process recording

Running head: PROCESS RECORDING 1

Process Recording

Northern Arizona University

PROCESS RECORDING 2

Informed Consent Form

Dear Volunteer Interviewee,

I am a student in Social Work 427 at Northern Arizona University. One of the requirements of

this course is that I practice generalist social work skills with volunteers. I appreciate your

willingness to work with me on my class assignment.

You may wish to talk about real concerns that you may have, or you may prefer to role-play a

concern or issue that does not necessarily relate to you. Please let me know, however, which of

these two possibilities you choose.

Here are some important dimensions of our work together:

Confidentiality. As a student, I cannot offer any form of legal confidentiality. You may rest

assured, however, that what you tell me in real or role-played situations will remain confidential

and remain with me except for the following important exceptions which must be reported as

required by state law: 1) A serious issue of harm to yourself; 2) Indications of abusing or

neglecting children; 3) Threats of harm to others.

Process Recording. An important part of interviewing training is making a process recording

and reviewing my own work. This may be shared with my professor or students in my class. In

the case that my notes of our session (process recording) is shared, your name will be changed in

order to safeguard your confidentiality.

Boundaries of Competence. As I am beginning as an interviewer, I obviously cannot do

counseling and therapy. This is a practice session so that I can learn more about interviewing. In

PROCESS RECORDING 3

fact, I’d appreciate feedback from you as to my performance and what you find helpful or what I

might do differently to be more helpful.

_____________________ ______________________________

Volunteer Client Interviewer

PROCESS RECORDING 4

Identifying data:

Kelsie, a 21-year-old Hispanic woman, has allowed me to speak to her regarding how a

medical situation is causing her stress that is affecting her everyday life. She is 5 foot 3 inches,

with shoulder length brown hair. She lives with her boyfriend and works as a server at a local

restaurant.. Kelsie is dressed casually for our meeting, wearing a black tank top and blue jeans.

Her hair has been pushed back with a blue headband and she is also wearing a dog print

necklace. She has many woven bracelets on her right wrist as well as a hairband on her left wrist.

Content:

Line Verbatim dialogue Thoughts/Internal experiences

Alternative response

1 Me: Hello Kelsie, how are you doing today?

Kelsie: I am okay, but I’m not great

2 Me: Okay, I would like to delve into that but before we begin I want to remind you of the consent form that you signed, and also go over confidentiality with you, is that okay?

Kelsie: Of course, it is

I maybe could have left out saying “I would like to delve into that” and just said “before we begin…”

3 Me: Alrighty, anything you say will be kept between you and I, the only reason that I would let anyone outside of us know what you said is if you are a danger to yourself or others and if someone is harming you.

Kelsie: Okay yeah that sounds good to me.

I noticed that I had to hold back saying “because at Everybody Matters, we don’t wanna anyone getting hurt” because at my internship that’s how I would explain confidentiality to the kiddos.

4 Me: Okay then, Kelsie, let’s talk about why you’re not doing so great today.

It might have been better to instead ask if she wanted to tell me why she wasn’t

PROCESS RECORDING 5

Kelsie: Well I have had some health concerns come up lately and they’re stressing me out.

doing so great: “Do you want to talk about why you’re not doing so great today?”

5 Me: I’m sorry to hear that Kelsie, do you want to talk about that further?

Kelsie: Yeah, so I recently found a lump in my neck one day and since then I’ve checked every day and I’ve found like five more since then.

6 Me: I can see why that might be stressful. What did you do when you found them?

Kelsie: So, when I found my first one, I instantly called my mom and we set up a doctor’s appointment but they’re not doing in person appointments in Flagstaff so I have to go to the Valley for them.

I thought it might be good to know what she has done about finding the lumps before suggesting a doctor’s appointment or something.

I wonder why they’re not doing in-person appointments here, but they are in Phoenix.

7 Me: That must be very difficult, to have to drive somewhere else to get the medical assistance you need.

Kelsie: It definitely is just because I have so much going on up here that it takes time out of my plans up here to have to go down to the Valley.

