Microskills: Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing in Counseling Practice

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How often have you found yourself caught between paraphrasing and summarizing, unsure of the fine line that differentiates them? Don't fret! Stacy Frost and Dr. Linton Hutchinson are here to sweep away confusion and shed light on these two essential counseling skills in a way you've never encountered before. As hosts of Licensure Exams, they masterfully unpack the intricacies of paraphrasing and summarizing, demonstrating how paraphrasing involves capturing the crux of a client's specific message, while summarizing is about compacting the main points, problems, or themes over a session, or multiple sessions.

As Stacy and Linton weave their unique perspectives into this enlightening conversation, you'll learn how effective paraphrasing can demonstrate understanding of a client's sentiment, and summarizing can aptly encapsulate an entire session into key points. Get ready to challenge yourself in an interactive session where they play a game of identifying whether a statement is a paraphrase or a summary. Plus, there's a contest for the listeners, with the first to correctly respond to a Facebook post winning a personal Zoom call with them. By the time you're done with this episode, you'll not only understand paraphrasing and summarizing like never before, but also be fully prepped to employ these skills in your practice. Ready to take your counseling skills up a notch? Tune in now!

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This podcast is not associated with the NBCC, AMFTRB, ASW, ANCC, NASP, NAADAC, CCMC, NCPG, CRCC, or any state or governmental agency responsible for licensure.

Episode Transcript

Stacy (00:05):
Hey, there you incredible therapists.
Welcome to our podcast here atLicensure Exams.
I'm Stacey Frost and I'm withmy co-host, the man, the Mystery
, the Legend.

Linton (00:17):
Dr Linton Hutchinson hey .

Stacy (00:18):
Linton.

Linton (00:20):
Hi from hot and sunny Florida.
Today we're talking about thedifferences between paraphrasing
and summarizing two veryimportant counseling skills that
you will probably need for theexam.
You'll be tested on a varietyof skills and these two are
often confused because theyshare some similarities.

Stacy (00:40):
Exactly and there are also some subtle differences.
But before we get into that,let's start by defining each.
So paraphrasing is therestatement of a specific
message or an idea that has beenexpressed by the client, and
the goal is to capture theessence of the client's
statement, using different wordsbut retaining the original

(01:00):
meaning.

Linton (01:01):
Right and summarization is a condensed version of a
larger piece of information thatthey've given you, so it may
span the entire session or evenmultiple sessions, and it's used
by you to capture the mainpoints, issues or themes
discussed over a period of time.

Stacy (01:23):
Right.
So paraphrasing and summarizingare similar in that they both
involve repeating or restating aclient's thoughts and feelings,
but they're different in thatparaphrasing is about restating
a specific message or ideaexpressed by the client, while
summarizing involves condensingseveral ideas that have been
expressed by the client.

Linton (01:43):
Yeah, that's right, Stacey.
Well, I guess it's time toprovide everyone with a couple
of good examples.

Stacy (01:49):
Let's say, a client tells you I feel like I'm stuck in a
dead-end job and it's reallytaking a toll on my mental
health.

Linton (01:57):
Okay, so paraphrasing this could sound something like
you're trapped and your currentcareer is affecting your
well-being.

Stacy (02:05):
Yeah, good one.
So with that statement, you'vetaken the client's sentiment and
rephrased it, demonstratingyour understanding of what
they're trying to communicate toyou.
Now let's contrast this with asummarization.

Linton (02:18):
At the end of the session, you might say something
like you've discussed yourfeelings of stagnation in your
job and how this is negativelyimpacting your mental health.
With that, you've condensed theconversation from the entire
session by focusing on the mainpoints of discussion where
number one the client's feelingof stagnation in their job and

(02:40):
two, how it's impacting theirmental health.
Your summarization tells theclient that you understand
what's been discussed with themin the session.

Stacy (02:51):
Yep.
Thank you very much, Linton,for summarizing that so clearly.

Linton (02:56):
Right.
Well, here's another example.

Stacy (02:59):
During the beginning of the session, your client says
I'm feeling really overwhelmedby all the expectations that I
have for myself these days.
I just don't feel like I cankeep up.

Linton (03:10):
Well, you could respond by saying it sounds like you're
feeling a lot of pressure fromyour own expectations and that
it's really difficult for you todeal with the stress.
What does that sound like toyou, stacy?
Is it a paraphrase or is it asummarization?

Stacy (03:26):
Well, this one is a little tricky, but I'm leaning
toward a paraphrase.

Linton (03:31):
Yes, Stacy, and why is that?

Stacy (03:33):
Well, the response focuses on a specific statement
that the client made.
You, as a therapist, arerestating it in different words,
while still capturing that mainpoint they're trying to make.
You're not condensing multipleconversations or a lot of
different ideas, like asummarization would.

Linton (03:50):
If this was an episode of Wheel of Fortune, I'd ring a
bell at this point.

Stacy (03:57):
I used to watch that show all the time with my grandma.
That and Jeopardy Good ones,all right.
So yay, I get to move on to thenext round.
You got any more examples,lyndon?

Linton (04:05):
Sure, how about this one ?

Stacy (04:07):
A client says I don't know if I can trust my boyfriend
.
He lied to me last week.

Linton (04:13):
Well, you could respond to him by saying it seems like
you're finding it difficult totrust your boyfriend after being
misled.
Is that a paraphrase or asummarization?

Stacy (04:23):
Well, that one also sounds like a paraphrase.
You've captured the realessence there of what the client
said and you expressed it backto them in different words.

Linton (04:31):
You got it All right, let's try this one.

Stacy (04:34):
The client says to you I'm not sure how to handle this
conflict with my sister.
We've been arguing a lot latelyand it's really just been
getting worse and I don't knowwhat to do.
She never listens to me, nomatter how hard I try to get her
to listen.
My parents are always takingher side, so nothing ever
changes.

Linton (04:52):
So let's say that you continue talking about this
issue with the client and at theend of the session you say
we've discussed your conflictwith your sister and how it's
escalating, as well as the factthat neither of you are being
heard.
Your parents always seem totake her side, which has made
the situation even morefrustrating for you.

Stacy (05:16):
Okay, so this one pretty clearly to me seems like a
summarization.
You've got these multipleconversations that you've talked
about during the session andideas that you both discussed,
and now you're presenting theclient with a really condensed
version of all those points.

Linton (05:33):
Right Using.
This is just a really great wayto provide closure for the
client on all the importanttopics that you covered during
the session.

Stacy (05:43):
Exactly so, linton.
I got the answers right.
Is there a prize?

Linton (05:47):
Yeah, absolutely, but the prize isn't for you, stacey,
you're already the prize.

Stacy (05:53):
Aww, all right.
Well, that sounds good to me.
Let's go ahead and pay itforward then.
So the first person to respondto this post on Facebook
outlining the differencesbetween paraphrasing and
summarizing, like we've talkedabout in this episode, is going
to get a Zoom call with me andLinton, and we'll answer any
questions that you might have asyou are studying for your exam.

Linton (06:14):
Nice.

Stacy (06:15):
All right.
So, to recap, we talked aboutparaphrasing and summarizing.
Paraphrasing is about restatinga specific message from the
client with slightly differentwords, while summarizing is
about condensing multipleconversations or ideas in order
to capture the main pointsdiscussed.

Linton (06:32):
Well, I think that's about all we have for today.
Thanks for joining us and makesure to tune in next time, Until
we meet again, remember it's inthere.