British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy
When someone expresses their emotions, paraphrasing or active listening (a term coined by Carl R. Rogers in Client-Centered-Therapy) is a way to respond empathically to their feelings by repeating what they said in their own words while focusing on the essence of their feelings and what is important to them is referred to as empathic responding.
In counseling, there is a distinction between paraphrasing and summarizing. In contrast to paraphrasing, summarizing generally spans a longer length of time than paraphrasing. Summary may therefore be used after a period of time, such as midway through – or at the conclusion of- a counseling session, as an example.
In essence, paraphrase is a micro-skill that helps counselors to build a genuine relationship with their clients through communication. Paraphrasing, along with other therapeutic communication techniques such as encouraging and summarizing, is critical in helping the client feel heard and listened to during therapy.
In contrast to reflective listening, paraphrase just summarizes what the victim has stated, but reflective listening involves actively listening to what the victim has said. With reflective listening, you go beyond summarizing to recognize sentiments that the speaker may not have expressed verbally, but which are indicated by their words and attitudes, such as anger or frustration.
Paraphrasing is vital because it demonstrates that you have read and understood the original material well enough to express it in own terms. It also provides a potent alternative to the usage of direct quotations, which should be used only when absolutely necessary.
Example 1: She enraged me by being nasty during dinner, which I found offensive. When you reduce and simplify a sentence while preserving the same meaning, you have created a paraphrase, as seen in the example above.
It is possible to rephrase a text or speech in your own terms without compromising the meaning of the text or speech. Summarizing is the process of distilling information down to its minimal elements. In order to clarify and simplify difficult facts or ideas, you can employ both strategies.
Paraphrased information is often shorter than the original piece since it takes a somewhat larger portion of the source and condenses it a little bit in the process. Making a summary includes putting the core idea(s) into your own words, with just the primary point being included in the summary (s).
When it is appropriate to paraphrase rather than use a straight citation. to copy someone else’s thoughts in such a way that the meaning is not altered to put another’s views into your own words after hearing them from them to back up your statements in your writing or to present proof in support of your writing
Mirroring is the process of summarizing what someone has stated in their own words. When you summarize anything in your own words, this is known as paraphrasing the source material.
The four R’s of paraphrase are as follows: read, restate, recheck, and repair (in that order).
Encouraging words and nonverbal cues can be used to encourage clients to continue talking in a number of situations. The following are examples of encouragers: Minimal nonverbal replies, such as a nod of the head or a smile, are acceptable in most situations. Minimal verbal answers such as ″Uh-huh″ and ″I hear what you’re saying″ are acceptable.
Clearing up obscure or confusing ideas, feelings, or actions is accomplished by asking the client to reiterate what s/he has just stated or by saying to the client what the counselor has interpreted the client to have meant in order for the client to clarify.