Interpersonal communication skills are an important asset in most professions, but are considered particularly vital in the psychology profession. Anderson, Ogles, Patterson, Lambert, and Vermeersch (2009) report that the quality of a therapist's interpersonal skills is an important factor to consider in predicting the outcome of psychotherapy. Empathetic communication can have a significant effect on rapport building and the overall client-therapist relationship. Paraphrasing can be used to facilitate deeper understanding and can also impact therapy outcomes. This essay will discuss some of the literature assessing the importance of these two skills and include a reflection on how they are used in the attached video. Communicating empathy is widely considered to play an important role in the development and maintenance of a successful therapeutic strategy. relationship between psychologist and client. The term empathy refers to the ability to understand another person's thoughts and feelings and to see a situation from that person's point of view, without judgment (Hazelwood and Shakespeare-Finch, 2011). A therapist's empathy can be communicated to a client through a variety of verbal and nonverbal responses. For example, Dowell and Berman (2013) found evidence that high levels of eye contact combined with forward leaning posture significantly contributed to clients' perceptions of their therapists' feelings of empathy toward them. regard. An example of using eye contact to show empathy can be seen throughout the included video. Moyers and Miller (2013) considered reflecting meaning (also called paraphrasing) to be another method of conveying empathy and understanding to a client...... middle of paper ...... J. (2011). I'm listening to you: Communication for health professionals. Brisbane: Inn Press. Moyers, T.B. & Miller, W.R. (2013). Is the therapist's low empathy toxic? Psychology of Addictive Behavior, 27(3), 878-884. doi:10.1037/a0030274Rhodes, RH, Hill, CE, Thompson, BJ, & Elliott, R. (1994). Customer retrospective recall of resolved and unresolved misunderstanding events. Journal of Counseling Psychology 41(4), 473-483. doi: 10.1037/0022-0167.41.4.473 Ridgway, IR and Sharpley, CF (1990). Empathic interactional sequences and effectiveness of counselor trainees. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 3(3), 257-265. doi: 10.1080/09515079008254256 Sharpley, C. F., Fairnie, E., Tabary-Collins, E., Bates, R. and Lee, P. (2000) Use of counselor verbal response patterns and client-perceived rapport. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 13(1), 99-116. do I: 10.1080/09515070050011097