importance of paraphrasing in social work

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Effects of Empathic Paraphrasing – Extrinsic Emotion Regulation in Social Conflict

Maria seehausen.

1 Cluster of Excellence “Languages of Emotion,” Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

2 Dahlem Institute for Neuroimaging of Emotion, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

3 Department of Psychiatry, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany

Philipp Kazzer

Malek bajbouj, kristin prehn.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of empathic paraphrasing as an extrinsic emotion regulation technique in social conflict. We hypothesized that negative emotions elicited by social conflict can be regulated extrinsically in a conversation by a listener following the narrator’s perspective and verbally expressing cognitive empathy. Twenty participants were interviewed on an ongoing or recently self-experienced social conflict. The interviewer utilized 10 standardized open questions inviting participants to describe their perception of the conflict. After each of the 10 descriptions, the interviewer responded by either paraphrasing or taking notes (control condition). Valence ratings pertaining to the current emotional state were assessed during the interview along with psychophysiological and voice recordings. Participants reported feeling less negative after hearing the interviewer paraphrase what they had said. In addition, we found a lower sound intensity of participants’ voices when answering to questions following a paraphrase. At the physiological level, skin conductance response, as well as heart rate, were higher during paraphrasing than during taking notes, while blood volume pulse amplitude was lower during paraphrasing, indicating higher autonomic arousal. The results show that demonstrating cognitive empathy through paraphrasing can extrinsically regulate negative emotion on a short-term basis. Paraphrasing led to enhanced autonomic activation in recipients, while at the same time influencing emotional valence in the direction of feeling better. A possible explanation for these results is that being treated in an empathic manner may stimulate a more intense emotion processing helping to transform and resolve the conflict.

Introduction

Emotion regulation research to date has mainly focused on an individualistic point of view emphasizing control mechanisms in the individual, such as attention deployment, cognitive reappraisal, or the willful suppression of emotional expressions (Gross and Thompson, 2007 ; Butler and Gross, 2009 ; Rime, 2009 ). Compared to the abundance and sophistication of the research pertaining to classification schemes on such intrinsic regulation, systematic analysis of extrinsic emotion regulation and especially of controlled interpersonal affect regulation (i.e., the process of deliberately influencing the emotional state of another person, as opposed to non-conscious affect spreading) is still relatively sparse. Rime ( 2009 ), however, points out that an emotional experience is virtually indivisible of a social response, which in turn is bound to shape and modify the original emotion, so that emotion has to be regarded as a fundamentally interdependent process.

Niven et al. ( 2009 ) propose a classification system for controlled interpersonal affect regulation strategies, derived from Totterdell and Parkinson’s ( 1999 ) classification of strategies to deliberately improve one’s affect. Their final classification distinguishes between strategies used to improve versus strategies used to worsen others’ affect, and between strategies that engage the target in a situation or affective state versus relationship-oriented strategies. The technique of empathic paraphrasing, which is investigated in the present study, can be categorized as aiming at affect improvement and engagement within this classification framework. However, it also contains a relationship-oriented component, as empathic paraphrasing communicates interest and commitment in understanding the other’s perspective, thereby implying that their feelings are valid and worth listening to.

Empathy has been conceptualized in many different ways, usually involving a cognitive and an emotional component (Preston and de Waal, 2002 ; Lamm et al., 2007 ; Decety and Meyer, 2008 ). Cognitive empathy means the ability to take the perspective of another person and infer their mental state, while emotional empathy refers to the observer’s affective response to another person’s emotional state (Dziobek et al., 2008 ).

Paraphrasing or active listening (coined by Carl R. Rogers in Client-Centered-Therapy) is a form of responding empathically to the emotions of another person by repeating in other words what this person said while focusing on the essence of what they feel and what is important to them. In this way, the listener actively demonstrates that he or she can understand the speaker’s perspective (cognitive empathy). Rogers described empathy as the ability to sense the client’s private world as if it were one’s own, but without losing the “as if” quality (Rogers, 1951 ). Empathy is communicated through active listening, which in the Client-Centered approach aspires to evoke personal growth and transformation through providing a space of unconditional acceptance for the client. Rogers considered empathy, positive regard, and congruence both necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change (Rogers, 1942 , 1951 ).

This early notion on the importance of empathy for facilitating therapeutic change has gained ample empirical support over the last decades of research. How empathic a therapist is perceived to be has been identified as a critical factor for positive therapy outcome for both psychodynamically oriented and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies (Bohart et al., 2002 ; Duan and Kivlighan, 2002 ; Orlinsky et al., 2004 ; Marci et al., 2007 ; Elliott et al., 2011 ; Norcross and Wampold, 2011 ). Based on a review of several studies Marci et al. ( 2007 ) describe a significant influence of perceived empathy on mood and general clinical improvement, even when controlling for other factors. Along this line, a meta-analysis conducted by Bohart et al. ( 2002 ) confirms a modest but consistent importance of empathy during psychotherapy. Zuroff et al. ( 2010 ) specifically examined the relationship between patient-reported measures of the three Rogerian conditions (positive regard, empathy, and genuineness) and therapeutic outcome, and found that patients whose therapists provided high average levels of the Rogerian conditions across all patients in their caseloads experienced more rapid reductions in both overall maladjustment and depressive vulnerability (self-critical perfectionism). Farber and Doolin ( 2011 ) conducted a meta-analysis on 18 studies also focusing on the effects of positive regard as defined by Rogers on treatment outcome, and found an aggregate effect size of 0.26, confirming a moderate influence of this factor.

The effectiveness of showing empathy on treatment success has also been assured within the field of medical care. Medical researchers have coined the term clinical empathy , which Mercer and Reynolds ( 2002 ) define as (1) understanding the patient’s situation, perspective and feelings (and their attached meanings), (2) communicating that understanding and checking its accuracy, and (3) acting on that understanding with the patient in a helpful (therapeutic) way. Hence, within the clinical setting empathy entails not only cognitive and affective components but also a behavioral component to communicate understanding to the patient, i.e., through active listening (Davis, 2009 ). Accordingly, the active demonstration of empathy has already been recognized as a crucial component of promoting cooperation in challenging situations within the field of clinical care. Halpern ( 2007 ) stresses that physicians who learn to empathize with patients during emotionally charged interactions can thereby increase their therapeutic impact. By the same token, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that empathic communication effectively helps patients through challenging and fearful situations, ranging from painful dental treatments over psychological problems to pandemic crisis (Cape, 2000 ; Reynolds and Quinn Crouse, 2008 ; Bernson et al., 2011 ). Neumann et al. ( 2009 ) reviewed prior empirical studies on clinical empathy and conclude that clinical empathy is a fundamental determinant of successful medical care, because “ it enables the clinician to fulfill key medical tasks more accurately, thereby achieving enhanced health outcomes ” (Neumann et al., 2009 , p. 344).

In sum, the effectiveness of empathic communication as an extrinsic emotion regulation technique has already gained solid empirical support from psychotherapy and medical research. For the present study, social conflict was chosen as the context to examine the effects of empathic paraphrasing on emotion, for two reasons. Firstly, social conflict is often accompanied by intense emotions such as anger and hurt, and therefore lends itself easily to the investigation of extrinsic emotion regulation, without requiring artificial emotion induction in the laboratory. The setting of real-life social conflict renders it possible to work with “real” emotion, while at the same time concentrating on a non-clinical population. Secondly, empathic paraphrasing is used with vast prevalence within the field of conflict resolution. Paraphrasing is generally applied as one of the most important constitutional elements across all domains of conflict mediation (business mediation, family mediation, community mediation, victim-offender mediation, etc.). Hence, it seems expedient to take a closer look at the emotional effects of a technique so widely used within the context of its most common application.

Social psychology research offers evidence for a connection between dispositional affective empathy as well as dispositional perspective taking and adaptive social conflict behavior (Steins, 2000 ; Gehlbach, 2004 ; de Wied et al., 2007 ). However, there is hardly any research on the effects of being treated in an empathic manner (as opposed to feeling empathy oneself) on conflict behavior. Moran and Diamond ( 2008 ) report positive effects of therapist empathy on parent’s negative attitudes toward their depressed adolescent children. Being treated in an empathic way seems to help parents to also empathize with their children going through a rough time. This is an interesting finding, which contains parallels to social conflict situations and stimulates the question which emotional effects are triggered by being treated empathically, and how these emotional processes aid own empathic reactions toward others.

An interesting train of evidence regarding the socio-cognitive effects of being treated empathically is provided by research on interpersonal mimicry and language matching in social interaction. Numerous studies confirm that non-verbal interpersonal mimicry increases affiliation and positive social judgment as well as pro-social behavior not only toward the mimicker but also toward people not involved in the mimicry situation, indicating that being mimicked not only leads to an increased liking toward the interaction partner, but to an increased pro-social orientation in general (van Baaren et al., 2004 ; Ashton–James et al., 2007 ; Fischer-Lokou et al., 2011 .; Guéguen et al., 2011 ; Stel and Harinck, 2011 ). This is true for the mimickee as well as the mimicker (Stel et al., 2008 ). Maddux et al. ( 2008 ) also report that strategic mimicry in negotiation abets more favorable negotiation outcomes, facilitating both individual and joint gains. This effect was mediated by higher levels of trust toward the mimicker. Ashton–James et al. ( 2007 ) tested several hypotheses on why mimicry promotes pro-social behavior and found that being mimicked during social interaction shifts self-construal toward becoming more interdependent and “other-oriented.” Additionally, mimicry strengthens one’s perception of interpersonal closeness with other people in general.

Correspondingly, language style matching, i.e., similarity in use of function words, has been found to predict relationship initiation and stability (Ireland et al., 2011 ). On a similar vein, according to the interactive-alignment account of dialog, the success of any given conversation depends on the extent of the conversation partners arriving at a common understanding of the relevant aspects of what they are talking about, i.e., a common situation model (Pickering and Garrod, 2004 ). Interlocutors tend to automatically align at different levels of linguistic representation, e.g., through repeating each other’s words and grammar (Garrod and Pickering, 2004 ). This alignment at low-level structure positively affects alignment of interlocutors’ situation models – the hallmark of successful communication – as people who describe a situation in the same way tend to think about it in the same way as well (Markman and Makin, 1998 ; Menenti et al., 2012 ). These findings strongly support the hypothesis that paraphrasing, which involves a certain degree of language matching and bears parallels to mimicry on a verbal level, administrates emotional and socio-cognitive effects on the person being paraphrased.

Regardless the impressive amount of research reviewed above, the specific dynamics of emotional response to empathic paraphrasing are yet largely unclear. Rime ( 2009 ) suggests that socio-affective responses such as comfort and empathy temporarily alleviate a narrator’s negative emotions and generate a deep feeling of relief. However, if no cognitive reframing and re-adjustment of goals, motives, models, and schemas occur, the alleviating effects of socio-affective responses can be expected to be only temporary, because the cognitive sources of the emotional unsettledness have not been transformed. Following this reasoning, the emotional effects of empathic paraphrasing should be expected to be short-lived. On the other hand, Rogers argued that receiving empathy and positive regard are necessary conditions for being able to revise overly rigid structures of the self and assimilate dissonant information and experiences (Rogers, 1942 , 1951 ). Hence, empathic paraphrasing may initiate a cognitive-emotional process progressing in several stages, with emotional alleviation and an increased mental openness and disposition for cognitive restructuring possibly being the first one. In this respect, the present research makes a valuable contribution by moving beyond correlational designs to presenting the first experimental study assessing in detail the emotional effects of empathic paraphrasing in the context of social conflict, hopefully providing a useful basis for further analysis in future studies.

