Connecting with Clients during the First Five Minutes

Whether a client who's scheduled the first appointment returns for a second greatly depends on the strength of connection made during the earliest moments of therapy. In this workshop, you'll learn how to recognize subtle clues from the first few minutes of direct interaction that reveal how a client needs to be treated in order to feel comfortable, understood, and satisfied with the newly forming relationship. You'll find out how to quickly assess whether the client will respond well to various formats, such as skill building or self-disclosure, intellectual analysis or emotional catharsis. We'll discuss how to quickly connect with people who are otherwise difficult to reach because of excessive anxiety, depression, suspicion, or anger. You'll leave the workshop equipped to continue learning about clients' needs and preferences with an instrument for clients to fill out at the end of each session that reliably indicates their most and least helpful therapy experiences.