Peer Assessment

The counselor, Valerie, was effective in employing listening skills. She gave me time to speak and listened intently to everything I said. She also showed empathy by looking at me and nodding as I told my story as well as maintained a smile to make me relaxed as we talked. The constant eye contact reassured me that she was attentive to my story.

The questions Valerie asked really helped me to explain my story and be able to explain the emotions I feel about the topic that was being discussed. She used an appropriate tone that helped me remain relaxed throughout the conversation. Valerie would let me speak for long in an effort for me not to feel interrupted in my train of thought. She also stated her ideas on how to deal with the issues at hand and allowed me to collaborate my thoughts on her ideas so that it is a mutual understanding for both of us.

Valerie was also able to narrow down the scope of the topic so as to focus only on the relevant issues that needed to be solved in the session. This also helped me to delve deeper into more important aspects of the story and create a clear focus for where we needed to set goals for the future. I especially liked the fact she explored the idea of a collaborative strategy with the whole family as the problem surrounded the family.

I would recommend that Valerie asks questions more frequently within the conversation in the next session. This would make the conversation interactive and give a chance for me to remember some blind spots in my story telling. The questions will also help me feel that it is a conversation and not a monologue.