To investigate whether and how empathic paraphrasing in the context of a real-life social conflict extrinsically regulates emotion, we invited participants to an interview in which they were asked to talk about an ongoing or recently self-experienced social conflict with a partner, friend, roommate, neighbor, or family member. The interviewer responded to participants’ descriptions by either paraphrasing (experimental condition following half of the interview questions) or taking notes (control condition). We assessed valence ratings pertaining to participants’ current emotional state as well as skin conductance response (SCR), blood volume pulse (BVP), blood volume pulse amplitude (BVPamp), and heart rate (HR) as indicators of autonomous nervous system (ANS) activity during the interviews. We also recorded the interviews for documentation and analysis.

Psychophysiological and voice parameters have been proven to be reliable indicators for emotional responses (Scherer, 2003 ; Kushki et al., 2011 ). HR is regulated by sympathetic (increase) as well as parasympathetic (decrease) pathways of the ANS (Li and Chen, 2006 ; Kushki et al., 2011 ), and reflects autonomic arousal (Critchley, 2002 ) as well as emotional valence (Palomba et al., 1997 ). BVP is a measure of changes in the volume of blood in vessels and has been associated with affective and cognitive processing (Kushki et al., 2011 ). BVP amplitude has been found to be lower during episodes of increased sympathetic activity (Shelley, 2007 ) and has also been shown to decrease when feeling fear or sadness in several studies (Kreibig et al., 2007 ). SCR depicts changes in the skin’s ability to conduct electricity and is considered a sensitive psychophysiological index of changes in autonomic sympathetic arousal that are integrated with emotional and cognitive states. In addition, SCR reflects vicarious emotional responses to another’s affective state (pain), and is therefore also connected to empathy (Hein et al., 2011 ).

Based on the literature reviewed above, we hypothesized that empathic paraphrasing would lead to a reduction of negative emotion in the situation of talking about the conflict. Specifically, we expected valence ratings to be more positive after paraphrasing. Furthermore, we hypothesized that empathic paraphrasing would lead to lower autonomic arousal, reflected in psychophysiological measures and voice analysis.

Materials and Methods

Participants.

Twenty healthy subjects [10 female; age: mean (M) = 27, standard deviation (SD) = 7.9] participated in this study. All participants were native German speakers, and had recently experienced a potentially ongoing social conflict with a partner, friend, roommate, neighbor, or family member. No conflicts involving physical or psychological violence were included in the study. Due to technical problems, SCR and voice data of four participants as well as BVP data of three participants were lost. Therefore, 20 participants entered the analysis of self-report data, 16 entered voice data analysis and analysis of SCR, and 17 entered analysis of HR and BVP.

The study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the ethical committee of the Charité University Medicine Berlin. All participants gave written informed consent prior to investigation and received payment for participation.

Interview design and procedure

Participants were told that the study investigates emotion in social conflict, especially how emotions develop while speaking about a social conflict. The interviewer further informed participants that she would try to understand their perspective, and sometimes summarize what she understood so far, while at other times take notes to help her memorize certain things and have them present over the course of the interview.

Interviews consisted of 10 standardized open questions (e.g., “What exactly bothers you about the other person’s behavior?”). After the participant answered each question, the interviewer either paraphrased what had been said, or silently took notes (control condition). Following these paraphrasing interventions or control conditions, respectively, participants were asked to rate their current emotional state. In order to avoid confounding effects resulting from the content of the questions, as well as distortions due to emotional processing over the course of the interview, interventions, and control condition were given alternately during the interview. Half of all participants received an intervention (empathic paraphrasing) after the first question, a control intervention after the second question, and so forth; the other half received a control intervention first. All interviews were conducted by the same female interviewer, who had previously received 190 h of training in conflict resolution and has worked on cases in community mediation, business mediation, and family mediation over several years, applying empathic paraphrasing as one of the core techniques of conflict resolution.

Paraphrasing in the present study was implemented in such a way that after each narration the interviewer briefly summarized the facts of the narration and described her understanding of how the narrator felt, and why, and what she understood was important to the narrator regarding the situation described. To confirm the accuracy of her paraphrasing, the interviewer asked if her understanding was correct at the end of each paraphrase. An example of a paraphrase is given in the Appendix.

All interviews were audiotaped. Interview length was 30.16 min on average (SD = 11.03), depending on how extensively participants answered to the questions. Figure ​ Figure1 1 depicts the interview questions as well as a schematic overview of the interview procedure and measurements.

Interview guideline and procedure .

Data acquisition and analyses

Participants were asked to indicate their current emotional state (valence rating) on an eight-point Likert scale ranging from −4 to 4 (“How positive or negative do you feel right now?”) 10 times during the interview, following the interventions and control condition, respectively. Ratings were analyzed with two-tailed t -tests for repeated measures in IBM SPSS Statistics 20.

Skin conductance response and BVP were recorded continuously with a sampling frequency of 40 Hz using a commercial sampling device ( Biofeedback 2000 X-pert , Schuhfried GmbH, Austria) during the entire interview. Both interviewer’s and participant’s voices were recorded using Audacity 1.2.6 with a highly directional microphone (Shure, WH20 Dynamic Headset Microphone, IL, USA).

Skin conductance data was analyzed in LedaLab V3.3.1. Time frame of analysis was 25 s after the onset of the intervention or control condition. Within this interval, SCR was decomposed by continuous decomposition analysis (CDA; Benedek and Kaernbach, 2010 ). For each participant and interval, the maximum phasic activity was computed (with a minimum amplitude of 0.001 μS) and averaged for each participant across all intervals of both conditions).

Blood volume pulse and BVPamp were analyzed for intervals of 23 s after the onset of intervention or control condition using Matlab 7.1 (The Math-Works, Inc., MA, USA). Data were smoothed using a six point Gaussian filter. BVP was further used for extracting HR data through computing the inverse of the distance between successive peaks of the BVP signal in intervals larger than 0.4 s (Kushki et al., 2011 ). Mean SCR between both conditions (paraphrasing interventions and control conditions), BVP, BVPamp (in%), and HR (in beats per minute) were also analyzed with two-tailed t -tests for repeated measures in IBM SPSS Statistics 20. In addition, we compared BVP, BVPamp, and HR during the paraphrasing intervention and the interview question directly following the paraphrase, with a standard time frame of 4 s for the question phase.

Analysis of voice recordings was done with seewave in R statistics (Sueur et al., 2008 ). Using Audacity 1.2.6., intervals of speech for voice analysis were selected manually by listening to the recorded interviews and cutting out participants’ responses to each question – following an intervention or control intervention, respectively.

Behavioral data

Valence ratings following paraphrasing revealed less negative feelings than ratings following the control condition [ t (19) = 3.395, p  = 0.003]. Effect size is d  = 0.76 (Cohen’s d for repeated measures, calculated with pooled means and standard deviations).

Differences in valence ratings over the conditions are shown in Figure ​ Figure2 2 .

Mean valence ratings (with standard error of the mean) after the empathic paraphrasing and control conditions .

Time series plots over the entire course of the interview show a U-shaped trend in valence ratings over time, which is mainly due to ratings following the control condition (see Figure ​ Figure3). 3 ). However, a repeated measures ANOVA including sequence of intervention over time as an additional factor demonstrates that the effect of the intervention remains untouched by sequence [main effect of sequence F (4, 72) = 1.768; p  = 0.145; main effect of intervention: F (1,18) = 11.400; p  = 0.003 interaction intervention × sequence F (4, 72) = 1.489; p  = 0.215].

Mean valence ratings over the course of the interview, averaged over both conditions (A) and split up into paraphrasing and control condition (B) . At each of the 10 trials, 10 subjects received an intervention and 10 received a control intervention.

Psychophysiological data

Two-tailed t -tests for repeated measures show that participants had a higher SCR during paraphrasing than during the control condition [ t (15) = 2.589; p  = 0.021]. Effect size is d  = 0.65 (Cohen’s d ). Complementary results were found in participants’ HR, which was also higher during paraphrasing than during the control condition [ t (16) = 6.491; p  = 0.000; effect size d  = 1.57]. No significant differences between the conditions for BVP were found [ t (16) = 0.22; p  = 0.812]. However, there was a strong trend for mean BVPamp [ t (16) = −2.119; p  = 0.050; effect size d  = 0.51], which was lower during paraphrasing than during taking notes. Comparing BVPamp during paraphrasing with the interview question directly following the paraphrase, we also found that BVPamp is lower during paraphrasing than during the following interview question [ t (13) = 2.381; p  = 0.033; effect size d  = 0.64]. For HR and BVP, no such difference between paraphrase and subsequent interview question was found. Figure ​ Figure4 4 illustrates differences in psychophysiological measures and voice intensity over the two conditions.

Measures of sympathetic activation (mean values with standard error of the mean) . (A) Skin conductance response (SCR; in μS), (B) Heart rate (in beats/minute), (C) Blood volume pulse amplitude (BVPamp in%), and (D) Voice volume (in dB) during empathic paraphrasing and control condition.

Voice analysis data

Mean intensity/volume of participants’ voices was lower when they replied to an interview question following a paraphrase [ t (15) = −2,466; p  = 0.026; effect size d  = 0.62]. There was no difference in mean fundamental voice frequency (F0) between the conditions [ t (15) = 0.583; p  = 0.568]. F0 range and F0 standard deviation did not differ between the conditions, either (see Table ​ Table1). 1 ). However, speech rate and articulation rate showed trends for slower speech following paraphrasing [speech rate t (15) = −1.86; p  = 0.082; articulation rate t (15) = −2.05; p  = 0.059]. Cohen’s d yielded effect sizes of d  = 0.47 for speech rate and d  = 0.51 for articulation rate.

Means (M), standard deviations (SD), t -, p -, and d -values of all parameters in intervention and control condition .

* and ** indicate significant findings .

Table ​ Table1 1 gives an overview of means and standard deviations of all psychophysiological, voice, and self-report parameters over the two conditions.

The aim of our study was to investigate the short-term emotional effects of empathic paraphrasing in social conflict. To achieve this, we conducted interviews on real-life social conflicts currently experienced by our participants. During the interview, paraphrasing was alternated with a control condition (taking notes). Emotional valence ratings were obtained after each intervention and control intervention and psychophysiological and voice recordings were executed continuously during the interviews. Our hypothesis was that paraphrasing would lead to more positive emotional valence and lower autonomic arousal. Viewing the results of our study as a whole suggests that empathic paraphrasing has a regulating effect on a narrator’s emotions, however, this effect seems to be more complex than originally expected. In sum, we found that participants felt better when the interviewer paraphrased their emotions and perceptions of the conflict. At the same time, and contrary to our expectations, SCR, HR, and BVP amplitude indicate higher autonomic activation during paraphrasing. Voice intensity as well as speech and articulation rate of participants on the other hand was lower when answering to a question following a paraphrase.

