Learning the Art of Helping, 6th Edition
Mark E. Young
Chapter 6
Advanced Reflecting
Skills: Reflecting
Meaning &
Summarizing
By: Tracy Hutchinson
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Chapter Overview
• Meaning, Uncovering the Next Layer
• How to Uncover Meaning in a Story
• Summarizing
• The Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle
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Meaning, Uncovering the Next Layer
Perception, interpretations, values, and beliefs
unique to each person.
Formed by culture, history, present needs,
family, preferences, cognitions, experiences.
• It is not what happens to us but what we make of it.
• -Epictetus.
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Why Reflect Meaning?
• To understand your client at a deeper level
• To lead to deep self-understanding in client
• To emphasize client’s version of the story
• To push the client to go deeper
• To examine the concept of depth
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Lazarus’ Inner Circle Strategy:
Challenging the Client to go Deeper
Level A
Very personal issues
E
D
C
Levels B, C, & D
B
Increasingly secretive issues
A
Level E
Public issues
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Worldview
View of Self-Other-World
Formed by gender, race, ethnicity, age, SES, family,
experience, spirituality/religion, etc.
How an event is perceived.
We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are. Anais Nin
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Examples of client statements: Worldview or
Values
• View of Self
• “ I am essentially…(a good person) (smart/stupid) (worthless/worthy)
(damaged) (unlovable)”
• “I am lucky”
• “I am a victim”
• View of Others
• “People are… (good, untrustworthy, unreliable, kind)”
• “Women are all alike”
• “Things always turn out for the best”
• “White people are”
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How to Reflect Meaning
Difficult skill to learn:
Meanings are implicit:
 First, understand the content and feelings
• Fully comprehend the situation
• Awareness of the client ‘s beliefs & values
• Use intuitive thinking
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How to Reflect Meaning
• Therapeutic relationship must be established
• Use invitational skills, paraphrasing, and reflecting feelings to
help meaning emerge.
• Fully comprehend the situation and the client’s beliefs and
values.
• Use open questions to get at the meaning.
• Use educated guesses, intuition about why the story is
important
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Formula Revisited
Use the feelings formula, replacing content with meaning:
“You felt (emotion) _________ when __________”(event or thought)
Or
You felt _____________(emotion) when ________________
because _________________________ (meaning).
“Because” connects the feeling with the meaning.
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Summarizing
• Synopsis of information gathered from paraphrasing and
reflecting feelings and meanings.
• Ongoing, organized recap of
• Content
• Major feelings
• Meaning issues and themes
• Future plans
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Summarizing
What is the difference between
paraphrasing and summarizing?
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Types of Summaries
Focusing
Signal
Thematic
Planning
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Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle
Open Question
(start)
Summary
Minimal Encourager
Reflection of Meaning
Minimal Encourager
Reflection of Feeling
Door Opener
Reflection of Feeling
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Paraphrase
Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle (NLC)
• Repeating pattern of basic helping skills used with the
introduction of each new topic.
• Positive regard is essential within the NLC: an active
demonstration of nonjudgment.
• Respond to the last thing the client said. This is helpful in
getting out of “the trap”.
• Too many questions can stall this process.
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Quick Tips: Reflecting Meaning
 Use Open questions, Minimal Encouragers, Reflection of Feeling, then
Reflection of Meaning
 Ask: What is the client telling me?
 Be patent! Listen long enough to understand meaning.
 Think about and tie in client’s background.
 Respond to last thing the client said.
 Attend to your intuition and follow your hunches.
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