1. Hill Chapter 11 Overview of Insight
REL E 600 Pastoral Counseling and Chaplain Care Ministry

2. KASPAR 227 Chapter 11 Overview of the Insight Stage
“Daring as it is to investigate the unknown, even more so is it to question the known.”
KASPAR 227

3. Intellectual Chapter 11 Overview of the Insight Stage What is Insight?
versus
emotional insight
Why is it necessary?

4. What is Insights When clients come to insights, they see
things from a new perspective, are able to make connections between things, or have an understanding of why things happen as they do.
For some insight is like a light bulb going off.
Insight comes gradually, bit, by bit.
Sometimes clients are lucky and hit a gold nugget. More likely than not, it is like collecting gold dust. (229)

5. What is Intellectual vs. Emotional Insight
Both are needed for action (like revelation in joining head and heart)
Intellectual insight makes sense of it, but emotional leads to change

6. Theoretical Background of Psychoanalytic Theory
Repression 11. Rationalization
2. Intellectualization
Denial
4. Regression
5. Displacement
6. Identification
7. Projection
8. Undoing
Reaction Formation
10. Sublimation
Repression: Not allowing painful material into one’s conscious thought
Intellectualization: Avoiding painful feeling by not focusing on ideas
Denial: Actively rejecting painful thoughts.
Regression: Engaging in behaviors from and earlier stage of development at times when one is anxious
Displacement: Shifting blame
Identification: Emulating characteristics in others
Reaction formation: Acting in a manner that is opposite to what one is feeling
Sublimation: Changing unacceptable impulses into socially appropriate actions
Rationalization: Making excuses

7. Other Psycho-analytical Theories
Attachment Theory (Bowlby, Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall)
secure
anxious-ambivalent
anxious-avoidant
Treatment from a Psychoanalytic perspective
How Psychoanalytic theories relate to the three stage model:
Insight with deeper questions regarding meaning
Dealing with problems during a therapeutic relationship
Therapist is a coach (especially in the insight stage)
The big difference is the action stage (how?) (238)
Developing Conceptualization about Client Dynamics: (239)
conceptualizations vs. speculations

8. Hill Chapter 11 Goals and Skills of the Insight Stage
Three Main Goals ad Skills for the Insight State:
Challenging to Foster Awareness
Facilitate insight
Work on the Therapeutic relationship Through Immediacy
“…it takes most students many years and much practice to learn the insight
Skills and apply them in the appropriate situations in a helpful setting.”
Clara Hill p. 243

9. Exhibit 11.2 (241)
List of Skills to Facilitate Goals of the Insight Stage
Goal Skill
Challenge client to foster awareness Challenges of discrepancies
Challenges of thought
Challenge through chair work
Humor
Silence
Take responsibility
Using non-verbal behaviors
Questions
Open questions and probes
Interpretation
Disclose Insight
Immediacy

10. What do you Think? What is the role of insight in your life?
Describe your thought is insight necessary before action (stage)
Defense mechanism? What are they?
Is Psychoanalytical theory relevant today?

11. Skills for Challenging Clients and Fostering Awareness
Chapter 12
This chapter focuses primarily on challenges as a skill in fostering awareness.
Challenges are used to help clients recognize maladaptive feelings, motives, and desires of which they are not aware or unwilling to change. p 247
see Exhibit 12.1

12. Challenges
Challenges help the client become aware of their maladaptive thoughts or behaviors.
Examples of challenges in discrepancies of thought:
Between two verbal statements: You say there is no problem, but you say you are annoyed with me.
Between words and actions: You say you want to get good grades, but all you do is party.

13. Challenges
Between two behaviors: You are smiling but your teeth are clenched.
Between two feelings: You feel angry at your sister, but pleased that everyone will see what type of person she is.
Between values and behavior: You say you believe in respecting other’s choices, but you want your way and no others…
Between ideal of self and real self: You say you want to achieve, but you also say you can’t.

