PLAGIARISM FREE "A" WORK SUMMARY TECHNIQUES

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Chapter 7 Advanced Reflecting Skills: Reflecting Meaning and

Summarizing

"Summarizing

Summarizing is the final reflecting skill in the nonjudgmental listening cycle (NLC). Although

it is easier to learn than reflecting meaning, we place it here because you cannot adequately

summarize until you have paraphrased and reflected feelings and meanings in a client’s story.

Summarizing pulls together everything a client has said in a brief synopsis of the session up to

that point. The summary helps the client make some sense of the tangle of thoughts and feelings

just expressed in the session. In other words, it is a big reflection. The client hears the story in

a more organized way, and it starts to become clearer. The summary ties some of the major

issues that have emerged into a compact version of the story. It may include any of the

following: (1) content, (2) major feelings, (3) meaning issues and themes, and (4) future plans.

Of all the reflecting skills, it could be considered the broadest brush, bringing together main

content, themes, and feelings in the client’s story by concisely recapping them. But summaries

are not to be used only at the end of a session. Summaries may be used in the beginning, middle,

and end. Because summaries have different purposes, they can be divided into four types:

focusing, signal, thematic, and planning summaries.

Focusing Summaries

At the beginning of a session, a summary may help to focus the conversation before it begins.

A focusing summary is an intervention that brings the discussion to bear on the major issues

and themes, places the spotlight on the client’s responsibility for the problem, and reminds the

client of the goals. For example:

“In the last few sessions, it seems like we have been dealing with two major issues. The first is

the way that you are trying to renew your social network and find some supportive friends since

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your breakup with Jesse. The other issue is your mixed feelings about living back home with

your parents.”

Focusing summaries are not only to remind clients about their goals from previous sessions.

They can even be used at the first session with a new client. For example, a helper says:

“Let’s review what I know so far. Your mother called and made this appointment for you

because you were arrested about a month ago for public intoxication. One of the conditions of

your probation is that you receive help for your drinking problem. Your probation officer

referred you to our agency. So, you’re here to do something about the problems you’ve been

having with alcohol. Is this about right?”

Brammer (1973) points out that a focusing summary at the beginning gets the client on track

immediately. Contrast this with the traditional opening statements such as, “How have things

been going this week?” or “What would you like to talk about today?” When a client begins

the session by reacting to a focusing summary, the conversation turns to the reason why the

client is seeking help and goals.

Signal Summaries

In the middle of a session, the signal summary tells the client that the helper has digested what

has been said and that the session can move on to the next topic. If the helper does not

summarize occasionally, the client may feel that it is necessary to go over an issue several

times. A good time for a signal summary is when the client seems to have come to the end of

a story and pauses. In the example that follows, see whether you can spot the paraphrases (Ps),

reflections of feelings (ROFs), and reflections of meaning (ROMs) in this parent’s story.

Client: “So that’s about it . . . (pause).”

Helper: “Before we move on, let’s just summarize where we’ve been so far. You have tried to

get professional help for your daughter’s drug problem, and she has rejected it. Because she is

an adult, there is not much force you can apply. This makes you feel helpless, and when you

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see her, your relationship is very superficial because you can’t talk about the drug issue without

getting into a fight. You’ve always been the kind of person who likes to leap into action when

a problem arises, and here is a situation where there is little to do. That’s what makes it

especially frustrating.” (summary)

Client: “Yes, but that’s the way it is. Now I guess I need to talk about how I can go on with my

life under these circumstances.”

Helper: “Okay, let’s talk about that.” (door opener)

Thematic Summaries

A theme is a pattern of content, feelings, or meanings that the client returns to again and again

(Carkhuff, 1987). The thematic summary is an advanced reflecting skill because it means that

the helper has to be able to make connections among the content, emotions, or meanings

expressed in many client statements or even over many sessions. When this kind of reflection

is made, it often provides new information to the client, who may be unaware that the issue is

resurfacing so often. Sometimes these themes are referred to as “core issues” because they

represent problems that appear in a variety of circumstances.

Rather than signaling a transition to a new topic, the thematic summary tends to push clients to

an even deeper level of understanding or exploration. Here are some examples of thematic

summaries:

“There seem to be two issues that keep coming up. One of them is the anger you feel in a

number of different close relationships, and the other is your sense that you haven’t been able

to reach your potential in your career.”

“As you have been talking, I seem to notice a pattern, and I’d like to check it out. You seem to

want to end relationships when they begin to lose their initial excitement and romance.”

“From everything we’ve talked about over these past few weeks, one major issue seems to be

that, over and over again, you hesitate to make a commitment to a career or to a relationship or

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to take any important action because you are afraid you might let your parents down by failing.

Is this right?”

It is difficult to practice using thematic summaries because it presumes that you have seen a

client for some time and usually for more than one session. It takes time for important themes

to emerge. Identification of themes is an intuitive process. You must think back on the whole

of your experience with the client and try to cull the big issues. Even though identifying themes

is an advanced skill, it is discussed here because it is possible you may notice these themes as

you practice. You may have seen advanced practitioners identify these themes in recorded

sessions. Remember, too, that themes are the helper’s constructions or interpretations; they

should be used only when you have enough information to be fairly certain that you have

identified a theme. It is best to propose themes tentatively, because if incorrect, a thematic

summary can have the effect of making the client feel analyzed and labeled.

Planning Summaries

Planning summaries entail a review of the progress, plans, and agreements made during the

session. The planning summary brings a sense of closure and ends the session on a hopeful

note. Here are two examples:

“Well, it seems like we’ve identified several things in this first session that we want to pursue.

First, you are unhappy with the way you tend to become overly dependent on your friends. You

want to follow your own interests. In fact, you want to get to know yourself better. With this

in mind, we thought about your entering a counseling group at the local mental health center.

Besides that, you’d like to identify some goals for your career. That is something you and I can

begin to work on right away. We’ll set up an assessment program and talk more about this over

the next several weeks. How does all this sound?”

“Let’s recap what we have talked about so far. On the one hand, you have accomplished your

financial goals, but you are far from satisfied with your relationships with friends and family.

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You have said that this is because you are not very assertive. It sounds as though this is the area

we need to discuss in our next session. What do you think?”"