Effects of paraphrasing on valence

The self-report ratings demonstrate that participants felt better after the interviewer had paraphrased what they had said. Also, the relatively high effect size suggests that this effect is strong and practically relevant. The interview itself also induced valence effects over time, insofar that participants experienced a decline in emotional valence in the middle of the interview, which recuperated toward the end of the interview. However, due to the alternation of intervention and control intervention, which was again alternated in sequence over participants, this trend does not affect the intervention effect.

This self-reported valence effect is consistent with participants’ lower voice intensity after paraphrasing compared to the control condition. Banse and Scherer ( 1996 ) have linked high voice intensity with negative affects or aggressive speaker attitudes, thereby suggesting a conjunction between high voice intensity and negative emotional valence. Conversely, speech and articulation rate are also slightly lower following an intervention, even though these effects are not statistically significant. Speech rate is defined as the number of spoken units (e.g., words/syllables) per unit of time (minute/second). It is calculated across continuous speech segments, which may include pauses, disruptions, or dysfluency. Articulation rate is an analogical measure based only on fluent utterances, excluding pauses, and dysfluency (Howell et al., 1999 ). Speech rate has been demonstrated to increase when experiencing anger or fear compared to neutral emotional states (Scherer, 1995 ; Rochman et al., 2008 ). Hence, the lower speech and articulation rates following paraphrasing also suggest that participants experienced less negative emotion after paraphrasing.

By the same token, HR was higher during paraphrasing than during the control condition, which according to Palomba et al. ( 1997 ) can also be interpreted as a valence effect. HR deceleration has been associated with negative emotional valence during presentation of unpleasant visual stimuli. In social tasks, HR acceleration has been measured in accordance with intensity of emotion, and to a lesser degree, with emotional valence (Palomba et al., 1997 ). Palomba et al. ( 1997 ) found significant differences in HR deceleration between positive, negative, and neutral visual stimuli, with positive stimuli producing the highest and negative stimuli the lowest HR. Hence, self-report data, voice data, and HR analysis all support the conclusion that emotional valence was positively influenced by offering cognitive empathy through paraphrasing. This effect of paraphrasing on valence bolsters Rime’s ( 2009 ) supposition that being treated empathically while socially sharing negative emotion produces a short-term alleviation of these negative emotions.

Interestingly, the positive impact of mimicry on social judgment mentioned in the introduction (i.e., promoting liking toward the mimicker) suggests the generation of positive emotion as a result of mimicry. This was not the case for paraphrasing in our study: valence ratings in the intervention condition center around the neutral. Nevertheless, it is still possible that paraphrasing led to an increased liking toward the interviewer, while overall affect was neutral. Social judgment was not assessed in the present study, hence, no direct comparison with mimicry is possible. However, it would be interesting to compare the effects of mimicry and paraphrasing on emotion in future studies, as well as to study verbal mimicry or matching more extensively in the context of distressing conversations such as social conflict discussions.

Effects of paraphrasing on arousal

Skin conductance response, HR and BVP amplitude indicate a period of higher autonomic arousal while the interviewer paraphrased what participants had said, compared to taking notes on what they had said. Again, effects sizes of physiological measures suggest medium and in the case of HR, very strong, effects. This is surprising, as we presumed that the lower intensity of negative emotion induced by paraphrasing would be accompanied by lower arousal. Instead, paraphrasing apparently enhanced autonomic arousal. Quite conversely to psychophysiological data, the lower voice intensity following the intervention on the other hand suggests a calming effect of paraphrasing on autonomic arousal, as several studies on emotion and voice quality have associated high voice intensity with high sympathetic autonomic arousal emotions (Scherer, 2003 ). This apparent contradiction between voice data and psychophysiological data appears initially confusing, as vocal changes and changes in SCR both originate in mediated variation of HR, blood flow, and muscular tension caused by an arousing event (Duffy, 1932 ; Laver, 1968 ; Schirmer and Kotz, 2006 ).

However, this discrepancy can be explained by the fact that BVP and SCR were recorded while participants listened to the interviewer paraphrasing, whereas voice analysis was done on recordings of participants’ answers to the interviewer’s next question, following the paraphrase. Thus, the autonomic arousal induced by paraphrasing may already have subsided and passed into a calmer state at the time participants answered the next question. This possibility is difficult to double-check for SCR as this parameter is reactive to speech and will thus be higher while participants are talking, even though autonomic sympathetic arousal induced by the intervention might have diminished already. However, we reassessed this hypothesis using BVP, BVPamp, and HR data, comparing the paraphrasing phase with the subsequent question phase and found a confirming result for BVPamp, although not for the other two measures. Participant had a lower BVP amplitude while listening to the paraphrase compared to listening to the interview question asked in direct succession. This indicates a specific effect of paraphrasing on autonomic arousal, which is not induced by speech in general. It should also be noted that voice intensity following paraphrasing is significantly lower than voice intensity following the control condition. Hence, given the assumption made above is correct, participants’ autonomic arousal is first heightened by listening to the paraphrasing, and after a short period of time lowered to a level below the control state. This is a very interesting finding, for which two possible explanations should be considered.

Firstly, it is possible that empathic paraphrasing not only leads to a reduction of negative emotion in participants, but even induces positive emotions, such as happiness and relief about being listened to and validated. This would explain the initial higher autonomic arousal, which would in this case be due to a short-term experience of positive emotions, in accordance with Rime ( 2009 ) dissipating quickly. However, the behavioral data does not support this notion, as the valence ratings remain in the negative range of the scale even after paraphrasing, only approximating the neutral zero-point. Also, it should be noted that empathic paraphrasing is distinctly different from everyday forms of volunteering empathy or forms of social sharing of emotion as referred to by Rime. Paraphrasing does not offer sympathy or emotional empathy, but instead takes a purely cognitive road by demonstrating that the listener can understand the narrator’s perspective. It does not seem likely that this technique should have the same emotional effects as common social sharing responses such as offering sympathy.

Therefore, as an alternative explanation of our results, it is more conceivable that demonstrating cognitive empathy through paraphrasing temporarily leads to a heightened focus on and increased processing of negative emotion, which might eventually have a resolving effect on these emotions. This explanation seems probable considering the nature of paraphrasing, which entails repeating emotional narrations in a pointed way, thereby sharpening and clarifying the emotional experience. In a study on the relationship between therapist pre-session mood, therapist empathy, and session evaluation, Duan and Kivlighan ( 2002 ) found that intellectual empathy (demonstrating an understanding of the client’s perspective, i.e., empathic paraphrasing) was positively correlated with client-perceived session depth (power and value of the session), but not correlated with perceived session smoothness (comfort and pleasantness of the session). In a way, paraphrasing confronts people with what they are feeling, and thus can stimulate a deeper processing of negative emotion (depth), which temporarily involves higher autonomic arousal and may even be perceived as trying and hard work (smoothness), but eventually abets resolution of the emotional conflict. It however seems unlikely that this process advances automatically without fueling cognitive work such as reappraisal and re-adjustment of goals and schemas. Yet, the clarifying focus on one’s own emotion, accompanied by the non-judgmental stance of empathic paraphrasing might strongly push this process forward. This notion is in line with Rogers’ original claim to evoke personal growth and transformation in the client through empathic paraphrasing, thereby achieving therapeutic change (Rogers, 1942 , 1951 ).

Also, considering the findings from mimicry and language matching research, which have demonstrated that being treated empathically on basal levels such as facial expression and language style promotes attitude and behavior change, it seems plausible that empathic paraphrasing may foster socio-cognitive processes in a similar direction. As paraphrasing contains a deliberate effort to verbally align with the narrator, it may generate a shared situation model and in this way promote successful communication. It would be interesting to consider if empathic paraphrasing, as it bears a certain resemblance to mimicry on a verbal level, can also stimulate pro-social behavior in the person being paraphrased; for instance a greater willingness to open up for the other party’s perspective on the conflict. This would strongly support the idea of paraphrasing stimulating a clearance of negative emotion.

There seems to be wide consensus between psychotherapists of different disciplines that psychotherapy benefits from an optimal level of arousal in the client, similar to the Yerkes–Dodson law, which posits an inverse U-shaped correlation between arousal and performance in complex tasks (Bridges, 2006 ). Markowitz and Milrod ( 2011 ) argue that emotional arousal is central for engaging the client in psychotherapy and making the therapeutic experience meaningful. They claim that the therapist’s ability to understand and respond empathically to negative emotional arousal should be considered the most important one of the common factors of psychotherapy. The therapist provides support and at the same time acts as a model, teaching the client to tolerate, verbalize, and integrate their feelings. Thus, negative feelings diminish and lose toxicity. In a similar vein, the traditional concept of the “corrective emotional experience” by Alexander and French ( 1946 ) describes the transformation of painful emotional conflicts as re-experiencing the old, unsettled conflict but with a new ending. This notion, which has gained ample empirical support, holds that processing emotional conflicts within a safe and empathic environment is necessary for therapeutic change (Bridges, 2006 ).

A resembling road is also pursued by acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions. Research on acceptance-based and mindfulness-based therapy has shown that accepting and mindfully observing negative emotions (instead of trying to suppress them) leads to the dissolution of these emotions (Eifert and Heffner, 2003 ; Arch and Craske, 2006 ; Hayes-Skelton et al., 2011 ). Czech et al. ( 2011 ) cite several experimental studies which have demonstrated that acceptance of negative emotion decreases distress and increases willingness to engage in challenging tasks. Empathic paraphrasing may have similar effects, as it essentially applies the principles of mindfulness and acceptance from the outside – through a listener who takes on an accepting role, thereby prompting the narrator in the same direction. Offering cognitive empathy through paraphrasing draws attention to emotions, non-judgmentally describes and accepts them, and is thus very similar to acceptance-based and mindfulness-based therapy. The central difference might be the locus of initiation of these processes, which in the case of empathic paraphrasing comes from somebody else. Comparing the effects of mindfulness and empathic paraphrasing and investigating the potential consequences of this difference on emotion processing and emotion regulation could be an interesting research focus for future studies.

Limitations of the present study

A potential short-coming of the present study pertains to the nature of the control condition, which consisted of taking notes silently. It could be argued that, as only the experimental condition involved speech, the differences found might be due to a general effect of being spoken to, rather than to an isolated effect of empathic paraphrasing. However, it should be noted that within a social conflict situation, the content of a reply to emotional descriptions can never be perceived as completely neutral, and any control condition involving speech will induce emotional effects of its own, e.g., irritation or even anger caused by inapplicable verbal comments of the interviewer following participants’ emotional disclosure. The present control condition was deliberately chosen for providing a neutral baseline against which the effects of empathic paraphrasing can be tested before moving on to other modes of comparison.

An aligned point of concern might be that it cannot be ascertained how the control condition was perceived by participants. For instance, even though they were informed that the note-taking simply served the purpose of bolstering the interviewer’s memory during the conversation, some participants may still have worried about the notes containing subjective judgment. This would most likely induce stress and add an emotional bias to the control condition. In this case, however, one would expect an increase in autonomic responses during the control condition, which did not occur. Still, considering these shortcomings of the control condition, the results need to be reproduced with varying kinds of control conditions involving speech before they can be viewed as definite.

