The First Interview from a Counselor's Perspective: What If the First Interview is Also the Last?

Abstract

This article shares some reflections from a counselor's perspective on Michele Novellino's (2011) article outlining six steps for the first interview in psychotherapy. The author offers her perspectives as a counselor and counselor trainer. This discussion emphasizes ways in which counselors can address and utilize a client's personal resources beginning with the first session.

“Special Fields”

“…There have been a few articles in the Transactional Analysis Journal in recent years (Cornell & Hine, 1999; Fassbind-Kech, 2011; Monin, 2011) that have sought to expand the definition and practice of counseling, but few have questioned the actual assumptions underlying the definitions and limitations imposed on the field. In her discussion of ethical challenges within a counseling perspective, Monin (2011) did not directly challenge the traditional definitions of counseling, but she did gently nudge the borders of counseling practice in her discussion of long-term counseling and work within transferential and countertransferential dynamics (p. 120).…”

Working Within Limits

“…Fassbind-Kech (2011) has asked, “What if the first interview is also the last?” (p. 291). This has become an ever-present question for me, with no clear answer.…”

Reply to Discussant Articles

“…I read with great interest the replies of Fassbind-Kech (2011), van Beekum (2001, and Joines (2011) to my article entitled "Six Steps for the First Interview: Establishing the Frame and Work Environment in Transactional Psychoanalysis" (Novellino, 2011). I thank the coeditors of the Transactional Analysis Journal for the opportunity to present my ideas in the article and to reply here to my three distinguished colleagues.…”