Improving Therapeutic Communication

Throughout the book, the authors focus on the basic skills thatfacilitate communications in therapy (empathy, respect,authenticity, relating in the here-and-now, and confrontation) andexplore specific methods of using them. These skills--whichresearch shows are crucial to effective therapy--enable therapistsand counselors to

* Empathize in a caring way with the feelings of clients

* Become receptive to clients in a warm, respectful, andnonjudgmental way

* Constructively share feelings with clients in a natural, openmanner

* Therapeutically utilize moment-to-moment, here-and-nowinteraction

* Make clients aware of their inconsistencies and discrepancieswithout arousing antagonism or defensiveness