It should also be mentioned that this study focused exclusively on short-term emotional reactions to paraphrasing, in order to obtain a constitutional data base illustrating the regulatory effect of this communicational technique. Our results suggest that in addition to influencing immediate emotional valence, paraphrasing sets in motion an initially arousing process of coping with negative emotions associated with the social conflict, which eventually may lead to resolving these emotions. However, as we did not assess longitudinal measures pertaining to the emotions associated with the social conflicts in question, this conclusion has to remain speculative until backed up by further research.

Finally, the relatively small sample size of the study makes it prone to distortions from individual variations and gender differences, e.g., in emotion expression. Again, replication of the results based on larger groups of study participants is called for.

Conclusion and directions for future research

The present study provides first experimental evidence that offering cognitive empathy through paraphrasing extrinsically regulates emotion in social conflict. Paraphrasing led to less negative feelings in study participants, while at the same time inducing higher autonomic arousal, which subsided after a short period of time. A possible explanation for these findings is that empathic paraphrasing stimulates an increased and focused processing of negative emotion in social conflict, and thus may contribute to resolving these emotions.

Future studies investigating the emotional effects of demonstrating cognitive empathy may further scrutinize the short- and long-term effects empathic paraphrasing has on arousal, and test the hypothesis that paraphrasing induces a cognitive-emotional process which facilitates the resolution of negative emotion in social conflict. Also, it would be interesting to investigate the dynamics of this process more closely and identify factors necessary for its successful development. Presently, we are working on a neuroimaging paradigm designed to overcome some of the above mentioned shortcomings and further explore the effects of empathic paraphrasing on the disposition to consider other people’s perspective in social conflict.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Cluster of Excellence “Languages of Emotion” at Freie Universität Berlin which is funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation), and by the Open-Access publication fund of the DFG and the Freie Universität Berlin.

Example of a paraphrasing sequence

Interviewer: “What is worst for you about this situation?”

Narrator: “The worst thing is not knowing what happens now, well, this uncertainty. I mean, there is a problem, I have to make sure the rent is being paid, because in the end I am responsible, because I am in the rental agreement…and then – not being able to deal with that situation, not being able to act, because I just don’t know what is going to happen. The worst…now I am not so sure anymore, what was worst about it – well, also interpersonally it was very disappointing, because after all I took care of everything, voluntarily, and…I mean, when she is acting this way now, that is also a lack of recognition for what I do, what I accomplish. For my whole courtesy. What aggravates things is that is was clear from the beginning that she does not do so well financially, but urgently needed an apartment, and I let her move in with me to help her. And that is something that is…not being trampled under her feet…but you notice that there is a lack of recognition. Well, I think this second issue is worse than the first one.”

Interviewer: “So it is a combination, is it? For one, this thing, that in some way your existence is on stake here, that you are saying, this uncertainty is hard to bear – that you do not know how the rent is going to come around in the future. And then also the interpersonal issue, that you are saying you are disappointed of her, because you helped her, and in return you get this now, right? Especially the lack of recognition, the interpersonal treatment is what is worst – did I understand that correctly?”

Narrator: “Yes.”

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Encouragers, Paraphrasing and Summarising

A counsellor can encourage a client to continue to talk, open up more freely and explore issues in greater depth by providing accurate responses through encouraging, paraphrasing and summarising. Responding in this way informs the client that the counsellor has accurately heard what they have been saying. Encouragers, paraphrases and summaries are basic to helping a client feel understood.

Encouragers, also known as intentional listening , involve fully attending to the client, thus allowing them to explore their feelings and thoughts more completely. Paraphrasing and summarising are more active ways of communicating to the client that they have been listened to. Summarising is particularly useful to help clients organise their thinking.

The diagram below shows how encouragers, paraphrases and summaries are on different points of a continuum, each building on more of the information provided by the client to accurately assess issues and events.

Encouragers – Encouragers are a variety of verbal and non-verbal ways of prompting clients to continue talking.

Types of encouragers include:

• Non-verbal minimal responses such as a nod of the head or positive facial expressions
• Verbal minimal responses such as “Uh-huh” and “I hear what you’re saying”
• Brief invitations to continue such as “Tell me more”

Encouragers simply encourage the client to keep talking. For a counsellor to have more influence on the direction of client progress they would need to make use of other techniques.

Paraphrases – To paraphrase, the counsellor chooses the most important details of what the client has just said and reflects them back to the client. Paraphrases can be just a few words or one or two brief sentences.

Paraphrasing is not a matter of simply repeating or parroting what the client has stated. Rather it is capturing the essence of what the client is saying, through rephrasing. When the counsellor has captured what the client is saying, often the client will say, “That’s right” or offer some other form of confirmation.

Example: I have just broken up with Jason. The way he was treating me was just too much to bear. Every time I tried to touch on the subject with him he would just clam up. I feel so much better now. Paraphrase: You feel much better after breaking up with Jason.

Summaries – Summaries are brief statements of longer excerpts from the counselling session. In summarising, the counsellor attends to verbal and non-verbal comments from the client over a period of time, and then pulls together key parts of the extended communication, restating them for the client as accurately as possible.

A check-out, phrased at the end of the summary, is an important component of the statement, enabling a check of the accuracy of the counsellor’s response. Summaries are similar to paraphrasing, except they are used less frequently and encompass more information.

• July 21, 2009
• Communication , Counselling Process , Encouraging , Microskills , Paraphrasing
• Counselling Theory & Process

Comments: 23

Yeah,must say i like the simple way these basic counselling skills are explained in this article. More of same would be most welcome as it helps give a better understanding of the counselling process and the methods and techniques used within the counselling arena

I really find this information helpful as a refresher in my studies and work. Please keep up the excellent work of ‘educating’ us on being a better counsellor. Thank you!

Wonderfully helpful posting. Many thanks!

Thankyou so much. I am doing a assignment at uni about scitzophrenia and needed to clarify what paraphrasing truly meant. Cheers

So helpful to me as a counselor.

Thankx so much for these post. I’m doing Counselling and Community Services and I need to clarify what summarising and paraphrasing really meant. Once again thank you, this information it’s really helpful

Hello Antoinette friend and doing guidance and counselling need uo help about this question With relevent examples explain the following concepts as used in communicating to clients. (I;listening to verbal messages and using encouraged minimal prompts. 2)making use of non verbal communication and exhibiting attending behaviours using Gerald Eganis macro skill SOLER/ROLES. 3.paraphrasing 4.identifying and reflecting feelings and emotions from the clients story 5.summarizing 6.confrotation 7.counsellor self disclosure 8.asking open and close open ended concept 9.answering questions 10.clarifying

thanks I am doing a counselling community services at careers Australia

Really love the explanations given to the active listening techniques it was really useful and helpful good work done.

Helpful. Thanks!

I really like hw u explain everything in to simple terms for my understanding.

Hai ,thanks for being here .Am a student social worker,i need help an an able to listen to get the implied massages from the client.and to bring questions to explore with them .I love to do this work .What shall I do.how do i train my self in listening.

really appreciate.

You explanation of these three basic intentional listening are very helpful. Thank you for remained us.

very helpful indeed in making the client more open and exploring the issues more deeply

Very important cues.thanks

the article was helpful .thank you for explaining it in more clear and simple words.appreciate it alot .

I need to write about what counselling words mean ie I understand summarising and paraphrasing any more would be useful as I’m near the end of my course

I have a role play exam tomorrow on counselling and find above explanation very useful. thanks for sharing.

This explanation is clear and precise. Very easy to understanding than the expensive textbook. Please keep posting as this helps a lot. Thanks and God bless.

Pingback: Summarising In Counseling (a Comprehensive Overview) | OptimistMinds

One of the simple and memorable descriptions of this I’ve read, thanks so much!

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Reflecting and Paraphrasing

Part of the ‘art of listening’ is making sure that the client knows their story is being listened to.

This is achieved by the helper/counsellor repeating back to the client parts of their story. This known as paraphrasing .

Reflecting is showing the client that you have ‘heard’ not only what is being said, but also what feelings and emotions the client is experiencing when sharing their story with you .

This is sometimes known in counselling ‘speak ‘as the music behind the words .

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It is like holding up a mirror to the client; repeating what they have said shows the client they have your full attention. It also allows the client to make sure you fully understood them; if not, they can correct you.

Reflecting and paraphrasing should not only contain what is being said but what emotion or feeling the client is expressing.

Let’s look at an example:

Client (Mohammed): My ex-wife phoned me yesterday; she told me that our daughter Nafiza (who is only 9) is very ill after a car accident. I am feeling very scared for her. They live in France, so I am going to have to travel to see her, and now I have been made redundant, I don’t know how I can afford to go.

Counsellor: So, Mohammed, you have had some bad news about your little girl, who has been involved in an accident. You are frightened for her and also have worries over money now you have lost your job.

Client: Yes, yes ... that’s right.

Notice that the counsellor does not offer advice or start asking how long Mohammed and his wife have been separated, but reflects the emotion of what is said : ‘frightened' and 'worries'.

Reflecting and paraphrasing are the first skills we learn as helpers, and they remain the most useful.

To build a trusting relationship with a helper, the client needs not only to be ‘listened to' but also to be heard and valued as a person.

"Reflecting and paraphrasing should not only contain what is being said but what emotion or feeling the client is expressing."

Definition of Reflection in Counselling

Reflection in counselling is like holding up a mirror: repeating the client’s words back to them exactly as they said them.

You might reflect back the whole sentence, or you might select a few words – or even one single word – from what the client has brought.

I often refer to reflection as ‘the lost skill’ because when I watch counselling students doing simulated skill sessions, or listen to their recordings from placement (where clients have consented to this), I seldom see reflection being used as a skill. This is a pity, as reflection can be very powerful.

When we use the skill of reflection, we are looking to match the tone, the feeling of the words, and the client’s facial expression or body language as they spoke .

For example, they might have hunched their shoulders as they said, ‘I was so scared; I didn’t know what to do.’

We might reflect that back by hunching our own shoulders, mirroring their body language while also saying ‘I felt so scared; I didn’t know what to do.’

Using Reflection to Clarify Our Understanding

We can also use reflection to clarify our understanding, instead of using a question.

For example, suppose the client says:

‘My husband and my father are fighting. I’m really angry with him.’

For me to be in the client’s frame of reference, I need to know whether ‘him’ refers to the husband or the father. So I might reflect back the word ‘ him ’  with a quizzical look.

The client might then respond:

‘Yeah, my dad. He really gets to me when he is non-accepting.’

So you can get clarification in this way. You can adjust where you are to make sure that the empathic bond is strong and that you are truly within the client’s frame of reference.

"When we use the skill of reflection, we are looking to match the tone, the feeling of the words, and the client’s facial expression or body language as they spoke".

Definition of Paraphrasing in Counselling

Paraphrasing is repeating back your understanding of the material that has been brought by the client, using your own words.

A paraphrase reflects the essence of what has been said .

We all use paraphrasing in our everyday lives. If you look at your studies to become a counsellor or psychotherapist, you paraphrase in class.

Maybe your lecturer brings a body of work, and you listen and make notes: you’re paraphrasing as you distill this down to what you feel is important.

How Paraphrasing Builds Empathy

How does paraphrasing affect the client-counsellor relationship?

First of all, it helps the client to feel both heard and understood. The client brings their material, daring to share that with you.

And you show that you’re listening by giving them a little portion of that back – the part that feels the most important. You paraphrase it down.

And if you do that accurately and correctly, and it matches where the client is, the client is going to recognise that and to feel heard: ‘ Finally, somebody is there really listening, really understanding what it is that I am bringing.’

