ABSTRACT
Building rapport is the most elemental of clinical tasks and the core of any clinical approach. Demonstrating leadership comes from taking an active role in shaping the process of the session. If leadership is letting clients know what clinicians are able to step up and be in charge, expertise is stepping up and letting clients know what they are knowledgeable and experienced. Deepening the conversation through clinicians assessment questions is one way of helping to change the emotional climate in the room, which is so essential to creating a successful first session. Looking for transference cues is about that—proactively avoiding each client’s emotional potholes and consciously offering what they each need most. While transference cues and emotional wounds can be difficult to pick up, especially when the process is emotional or clinician has many people in the room, their starting point for incorporating them into the session process is proactively looking for them.
