ABSTRACT
Changes in a client's emotional state can occur at any point in session. The therapist needs alert to these emotional shifts as they are important entry points into the client's thinking. These shifts can obvious or subtle. The client talking about an issue in a non-emotive way when the therapist notices something in his way that she infers is an emotional change: THERAPIST: That was a sigh. How are you feeling at this moment? CLIENT: Down. THERAPIST: What thoughts are going through your mind now to make you feel down? CLIENT: I've let so many things slip through my fingers. What a waste. Why didn't I grasp these opportunities and make the most of them? Encouraging the client to answer his own question will help to make explicit the meaning implied by the question. Beck et al. stress importance of ascertaining the meanings in clients' communications: The totality meaning of the patient's experience is crucial.
