TPC-Journal-V5-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 1 167 Supervisor. The supervisor wrote the following in her field notes: “The counselor asked the client, ‘How about our relationship?’ The client talked about the relationship feeling awkward. The counselor validated the client’s observation that counseling is a different kind of relationship. The counselor offered, ‘Is there anything I can do to make it [the relationship] more comfortable?’” CIT. Annie reflected that this conversation about the relationship with Heather was meaningful in their session. She spoke in her interview of initiating the discussion about the relationship with Heather and of asking Heather if she could do anything to make the relationship more comfortable. Client. Heather experienced this conversation about the relationship as meaningful as well, and said the following about Annie: “Her concern . . . with our relationship . . . seemed something that I would think about and that I would care about . . . , but she seemed to care about that relationship, too.” The supervisor, Annie and Heather all experienced this immediacy moment of the process and the relationship as meaningful, and experienced it in similar ways, emphasizing different parts given their positions. Here-and-now moments. There also were many here-and-now moments in the counseling sessions that were meaningful to the supervisor. Susan (CIT) and Carol’s (client) session contained a very meaningful here- and-now event that was initiated by the client, Carol. Supervisor. The observer recorded the following in her field notes: “The client confronted the counselor by stating, ‘You’re not as relaxed’ and saying that the counselor had ‘aggressive energy.’ So the client was being very immediate and authentic, and it didn’t feel to me that the counselor was authentic; instead, the counselor responded by smiling and nodding.” CIT. Susan spoke about this event as meaningful during her interview, although she described the occurrence as the result of her body language; specifically, the CIT perceived that she was sitting close to her client. Susan appreciated Carol’s honesty and directness. Client. From the client’s perspective, Carol found it meaningful that Susan wanted her to feel comfortable in the relationship, saying to let her know if she made her uncomfortable. Interestingly, Carol did not mention her initiation of the here-and-now event with Susan in her interview. Although the CIT and client found aspects of this occurrence meaningful as well, the supervisor’s experience of this event and strong reaction to it were unlike the experiences of the CIT and client. CIT sharing his or her experience of client with client and the reverse. Finally, there were a few immediacy events that involved the CIT sharing his or her experience of the client with the client, and the reverse. The supervisor found the following event from Sue (CIT) and Bridget’s (client) session meaningful. They were working on Sue’s fear of speaking up in class. Supervisor. The supervisor reflected as follows in her field notes: “The client, Bridget, used role playing to give an example of an awkward moment. Sue, the CIT, reflected, ‘You have put yourself out there.’ Sue shared her experience of Bridget, saying, ‘I would like to provide my feedback,’ and went on to say that Bridget provided many things [positive contributions] in session and she wondered if others in the Bridget’s life were missing out on this side of her. There seemed to be a shift to the positive here.” CIT. The CIT, Sue, found this event meaningful in the session as well. She reported that she told her client, Bridget, that she really valued what Bridget said in session. Sue was hesitant about whether or not this