Before implementing and action plan do not forget first to empathize with the fear, pain, sadness or shame the client is having regarding the problem they are sharing. If they say I am sad and feeling hopeless, first we say something like, "That sounds very heavy, tell me more."We want to be present with them, validate their experience and give them time to express first before we rush to a plan to fix it.

We also want to find out the level of distress they are in with scaling, frequency, duration and onset questions.On a scale of 0-10, 0 being a very low mood and 10 being a very good/elevated mood where are you right now?What number would you give your lowest mood this past week?When did you start to feel this way?How long have you felt this way?What was happening around the time your mood started to decline? What are the thoughts you are having when you are in this low mood?

We want to establish their norm or what mood they want to be in and what thinking or circumstances contributed to the decline.

Then we have more understanding to help the client begin to make a plan to improve their mood.Going to problem solving before listening and attuning to the whole problem can make the client feel devalued and also cause you to miss clues that can be very helpful in the healing process.

What are your thoughts?