8 Me: What I’m hearing is this situation is throwing you off your routine and conflicting with previously made plans, is that correct?

Kelsie: Yeah so much so that I have to request days off from work and I’m missing the first day of my internship because that’s when my appointment is.

PROCESS RECORDING 6

9 Me: I can only imagine how difficult and frustrating that might be.

Kelsie: It definitely is a lot of stress with that just because I feel like I’m not living up to other’s expectations of me.

I’d hate to have to miss my first day of internship so I can guess how stressful that might be.

10 Me: Why do you think you feel like you’re not living up to other’s expectations?

Kelsie: Like when I have to take time off, I’m like not giving them the time I have to because I only work 3 times a week. And then missing the first day of the internship is just adding more stress to me.

I wanted to understand where she’s getting the idea that she’s not living up to other expectations and I maybe want to see if we could change how she views their expectations versus her actions.

Not sure if it had been better to say something else like, “What are other’s expectations of you?”

11 Me: Have you discussed your situation with your work and internship?

Kelsie: Yes, my work and internship know and even though they gave me the go ahead to put my health first I still feel like I’m not giving them what they previously expected of me

Could’ve added an empathetic response before the question. Possibly something along the lines of “I hear how this situation is affecting you and making you stressed.”

12 Me: It is really important to put your health first, your job and internship seem to be understanding and sympathetic to your situation.

Kelsie: Yeah, they definitely are I think it’s just the work ethic in me that makes me feel like I am failing them.

I’m glad they’re not pressuring her to work and are understanding that she’s going through a stressful time.

13 Me: Do you think there is another way you could look at the situation?

Kelsie: Definitely and I think as soon as I have more information

I’m thinking of doing a cognitive theory.

PROCESS RECORDING 7

on the lumps, I will look at it differently. I think just the aspect of not knowing what is going on is really stressing me out

14 Me: The uncertainty of your health is extremely stressful and affecting various aspects of your life.

Kelsie: Yeah definitely. I think that my family is helping me through it because they don’t want me to stress out too much but I think it’s affecting whether I wanna do my school work or go to work, stuff like that.

Support system.

15 Me: It sounds like you have a good support system, that is really helpful during times of stress.

Kelsie: Yeah, I do, they don’t live in Flagstaff though so they’re not immediately here, but I live with my boyfriend and he’s really helpful and a good support system.

I understand distant support systems.

16 Me: That can be stressful dealing with your situation without your support system physically near you. It is good that you can lean on your boyfriend for support.

Kelsie: Yeah, like I know I’m not alone, but I guess it’s hard that I have to pick up the phone to talk to my mom instead of walking down the hall.

A better response might have been “having a support system is good whether they’re near or far” not quite sure though.

17 Me: Does that make it more difficult to communicate?

Kelsie: Yes, just because my mom and dad are always busy and having our schedules line

Need to focus on more open-ended questions, I’m glad that she expands on her own.

Better response would’ve been “How is that affecting your communication with your mom?”

PROCESS RECORDING 8

up is hard, but I am glad that I have been able to call them at the right times.

18 Me: It’s good that there has been that communication between you all. I would just like to clarify how the stress of your situation is affecting you.

Kelsie: It’s definitely bringing down my motivation and it’s harder to focus right now.

Might have been too much of a jump in the conversation.

Could have split this response into two different lines. Like maybe I could’ve said “It’s good that there has been that communication between you all.” And she would’ve responded and then I could’ve said “I want to clarify how the stress is affecting you.”

19 Me: When making your doctor’s appointment, were you able to asks questions?

Kelsie: Well, I had an appointment with my gynecologist, and she looked at them and then I got referred for ultrasounds. So that’s what my next appointment is going to be. But I don’t have much information on what it is.

I want to know if she could ask about what the lumps might be or something over the phone since she couldn’t be there in person.

