Deck 3: Attending, Empathy, and Observation Skills: Fundamentals of All Interviewing and Counseling Approaches

Question 1

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"You think you might have been selfish?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Staying with the topic is important in

A) verbal underlining
B) verbal tracking
C) most nonattending responses
D) effective vocal qualities

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"Could you tell me more about that?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"Earlier you were talking about some feelings of selfishness as a child. Could you tell me more about them?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Question 5

Keeping in mind that each client varies, direct but not constant eye contact is most typical for which cultural group?

A) African-American clients
B) Hispanic clients
C) White middle-class clients
D) All of these

Question 6

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
In all of these examples, we can assume

A) the attending responses were the best.
B) the nonattending responses were the best.
C) quality would depend on the situation.
D) the attending responses were the best; quality would depend on the situation.

Question 7

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"How old are you now?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Question 8

When you demonstrate effective attending behavior, clients usually _________________________.

A) become happier.
B) talk more freely and respond more openly.
C) ask more questions.
D) let you speak about your personal experiences.

Question 9

According to the authors, in response to a single stimulus or statement, we may expect

A) people to differ in their reactions to the same stimulus.
B) basically similar reactions if you are effective.
C) basically similar reactions regardless of effectiveness.
D) clients to be very similar in their reactions to the same stimulus.

Question 10

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"Cohesive group?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Question 11

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"Sounds as if you felt you had personal problems in a cohesive group. How does this tie in with your comments about being a therapist and selfishness?"

A) attending
B) nonattending

Question 12

Cultural differences

A) reveal clearly that counseling across cultures is virtually impossible.
B) reveal little in the way of personal or group differences.
C) must be taken into account, but only with groups with whom one has experience.
D) are important factors that must be considered in every counseling interview.

Question 13

Following is a brief client-interview exchange.
Client:  I felt like my cabin was the most cohesive group in camp. Yet, I felt some personal problems at the time. I wanted to become a therapist and wondered if I wasn't simply being selfish and using my ability to help others as a way to avoid myself.
The following counselor responses are in reaction to the client. Indicate which are attending and which are nonattending.
"I've had personal problems too. But I don't think I'm selfish."

A) attending
B) nonattending

Question 14

Attending behavior includes individually and culturally appropriate __________________.

A) visuals.
B) verbal tracking.
C) body language.
D) all of these.

Question 15

Some cultural aspects you may find in the interview include all but one of the following:

A) Middle-class U.S. clients may be expected to use direct eye contact.
B) Many Spanish-speaking groups have more varying vocal tone and rapid speech rate than English-speaking people.
C) Less economically advantaged groups often expect advice and suggestions rather than drawn-out talk and analysis of the problem.
D) Men tend to feel more comfortable with closer interpersonal distance than women.

Question 16

Neuroscience and brain imaging demonstrates that effective attending behavior "lights up" the brain of ___________________________.

A) the counselor or interviewer.
B) the client.
C) both the counselor and the client.
D) none of these.

Question 17

Through _________, we can sometimes stop clients from talking about nonproductive topics.

A) selective attention
B) verbal underlining
C) inattention to the client topic
D) threats and criticism

Question 18

Attending skills

A) exist in all cultures, but may be expressed differently.
B) remain the same from culture to culture.
C) are very similar, but differ occasionally in cultures.
D) enable an interviewer to communicate with people of other cultures at a very rapid rate.

Question 19

We tend to listen to some topics more than others by verbal tracking. We hear some topics better than others. It is important that the interviewer be aware of unconscious patterns of

A) selective attention.
B) pupil dilation.
C) verbal underlining.
D) client topic jumps.

Question 20

Which of these is not true of effective attending behavior?

A) primarily involves eye contact, body posture, and following the client verbally
B) requires both verbal and nonverbal sensitivity
C) is illustrated by frequent use of the self focus
D) is useful in rapport building

Question 21

Describe cultural differences that may exist in the four main concepts of attending behavior.

Question 22

Discuss movement synchrony and its importance in the interview.

Question 23

Provide a specific example in your own work of classification, basic competence, intentional competence, and, if you have experience, teaching competence. Show in your own way that you have a sense of your own level of competence of these concepts.

Question 25

What are the four main concepts of attending behavior?  Evaluate yourself on each of these.

Question 26

According to Ivey, Ivey, and Zalaquett, attending behavior have predictable results in client conversation. What would you expect to see clients doing as a consequence of your effective listening?  Would this be the same for clients from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds?

Question 27

Present a concrete example of a time when it may be appropriate not to provide attention (attending behavior) to client talk.

Question 28

What are the main concepts of effective feedback, and how have you found them useful in your own interviewing practice?

Question 29

Discuss the concepts of basic empathy, subtractive empathy, and additive empathy, and give an example of each.

Question 30

When movements do not mirror one another between a client and an interviewer, but still remain in harmony (a head nod may follow a comment by the other), this may be termed

A) movement synchrony.
B) symmetrical conversation.
C) a double bind.
D) movement complementarity.

Question 31

Provide examples of effective attending and potentially effective nonattending interviewer responses to this client:
Client: It was a long, hard hearing. The lawyer kept questioning me about the so-called "assault" for two hours. I'm not guilty and I didn't do it, I can't see why they are after me all the time.

Question 32

In Subtractive empathy, the counselor responses

A) add a link to something the client has said earlier.
B) slightly add something to what the client has said.
C) gives back less than what the client has said.
D) interchangeable with client experience.

Question 33

When clients and counselors (or people in general) mirror each other's body language, it is termed

A) movement synchrony.
B) symmetrical conversation.
C) dereflection.
D) movement complimentarity.

Question 34

Empathy can be described as

A) putting yourself into "another person's shoes."
B) viewing the world through "someone else's eyes and ears."
C) understanding the client's world as the client sees and experiences it.
D) all of these.

Question 35

What would you look for in terms of client nonverbal communication in the session?

Question 36

How might you go about teaching the skill of attending to a client with a disability? Illustrate your discussion with an example client problem such as shyness, lack of friendship, depression, or other specific issue.

Question 37

In basic empathy, the counselor responses are

A) additive to client experience.
B) slightly additive to client experience.
C) interchangeable with client experience.
D) somehow improved over prior levels of personal qualities.

Question 38

As you become a more experienced and empathic listener

A) your mirror neurons become more relaxed and fire less.
B) your mirror neurons fire before and in a stronger pattern than that of your client.
C) your mirror neurons become very active predicting how your client will respond.
D) your mirror neurons are very likely to fire in a pattern similar to those of your client.

Question 39

Give an example of selective attention.