Clinical Skills Developmental Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
Lecture notes
Lecture 1
General notes
• Keep in mind confidentiality when talking to parents about child and other way around
• When you need to tell the parents something (e.g. because of suicidality) you have to tell the
child this first and explain
• Stick to protocol when doing IQ test
• Rules with age of child:
• Till 12 the parents decide about treatment
• From 12 to 16 the parent and child decides together
• When child is 16 or older, they are responsible for the treatment themselves
Intakes (helping model)
• Three stages (in which you do not take autonomy away from the client)
• Problem clari cation: making contact and gaining a clear picture of the problems (only
proces goals and no outcome goals yet)
• Gaining new insights: help client obtain a more differentiated/clearer picture of the problem
• Consultation session
• Note: transition between this and previous stage is often blurry and stage apply to each
problem, not to interview as a whole
• Treatments of the problem: do something about the problem by setting goals, planning and
taking action to find solutions.
• Empirical cycle
Basic attitude of the helper
• Diagnosis-prescription model: The helper is an “expert” in the field and in a directive way
reduces a complex problem into a simple goal
• Reduces the chance of helper losing control (e.g. facing problems the helper does not feel
comfortable handling)
• Client has a passive role
➡ Leads to distancing from personal material + too premature definition of problems and
solutions
• Result: advice is often ignored
• Cooperation model: helper and client work together on the clarification and solution of
problems
• Unconditional acceptance and own responsibility (people should be self-reliant in searching
for solutions)
• Open discussion about why the client needs to make their own choices
• Do not tell the client what to do! Pushing own ideas leads to refusal due to self-protection.
• Counselor aims at achieving insight into the client’s experiential world.
• Keep in mind: you do not know wether the client already told you the biggest/real problems
(especially children might struggle telling this)
• Helper lets the client know from the beginning about this cooperation and asks for approval
• How to ask permission: “is it okay if I tell you…” “is it okay if I ask you…”
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, Clinical Skills Developmental Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
Four roles of the helper
1. Con dant: creates clarity and calmness, is transparent, attentive and understanding,
encourages to speak freely
• This will create a space were the client will be able to tolerate uncertainties and seek new
order.
• Client can see more sides to the questions (differentiation) + obtain an overview (integration)
more when they are given confidence by the helper’s genuine acceptance
2. Communicative detective: tries to obtain a clear picture of the clients thoughts and actions.
Includes reasoning behind the questions!
3. Teacher: provides client with a more effective approach to their problems (based on what was
learned in the confidant and communicative detective roles) and discusses how they may best
put this to good use
4. Coach: assists client in putting new insights into practice and will help in developing new skills
if needed
Goals of the initial interview in the intake
1. Establish a working relationship
2. Gently explore the problems (gain insight into complaints and referral question)
3. Bring a sense of order to the problems (formulate goals)
4. Provide informations about what to expect (create clarity about what to expect of this
intake and the rest of the counselling process)
• What you are going to do during this intake
• How long this conversation will take
• What they can expect from you
• + discuss confidentiality
• Parents cannot expect from you to keep all the things confidential they say, because the client
(child) cannot trust you if they know parents talked to you but does not know what they said.
• Example of something you can say: “Does you child know that you are telling me things?”
• When it turns out during the intake that you cannot help the person, you tell them you will find
someone else that can help them.
• If you and the parents do not agree, you can ask them if they want to continue with someone
else.
You can ask questions about:
• I General aspects: what do you want to know about everyone
• Note: there might be a difference between the complaints of the parents versus complaints of
the child
• II Complaint-speci c aspects: what do you want to know about this specific client with these
specific complaints?
• Note: are there other things bothering the client than the thing they are referred for
• This also contains gaining insight in the goals of the client
• III Setting-speci c aspects: what is important in the setting in which you work?
• You ask questions to make sure the child is in the right place
General aspects
• Age of child(ren)
• Family composition
• Relationship parents
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, Clinical Skills Developmental Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
• Key events
• Which school, group
• Relationship with the teacher?
• Description of child
• Character traits
• What can the child do well?
Complaint-speci c aspects
• Complaints: situations, consequences, subjective suffering by child and parent, onset, course,
previous treatments, trigger
• Response + perception of others / partner / teacher
• School functioning
• Social functioning: friends and family
• Health and possible use of medication
• In adolescents: alcohol and drug use, sexual development/activity/relationship
• Insight in goals
1. What does the client want to achieve?
2. Expectations about you
Listening skills
• ‘Non’-selective listening skills: encourage and stimulate
• Non-verbal behavior
• Verbal following
• Silences
• Selective listening skills: select aspects of the story
• Asking questions
• Closed questions (goal: want to know specific facts or check if you understand correctly or
support a shy client)
• Can be suggestive
• Restrict responses of client
• Client may feel less responsible for the discussion
• Open questions (goal: want to give client space to talk and hear what they consider
important)
• Note: when talking to child, do not say “can you tell me more about this?” but “tell me
more about it”
• Can be connected to what is said or open a new subject
• Paraphrasing of content
• Reflection of feeling
• Concreteness (specify)
• Summarizing (of content + feeling)
• Note: selective listening skills are more directive than non-selective listening skills
Good assessment
• Only test something that they want to know
• When writing a report: write down what you see and not what you do not see, because there is
an expectation/judgement/preconception when you write down what you don’t see.