Not a great response to the last question, I feel like I should have definitely responded to how her motivation was down and the difficulty focusing. It doesn’t matter what I want to know, it’s what she wants to tell me. I have to keep that at the front of my mind. Instead I jumped to the doctor’s appointment. An alternative response might have been, “In what ways is the stress affecting your motivation and your focus?”

20 Me: What information do you have?

Kelsie: Well my gynecologist felt the bumps and she thinks they’re lymph nodes which is the best-case scenario but it’s scary because it’s not for sure.

I want to know what she knows and what information she has yet to get.

Again, I don’t need to know what information she has. I am not obligated to have this information. It almost feels like I was prying for information to appease my curiosity instead of prying for information to further help her. However, it does put me at ease that she was not offended by the question, and that it seemed like she wanted to tell me everything so that she

PROCESS RECORDING 9

could get it off her chest. A better response might have been, “How are you feeling about going to the next appointment?”

21 Me: Yeah, I could see how not having that definite classification of the bumps is scary.

Kelsie: Yeah and if I knew more, I wouldn’t let it distract me.

22 Me: Are there ways that you could try to focus while being stressed?

Kelsie: Yeah but it’s just harder because it’s my own situation and it’s hard to think around it.

Not quite sure what she means by it’s her own situation.

23 Me: What things have you tried to help you de-stress?

Kelsie: Mainly tried putting it to the back of my mind and think about like why stress because there’s nothing to stress about yet.

Don’t really like the wording of this one, I could’ve said, “How have you de-stressed in the past?”

24 Me: Are those methods effective?

Kelsie: A little but I’d like to find something to help more.

25 Me: Okay, so what are some things that have helped you de-stress effectively in the past?

Kelsie: Well, I used to have a yoga class and that helped but now it’s not in my schedule, so I don’t do it as much anymore.

Key word effectively.

26 Me: So, do you think it would be a good idea to try and find some time to practice yoga again?

PROCESS RECORDING 10

Kelsie: I think just because of everything that’s going on it might be hard to add back into my schedule but something like it could help.

27 Me: Have you thought about maybe practicing some breathing exercises throughout the day?

Kelsie: I haven’t but I do know that the breathing aspect of yoga helped me so maybe I should because that doesn’t take up too much time.

28 Me: Well, if you’d like at the end of this interview, I could give you some breathing exercises to try.

Kelsie: That would be awesome, because that would be an extra thing off of my plate which is such a mess right now.

My internship gave me some worksheets and breathing exercises was one of those. I’m excited to actually help someone out by giving them that resource.

29 Me: Yeah, I’ll give you that resource at the end. Do you think there’s another way you could further de-stress?

Kelsie: Yeah, I could maybe find a way to focus on things I can control.

I don’t want to stress her out by giving papers to her now, I’d rather focus on what we’re here to talk about.

Alternative response: “What are some other ways that you could further de-stress?” I have to keep in mind open-ended questions.

30 Me: What are some things in your life that you can control?

Kelsie: I can control my immediate health like what I eat and what I do in my free time.

31 Me: Could you expand on that?

Kelsie: Yeah, so like making sure I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner because that’s really important. And in my free time instead of sitting around and

PROCESS RECORDING 11

watching tv I could be more active or make to do lists.

32 Me: That’s great. What are some things that you feel like are out of your control?

Kelsie: My school work and my schedule at work.

Alternative response: “Those are great ideas…”

33 Me: Do you think there’s a way to gain control with those things?

Kelsie: With my schoolwork not so much, I don’t think. But I guess I could put in specific hours for availability at work, but there are concerns with that as well.

Trying to go back to those cognitive theories, let’s think of other ways to look at the current situation.

34 Me: What are those concerns?

Kelsie: Worry about if I do that, then on those specific times I won’t get scheduled each week and that would make it so I wouldn’t be able to provide for myself.

35 Me: Earlier you said that your work said to put your health first. With that in mind, do you think you could talk to your boss about that?

