Introduction to Role-Playing
HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
ADA 1500
Division of Social and Behaviorial Sciences
Sullivan County Community College
Loch Sheldrake, New York
by Thomas Rue, M.A., Asst. Prof..
December 1989, 2004. All rights reserved.
Several times over the remainder of the semester, we will spend a portion of class period "role-playing" counseling situations. Participation, both as client and counselor, is expected. The purpose of these exercises is to give students something of a feeling for real life counseling situations.
There is no need to feel embarrassed by assignment to any particular fictitious situation. Simply do the best you can in portraying the character. Practice at this will increase your empathy skills in dealing with real people, by imagining what it feels like to be someone other than yourself.
Empathy. Jacqueline Small (1981) defines "empathy" as: "The ability to perceive another's experience and then to communicate that perception back to the individual. As a counselor I listen to you as you speak to me, and though I can not experience your experience, I begin to have a mind-picture of the essence of what you are describing. I share this with you in 'I' language (statements about me rather than you" (p. 17.)
Take a few moments before each exercise to allow yourself to "get into" your role. If you are acting as the client, make a genuine effort to relate as you would if you faced such a situation as it is placed before you. If you are the counselor, seriously make use of the opportunity to experiment with new ways of responding.
As you learn about different theoretical techniques, feel free to try them out.
Processing. After each role-play, the group will take the opportunity to "criticize" the performance, with particular emphasis on that of the practice counselor. This discussion period should be constructive, and criticisms should be taken that way.
The more energy and sincerity you put into these services, the more valuable they will prove to you.
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