This keys right into empathy, because it’s about building that empathic relationship with the client. And empathy is not a one-way transaction .

..."Empathy [is] the ability to ‘perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person, but without ever losing the 'as if' conditions." Carl Rogers (1959, pp. 210–211)

In other words, we walk in somebody’s shoes as if their reality is our reality – but of course it’s not our reality, and that’s where the ‘as if’ comes in.

I’ve heard this rather aptly described as ‘walking in the client’s shoes, but keeping our socks on’!

Empathy is a two-way transaction – that is, it’s not enough for us to be 100% in the client’s frame of reference , understanding their true feelings; the client must also perceive that we understand .

When the client feels at some level that they have been understood, then the empathy circle is complete.

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Reflecting Skills

Ensuring that you understand your clients, and that your clients feel understood by you is foundational to the counseling relationship. The skills on this page are particularly useful for building the counseling relationship by helping your clients to know that you are hearing and understanding what they are saying.

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Reflecting

Summarizing, paraphrasing, and reflecting are probably the three most important & most commonly used microskills. These skills can be used by counselors to demonstrate their empathy to clients, make the counseling session go "deeper", & increase clients' awareness of their emotions, cognitions, & behaviors. All three methods involve repeating back, in your own words, what the client has said. Counselors often go beyond simple repetition and include their own interpretations of the client's emotions or existential meaning to increase the "depth" of the session. These techniques can often be used in place of questions, as, like questions, they prompt the client to reflect or talk more. However, these techniques often have additional benefits of questions as they also demonstrate that the counselor empathizes with and understands each client. Summaries, paraphrases, and reflections can be described as:

• Broadest of the three methods for repeating information.
• Useful at the end or beginning of session. For example, summarizing the session to the client or reorienting the client to the previous session.
• Summaries can include condensed paraphrases & reflections.
• Not as broad as a summary, yet more broad than a reflection.
• Useful for pacing counseling sessions and for demonstrating empathy to clients.
• Paraphrases can contain condensed reflections.
• There are three broad types of reflection: Reflections of content, reflections of feeling, & reflections of meaning.
• Counselors can strengthen their reflections by constructing a reflection that integrates content, process, affect, and meaning. For example, "While talking about the loss of your dog (content) I experience you as alternating between anger and sadness (affect). That makes a lot of sense to me (self-disclosure), since you told me that seeing your dog at the end of a stressful day kept you grounded (meaning)".

Types of Reflections

Counselors can reflect a wide range of information, but reflections typically include one or more of the following:

• Reflecting content involves repeating back to clients a version of what they just told you. Reflecting content shows the client you understand and are listening to them. Typically, reflecting content alone is not as powerful as reflecting content with emotions and/or meaning.
• Reflecting a client's emotions is often useful for heightening the client's awareness of and ability to label their own emotions. It is important that counselors have a wide emotional vocabulary, so they can tailor their word choice to match a level of emotional intensity that is congruent with a client's experience. Feeling word charts are useful for reviewing a wide range of feeling words.
• As existential theorists observe, humans are meaning making creatures. Reflecting a client's meaning can increase the client's self-awareness while encouraging emotional depth in the session.

Emotional Heightening

Counselors can intentionally use language to increase or decrease the emotional intensity of their reflections, thereby altering a client's emotional arousal. Using evocative language and metaphors (e.g., "walking on eggshells") encourages clients to go deeper into a particular experience or emotion, which can heighten awareness and understanding. Conversely, a counselor might support a client in containing their emotions toward the end of the session, so the client is prepared to leave the session.

It is important that counselors attempt to match their reflections to the emotional intensity of the client's experience. Thus, intentionality is important when counselors reflect more or less emotion than the client expresses, as doing so can result in the client feeling misunderstood and not listened to.

An example of emotional heightening is:

• Client: "My wife and I can't stop fighting with each other, and things are really escalating."
• Counselor: "Your fights are becoming more explosive and hostile."

Paraphrasing in Counselling

Table of Contents

In essence, paraphrasing is a micro skill that allows counselors to create an authentic bond with their clients  Together with encouraging and summarizing, paraphrasing plays a crucial role in therapeutic communication, making the client feel understood and listened to.  In other words, paraphrasing in counseling is what makes the client say, “ Finally, someone who understands what I’m going through.” Without this essential ingredient, counseling sessions would be nothing more than dull and impersonal exchanges of ideas.

What is the difference between reflecting and paraphrasing in Counseling?

Paraphrasing and reflecting are close synonyms for most people, both playing a crucial role in any form of communication.

Although paraphrasing and reflecting are fundamental counseling communication skills [1], these two processes can have slightly different connotations in a therapeutic context.

In essence, reflecting is like putting a mirror in front of your clients, helping them gain a better sense of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors they experienced in a situation that has meaning for them.

Of course, this does not mean you have to parrot their message; simply highlight the link between different ideas and emotions and how one influences the other.

When reflecting, it is vital to match the client’s tone and even body language so that he/she knows that you’ve received the message and the feelings that accompany his/her story.

On the other hand, paraphrasing is about capturing the essence of their story with a brief statement that emphasizes the underlying emotional vibe.

This technique is particularly useful when clients know how ideas and emotions can merge to create a subjective experience, but you want them to feel understood and listened to.

In a way, we could argue that paraphrasing is a brief version of reflecting.

Let’s look at a brief example of paraphrasing in counseling:

Client: I had a huge fight with Andrew last night. At some point, he stormed out and didn’t come back ‘til morning. I tried calling him all night, but his phone was switched off. I was worried sick and thought he did something stupid. This whole thing was like a nightmare that I could not wake up from.

Therapist : It seems this unpleasant event has put you through a lot of fear and anxiety.

Now let’s take a look at reflecting:

Therapist : I can only imagine how terrifying it must have felt to see your partner storm out after a huge fight without telling you where he is going or when he’ll be back.

As you can see, both processes require active listening. But while paraphrasing is a short statement that highlights the emotional tone of the situation, a reflective response captures “the vibe” of the story, along with other essential details.

How do you paraphrase?

Start by listening.

Whether the purpose is to paraphrase or reflect, listening is always the first step.

Through active listening, counselors gain a better sense of what their clients have experienced in a particular situation. Active listening means looking beyond the surface and trying to connect with the client on an emotional level.

To achieve this level of emotional depth, counselors listen with both their ears and their hearts. That means putting themselves in their clients’ shoes and zeroing in on the emotional aspect of the experience.

Focus on feelings and thoughts rather than circumstances

When we listen to another person’s story, the most visible aspects are related to the actual events that he or she has gone through.

But details like names, dates, locations, or other circumstantial issues are less relevant than how the person interpreted and consequently felt in a particular situation.

When it comes to paraphrasing, counselors are trained to look beyond circumstances and identify why a client has chosen to talk about a particular event.

In almost every case, the reason is a set of emotional experiences.

Capture the essence of the message

Although people can experience a wide range of emotions in a given situation or context, there’s always an underlying feeling that defines how they react.

That underlying emotional vibe is the “golden nugget” that counselors are looking to capture and express through paraphrasing.

If done right, paraphrasing in counseling creates an emotional bridge that sets the foundation for authentic and meaningful interactions. This will encourage clients to open up and share their struggles.

Offer a brief version of what has been said

The last step is providing a concise version that highlights the emotional tone of the story.

Once this message reaches the client, it creates a sense of understanding that builds trust and authentic connection.

Long story short, paraphrasing is a valuable tool for cultivating empathy and facilitating therapeutic change.

How does paraphrasing help in communication?

Cultivating clarity (on both sides).

Any form of communication, whether it’s a therapeutic process, a negotiation, or a casual chat between friends, involves exchanging ideas.

And when people exchange ideas and opinions, there’s always the risk of confusion and misunderstanding.

By paraphrasing what the other person has shared, not only that you cultivate empathy, but you also let him/her know that the message has been received and understood correctly.

Research indicates that paraphrasing in counseling helps clients clarify their issues. [2] The more clients understand the inner-workings of their problems, the better they can adjust their coping strategies.

In a nutshell, paraphrasing eliminates ambiguity and paves the way for clarity.

Facilitating emotional regulation

One of the main functions of paraphrasing is to build empathy between two or more people engaged in conversation.

But the effects of paraphrasing on emotions extend way beyond empathy and understanding.

One study revealed that empathic paraphrasing facilitates extrinsic emotional regulation. [3] People who receive empathy through paraphrasing feel understood, and that prompts them to engage in a more intense emotional regulation process.

What starts as extrinsic emotional regulation slowly becomes intrinsic emotional regulation. This is the reason why someone who’s going through a rough patch can feel better by merely talking to a person who listens in an empathic manner and doesn’t necessarily hand out solutions or practical advice.

Paraphrasing can be a vital skill in heated arguments where two people have opposing views that result in emotional turmoil.

If one of them manages to exercise restraint over their intense emotional reactions and tries to paraphrase what the other shares, it could change the whole dynamic of the conversation.

What is the role of paraphrasing in listening?

As we discussed throughout this article, paraphrasing is one of the critical aspects of active listening.

It’s what turns a passive individual who listens only to have something to say when it’s his/her turn to speak into an active listener who understands and resonates on an emotional level.

Furthermore, paraphrasing is a means by which we provide valuable feedback on the topic of discussion, keeping the conversation alive.

It is also the tool that allows therapists to build safe spaces where clients feel comfortable enough to unburden their souls by sharing painful experiences and gaining clarity.

To sum up, paraphrasing in counseling is a vital micro skill that creates an authentic connection, providing clients with the opportunity to experience a sense of understanding.

Knowing there is someone who resonates with your emotional struggles makes your problems seem less burdensome.

Paraphrasing

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is repeating back your understanding of the material that has been brought by the client in your own words. A paraphrase reflects the essence of what has been said.

We all use paraphrasing in our everyday lives. If you look at your studies to become a counsellor or psychotherapist, you paraphrase in class. Maybe your lecturer brings a body of work, and you list and make notes: you’re paraphrasing as you distil this down to what you feel is important.

The Power of Paraphrasing:

• The speaker feels heard.
• Helps the listener to adjust frame of reference.
• Highlights areas of high importance.
• Acts as an invite to explore deeper.
• Can indicate an end to the current discussion.

How Paraphrasing Builds Empathy

How does paraphrasing affect the client-counsellor relationship? First of all, it helps the client to feel both heard and understood. The client brings their material, daring to share that with you, and you show that you’re listening by giving them a little portion of that back – the part that feels the most important. You paraphrase it down. If you do that accurately and correctly, and it matches where the client is, the client is going to recognise that and feel heard: ‘Finally, somebody is really listening, really understanding what it is that I am bringing.’

This keys right into empathy, because it’s about building that empathic relationship with the client – and empathy is not a one-way transaction. Carl Rogers (1959, pp. 210-211) defines ‘empathy’ as the ability to ‘perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person, but without ever losing the “as if” conditions’. In other words, we walk in somebody’s shoes as if their reality is our own – but of course it’s not our reality, and that’s where the ‘as if’ comes in. I’ve heard this rather aptly described as ‘walking in the client’s shoes, but keeping our socks on’!

