CH. 5. Questions Opening Communication

Question 1

Questions

Answer 1

QUESTIONS – Provides a useful framework for focusing the session.

• Questions help a session begin and move along smoothly.
• Effective questions encourage more focused client conversations with more pertinent detail and less wandering.

OPEN QUESTIONS – those that can’t be answered in a few words.

• Facilitate deeper exploration of client issues

CLOSED QUESTIONS – obtain specifics and can usually be answered in very few words.

• Good for discovering basic facts.

Excessive use of questions removes focus from the client and can give too much power to the counselor.

• Also, people often associate excessive questioning with situations in which they were put on the spot, accused, or grilled by someone. They may associate questions with feelings of anger and guilt.

NEWSPAPER FRAMEWORK – following a traditional method for gaining information and insight into a situation – refer to the 4Ws + H.

• who, what, when, where, how, and why.

Question 2

Questions for Results

Answer 2

“WHAT ELSE” – Some questions can keep the flow moving and stimulate further information sharing.

• Simply ask the client “What else is going on in your life?”
  
  • The client is invited to share whatever they deem important.

First Word of Open Questions May Determine Client Response –

• WHAT questions most often lead to facts.
• HOW – leads to an exploration of process or feelings.
• WHY leads to a discussion of reasons.
  
  • Use “why” questions with care. While understanding reasons may have value, a discussion of reasons can also lead to sidetracks.
  • In addition, many clients may not respond well because they associate “why” with a past experience of being grilled.
• COULD, CAN, or WOULD – are considered maximally open and also contain some advantages of closed questions.
  
  • Clients are free to say “No, I don’t want to talk about that.”

Open Questions Help Clients Elaborate and Enrich Their Story – To help the session start again and keep it moving, ask an open question on a topic the client presented earlier in the session.

Questions Can Reveal Concrete Specifics from the Client’s World –

• Concreteness is valuable in empathic understanding. Seek specifics rather than vague generalities.
• One of the most useful of all open questions here is “Could you give me a specific example of . . . ?” (This is a good question to ask someone high on the abstraction scale in order to bring them down to a more concrete level.)
  
  • Concreteness helps the session come alive and clarifies what the client is saying.
    
    • Likewise, communication from the counselor needs to be concrete and understandable to the client.
  • Some open questions that aim for concreteness and specifics might be:
    
    • “Could you give me a specific example of what Ricardo does?”
    • “What does Ricardo do, specifically, that brings out your anger?”
  • Questions like these may encourage clients to say out loud what they have only hinted at before.
    
    • When you suspect abuse or bullying, more direct questions may be needed to protect the client.

Question 3

Difficulties Versus Stories of Strength to Help Build Client Resilience

Answer 3

Client Stories are often filled with negative stories – Help the client find something POSITIVE to help RESTORY the narrative.

• It is said that it takes at least five positive comments to balance one negative.
• Our task is to help clients rewrite these negative experiences.
  
  • Every session should include time spent on strengths and positives.
  • Search out hidden strengths that have helped the person survive difficulties.
  • Draw out stories of strength
  • Don’t forget spiritual and family strengths.

Question 4

Other Potential Difficulties with Questions

Answer 4

BOMBARDMENT/GRILLING – Too many questions may:

• Give too much control to the interviewer
• Put clients on the defensive.
• Confuse clients

QUESTIONS AS STATEMENTS – Some interviewers may use questions to sell their own points of view – AVOID THIS!!

• EX: “Don’t you think it would be helpful if you studied more?”
  
  • Puts the client on the spot and is condescending.
  • If you are going to make a statement, do not frame it as a question.

WHY QUESTIONS – Why questions can put interviewees on the defensive and cause discomfort.

• “Why did you do that?”
  
  • Any question that evokes a sense of being attacked can create client discomfort and defensiveness.

DANGER OF FALSE MEMORIES – questions that lead clients too much can result in their constructing stories of things that never happened.

• Be careful of putting your ideas into the client’s head by means of probing questions.

