Pull the conversation together with a well-timed summary
A summary reflects the client's whole story back to them at once — making them feel genuinely tracked and helping both coach and client see what matters most.
Why this matters
Reflections address what a client just said. Summaries do something more powerful: they gather the threads of a conversation — the values, barriers, ambivalence, and goals a client has expressed — and weave them back into a coherent picture. The effect is that clients feel truly understood across the whole conversation, not just the last thirty seconds.
Miller and Rollnick distinguish three types: collecting summaries (drawing together several things said), linking summaries (connecting current statements to earlier ones), and transitional summaries (marking the close of a topic or session). All three serve the same function: showing the client you've been tracking everything, not just responding in fragments.
In practice
After a long conversation about inconsistency: a coach who just nods and moves on loses everything the client shared. A coach who summarises says: "Let me see if I've got the picture. You're clear on why this matters — your energy and being present for your family are the main drivers. The biggest obstacle is evenings, when everything feels depleted. But you've already shown you can do it at weekends. Does that capture it?" Client: "Yes — I hadn't quite put it all together like that." The summary turns a scattered conversation into insight.
Try it today
At the close of your next session, offer a two-minute summary before you agree on actions. Include: the client's main goal, the key barrier they mentioned, and one strength they showed. Notice how they respond.
Make it a habit
Build a brief summary into your post-session notes: a single paragraph capturing the client's goals, barriers, and strengths as they expressed them. Over time this becomes a rich record of their journey — and raw material for your next opening summary.
Ready to put this into practice?
Sticky Coach helps you track client habits and conversations — so nothing falls through the cracks.
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