Kelsie: I definitely think I could, but the only issue is that the managers can be really forgetful if they don’t write it down. So, it would be a good thing to do but not a permanent solution.

Trying to help her see how her work understands and she doesn’t have to carry so much weight on her shoulders.

36 Me: I can see how you would feel out of your control. Does their support of putting your health first make you feel more in control?

PROCESS RECORDING 12

Kelsie: It does to an extent and the reminder does help a bit.

37 Me: That’s good that it lessens your stress even slightly. How might you remind yourself of their support?

Kelsie: I guess just keeping in mind that my health does go first when I get really stressed out about it. And keeping in mind that my work is on my side and they won’t get stressed with me because of my health stuff.

38 Me: Its good to think about how there are people who understand and are supportive of you.

Kelsie: Yes, it’s helpful and when I’m in high stress, knowing that everyone who knows is supportive does help.

39 Me: Are there any other things in this situation that are affecting your regular routine?

Kelsie: No just what we talked about, the uncertainty and stuff. But after talking to you I feel like I have a better handle on the whole situation.

Could have added a “Knowing your support system is there for you can be very comforting” before the question.

40 Me: I’m glad I could help you, here’s some of those exercises we talked about earlier. Thank you for being vulnerable and if you ever need to talk again, I’m here.

Kelsie: Thank you, I appreciate you listening to me today.

So excited to give out resources that I received from my internship. Makes me feel like I’m helping even more.

PROCESS RECORDING 13

Theoretical Framework:

The theoretical perspectives that I selected as the foundation for the interview were

cognitive based ones. I wanted to focus on how she thought of things and how I could maybe

have her look at things in a different light. The cognitive theory that best coincides with that is

the information processing theory. I also feel as if the client might have been focusing on the

negative aspects of her situation and going off of that to form her emotions. For example, she

was focusing on how her boss at work might forget her situation and not give her enough hours

which would then make it hard for her to support herself. However, there was also another way

to look at things, her boss told her to put her health first, and I feel as if due to his understanding,

he would have scheduled her for her new availability.

According to the textbook, this could be a cognitive distortion. This distortion in

particular would be selective abstraction which is defined as “focusing only on the negative

aspects of a situation and consequently overlooking its positive aspects” (Hutchison, 2018, p.

232). I also believe that in some instances the client was exhibiting the cognitive distortion of

personalization which means that she was “accepting blame for negative events without

sufficient evidence” (Hutchison, 2018, p. 233). She was exhibiting this when she concluded that

because of this big health situation she is letting her work and internship down. There is not

sufficient evidence in this, because it sounds to me as if they are functioning fine despite what

she is going through, they expressed their support to her and told her to put her health first. I feel

if they were more stressed about missing her then they would have more apprehension about her

missing days.

It seems that the best intervention strategy in Kelsie’s case is to help her adjust her

thinking. Help Kelsie see and understand that her environment is not all negative, and that there

PROCESS RECORDING 14

are other ways to look at the situation. Such as instead of looking at it like she is letting people

down, look at it like people are being supportive and are encouraging her to focus on being

healthy before stressing out about missing work and her first day of internship. It would help to

use cognitive-behavioral therapy, especially the desensitization behavioral change strategy which

would be “confronting a difficult challenge through a step-by-step process of approach and

anxiety control” (Hutchison, 2018, p. 234). The difficult challenge would be missing work or the

first day of internship and the step-by-step process might involve tasks such as speaking with her

boss and internship supervisor to confirm that they are okay with her taking time off or shifting

to a different schedule when she has doctors appointment. I think that the reassurance would help

her see that while she is going through this really stressful time involving her health, that her

places of work understand that stress and want her to be healthy and not suffering. Another step

might just involve those breathing exercises throughout the day to help manage her stress which

would in turn help with the anxiety control.

