Self-Reflection Paper
Authors Note
Katherine Celic
I have no known conflict to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed
to Katherine Celic
Email: Kecelic@liberty.edu
Intake Interview: Self-Reflection Paper
Katherine Celic
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
Self-Reflection Paper
Abstract
Throughout taking the class, Assessments in Counseling, students have been practicing
writing a psychological report and learning about a mental health intake interview. This
assignment is a self-reflection of students practicing being the counselor and interviewing a
client for intake through an online platform such as Microsoft teams. Throughout the paper, the
author will learn about the student's strengths, weaknesses, plan for improvement, and client’s
experience from this practice interview.
Self-Reflection Paper
Strengths
One of my strengths during the interview was having an engaging personality.
Throughout the interview, it can be seen that I had a positive attitude, was energized and was
enthusiastic. These skills can be conveyed as possessing some engaging personality traits
1
because I showed interest in hearing the client’s responses and her responses. Being attentive
and engaged with the client when they respond to questions is beneficial for the reason that it
shows the client that I care and helps build trust. This allows the client to possibly be more open
about how much they share when answering questions. Building trust is important, especially
since confidentiality is secured except under certain circumstances.
Another one of my strengths was making sure to state information about confidentiality.
At the beginning of the session, I made sure the client had read the forms that had information
about confidentiality and what information was not confidential. This is very important during a
session for the reason that if the client is not told the information about confidentiality, and an
issue arises where the client states some kind of information that the counselor has to share, it
can lead to issues with the law if the client is not told by the counselor about confidentiality
issues in counseling. In addition to stating confidentiality instructions, listening well was another
strength of mine during the interview.
1 Traits are assumed to be relatively stable over time, differ among individuals, and influence behavior.
Words such as “outgoing,” “passive,” “extrovert,” “perfectionist,” and “motivated” reflect specific
personality traits related to an individual’s behavior.
(2022). Pearson.com.
https://plus.pearson.com/products/2P0DORR3OVY/pages/abbc227ca346a3d87cfff7f043b2d3257420901fb?
locale=null&isTpi=Y&key=797853811573505252022
Self-Reflection Paper
Lastly, another strength of mine was listening well. Listening well during the interview is
important for many reasons, one, in particular, being that the client conveys that I am interested
in what they have to say. This allows the counselor-client relationship to become stronger and
build trust. When trust is built, it allows the client to be more open about the information they
share, and the counselor will be able to gain more insight into the client's life. Being able to
engage and gain more insight for the client is important to both the counselor and the client. This
is important for the counselor because they gain more insight into the client and can find out
more about who the client is. Furthermore, this is important for the client since it allows them to
build trust with the counselor, build a strong relationship, and feel comfortable sharing their life
stories.
Weaknesses
One of my weaknesses as an interviewer is that I give too much silence. During a
counseling session silence is beneficial, however, during the interview, I felt that there should
have been more conversation. The lack of conversation on my side makes it hard for the client to
build trust, respond, build a relationship, and open up about who they are.
Secondly, another weakness is that I feel as if I did not have enough questions to ask. I
came prepared for the interview with about thirty or so questions, however, I feel as if I did not
have enough. Before the interview, I felt prepared and felt like the questions I put together were
well done, however, once it was towards the end of the interview, I felt anxious that I did not
have enough questions. The client was short with her answers, which I was not expecting so it
caused me to become nervous. This led to me feeling disorganized.
Lastly, I was disorganized with the questions I asked. When I rewatched the recorded
video, I felt as if some questions I could have placed differently. Before the interview, I
Self-Reflection Paper
organized the questions into different sections, however, after the interview, I believe I could
have placed some questions in different sections, and I could have organized my questions in a
better format. After stating some of my weaknesses, I have better knowledge of how to improve.
Plan for Improvement
To improve my interview, I plan on taking more time to organize my questions in a flow
that works better than I did in this practice interview. I feel if I do this, my interview would have
gone more smoothly and organized. With better organization in the interview, it will feel more
smooth and less messy.
Secondly, I plan on doing more research on questions I could have asked and prepared
more questions in case my next interview is with someone who prefers not to talk as much. As
well, it will be beneficial if I prepare more questions so there will be less silence because I will
take less time trying to think of additional questions from the top of my head. For the mental
health intake interview, it is important to focus on the purpose of the interview. Asking more
insightful questions will help the interviewer to gain more knowledge and help improve the flow
of the interview. An example of questions that I could have asked the client more is about their
personality traits to gain insight into what their personality traits consist of. Asking questions
about Jung’s theory that everyone identifies with one of the sixteen MBTI personalities, would
have been useful to use as interview questions to help build more insight. 2
Another action I will take is to practice saying my questions out loud and practice asking
the questions to friends and family. Practicing with family and friends, will help me better my
2 Cherry, K. (2021, July 23). An Overview of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Verywell Mind;
Verywellmind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-2795583
3Center, R. H. (2020, November 20). Benefits of Motivational Interviewing Therapy. Rose Hill
Center. https://www.rosehillcenter.org/mental-health-blog/benefits-of-motivational-
interviewing/
Self-Reflection Paper
skills as an interviewer and learn new skills to help me succeed. Practice will only make me a
stronger interviewer, so I plan on taking at least an hour every week to research and practice to
improve my skills. As well, practicing motivational interviewing will help benefit the counselors
and the clients. The clients will learn how to embrace their emotions and become more open, and
the counselor will be able to learn more about the client. A benefit of a counselor learning more
about the client is that the counselor will be able to have more knowledge of the client's life and
be able to figure out what is best for the client. 3
Client’s Experience
When I had the chance to be the client, I enjoyed my experience. The questions that I was
asked throughout the interview were well thought out and I had no difficulty answering them. It
felt very natural and my experience of being in counseling in the past had helped me feel
comfortable during this interview. I am very thankful that I have had counseling in the past, in
view of the fact that it helped prepare me and learn skills on how to be a client. Without this
experience, I feel as if it would have been more difficult.
Furthermore, I have currently been practicing being a client in group counseling and in
the spring, I practiced being a client in counseling techniques. These two courses have helped me
improve my skills in practice to be a client.
As it can be seen, my experience as a client has helped me succeed and know what to
expect when a client during the practice interview.
Self-Reflection Paper
Cherry, K. (2021, July 23). An Overview of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Verywell Mind;
Verywellmind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-2795583
(2022). Pearson.com.
https://plus.pearson.com/products/2P0DORR3OVY/pages/abbc227ca346a3d87cfff7f043b2d325
7420901fb?locale=null&isTpi=Y&key=797853811573505252022
References
Center, R. H. (2020, November 20). Benefits of Motivational Interviewing Therapy. Rose
Hill Center. https://www.rosehillcenter.org/mental-health-blog/benefits-of-motivational-
interviewing/
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