Therapy Practicum Student

[lbergeson014]

Hello!

I am currently completing my first therapy practicum. My supervisor has suggested that I work more on the emotion side of my clients (my clients really struggle with expressing or identifying emotions AND I am struggling with how to dig into the deeper meaning and feelings of surface level emotions). Most of my clients are very thought oriented and I find that I am better equipped to manage thoughts, but not so much with the emotions. My supervisor suggested making assumptions about the emotion they are feeling but I don't know where to go from there. Does anyone have any resources or recommendations on how to build this skill?

Thanks!

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[R. Matey]

It sounds like they would like you develop your micro-skills a bit more. There are some motivational interviewing workbooks out there that might be of some help. David Rosengren (?) has a good one out there for practitioners that was pretty useful to me when I was learning.

 

[PsychCrazied]

Clara Hill's Helping Skills book has a few chapters on how to explore emotions, that students I have worked with have found helpful in building foundation skills.

 

[foreverbull]

Sometimes a gentle nudge, question, or observation can help, like “what do you feel as you discuss this?”
“I noticed that you seem more comfortable staying philosophical/intellectual about this topic. Is there an emotion that comes up as you discuss it?” Or use that to launch into psychoeducation about emotions or exploring how they experience emotions generally and why.

If you notice a microexpression or swallowing, etc.—any body language that suggests an emotion, that’s also a good opportunity to pause the conversation and reflect what you see back to them to deepen the conversation.

With some clients it’s actually helpful to go back to the basics and give them a feelings list or wheel and then ask them to choose an emotion word each session to help develop emotional intelligence/awareness. I still do this with adults occasionally because some need it and don’t have the emotional vocabulary to express themselves fully.

Many clients feel uncomfortable experiencing emotions in session initially and need gentle reassurance and encouragement to allow emotions to surface.

Also, just as a note of encouragement, this is probably one of the slightly more advanced skills to master and takes practice. I supervised 1st year/2nd year students in my 4th year in grad school and they almost all universally struggled with this. You have to be comfortable sitting in silence for a bit and comfortable allowing their emotions to surface as much as they do, and some folks find this very difficult. In addition to the suggestions others mentioned about reading, I’d suggest also reflecting on your own process and your comfort level as well, because as you get more comfortable with your own emotions, you will also be more comfortable with those of others.

Edit: I’d also suggest a book on using Emotion-Focused Therapy to help provide both a theory framework and tools to explore emotions in practice.

 

[cara susanna]

DBT skills are REALLY helpful for emotions, especially the emotion regulation module (as the name implies)

 

[summerbabe]

Most of my clients are very thought oriented and I find that I am better equipped to manage thoughts, but not so much with the emotions.

I do a lot work with helping patients make connections between events that happen in their life and the emotions that are produced and how that might influence thoughts/behaviors.

I find using an emotion wheel can be really helpful initially as patients are beginning to develop their emotional language vocabulary and learning to check in on these things.

Intervention wise, I use a lot of DBT informed skills, which can potentially help just about anybody as just about everybody can improve on emotion regulation and distress tolerance.

 

[PsyDr]

Consider that emotions, outside of the context of thought, might not have a deeper meaning.

How a Flawed Experiment "Proved" That Free Will Doesn't Exist

It did no such thing—but the result has become conventional wisdom nevertheless

blogs.scientificamerican.com

 

[chicandtoughness]

RO-DBT!! <3 Obviously it's not a general "slap it on everyone" solution, but explore some RO-DBT concepts, I think you'll find it helpful. Whereas DBT really helps with emotion regulation, RO-DBT was made for people who have difficulty really sitting with/identifying/tolerating their emotions. Some of the skills will feel so darn cheesy and may be uncomfortable for you too, but it has done wonders for both me as a clinician and my patients.