What is considered a good or bad indication depends on what we are doing at the time. If the client is crying at session end we probably didn't finish right, so it is a bad indication. If she is crying at session start it means that she is already into something to work on, so that is a good indication. If she is crying at every session start, we might revise it to a bad indication, though.
No bad indication will be a problem if you respond to it and find out what is going on. They mainly tell you that you need to take some kind of different action. A good indication tells you that you are probably already doing the right thing.
A likely action to take is given for each bad indication.
General bad indications:
critical
- get what the client is holding back that was almost found out
upset with you
- find what communication you didn't notice or acknowledge,
or what you did or said that offended her.
dispersed
- find out what she is really interested in
tired
- find if anything has continued for too long, or if it is lack of sleep.
not talking
- find what she ran into that she didn't feel like communicating,
or find what you said or did that made her feel like not talking.
General good indications:
talking to you
talking about her situation
smiling, laughing
energetic
friendly towards you
Bad indications at session start:
complaining about previous sessions with you or other facilitators
- find out what she didn't reveal in those sessions
Demanding explanations of what you are going to do
Good indications at session start:
volunteering the results in her life of what you did in last session
offering something new she would like to work on
Bad indications during a session:
talking about you
- find something about herself she wants to handle.
talking about the room
- get back to a subject she is interested in.
changing subject
- make sure you are handling the most alive subject available
answering without looking inside
- persuade or trick her into getting her actual answer,
not just intellectual clatter
Good indications during a session:
showing emotion about what is being addressed
talking about what she experiences
Bad indications at session end:
sad, angry, or apathetic
- find out about what
still introverted
- finish the process
Good indications at session end:
extroverted
talking about the future
You can never quite be sure what a certain behavior means, unless you check into it. A person might cry because she is happy, or she might stop talking because she is having a great spiritual experience. The external indication gives you an idea, but you always need to investigate further before you draw any conclusions. The general handling to anything that looks like a bad indication is to ask what is going on. The general handling to anything that looks like a good indication is to continue with whatever you were doing.