We might evaluate whether this intervention strategy would be effective by using a chart

of sorts. We could discuss measuring her stress on a number scale with 1 being not stressed at all

and 5 being so stressed it is debilitating. We might monitor her stress levels each week to

determine if the cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective for her. Evaluating her thought patterns

might also be an effective way to evaluate the effectiveness. Having her write down her thoughts

that lead to the anxious feelings could be beneficial to determine which thought patterns need to

be worked on to effectively help her adjust her thinking.

Worker Impressions:

Most of my analytical thinking during the entire process was how I empathized with her

situation. Medical scares are really tough, and they are even scarier when they could involve

PROCESS RECORDING 15

cancer. I can fully understand what it is like to have a cancer scare and not know what is going

on with your body and so I could understand her stress around the whole situation. I felt like I

could really feel the stress that she was going through while she talked about it. Throughout the

entire process I believe that her primary feelings were stress and worry of her own health. She

was scared of what it could be, but she only stated the stressful side of her feelings and not the

fact that she was also scared. I could hear the fear at points where she was talking about how

they might just be lymph nodes but that was best case scenario, I could hear her fear when she

talked about how she did not know what these lumps that she found were.

During the interview, the client showed strengths in her work ethic, capacity to care, and

her capacity to change her thinking process. She was really quick to recognize the different ways

that she could look at the situation and the way that the situation if affecting her. She explained

that it is her own work ethic that is holding her to this high standard of being useful at work and

her internship which is why she felt like she was failing them. Her capacity to care is shown by

how much she cares and knows that her absence might be hurting her work, she seems to just

want to help out. This capacity to care is a strength, no doubt, but it is also what is holding her

down in the sense that if she were to ease up one herself she might find herself being able to not

be stressed out in that aspect of her life, same with her work ethic.

Summary of Worker Strengths and Areas for Work:

There were some instances where I definitely could have improved. Specifically, in lines

four, and eighteen through twenty. In line four, looking back, I feel as if I sound like I am entitled

to know why her day is not great. Of course she came to me with the knowledge of talking to me

about her issue, however, I feel as if I could have asked if she wanted to share why she was not

doing so great instead of acting like I was privileged to that information. In lines eighteen

PROCESS RECORDING 16

through twenty I really should have responded differently than I did. Once again, I acted entitled

to the information, she was giving me when I should have only asked for information that would

further help me help her.

Fortunately, the client did not seem to regard my questioning the same way that I have.

She seemed open to answer every and all my questions. When I did not pose a question, but I

used either an empathetic response or a response using my active listening skills, she was able to

further the conversation. She was very willing to answer my questions and I can only attribute

that to her need to talk things out and maybe see things from a different perspective, which I

provided as best I could.

My strengths, in my opinion, lie in my ability to respond empathetically as well as to

utilize my active listening skills. While these are skills, I mostly learned in SW321, last semester,

I have been trying my absolute best to work on them and practice them at any time that I could. I

have noticed that I have become more effective in using my active listening skills to let the other

person know that I am listening to them and I hear everything that they are saying. That helps a

client, especially the clients that feel misunderstood or unheard. I am very privileged that I was

able to learn these skills and utilize them not only when I work with clients but also in my

everyday life.

Looking at the process recording dialogue, it seems as though my attitude in some

sections revolve around my need or want to have information. My values might have been linked

to wanting to express my understanding through my own experiences. While I did not explicitly

share any of my personal experiences, at points I really felt tempted to share certain things, such

as my own cancer scare. A bias that I might have had would have been how hard she was on

herself and that the reasoning for that was her work ethic.

PROCESS RECORDING 17

The ways that I might manage these attitudes, values, and biases might be just by keeping

them at the forefront of my mind in order to monitor them and not let them get the better of me.

So far, I believe I have been really good about not oversharing, especially in terms of my own

experiences. In terms of biases, I do not believe I showed them physically to my client, I only

reflected on them afterwards with thoughts about how I felt it was strange that her work ethic

caused her so much stress despite the support from her work and internship.

PROCESS RECORDING 18

Works Cited

Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment (6th ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.