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A Summary Of Psychopathic Listening

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One of the first things that need to be clarified is if the client’s talkativeness is normal. That is, do they always speak in a rushed or frenzied manner? If not, there may be an underlying reason for their hurried speech and it may be in the best interest of the client to allow them to continue. If yes, there are different approaches that a counselor can take to slow down their client, but we must be mindful that, depending on the contextual situation these approaches “can either be productive or detrimental to the progress of therapy” (Cormier, Nurius, & Osborn, 2009, p. 64). Just like ethics, the approach you use will be determined by the proverbial “It depends”.
The first approach should be easily recognized by any and all who attended school. Simply raise your hand. This nonverbal gesture is easily recognizable as the universal sign that you have something to say. When the client ceases talking you can ask them for clarification by paraphrasing what they said and ending with a checkout. Alternatively, you can tell your client that you have three quick questions to make sure you fully understand them. This conveys empathic listening as well as a sharing of the conversation (turn-taking) because they know after the questions are asked they will have another turn to speak …show more content…

While this may prove effective in stopping the client from talking it may have adverse effects so use with caution. However, would it be permissible to do this if your client was on an ego trip or dominating the conversation for ulterior motives such as power and control? For some clients you may just have to raise your voice a little bit louder than theirs and say, “Hold on, hold on. I hear you saying 123 on one hand, but on the other I hear XYZ. Can you explain that?” Again, the use of this approach is purely contextual of both the situation and the

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