Case Study
Patient Demographic: Client Age: 12 Sex: Female Gender: Female Sexuality: Heterosexual Ethnicity: Caucasian Relationship Status: Single Counseling Setting: Private Practice Type of Counseling: Individual Counseling Presenting Problem: Withdrawn and Avoidant Behavior Diagnosis: Undetermined
Mental Status Exam: Mental Status Exam: The client appears oriented to person, place, time, and situation. The client is dressed appropriately for the weather and appears to be maintaining appropriate hygiene. The client was withdrawn for most of the session but was able to open up slightly about what was going on with
Presenting Problem: You are a licensed therapist working in private practice. A 12-year-old female client comes into your office for the intake session and is accompanied by her parents. The client’s parents report that their daughter has been withdrawn and has refused to return to school for the past 6 school days. The client is avoiding eye contact with anyone and is slouching with her arms crossed. You try to engage the client in open questions to initiate the intake session with her, and she does not answer you or look at you. You ask her if privacy would make her more comfortable, and she nods, so you ask her parents if they would mind waiting in the lobby, and they agree. The client continues to refuse to talk about school, but she does engage in conversation with you about other topics.
Other Contexts: The client reports that a worker from the local child protective services office met with her and that she is worried about what the coach will do in response when he finds out that she reported him. The client says that she has not returned to school but that the school has provided the classwork and homework needed to keep up; she feels like the school is supporting her well enough to not fall behind. The client confirms that all of the symptoms that she described during her last session are still present

Question: If you are having trouble empathizing with a client, what would be the most beneficial tactic to understanding the client experience?
(A): Research more about experiences that you do not relate to in order to try to understand the client’s experience.
(B): Be open with the client in that you do not understand what it was like for her to experience these circumstances.
(C): Accept that you cannot empathize with every client experience and that is fine.
(D): Try to relate to the core feelings associated with the client’s experience.

Correct Answer: Try to relate to the core feelings associated with the client’s experience.
Explanation: Although you will not always have shared life experiences with clients, you can try to understand the core feelings related to their experiences. Although you may have never experienced sexual assault, most people can understand the feelings of fear, violation, and possibly shame. Even though you cannot understand every client’s experience the way the client does, you can still provide empathetic statements to the client based on your own experiences of those core feelings. Being open about your inexperience with the client situation can be helpful, but it does not promote an empathetic response. Research may provide more insight, but it would not help during this immediate session in terms of understanding the client’s experience. Therefore, the correct answer is (B)
Competency: counseling skills and interventions