Fundamentals of Therapeutic Interactions

As a counselor and dance/movement therapist in training I am in the process of honing many skills. One of the skills is the art of guidance/helping/counseling. In my Fundamentals of Therapeutic Interactions class last fall we explored various ways of being and being with a client. We shared our experiences, and studied various theories and techniques.

Finding a safe, compassionate, and experiential way to practice what is learned is essential for me in my learning style. I need to be hands on and apply the theory before I fully understand what it is all about. Below is an example of some writing I did for this class exploring observational techniques.

I use observation as a data analysis device. I take in the stimulus (data) and create a dialogue with it. Using past experiences as a baseline the data is than recreated, involving into the emergence of an idea into conscious thought and the manifestation of that idea/thought into communicable form.

For instance, one could observe a person sitting; who leans forward looking down at their shoes with a soft unblinking gaze and using an even vocal tone makes a statement. I make note of the multiple sources of data; posture, tonal-reflective qualities of the voice, gestures, eye direction and object looked at, musculature of the body (contraction/expansion of the muscles) and any other data sources. I take all of this and observe my own body (physical), mind (mental), and heart (emotional) responses.

The inner dialogue would begin with my experience of observation. What qualities in me form and come to the surface when I see and hear this person? Is there a personal experience in my life that this situation is similar too? What is the connection between the vocal quality, sentence structure, and words used to what is being said?

I than take my inner dialogue and began a recreation and communication of my experience of what I am observing. My first response might be physical, to lean forward in my chair so I could match the change in physical proximity. An increase in proximity might feel more intimate to me. I than might choose to join in the gaze and look down at the persons shoes. The focus of the gaze might bring up feelings of introspection. From a metal/thinking perspective I would examine the words to see if there was incongruence between what was being said with the voice and what was being said with the body. Finally I might choose to vocalize with words using the same tonal qualities, pauses and word structure.