Two Methods for Assessment - Essay Example

I would like to use the thought listing method and self-monitoring method of assessment in my future counseling practice. I have not used these methods until now. But I feel that they might be very useful informal assessment methods. By using the thought listing method, I can collect useful data on “client thinking pattern and how client thoughts change over time” (Hiebert, 1996). While using this method, I will ask the client one control question and will give him/her a limited time (2 minutes or so) to tell me all the thoughts that come to his/her mind, as answers. Then I can count the number of thoughts associated with each aspect of counseling. By conducting routine thought listing, I can assess the client's progress (Hiebert, 1996). In the self-monitoring method, “a simple rating scale or monitoring form is developed and clients use the form to track the variable under observation” (Hiebert, 1996). For example, if the changes in the self-confidence level of a client have to be assessed, I can ask the client to make self-monitoring by providing him/her with index cards of which one side can be notified as positive and the other side as negative. The client can be asked to place check marks on both sides in connection with the moments in which he/she feels confident and not. These checkmarks can finally be compiled to assess the correlation between learning and impact outcomes. This method will increase self-awareness in the client and thereby help increase self-confidence also. Hiebert has listed the advantages of self-monitoring as follows:

It can help identify factors affecting the client's presenting problem, as well as provide a tangible indication of client change. If self-monitoring starts at the beginning of counseling, it can provide baseline data against which to compare change as well as evidence of client change across time. This can be motivating for clients in addition to providing useful evaluation evidence for counselors (1996).   

Two skills that I already possess in relation to assessment are empathetic listening and eye contact. Both these skills are basic preconditions to ensure the accuracy of informal assessment. Bailey (1991) has observed that “the skill of empathetic listening helps us to move away from our own view of the world and learn to take the other person’s views, thoughts and feelings into consideration” (p.218). He (Bailey, 1991) has also revealed that “when we can do this, it clarifies our communications, identifies the “real agenda” and facilitates collaborative action” (p.218). Counselors have been using eye contact as a technique for enhancing communication between the counselor and the counseled. Geldard and Geldard (2008) have reminded us that the appropriateness of eye contact is culture-dependent and “what is required is an appropriate level of eye contact where your eyes meet the other person’s eyes in a socially and culturally acceptable way” (p.49). Eye contact is also a signal that a counselor gives to the counseled meaning that the counselor is attentive and empathetic to him/her. 

Two counseling skills I need to work on, in order to fully integrate formal and informal assessment into my future counseling practice, are summarizing/paraphrasing and clarifying. To paraphrase is to “reflect… back to the client what the client has said to the counselor” (Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.53).  While paraphrasing, the counselor usually does not repeat word by word, all that the client has said. The counselor needs to identify and pick out the most important points in the client’s narration and re-word them in the counselor’s words and language style ((Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.53). For doing this, I have to train myself to note in my mind or on paper, the important and relevant points in the client’s narration. I should also be able to re-express them in my own words. While summarizing, on the other hand, the counselor has to just mention the important points just like bullet points. This has to be shorter and more to the point, than paraphrasing ((Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.100). By summarizing and paraphrasing, I can help “the client to absorb and to ponder on what they have been sharing” ((Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.100). Clarifying is the process of helping “the client to clarify their problem” (Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.123). The skills I need to have to clarify the problem to the client include, “paraphrasing content, summarizing, the use of questions and confronting” (Geldard and Geldard, 2008, p.123). With these newly acquired skills, I can become more competent as a counselor.