Empathy is a two-way transaction – it’s not enough for us to be 100% in the client’s frame of reference and understanding their true feelings; the client must also perceive that we understand. When the client feels at some level that they have been understood, then the empathy circle is complete.

For example, if you watch a TV programme in which somebody achieves something that is really spectacular, you may find yourself moved for this person. You’re almost there with them on this journey, and as they’re receiving their award or their adulation, and the audience is clapping for what they’ve done, you may even be moved to tears. But the person on the TV cannot perceive your reaction – the empathy is empty, because it’s one-way.

So empathy is effective only if your client feels heard and understood – i.e. they sense that empathic connection. Using paraphrasing is a way of completing the empathy circle – a way of letting them know that we see and hear them.

Other Benefits of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing also highlights issues by stating them more concisely. This is focusing down: it invites the client to go and delve deeper into part of what they have said. We can also use paraphrasing to check out the accuracy of our perception as a counsellor.

Below is an example of my use of paraphrasing to clarify my understanding of what was brought. This shows how paraphrasing affects the therapeutic relationship; because the paraphrase fits well for the client, she feels heard and understood. As this happens, the material deepens.

I really have a battle with doing things for the impression that others will have of me, or the approval that I will get from other people for what it is that I do. So much so that I will very often override myself, my family, so that I can gain the acceptance, I guess, of other people, whether friends, family or clients in a work situation. I will always favour what the action would be that would gain that acceptance, that would not bring up any sort of confrontation or maybe have a conflict situation arise from it.

So, I guess, I’m eager to please, wanting to make sure that all things are well and smooth – and that I’m liked and accepted with whatever the transaction or situation may be.

Counsellor:

As you’re saying that, it really feels like a lot of hard work. A lot of hard work, pre-empting whatever it is that they would have expected of you, and then ‘sacrificing’, I guess, is a word that came up for me – sacrificing your own wants/needs to be able to meet what you perceive is expected of you. Have I understood that correctly?

Yeah, the word ‘sacrifice’ really captures the feeling that comes up for me when I sort of reflect and look over that kind of situation. So often, I will sacrifice my own wants and my own desires…

In this example, the client really resonated with the word ‘sacrifice’, which the counsellor introduced as a paraphrase; she really felt understood. And it’s interesting to note that throughout the rest of this stimulated session, the word ‘sacrifice’ became almost a theme.

Another paraphrase in this example was ‘hard work’. Although the client hadn’t used this phrase herself, she was presenting visually as weighed down. Her shoulders looked heavy as she was bringing the material. So the counsellor was paraphrasing, not only the words of the narrative, but digging deeper, looking for the feelings and paraphrasing the whole presence of that client within that relationship.

Listening for ‘the Music behind the Words’

Here is another example of paraphrasing, from the same skills session. Try to see if you can hear, as Rogers would put it, ‘the music behind the words’, where the counsellor looks deeper than just the words the client is bringing, paraphrasing back their whole being.

Out of my own will or my own free choice, I would put that aside and favour what would be accepted – or what I think someone else would rather I do. And sometimes it’s hard. It leaves me with a situation of not knowing if they actually really realise what it is that I sacrificed, that I’ve given up, so that it can fall into what I think they would prefer in that situation.

It feels confusing to you in that situation of whether they even perceive what it is that you are sacrificing, what you’re giving up. That it almost feels like you’re giving up part of yourself to match what you think they may want or need from you. And I kind of got the feeling, as you were saying that you wonder if they even see that.

Yeah. As I was sort of verbalizing and talking through that, I actually realised that even within that sacrifice, it’s all my perception of what I think they might want me to do. And just saying that is actually a bit ridiculous. Because how am I to know what it is that they want or need to do? So here I am – disregarding my own desires, for lack of a better word – to do something I assume someone else would want me to do instead.

I thought it was really interesting that this client started off in what felt to me like an external locus of evaluation. She was confused, and wondering whether the people she refers to understood what she was giving up to meet their perceived expectations. Immediately after the counsellor’s paraphrase, this client experienced a moment of movement from an external to an internal locus of evaluation, where she realised it was all about her own perceptions and responsibility. In this way, she went from being powerless to having the power to change this situation.

Next Steps in Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is so much more than just repeating the client’s words back to them using your own words. Although it might feel very simplistic – and there’s often a tendency to paraphrase the narrative/story that the client brings, rather than their feelings/process – there’s so much more to it than that and so much deeper that we can go. There’s real power in paraphrasing.

I suggest that you:

• Practice active listening and paraphrasing in your day-to-day life.
• Practice paraphrasing in your own stimulated skills sessions.
• Try to look for the full person when paraphrasing, e.g. not just the client’s words, but also their body language, facial expressions, and way of being within the counselling relationship.
• Record these sessions (with your peer’s consent) and listen back to them.
• Speak to your peers about paraphrasing.
• Evaluate each other’s skills and explore how you might paraphrase more effectively.
• Look whether you’re getting empathic connection within your paraphrasing.
• Search out moments of movement when you paraphrase.
• Ask how paraphrasing affects both the client and you, as a counsellor.

Paraphrasing is definitely something that should be debated. I hope that this chapter will encourage you to go out there with a new passion for – and a new way of looking at – paraphrasing!

Alternatives to Questions

What else can we use when we’re not sure what exactly a client means? For example, if a client was speaking about his brother and father, he might say: ‘I really struggle with my brother and my father. They don’t get on, and at times he makes me so angry.’ Who does the client mean by ‘he’: the brother or the father? Not knowing who makes him angry means I cannot be fully within the client’s frame of reference.

I could ask: ‘Sorry, just so I can understand, who it is that you’re angry at – your father or your brother?’ This risks ripping the client out of that emotion (the anger). Instead, we could use reflection: ‘He makes you so angry.’ This invites the client to expand on what he has said. He might say: ‘Yes, ever since I was a young boy, my dad was always…’ In this case, I didn’t need to ask a question – we’re still in the feelings, and I’ve got what I needed in order to be fully in the client’s frame of reference.

Of course, the client might not reveal the information I need in his answer – for example, if he responded to my reflection: ‘He does. He makes me really angry – in fact, so angry that I don’t know what to do about it anymore.’ In that case, I would still need to put in a question: ‘Is this your dad or your brother that you’re referring to?’

Rogers, C, 1959. ‘A Theory of Therapy, Personallity, and Interpersonal Relations, as Developed in the Client-Centered Framework’, in S Koch (ed.),  Psychology: A Study of a Science  (Vol.3), New York: McGraw-Hill, 184-256.

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• Writing in Social Work

Social workers provide assistance to populations in need, linking them to key resources and ensuring that they receive the help they need. As social workers, writing is one of our most powerful advocacy tools available and is vital to solving the demanding social problems we are currently facing. Success in writing can be key to gaining your clients the help and resources they need—writing in Social Work has real-world consequences!

Writing in Social Work is, for the most part, good writing in most contexts. Social Work writing needs to be clear, organized, targeted to a specific audience, on point, and use sources wisely. Research needs to be credible and drawn from credible Social Work journals in the United States.

There are two types of writing in social work: practitioner-based writing and scholarly writing. The practitioner is experienced-based and may conduct interviews with clients for writing reports; generally, this form of writing is more technical and precise. The scholar uses research and relies on sources and formal organization to compose texts and make original contributions to the body of knowledge within the field.

CLEAR —Use direct language

• For example, “This person is at risk.” This is JARGON. It is not clear what the person is at risk for. The statement is too general.
• Instead, describe the condition. “This person likely to relapse in their drug use” provides more description about the precise problem. Be specific.
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ORGANIZED —Have a clear beginning, middle, and end along with a logical progression of ideas.

• Your introduction should answer the following questions: What is the reader looking at?; Why is it important?; What is the purpose?
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• Consider following the Assertion-Support Analysis (ASA) model when constructing your body paragraphs. Begin with an assertion that makes an arguable claim. Then provide support via observational or scholarly evidence. Most importantly, remember to provide analysis that explains why the evidence supports your assertion—readers will not always make the same connections as you!
• The conclusion should pull your ideas together, restate what you have addressed, and provide any relevant implications from your work.

TARGETED TO AN AUDIENCE —Know who you are writing to and the most effective methods for conveying information to them.

• Go beyond your instructor as audience to reach a general social work audience. Do not assume any specific knowledge unless your instructor has indicated you are dealing with a specialized audience.
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• Practitioners write in a technical fashion. Clarity of communication is critical and short, succinct sections are the most impactful. Be brief but specific.
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USE SOURCES WISELY ——Conduct proper research and present your findings professionally.

• Consult a librarian—they are more than willing to help.
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• Paraphrase whenever possible. Avoid direct quotations unless absolutely necessary. (Unless the specific words gain you something a paraphrase cannot, opt to paraphrase.)

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Why is paraphrasing important.

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Paraphrasing is a fundamental skill sitting at the crossroads of comprehension, expression, and academic integrity. In academic environment, paraphrasing holds significance due to a number of reasons. It’s an excellent mental workout that pushes the boundaries of your understanding and critical thinking. By rewording, you learn to articulate complex ideas in your own words, an invaluable skill for everyone in all fields. Moreover, paraphrasing plays a key role in maintaining academic integrity, allowing students to incorporate and acknowledge others’ ideas within their work. Continue reading to learn everything about the importance of paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and Skill Development

When done effectively, paraphrasing has several benefits that simple rewording can’t produce. It is a comprehensive ability that greatly contributes to academic and intellectual development. Let’s look at some of the important advantages:

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Paraphrasing and its impact on academic papers.

Paraphrasing is a part of academic writing. It links current information and fresh discoveries, enabling authors to include authoritative sources into their writings as a careful integration that adds depth and uniqueness. When done well, paraphrasing indicates the author’s understanding of the original material, demonstrating that they not only can grasp complicated topics but also explain them in a new way. This helps to build a stronger, more compelling argument by anchoring theoretical ideas in proven research and avoiding the problems of plagiarism.

Moreover, effective paraphrasing improves the academic paper by introducing diversity in expression and preventing monotony, keeping readers engaged. It allows the writer to maintain a consistent voice throughout the document, creating the paper as a cohesive story rather than a patchwork of disconnected quotations. This coherence is critical for the reader’s understanding and for conveying the author’s perspective on the topic.

Equally important is the ethical aspect of paraphrasing. Properly rephrased and cited, it maintains the integrity of academic work, distinguishing it from plagiarism and unauthorized use of intellectual property. This ethical practice supports the credibility and trustworthiness of the paper itself.

To sum up, paraphrasing significantly impacts academic papers by promoting understanding, originality, and ethical standards. It demonstrates the author’s capacity to participate in and contribute to academic dialogue, making it a valuable skill in the scholarly community.

What distinguishes effective paraphrasing from simple rewording?

Effective paraphrasing involves a deep understanding of the original material, allowing the paraphraser to convey the same ideas in a completely new way that reflects their voice and style. True paraphrasing demonstrates comprehension and the ability to critically engage with the text, thereby adding value to the academic discourse. In contrast, simple rewording often results in a piece that is too close to the source, lacking originality and failing to fully grasp the underlying concepts.

Can paraphrasing tools ensure academic integrity?

While paraphrasing tools can aid in rephrasing text, they do not guarantee academic integrity on their own. These tools may provide a starting point for rewriting content, but they often lack the nuance and understanding required for true paraphrasing. Academic integrity involves correctly interpreting and crediting the source material, a process that requires human judgment and ethical consideration. Thus, while paraphrasing tools can be helpful, they should be used cautiously, with the final work carefully reviewed and adjusted to ensure it meets academic standards.

