If a coach asks a client to explain their feelings during a setback, what skills are they employing?

The skills being employed when a coach asks a client to explain their feelings during a setback align with reflective listening. Reflective listening is a communication strategy where the listener aims to understand and reflect back the speaker's thoughts and emotions. In this context, when the coach encourages the client to articulate their feelings, they are practicing reflective listening by actively engaging with the client's emotional experience and providing a space for deeper exploration.

This process helps the client to feel heard and validated, fostering a trusting relationship that is essential for effective coaching. By reflecting back the client's feelings or concerns, the coach facilitates greater self-awareness and insight, allowing the client to further contemplate their emotions and reactions to setbacks.

While active listening and motivational interviewing share similarities with reflective listening, they focus on different components. Active listening involves fully concentrating and responding to what the client says but does not always include the feedback loop central to reflective listening. Motivational interviewing encompasses a broader range of techniques aimed at eliciting motivation for change, which may involve asking questions and exploring ambivalence rather than purely reflecting emotions. Decisional Balance typically involves weighing pros and cons of behavior change and is not directly aligned with exploring feelings in the same way.