LISA
LISA
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I am a 27 year old single mother with two children that are six years old and three. I live on my own in an apartment in the city. I am always alone with my children and I feel like I am not ever given the time that I need to be myself. I want the chance to be able to go out and go to parties, to be able to have friends over. The normal things that an adult does. I see other women that are my same age that are going out, and hanging out with their friends. All that I do is work, go to school, and take care of my children. I feel like I am going nowhere, that I am being suffocated so to speak. I have had thoughts about having my children live with their fathers so that I can have free time, but that would mean that I am a bad mother. That is the one thing that I had always vowed not to do. I am beginning to feel that there is no way that this could ever change and that I am going to be stuck in this rut forever.
Select your Active Listening response from the 3 given below. |
LISA
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Your response was: "I can understand that you are depressed and that you are feeling lonely, but let's talk about your children. How are they doing in the new apartment in the city?"
This response does not use the skill of Active Listening Although you acknowledged that you are seeing the depression and loneliness, you are trying to talk about something that has nothing to do with the situation. This person may feel that you are not listning to her real problem and that you want to talk about things that are totally irrelevant. She may feel that you are not interested in the problems that she is having and therefore will question you as a counselor/helper. |
LISA
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Your response was: "I think that you have it pretty good for being on your own with two children. I mean you have an apartment all by yourself and they seem that they are well taken care of, what is it that you need other than what you have?"
This response does not use the skill of Active Listening Although it may appear that the person does have all of the things that she may need there is still the underlying problem of being alone and her feeling that she is depressed all of the time. These are the things that as a counselor you need to focus on, to be an active listener and see beyond the words. |
LISA
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Your response was: "You are feeling depressed and alone because you think that there are so many things that you are responsible for that you have no time to enjoy the things that you like to do."
This response shows that you understand the feelings of the client as well as her situation. |