen to the client and client family members to allow them to explore and describe the problem. Only then can we guide them towards giving their own advice, based on the skills and techniques and evidence-based practice that we provide. I learned this through both experience and my reading of Luterman's work. There are many other great resources out there, too, on counseling in our profession (e.g., Bloom & Cooperman, Flasher & Fogle, Roseberry-McKibbin), which is the bigger picture of "establishing rapport" and trust. Good question!