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Client intake - relationship over information
Posted: 19 Jun 2007 02:44 PM |
At our center the only form the client is asked to fill out is a very simple "request for service" which gives the purpose of the visit, how they heard about us, and also has our disclaimer (we are not medical, etc.). When a volunteer interviews the client, she has the intake form in front of her but other than writing down the name, DOB, etc, and making a few checkmarks now and then, she focuses on listening to the client, using reflective listening, interpreting feelings, and open-ended questions to not only learn about the client's situation, but to let the client know we care about her. The intake form is a tool for the volunteer to remember what may be missing in the picture of the client's situation, but we want the volunteer to focus on the client, not on filling out a form. While the client is in the bathroom or watching a video, the volunteer can then fill in the form to record what she has heard.
As helpful as it is to have lots of facts and statistics, our goal in interviewing our clients is to build relationship, not simply gather information. I believe it is much better to learn about the client through personal interview rather than handing someone a form to fill out. I was especially surprised to see that a center might hand someone a form with such personal questions as "what age were you when you became sexually active?" before building any kind of a relationship of trust with that person.
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Re: Client intake - relationship over information
Posted: 20 Jun 2007 09:39 AM |
Hi Marie,
These are great thoughts! Thanks for sharing them.
I totally agree with you that building the relationship with a client is one of the MOST crucial and key components in our ministry. Without this relationship, we will not have "earned the right to be heard."
However, what I have seen first-hand in my PRC ministry is that the "gathering of information" during the client's initial visit truly helps enormously to build a trusting relationship between the client and peer counselor. Every question on the Pregnancy Test Form is purposeful for getting to know the client--her history, her beliefs, her pregnancy related info, and her current situation. I like to think of all the intake forms as a "diving off point" or a great place to start the conversation. And, as the Holy Spirit leads, the conversation will almost always take many twists and turns that veer away from the Pregnancy Test Form as the client opens up and shares about her life. This is great! When training volunteers at my center, I always encourage them to go with the natural flow of the conversation--even if it means going through the questions on the Pregnancy Test Form out of order. The counseling skills you mentioned in your post, like "reflective listening" and asking "open-ended questions," are a crucial part of this and should be used in EVERY client visit. However, I also train our volunteers on the importance of getting ALL the questions answered on this form, so that we can have a full and accurate picture of who this client is and how we can best help her.
In a nutshell, I guess what I am trying to say is that I don't believe that there should be an "either/or" mentality between relationship building vs. information gathering. I have found in my own counseling experience that gathering information and building the client relationship go hand in hand. But, with that being said, your center should feel the total creative freedom to change up the eKYROS Office Forms to best fit the needs of your center and what works best for your volunteers and clients. We completely understand that every center has their own way of doing things. :o)
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you, and I really appreciate hearing from you on this topic!
Thank you for all the hard work you do in this ministry!!
Sarah
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