Question 5

ABC-TF Framework of Questioning

Answer 5

ANTECEDENT-BEHAVIOR-CONSEQUENCE (ABC) model is particularly useful when a challenging specific situation is unclear.

1. ANTECEDENT: Draw out the linear sequence of the story:
   
   • What happened first?
   • What happened next?
   • What was the result?
2. BEHAVIOR: Focus on observable concrete actions:
   • What did the other person say?
   • What did he or she do?
   • What did you say or do?
3. CONSEQUENCE: Help clients see the result of an event:
   
   • What happened afterward?
   • What did you do afterward?
   • What did he or she do afterward?
   • Sometimes clients are so focused on the event that they don’t yet realize it is over.

• Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy (REBT) adds two more often essential issues:
  
  • T for THOUGHTS:
    
    • “What was going on in your mind—what were you thinking?”
    • “What might the other person have been thinking?”
  • E for EMOTIONS:
    
    • “How did you feel and what were your emotions just before it happened? During? After?”
    • “How do you think the other person felt?”
• Usually, it is most helpful to start with the rational thoughts, followed by an exploration of emotions.
• ABC-TF framework of Antecedents, Behaviors, Consequences and the accompanying Thoughts and Feelings will give you a comprehensive picture of the client’s experiential world.
  
  • Again, use this model to draw out client strengths as well as concerns.

Question 6

Focus on Hesitant Clients and Children

Answer 6

FOCUS ON HESITANT CLIENTS AND CHILDREN – Here are some suggestions to encourage clients to talk with you more freely.

• BUILD TRUST AT THE CLIENT’S PACE – Trust building and rapport need to come first, and your own natural openness and social skills are essential.
• SEARCH FOR CONCRETE SPECIFICS – If your client is talking in very general terms and is hard to understand, it often helps to ask questions from the antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) pattern above to bring out concrete information and ideas.
  
  • Your chances for helping the client talk will be greatly enhanced when you focus on concrete events in a nonjudgmental fashion, avoiding evaluation and opinion.
  • The ABC sequence is also invaluable for drawing stories of success that can be used as a basis for resilience and growth.
  • To bring in missing information, use questions such as:
    
    • “What else?”
    • “What have we missed so far?”
    • “Can you think of something important that is occurring in your life right now that you haven’t shared with me yet?”
  • Some argue against the use of any questions at all because questions can give too much control to the therapist.
  • We believe in questions, but don’t overuse them.

Question 7

Summary

Answer 7

SUMMARY:

VALUE OF QUESTIONS –

• key component in many theories and styles of helping.
• help begin the session, open new areas for discussion, assist in pinpointing and clarifying issues, and assist the client in self-exploration.

OPEN QUESTIONS –

• are those that can’t be answered in a few words
• They encourage others to talk and provide you with maximum information.
• Typically, open questions begin with whatwhat, how, why, or couldcould.

CLOSED QUESTIONS –

• can be answered in a few words or sentences.
• They have the advantage of focusing the session and bringing out specifics
• place the prime responsibility for talk on the counselor.
• often begin with is, are, or do. An example is “Where do you live?”

“WHAT ELSE?” QUESTIONS –

• What else is there to add to the story?
• “What else?” questions bring out missing data.
• These are maximally open and allow the client considerable control.

NEGATIVE APPROACH –

• Counseling session training can overemphasize concerns and difficulties. A positive approach is needed for balance.

POSITIVE APPROACH –

• positive asset search, strength emphasis, positive psychology, and wellness need to balance discussion of client issues and concerns.
• What is the client doing right? What are the exceptions to the problem? What are the client’s new options? How would these options enrich the client’s life?

MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS OF QUESTIONS –

• The antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) model helps draw out key facts about events especially in unclear and challenging situations.
• By moving to ABC-TF, we bring in thoughts and feelings about the event or personal experience.

MULTICULTURAL ISSUES –

• Some cultural groups find North American rapid-fire questions rude and intrusive, particularly if asked before trust is developed.
• Perhaps discuss with multicultured clients that questions are part of the interview process that might conflict with how the person would otherwise interact in their social world.
• Get their permission to ask questions to put them at ease.