CRC Communication Techniques & Strategies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client describes using silence after their partner speaks as a way to show they are thinking. Their partner interprets this as indifference. What communication concept explains this gap?
- Confirmation bias
- Meta-communication gap
- Receiver distortion (Correct answer)
- Projection
Correct answer: Receiver distortion
Receiver distortion occurs when the message sent differs from the message received due to the listener's filters, assumptions, or context.
Question 2: Which questioning technique is most useful when a coach wants to help a client explore the impact of their communication style on their partner?
- Leading questions
- Closed-ended yes/no questions
- Circular questions (Correct answer)
- Rhetorical questions
Correct answer: Circular questions
Circular questions invite clients to consider how their actions affect others and how others' responses loop back to influence them.
Question 3: When a coach uses the phrase 'It sounds like you felt invisible in that moment,' what technique are they demonstrating?
- Confrontation
- Empathic reflection (Correct answer)
- Psychoeducation
- Reframing
Correct answer: Empathic reflection
Empathic reflection mirrors the client's emotional experience back to them, demonstrating understanding and deepening the therapeutic alliance.
Question 4: A couple fights frequently via text message, which often leads to misunderstandings. What communication principle explains why text is particularly prone to conflict escalation?
- Text messages are too long
- Text lacks tone, facial expression, and timing cues that reduce ambiguity (Correct answer)
- People are more honest in writing
- Text creates a permanent record that increases accountability
Correct answer: Text lacks tone, facial expression, and timing cues that reduce ambiguity
Text communication strips away the nonverbal and paralinguistic cues that typically provide emotional context and prevent misinterpretation.
Question 5: What is 'bids for connection' as described in Gottman's research, and why is the response to them important?
- Financial requests between partners; important for budgeting
- Verbal or nonverbal attempts to gain attention or affection; responses build or erode trust (Correct answer)
- Requests for personal space; important for individual growth
- Formal invitations to discuss problems; important for conflict resolution
Correct answer: Verbal or nonverbal attempts to gain attention or affection; responses build or erode trust
Bids are any attempt a partner makes to connect emotionally; turning toward bids consistently builds the emotional bank account and relationship security.
Question 6: A client insists they communicate well because they always win arguments with their partner. What should the coach explore?
- Whether the client uses strong evidence in arguments
- The difference between winning arguments and achieving mutual understanding (Correct answer)
- Whether the partner is a poor communicator
- Strategies to help the client win even more effectively
Correct answer: The difference between winning arguments and achieving mutual understanding
Winning arguments can signal dominance rather than effective communication; mutual understanding and relational safety are more meaningful goals.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes the communication concept of 'metacommunication'?
- Communicating through a third party
- Communicating about the way you communicate (Correct answer)
- Using metaphors to express feelings
- Sending multiple messages simultaneously
Correct answer: Communicating about the way you communicate
Metacommunication refers to conversations about the process, patterns, and rules of communication itself within the relationship.
CRC Communication Techniques & Strategies 3
A client describes using silence after their partner speaks as a way to show they are thinking.
Their partner interprets this as indifference.
What communication concept explains this gap?