How does paraphrasing contribute to the development of academic writing style?

Paraphrasing contributes to the development of academic writing style by enhancing clarity, precision, and personal voice. It encourages deeper engagement with source material, leading to better critical thinking and analytical skills. Through paraphrasing, writers expand their vocabulary and learn to express complex ideas in their own manner, making their arguments more cohesive.

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Social Work Haven

Why Active Listening is Essential in Social Work

Sharing is caring, what is social work active listening.

Active listening is a communication technique used in social work to help the person being listened to feel understood and supported.

Active listening involves listening to a piece of information carefully, asking relevant questions using both open and closed ended questioning style and techniques such as paraphrasing and summarising to understand the client’s world and build a trusting relationship.

Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting back on what they have heard.

This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.

In social work, it is essential as part of the social work competencies to learn how to actively listen to clients.

What is active listening in social work?

Active listening is an essential social work skill that is required to ensure social workers are able to engage and identify the needs of clients or service users effectively.

However, this technique should be employed with caution because there are times when active listening may result in negative consequences for someone who has experienced trauma or disclosed sensitive information during conflict or heated discussions.

Active listeners need only concern themselves with providing appropriate feedback that shows understanding without judgment by considering how these circumstances differ from other forms of conversations where responding appropriately might be more important.

Why is listening important in social work?

People who are socially disadvantaged and underprivileged often lack a sense of belonging.

Social workers can use active listening to address this problem by showing their clients that they care about what they have to say.

Active listening as a communication technique can help the client feel a sense of belonging. It can also help the social worker empathise with the clients/service user’s situation.

Given all of this information, there must be many benefits for using active listening as a tool in social work?

How can you use active listening in your own life to improve communication with others?

• Pay attention.
• Show that you’re listening.
• Provide feedback.
• Defer judgment.
• Respond appropriately.

Benefits of using active listening skills in social work

With active listening as a communication technique, it can help social workers build better relationships with their clients.

It allows the client to feel heard and understood, which can help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.

It can also help the social worker better understand the client’s situation and needs.

In addition, active listening can improve communication between the social worker and client, and it can also help the client feel more connected to the social work community as well as their own immediate community.

1. Pay attention to help improve communication.

Paying attention is one of the most important things you can do to improve communication.

When you’re paying attention, you’re showing that you’re interested in what the other person has to say.

You’re also more likely to remember what they say, and you’ll be better able to respond appropriately.

There are a few things you can do to improve your ability to pay attention:

a. Make eye contact.

b. Put away distractions.

c. Stay focused

d. Repeat back what you’ve heard.

e. Ask questions.

Making eye contact is one of the simplest ways to show that you’re paying attention.

It lets the other person know that you’re engaged in the conversation and that you’re interested in what they are saying.

Putting away distractions when someone is talking is essential. This is because, it’s important to focus on them and what they’re saying.

This means putting away any distractions and focusing all of your energy on the conversation.

It can be helpful to make eye contact and to nod to show that you’re listening.

You may also want to take notes to help you remember what was said.

Staying focussed when communicating with clients or service users can help improve communication.

However, it can be difficult to stay focussed when the person is talking, especially if they’re talking about something that’s not interesting to you.

Nevertheless, it’s important to make an effort to focus on what they’re saying and not to interrupt them.

You may also want to ask questions in order to better understand what the client or service user is trying to communicate to you.

What are some tips for staying focussed when the person is talking?

i. Make an effort to focus on what they’re saying and not to interrupt them.

ii. Ask questions in order to better understand what they’re saying.

You may be interested in reading the following articles:

• Social Work Burnout
• Genogram in Social Work

Repeating back what you’ve heard can help improve communication.

When you repeat back what you’ve heard, it shows the speaker that you’re actively listening and that you care about what they have to say.

It also gives you a chance to clarify anything that you may not have understood. You can usually do this by paraphrasing what the person has said in your own words.

e. Ask relevant questions when communicating

When you’re communicating with someone, it’s important to ask relevant questions in order to better understand what they’re saying.

This also shows that you’re interested in what they have to say. However, you should avoid asking too many questions at once, as this can be overwhelming for the speaker.

2.0 Show that you’re listening

Listening is more than just keeping your mouth shut and your ears open.

If you want to show that you’re paying attention, it’s important to let the other person know by giving nonverbal cues. So, how can you give nonverbal cues?

a. Nod occasionally.

b. Smile, laugh, and nod when appropriate.

c. Frown or furrow your brow if something appears unusual.

3.0 Provide feedback

Providing feedback is an important part of active listening, because it lets the speaker know that you’re paying attention and care about what they have to say.

It can also help keep the conversation moving forward. There are several ways to provide feedback while listening:

a. Paraphrasing what you hear.

b. Minimal encouragers, such as ‘yeah,’ ‘uh-huh,’ and ‘right.’

c. Reflection of feeling.

Offer reflection of feelings when appropriate. This shows that you’re listening and that you care about what the speaker or client is saying. It can also help to clarify feelings, because sometimes people don’t know how they feel until they hear themselves.

4.0 Summarising

Summarising is a more advanced form of active listening that can help you confirm your understanding of what the other person is saying, and it can also let them know that they’ve been heard.

It’s often helpful to repeat back information or to ask for clarification when summarising.

5.0 Reflect on your own feelings

There are times when it’s appropriate to ask the person you’re talking with about their feelings.

However, it’s important not to focus on your own emotions during active listening, because that can make it more difficult for the other person to speak openly about their feelings.

When you reflect feelings back to someone, remember that this often requires that you actively listen to what they have to say before reflecting their emotions back.

In some cases, you may need to ask questions in order to get the information you need to reflect feelings accurately.

6.0 Responding appropriately is important

Responding appropriately is an important part of active listening, because it shows that you care about what someone has said and how they feel.

However, in some cases, it’s important to be careful with your response in order to avoid making a personal interpretation or offering a perspective that isn’t relevant.

In these cases, it may be best to show that you’re listening without adding anything else:

a. When someone is talking about their feelings.

b. When someone is being argumentative.

7.0 Defer judgement

There are times when it’s appropriate to offer your opinion or perspective, but there are also situations where it might be better not to.

In cases where judgement could result in negative consequences for the other person, it’s best to avoid offering any feedback so you can continue listening attentively:

a. When someone has experienced trauma.

b. When someone is disclosing information.

c. During conflict or heated discussions.

d. With children and adolescents.

What are the 7 skills for active listening?

• Avoid asking too many questions at once.
• Make sure you’re not distracted by anything else going on around you.
• Maintain eye contact
• Use open ended questions
• Use the TED (Tell me, Explain and Describe) technique

What is the goal of active listening?

The goal of active listening is to help the speaker feel heard and understood.

It can also provide the speaker with information, support, and feedback.

Active listening can also help the listener to better understand the speaker’s point of view.

What are the types of active listening?

• Paraphrasing
• Reflecting back
• Asking relevant questions
• Summarising
• Restating the main points

How can you show that you’re actively listening?

There are several ways to show that you’re actively listening. The skills of active listening include;

• Making eye contact
• Taking notes
• Using encouraging and positive statements.
• Using short simple sentences

Conclusion:

Communication skills in social work is essential when supporting clients or servicer users. 

Active listening is important to good communication. The key to active listening is listening without judgement and offering appropriate feedback when needed.

In addition, patience in social work also helps with active listening.

Doing so can help you make a real difference in someone’s life, and it can also provide the speaker with the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve been heard and understood.

Socialworkhaven.com Useful Resources

• Social Work To-Do List

Social Work To – Do List: What To Include: We sometimes struggle with managing our daily tasks as social workers. This is not because we do not have the skills. The work load, crisis and challenges we face can be overwhelming. That is why a social work to-do list may help us manage better.

• Recommended Books

Best Social Work Books Every Student Must Read  is a great article full of highly recommended and engaging books. Helping student social workers to equip themselves with knowledge and skills. It is a great way to empower yourself and encourage you to read more.

• Social Work Registration

Social Work Registration: Get it done – is a useful article that walks you through the social work registration process.

51 Effective Ways to Fight Social Work Burnout helps practitioners explore 51 effective ways to fight Social Work Burnout. Social work burnout can affect the way we execute our role. It can cause social work stress, and a stressed social worker cannot perform their role effectively.

• Active Listening in Social Work

Why You Should Actively Listen as a Social Worker raises awareness of active listening in social work. Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting on what they have heard. This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.

• Social Work Humour

Social Work Humour for the End of a Long Day This article explains when social work humour is important. Essential social work skills include empathy, authenticity, resilience and respect. These skills help us cope with situations and meet the needs of service users or clients. However, the best coping mechanism in social work is definitely humour.

• Social Work CV Writing

Social Work CV Writing This article is a must read – whether you are a student, newly qualified, or an experienced social worker, and looking for a new company to work for, you will find these 13 fundamental tips useful if you want to create the perfect Social Work CV/resume that will make you outshine others and get noticed.

• Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work

Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work Social work values include respect, dignity and worth of individuals, pursuit of social justice, integrity and competence. This article explores what ‘respect’ means in social work. Social work values are the beliefs and principles of social workers, which guide their practice and help them to determine the right course of action when making decisions.

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• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on April 8, 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 1, 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to integrate sources by paraphrasing instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

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Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs. quoting, paraphrasing vs. summarizing, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• “Advancement and contamination” doesn’t really convey the same meaning as “development and pollution.”
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: “home” for “habitat” and “sea creatures” for “marine animals.”
• Adding phrases like “inhabiting the vicinity of” and “puts pressure on” makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Introduced the information with the signal phrase “Scientists believe that …”
• Retained key terms like “development and pollution,” since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

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It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarizing .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarizing is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

Paraphrasing tools are widely used by students, and can be especially useful for non-native speakers who may find academic writing particularly challenging. While these can be helpful for a bit of extra inspiration, use these tools sparingly, keeping academic integrity in mind.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper. And of course, always be sure to read your source material yourself and take the first stab at paraphrasing on your own.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, June 01). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 7, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-paraphrase/

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For the Helpers by the Helpers

• Listening Response 2: Paraphrasing

1 . A brief introduction about paraphrasing

Paraphrasing has been regarded in professional literature as an influential reaction that greatly contributes to the process’s progress. This reaction encourages additional thoughts and new expressions which then aid the client in examining conflicts. Using paraphrasing during counselling also assists the social worker to clarify and brighten the client’s expressions.

2. What is paraphrasing?

• Paraphrasing is rephrasing the main content of the client’s message (usually in a shortened form) to clarify the essence of what he or she has just said.
• Paraphrasing is about stating thoughts from a different angle.
• It concentrates on immediate client statements.
• It is about taking what the client has said and repeating it back to them in your own words BUT not necessarily using the same words.
• An accurate paraphrase would involve interchangeability of client’s ideas.
• In summary, paraphrasing is simply just about condensing, capturing and stating in your own words the important con t ent message of what someone has just said.

