Which of the following is true about paraphrasing?
A. Paraphrasing simply means repeating the exact words of the client.
B. When the therapist makes a summary of the ideas just received and provides his client with restatement of what s/he understood.
C. Paraphrasing enhances the quality of communication and thus considered a core skill in counselling.
D. Paraphrasing allows the chance of immediate clarification.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → B, C and D only
A. Paraphrasing simply means repeating the exact words of the client. Incorrect. A person who paraphrases does not repeat the exact words of the speaker. Repeating words shows only that they were heard, not that they were understood.
B. When the therapist makes a summary of the ideas just received and provides his client with restatement of what s/he understood. Correct. This is the meaning of paraphrasing: the listener makes a summary of the ideas just received and gives a restatement of what she/he understands. In counselling it is the counsellor’s ability to reflect what the client says and feels, using different words.
C. Paraphrasing enhances the quality of communication and thus considered a core skill in counselling. Correct. Paraphrasing shows how much of the message was understood, and repeating to the speaker what one thinks she/he said helps both to check that they understood the same thing, so many conflicts born of miscommunication are avoided. For this reason it is one of the four qualities of effective counsellors, with authenticity, positive regard for others and the ability to empathise.
D. Paraphrasing allows the chance of immediate clarification. Correct. If a listener tries to paraphrase what she/he heard and cannot do so, she/he should seek immediate clarification, if possible. The gap in understanding shows up at once.
Note: Paraphrasing, one of the qualities of an effective counsellor, was there in the chapter ‘Developing Psychological Skills’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26). Hence this question has been picked from the pre-rationalised NCERT.
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Paraphrasing … How would you know that someone has been listening? Ask her/him to restate what you had said. The person in doing this does not repeat your exact words. S/he makes a summary of the ideas just received and provides you with a restatement of what s/he understands. This is called ‘paraphrasing’. It allows you to understand how much s/he understood of what was communicated. If someone cannot repeat or write down a summary of what was said, then s/he probably did not get the whole message or did not understand it. We can keep this in mind when we are listening to our teacher in the class or to others. Try to paraphrase what you heard and if you cannot do so, you should seek immediate clarification, if possible.” “Characteristics of Effective Helper … Being a trained helper, the counsellor has the responsibility for ensuring that her/his client is benefited from counselling and its therapeutic effects are achieved. To a large extent, however, the success of a counselling process depends on the skill, knowledge, attitude, personal qualities and behaviour of a counsellor, any or all of which can enhance or diminish the helping process. In this section, we will discuss four qualities that are associated with effective counsellors. These include: (i) Authenticity, (ii) Positive regard for others, (iii) Ability to empathise, and (iv) Paraphrasing.…” |