Assignment 1: Discussion—Active and Reflective Listening

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Assignment 1: Discussion—Active and Reflective Listening 

At any field experience site, you will need to practice basic counseling techniques such as active and reflective listening. These techniques help you establish a therapeutic alliance with clients of the site. Both techniques are hallmarks of Carl Roger’s method of psychotherapy. When these techniques are used well, clients gain a sense of having been truly heard and understood. Using the module readings and the Argosy University online library resources, research active and reflective listening skills as well as online therapy. Select at least two academic resources for use in this assignment.

Consider what would happen if the mental health professional treating a client has poor active or reflective listening skills. Lack of those skills would hinder the development of a therapeutic relationship and could lead to the client becoming apathetic about therapy, frustrated enough to quit prematurely, or even agitated enough to become verbally or physically aggressive.

Eliza, an artificial intelligence computer program that simulates conversations with a therapist, was developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1960s.

Those who have used Eliza complain about “her” generic responses and report frustration with the program. However, the program is not designed to perform actual psychotherapy. It is rather an illustration of how artificial intelligence can simulate human language processing. The program may, in fact, provide a good illustration of the effect a poor listener may have on a client.

For this assignment, experiment with the Eliza program online at the following:

CyberPsych. (1966–2008). Eliza, the computer therapist. Retrieved from http://cyberpsych.org/eliza 

Engage in a conversation with Eliza, pretending that you are a client and she is an eccentric psychologist. Type full sentences to increase the chance that she will respond meaningfully. 

Once you have completed a conversation, respond to the following based on your experience with Eliza:

Describe the experience you had with Eliza in sufficient detail, without sharing sensitive personal information. 

Examine your reaction, on an emotional level, to any “listening” errors Eliza made. For example, if she repeated your phrases word-for-word too often, did that frustrate you? 

If Eliza accurately “heard” you, what was your emotional reaction? 

How would you probably react if you were a client in an actual therapy session and the therapist responded like Eliza does? 

What are your thoughts about the trend in recent years to provide psychotherapy online? 

Would you recommend online psychotherapy to potential clients? Why or why not? 

How might an online therapist effectively establish a therapeutic alliance by using active and reflective listening skills? Support your position with information from at least two peer-reviewed, academic references. 

Be sure to include a reference list at the bottom of your post including the citation of the Eliza Web site.

Write your initial response in approximately 350 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources

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