Using Effective Open-Ended Questions

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I found this article in the recent Academy journal and thought it could be a good resource for improving counseling skills.  The use of open-ended questions is the basis of motivational interviewing, but some fail to facilitate discussion. For example a poor open-ended questions would be "What foods that you normally eat are high in calcium?"  A better question would be "How do you make sure you are getting enough calcium in your diet?"  This article explains how to develop successful open-ended questions that will encourage clients to share their thoughts, opinions, feelings, experiences, and hesitations.

-KC

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