• Good assessment is indispensable for good advice and treatment
• Fate of children with problems is (partly) in your hands
fi
Lecture notes
Lecture 1
General notes
• Keep in mind confidentiality when talking to parents about child and other way around
• When you need to tell the parents something (e.g. because of suicidality) you have to tell the
child this first and explain
• Stick to protocol when doing IQ test
• Rules with age of child:
• Till 12 the parents decide about treatment
• From 12 to 16 the parent and child decides together
• When child is 16 or older, they are responsible for the treatment themselves
Intakes (helping model)
• Three stages (in which you do not take autonomy away from the client)
• Problem clari cation: making contact and gaining a clear picture of the problems (only
proces goals and no outcome goals yet)
• Gaining new insights: help client obtain a more differentiated/clearer picture of the problem
• Consultation session
• Note: transition between this and previous stage is often blurry and stage apply to each
problem, not to interview as a whole
• Treatments of the problem: do something about the problem by setting goals, planning and
taking action to find solutions.
• Empirical cycle
Basic attitude of the helper
• Diagnosis-prescription model: The helper is an “expert” in the field and in a directive way
reduces a complex problem into a simple goal
• Reduces the chance of helper losing control (e.g. facing problems the helper does not feel
comfortable handling)
• Client has a passive role
➡ Leads to distancing from personal material + too premature definition of problems and
solutions
• Result: advice is often ignored
• Cooperation model: helper and client work together on the clarification and solution of
problems
• Unconditional acceptance and own responsibility (people should be self-reliant in searching
for solutions)
• Open discussion about why the client needs to make their own choices
• Do not tell the client what to do! Pushing own ideas leads to refusal due to self-protection.
• Counselor aims at achieving insight into the client’s experiential world.
• Keep in mind: you do not know wether the client already told you the biggest/real problems
(especially children might struggle telling this)
• Helper lets the client know from the beginning about this cooperation and asks for approval
• How to ask permission: “is it okay if I tell you…” “is it okay if I ask you…”
fi
, Clinical Skills Developmental Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
Four roles of the helper
1. Con dant: creates clarity and calmness, is transparent, attentive and understanding,
encourages to speak freely
• This will create a space were the client will be able to tolerate uncertainties and seek new
order.
• Client can see more sides to the questions (differentiation) + obtain an overview (integration)
more when they are given confidence by the helper’s genuine acceptance
2. Communicative detective: tries to obtain a clear picture of the clients thoughts and actions.
Includes reasoning behind the questions!
3. Teacher: provides client with a more effective approach to their problems (based on what was
learned in the confidant and communicative detective roles) and discusses how they may best
put this to good use
4. Coach: assists client in putting new insights into practice and will help in developing new skills
if needed
Goals of the initial interview in the intake
1. Establish a working relationship
2. Gently explore the problems (gain insight into complaints and referral question)
3. Bring a sense of order to the problems (formulate goals)
4. Provide informations about what to expect (create clarity about what to expect of this
intake and the rest of the counselling process)
• What you are going to do during this intake
• How long this conversation will take
• What they can expect from you
• + discuss confidentiality
• Parents cannot expect from you to keep all the things confidential they say, because the client
(child) cannot trust you if they know parents talked to you but does not know what they said.
• Example of something you can say: “Does you child know that you are telling me things?”
• When it turns out during the intake that you cannot help the person, you tell them you will find
someone else that can help them.
• If you and the parents do not agree, you can ask them if they want to continue with someone
else.
You can ask questions about:
• I General aspects: what do you want to know about everyone
• Note: there might be a difference between the complaints of the parents versus complaints of
the child
• II Complaint-speci c aspects: what do you want to know about this specific client with these
specific complaints?
• Note: are there other things bothering the client than the thing they are referred for
• This also contains gaining insight in the goals of the client
• III Setting-speci c aspects: what is important in the setting in which you work?
• You ask questions to make sure the child is in the right place
General aspects
• Age of child(ren)
• Family composition
• Relationship parents
fi fi fi
, Clinical Skills Developmental Psychology Summary by Bente Niemeijer
• Key events
• Which school, group
• Relationship with the teacher?
• Description of child
• Character traits
• What can the child do well?
Complaint-speci c aspects
• Complaints: situations, consequences, subjective suffering by child and parent, onset, course,
previous treatments, trigger
• Response + perception of others / partner / teacher
• School functioning
• Social functioning: friends and family
• Health and possible use of medication
• In adolescents: alcohol and drug use, sexual development/activity/relationship
• Insight in goals
1. What does the client want to achieve?
2. Expectations about you
Listening skills
• ‘Non’-selective listening skills: encourage and stimulate
• Non-verbal behavior
• Verbal following
• Silences
• Selective listening skills: select aspects of the story
• Asking questions
• Closed questions (goal: want to know specific facts or check if you understand correctly or
support a shy client)
• Can be suggestive
• Restrict responses of client
• Client may feel less responsible for the discussion
• Open questions (goal: want to give client space to talk and hear what they consider
important)
• Note: when talking to child, do not say “can you tell me more about this?” but “tell me
more about it”
• Can be connected to what is said or open a new subject
• Paraphrasing of content
• Reflection of feeling
• Concreteness (specify)
• Summarizing (of content + feeling)
• Note: selective listening skills are more directive than non-selective listening skills
Good assessment
• Only test something that they want to know
• When writing a report: write down what you see and not what you do not see, because there is
an expectation/judgement/preconception when you write down what you don’t see.
• Good assessment is indispensable for good advice and treatment
• Fate of children with problems is (partly) in your hands
fi