14. Rational for Challenges
Why are Challenges used:
Helps clients recognize motives, feelings, and desires.
Ambivalent feelings
Explore deeper feelings, e.g., “I want good grades but I do not want to study…”
Challenges not always negative

15. Theoretical Perspectives
Why are Challenges used: Several theorists refer to the concept of challenges/confrontation
Carkhuff and Berenson (1967) state that the purpose of pointing out discrepancies is to help reduce ambiguities and incongruities in the client’s experiencing and communication. P 250.
Carkhuff (1969) noted that at the point of confrontation the client is pressed to consider the possibility of changing….
Greenson (1967) defined confrontation as a demonstration to the client of their resistance.

16. How to do Challenges
Present challenges in such a way that the clients can hear what you are saying without feeling that you are attacking them.
Helper’s manner should be one of puzzlement rather than hostility.
Helper’s should not make judgments when challenging. It’s hard to remain humble. (give example)
It’s hard to understand ourselves

17. Types of Challenges Challenges of Discrepancies Challenges of Thoughts
Challenging Through Chair Work
Humor as a Type of Challenge
Silence as a Type of Challenge
Challenging Clients to Take Responsibility
Using Nonverbal Behaviors to Challenge
Challenging Through Questions

18. Challenges of Discrepancy
between two verbal statements
Between words and actions
Between two behaviors
Between two feelings
Between values and behaviors
Between one’s perspective of self and experience
Between one’s ideal self and reality
Between the helper’s and the client’s opinions
Between values and feelings
Examples:

19. Challenges of Thoughts
Irrational ideas:
I must be loved by everyone…
I must be completely competent and perfect…
I’m a failure as a person…
There should be someone stronger than me to take care of me…
I cannot be forgiven for what I’ve done…
I am alone…
She makes me so angry…
I am just the way I am, I cannot change…
Examples:

20. Challenging Through Chair Work
Chair work explores feelings and unfinished business:
Two-Chair Work:
Client sits in one chair to express one side of an issue that they are conflicted about.
Then, sit in another opposite chair to explore the other side of their conflicted issue.
Personal conflict is often shaped by “shoulds”, i.e. I should do the following, but…
Empty Chair work:
Like two-chair work, this focuses on a conflict with someone, and a conversation can be used to direct comments to the empty chair as if that person were present.

21. Challenging Through Chair Work
Difficulties with Chair work:
hesitance because it is different
feels risky
might move too quickly
can you even remember to do this?
coach the client so they know what to expect
practice before engaging a client

22. Challenging with Humor
Humor can be good as long as we do not laugh at the client, but with them.
A good relationship can do much to strengthen the comfort zone needed to use humor.

23. Silence as a type of Challenge
Silence can be very helpful in assisting a client to express what they want to say, waiting for a client to say what they may be wanting to say.
A helper must decide if a silence is helpful. A trust relationship must be present for silence to not be threatening.

24. Challenging Clients to Take Responsibility
Watch for impersonal 3rd person pronouns, they, everyone, etc. instead of I and my, which can indicate ownership.
a client may be speaking softly, but has a clenched fist
A raised inflection of tone can indicate a question of what was just discussed
Even a raised eyebrow can be a question

25. How to do Challenges I’m hearing__________, but I’m also hearing______
On one hand _________, but on the other hand_____.
On one hand you say you love her, but on the other hand you say you hate her.
You say______, but you also say________.
You say you are happy, but you also say that you can’t wait to get out of here.
I’m hearing__________, but I’m also hearing______

26. How to do Challenges Challenges should be used as soon as possible.
Just then you smiled in a strange way. I wonder what’s going on.
Your foot seems agitated when you were talking about how much you loved your…… Tell me more of what that means.
Cultural challenges……..

27. Responses to Challenges
Denial
No reaction
No change, but behavior/thoughts/feelings continue……
Timing of challenge

28. Examples of Challenges
Read examples on page 264

29. Difficulties Using Challenges
Helper does not want to force, misinterpret, offend, or get into someone’s dirty laundry
Helper feels afraid of negative feelings. He/she does not feel it appropriate to minimize negative feelings, e.g., suicidal feelings.
Helper’s have a difficult time when client’s disagree.