“Building the Therapeutic Alliance.” , directed by Anonymous , Microtraining Associates, 2016. Alexander Street,
Therapist Leah Brew, In The Skills of Counseling (Alexandria, VA: Microtraining Associates, 2016)1 hour 46 minutes
Matt Englar-Carlson interviews Leah Brew on the how to approach early moments with the client and build the therapeutic alliance – a critical skill to successful counseling. Leah works with three different clients to demonstrate how to build a therapeutic alliance. She shows the use of open body language, showing warmth, acceptance, and empathy. Following each vignette, Matt and Leah discuss and debrief, allowing the viewer to gain greater insight into Leah’s process in working with her clients.
- What are some strategies used by Dr. L. Brew to help her with “being present” for her clients? And how does she know when she is being present with her clients?
- On the first case scenario (Carla) with Dr. Brew, give some examples of her “being present” during her interview.
- On the Assessment Strategies: Use of Open Body Language/ Being Warm , Open and Accepting, which techniques does Dr. L. Brew she uses with Cesar? And define the technique.
- On the second case scenario (Cesar) with Dr. Brew, how was she Open and warm with the client?
- On the Assessment Strategies: Demonstrating Empathy, explain why Empathy is critical at the beginning for clients? And what is the connection between attachment and empathy described by Dr. L. Brew?
- On the Assessment Strategies: Trusting the client’s Self-Actualizing tendencies, what is self actualizing and how does Dr. Brew convey and show the client this? And when working with Cesar, how did Dr. Brew show trust and self-actualizing with him?
- On the Assessment Strategies: You are Not Alone, what does the term mean and how does that go back to building the alliance?
- On the Assessment Strategies: Goal Alignment Counselor, why is it important to set goals with the client? And provide the summary and goals statements used by Dr. Brew used with Cesar.
