{"id":1272,"date":"2013-01-24T13:13:53","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T13:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/counsellingtu.onpressidium.com\/?page_id=1272"},"modified":"2021-09-15T10:52:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T09:52:46","slug":"summarising","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/basic-counselling-skills\/summarising\/","title":{"rendered":"Summarising"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h1>Summarising in Counselling<\/h1>\n\t<p>Feltham and Dryden (1993: 186) define &#8216;<strong>summarising<\/strong>&#8216; as &#8216;accurately and succinctly reflecting back to the client, from time to time within and across sessions, the substance of what she has expressed&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Summarising is therefore a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/basic-counselling-skills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">counselling skill<\/a>\u00a0used to\u00a0condense or crystallise the main points of what the client is saying and feeling.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/summarising-in-counselling.jpg\" alt=\"Summarising in counselling is condensing the essence of what the client is saying and feeling.\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"199\" width=\"300\" title=\"summarising in counselling\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n\t<div id=\"cbox-vODZZySnaq10cn4g\"><\/div>\n\t<h2>Difference between paraphrasing and summarising in counselling<\/h2>\n\t<p>Using summaries is different from using\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/basic-counselling-skills\/reflecting-and-paraphrasing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paraphrasing<\/a>,\u00a0as a summary usually\u00a0covers a longer time period than a paraphrase. Thus, summarising may be used after some time: perhaps halfway through &#8211; or near the end of &#8211; a counselling session.<\/p>\n<p>The summary\u00a0&#8216;sums up&#8217; the main themes\u00a0that are emerging.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Purpose of Summarising in counselling<\/h2>\n\t<p>When summarising, the counsellor is &#8216;reflecting back&#8217; the main points of the session so that the client has the opportunity to recap, and to &#8216;correct&#8217; the counsellor if any parts of the summary feel inaccurate.<\/p>\n\t<p>Summaries are therefore useful for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>clarifying emotions for both the counsellor and the client<\/li>\n<li>reviewing the work done so far, and taking stock<\/li>\n<li>bringing a session to a close, by drawing together the main threads of the discussion<\/li>\n<li>beginning a subsequent session, if appropriate<\/li>\n<li>starting the process of focusing and prioritising &#8216;scattered&#8217; thoughts and feelings<\/li>\n<li>moving the counselling process forward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<p>While the above uses are all in keeping with a person-centred approach to counselling, other uses may also be more relevant in more directive modalities. For example, in CBT, summarising may be useful for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>enabling &#8216;the client to hear what she has expressed from a slightly different perspective&#8217;<\/li>\n<li>offering &#8216;an opportunity for structuring counselling, especially with clients who have difficulty in focusing on specific topics and goals&#8217;<\/li>\n<li>providing &#8216;a useful orientation towards homework and future sessions&#8217; (Feltham &amp; Dryden, 1993: 186).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t<h3>Free Handout Download<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t\t<p>The Skill of Summarising Explained<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#cbf78b576a\" target=\"_self\" role=\"button\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClick Here to Download Free Handout\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<h2>Summarising at the End of a Session<\/h2>\n\t<p>Kelly (2017: 10)) outlines how important the skill of summarising is, as a way of respectfully bringing the session to a close, while giving the client an opportunity to correct any misconceptions the counsellor may have.<\/p>\n<p>Note how he uses the term &#8216;a neat package&#8217; as a <a href=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/073-metaphor-in-counselling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">metaphor<\/a>\u00a0to indicate that the client leaves with a summary of their material, feeling understood and &#8216;heard&#8217;:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Summarising.jpg\" alt=\"Summarising\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"256\" width=\"320\" title=\"Summarising\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n\t<blockquote><p>It can be useful to summarise what has been brought to give the client a &#8216;neat package&#8217; that they can go away with, feeling understood because the summary matches their material. Equally, the summary is an opportunity for the client to say, &#8216;No, it&#8217;s not like that; it&#8217;s like this.&#8217; This too is great for the counsellor, because it allows you to realign where you are and be fully within the client&#8217;s frame of reference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Kelly (2017: 10) describes the use of summarising in ending the therapeutic hour as follows:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>About five or ten minutes before the end of the session, it&#8217;s important to let the client know that the time is coming to an end, so they have time to &#8216;pack up&#8217;. It allows them to &#8216;change gear&#8217; and gives you, as the practitioner, the chance to close everything up before they leave, making sure they&#8217;re safe to &#8216;re-enter the world&#8217;.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t<h2>Use of Summarising in Beginning a Session<\/h2>\n\t<p>Summarising can also be used as a way into the next session, reminding the client (who may have come from a busy week of everyday life, not necessarily recalling the nuances of their previous week&#8217;s therapy) of the key themes covered then.<\/p>\n<p>When reviewing the client&#8217;s notes, before they arrive for the session, you might like to draw out the key theme (or a few themes &#8211; perhaps a maximum of three) that they brought to their previous session, and summarise these at the start.<\/p>\n<p>This can help the client &#8216;settle in&#8217; to the session; it also shows them that you have a clear memory of their material, which helps to build and consolidate the therapeutic relationship.<\/p>\n<p>For person-centred counsellors, using a summary at the start of a session in this way doesn&#8217;t go against the principle of the client being free to bring what they wish to each session: you can still convey the client&#8217;s absolute freedom to choose to develop any of that work or to bring something entirely different this time. The choice is theirs.<\/p>\n\t<h3>Reflection<\/h3>\n\t<p>How do you feel when someone has clearly listened and understood you?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Counselling Tutor, updated 10\/11\/2020<\/p>\n\t\t<h3>Free Handout Download<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t\t<p>The Skill of Summarising Explained<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#cbf78b576a\" target=\"_self\" role=\"button\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClick Here to Download Free Handout\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<h3>References<\/h3>\n\t<p>Kelly K (2017) <em>Basic Counselling Skills: A Student Guide<\/em>, Counselling Tutor<\/p>\n<p>Feltham C &amp; Dryden W (1993) <em>Dictionary of Counselling<\/em>, Whurr<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summarising in Counselling Feltham and Dryden (1993: 186) define &#8216;summarising&#8216; as &#8216;accurately and succinctly reflecting back to the client, from time to time within and across sessions, the substance of what she has expressed&#8217;. Summarising is therefore a\u00a0counselling skill\u00a0used to\u00a0condense or crystallise the main points of what the client is saying and feeling. Difference between [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13127,"featured_media":0,"parent":1185,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Summarising &#8226; Counselling Tutor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/basic-counselling-skills\/summarising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summarising &#8226; Counselling Tutor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summarising in Counselling Feltham and Dryden (1993: 186) define &#8216;summarising&#8216; as &#8216;accurately and succinctly reflecting back to the client, from time to time within and across sessions, the substance of what she has expressed&#8217;. 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