3. What is not paraphrasing?

• Paraphrasing is not equivalent to repeating what the clients say.
• Repetition only shows that the social worker has memorized the message. It does not show whether the client’s words and ideas have been understood.
• Parroting (repeating what the client has said word for word) also conveys the idea that that social worker is not “being there” with the client. In addition, it might irritate the client as they do not add anything valuable to the interview

To avoid parroting, try and recall how you were processing as you listened to the client, come at what the client has said from a different perspective, use your own words, change the order and refer to an expressed but unnamed emotion.

Having said that, at times, it is helpful for the social worker to repeat the client’s preferred words especially if the client uses a particular word rather frequently. This is highly useful as it helps the client feel a higher degree of rapport with the social worker. Also, when a client shares a particular insight, parroting might help the insight to sink in further.

4. Key points to remember while paraphrasing:

• When restating in your own words bear in mind that you have to so in a manner where the content and meaning of what has been said remains the same without any change. In other words, the social worker should not add or alter the meaning of the client’s statement.
• Also, such rephrasing statements should be void of judgment.
• In addition, paraphrasing statements should be presented without an attempt to problem-solve.
• Always check the accuracy of your paraphrasing with your client through phrases such as “Is that right?”.
• A tip for helping students who have difficulties in paraphrasing would be to slow down the pace of the helping relationship so that they would have more time to think. During this time, students should try to recall the key message and attend to it. Also, recall key points and try to reconstruct it you’re your own words.

Moreover, many people have this conception that paraphrasing is merely putting the other person’s ideas in another way. However, effective paraphrasing comes from an attitude, a desire to know what the other person means. Hence, it is essential to communicate the meaning that their words convey to you

  5. Lead-Ins for paraphrasing :

Social workers use a wide range of different lead-ins for paraphrasing. This would add variety to the interview. Some common examples are listed below:

• What I hear you saying is…
• In other words…
• So basically how you felt was…
• What happened was…
• Sounds like you’re feeling…
• To put it in a different way, you seem to be saying…
• As I understand it…
• It seems like…
• So, from where you sit…
• I’m not certain I understand you; you’re feeling…

Social workers should remember to state paraphrases in a tentative way so the clients can correct errors, confirm accuracy or provide more detail. Also, a tentative paraphrase helps to pave the way for open discussions that might lead to deeper explorations. Examples of such tentative statements are “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sensing…” and “Would I be right to say that you feel…”.

6. What is the purpose of paraphrasing?

In the beginning stage, paraphrasing is especially important as the social worker is just starting to understand how the client feels and thinks

The client has an opportunity to know that the social worker has been listening to them, is with them and is interested in what he or she has to say. Thus, paraphrasing has a powerful and positive effect as the client in turn would release their defense guard and would share more without fear. Sharing more would lead to new understanding or insights for client with respect to their feelings and problems.

Through paraphrasing, client can also have an idea if the social worker has understood what he or she has said. If he or she feels that they have yet to be accurately understood by the social worker, then this provides them a chance to try to make the message clearer or correct the inaccuracy. On the other hand, if the paraphrase is accurate, it engages the client more and makes them open up more.

Paraphrasing is useful for confirming understanding such as confirming the social worker’s perceptions. Paraphrasing helps in the process of sorting out important from less important information. This helps the client to not only focus on the content of his or her message but also aid them in organizing their disjointed thoughts.

Lastly, paraphrasing helps to highlight content when attention to feelings is too early or self-defeating.

7. Examples of Paraphrasing:

7.1: Condensing client’s message and capturing the essence of it

Client: I lost my job at the start of the year. On top of that I had marital problems with my husband. My children just don’t seem to respect me.

Social worker: The message I get is that you’ve had a number of serious things going wrong this year.

7.2: Though using the same words, trying to make it sound like it is from a different angle by changing the sequence of the words.

Client: I know it doesn’t help my depression to sit around at home or stay in bed all day.

Social worker: It sounds like you know you should avoid staying in bed or sitting around all day to help your depression.

7.3: Checking accuracy of the rephrased statement with client

Client: I have been having a terrible time at work. I am so restless and I cant seem to concentrate. My supervisor warned me that I am not doing a good job and that if I don’t improve, she would fire me.

Social Worker: In other words, you find difficulty in concentrating and that your supervisor is displeased with your work and may fire you. Is that right?

8. How paraphrasing could be used with other skills

It is important to note that reflecting expressions in the relationships have been regarded as a similar psychological technique to paraphrasing although it includes emotional aspects which are beyond cognitional elements that are used in paraphrasing. Nevertheless, using both paraphrasing and reflecting in the counselling process encourages the client to explore and examine their feelings and thoughts and also brightens significant hidden aspects and lastly aids in developing an insight.

—————————————————————————————–

This section was done by Revathi D/O Thangavel.

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• Engaging in the Beginning Stage
• Listening Response 1: Clarification
• Listening Response 3: Reflection
• Listening Response 4: Summary
• Interview with Social Worker (Mr Benny Bong)
• Case Profile for Good and Bad Demonstrations
• Bad Demonstration 1: Engaging in the Beginning Stage
• Bad Demonstration 2: Clarification
• Bad Demonstration 3: Paraphrasing
• Bad Demonstration 4: Reflection
• Bad Demonstration 5: Summary
• Good Demonstration (with Mr Benny Bong)
• The Beginning Stage Skills
• Family Service Centres
• Uncategorized (1)

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Paraphrasing

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This resource introduces paraphrasing as a critical academic practice and provides examples to help you recognise what makes a good and bad paraphrase.

What is a paraphrase?

To paraphrase is to ‘reword’ text , so that the content information stays the same while other aspects of the communication are changed. From a learning perspective, paraphrasing is really the nuts and bolts of information 'processing', done as part of taking notes or drafting new text. It is the opposite of mindlessly copying information. It's core to the business of developing a personal understanding of something, as well as avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is not only about failing to acknowledge a source of information; it's also about failing to make sense of information in relation to a new purpose and context.

Being able to paraphrase well is a challenging and creative part of academic writing. Doing it well demonstrates:

• you have a sound understanding of the original source
• you have credibility as an independent intellect
• you are proficient and flexible in your use of English.

In contrast to a summary, which would be far shorter than the original text, a paraphrase might be the same length, or longer. What defines a good paraphrase is not the length, but the degree to which the original text has been reworded and referenced effectively and appropriately to accurately convey the original meaning and source in the context of the paraphraser’s argument.

Why is paraphrasing difficult?

Paraphrasing is often much more difficult than summarising, as paraphrasing requires you to reword the original text while still retaining the meaning and relating the information in the context of your writing.

If you don't paraphrase well, you might risk altering the meaning of the original text. For example:

Original text (from Jagtenberg & D’Alton’s Four Dimensional Social Space )

The education system has performed, on an even wider scale, a major task of social control, training the growing workforce in the discipline and work style necessary in a capitalist economy, and systematically conveying ‘acceptable’ — i.e. safe — social attitudes to the rising generations.

Bad paraphrasing attempt – misrepresenting the original meaning

According to Jagtenberg and D'Alton (1988), the education system is the major form of control in a capitalist economy.

Note that in this paraphrase the use of ‘the major form of control’ overstates and therefore misrepresents the argument in the original text.

Also, if your paraphrase is too close to the original, it is considered plagiarised. For example:

Bad paraphrasing attempt – close paraphrase

According to Jagtenberg and D'Alton (1988), the education system has performed social control in a capitalist society: training the growing workforce and work style, and teaching 'acceptable' social attitudes for the young generations.

Note that this paraphrase closely follows the structure of the original text and includes many of its phrases, and thus, can be considered plagiarism.

How do I paraphrase?

While there are a number of techniques you can use to put something into your own words, such as changing the sentence structure and noun phrases and using appropriate synonyms, the most important thing you need to focus on are the key ideas that you wish to convey to support your argument.

You can paraphrase a text in many different ways, depending on which idea or concept from the original text you want to use to support your argument. In the examples below, the underlined part is the main idea of each paraphrase.

Original (from Spiro's Tax Policy and the Underground Economy )

One of the considerations that is all too often ignored in discussions of tax policy is the way it affects the underground economy. Theoretical tax models almost always assume that everybody follows the rules. In reality, the behavioural response to tax changes has a wider range of variation than the choice between labour and leisure. Many otherwise honest citizens are prepared to break the law in order to evade taxes. Once the underground economy is taken into account – in effect, the proposition that individuals may decide to “opt out” of the tax system – there is a whole new layer of complexity to tax policy. Taxes that may seem to be optimal without the underground economy may no longer be optimal once it is taken into consideration.

Example Paraphrase

• The underground economy is heavily influenced by tax policy. This is, however, often neglected by theoretical tax models, who usually assume that everyone follows the rule. In fact, as responses to tax changes vary, many honest citizens are prepared to commit tax crime (Spiro, 2013).
• According to Spiro (2013), even honest citizens are likely to break the law to evade taxes when faced with changes in tax policy, as responses to tax changes vary between individuals. Despite this, many theoretical tax models often neglect the importance of the effect of tax policy change over the economy.
• Spiro, in Tax Policy and the Underground Economy (2013), argues that theoretical tax models are wrong to overlook the effect that tax policy has on the underground economy because they unrealistically assume that every taxpayer follows the rules. In fact, different people respond differently to tax changes, and many may even commit tax crime when faced with such a problem.

Note in these examples, the key message to be conveyed from the original text is captured in the opening sentence or phrase.

Further resources

• Note taking
• Concept mapping
• Literature review
• Essay writing
• Jagtenberg, T & D’Alton, P 1988, Four Dimensional Social Space , Harper & Row, Sydney.
• Spiro, P 2013, ‘Tax Policy and the Underground Economy’, in C Bajada & F Schneider (eds.), The Shadow Economy: An International Survey , 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

3 Benefits of Paraphrasing: The Skill for Learning, Writing and Communicating

Paraphrasing is the underrated skill of reinstating, clarifying or condensing the ideas of another in your own words. By paraphrasing, you can curate credible and well-developed documents, and arguments. But there’s more to paraphrasing than the final result, the process of paraphrasing engages your ability to learn actively, write well, and communicate creatively.

Paraphrasing allows you to share another’s ideas in your own words. This powerful technique is useful in both written and verbal communication, and acts as a tool for conveying information effectively. Paraphrasing is an underrated skill that is beneficial to a variety of individuals from students and writers to employees and business owners. In any setting, sharing information well is the key to good quality work and results. The process of paraphrasing itself also has a number of benefits, making you a better learner, writer and communicator. 

Paraphrasing: The Active Learning Strategy 

Paraphrasing requires you to think about the information you want to convey. You need to understand the meaning in order to reword and restructure the idea, and share it effectively. The process of paraphrasing encourages you to get to the core message, and improves your understanding of the material. In this way, you are actively engaging with the material . Instead of passively reading, you are breaking down the ideas and concepts. Rather than slotting information into your writing, you’re reworking and tailoring it to your needs and your audience. 

Paraphrasing can improve your memory by encouraging you to engage with the information. The 5-step approach to paraphrasing suggests writing your first paraphrase without looking at the original material. This engages your ability to actively recall information from memory, and think of new ways to write it out, rather than simply trying to memorise what you read word for word. After your first draft, you’ll revisit the original material to check if your work conveys the same meaning, this part of the process can further strengthen memory. You’re again revisiting the material in a way that is active and assessing your understanding. Likewise, the practice of paraphrasing improves your ability to convey information, ensuring that it is well-written and tailored to your audience.

This learning method is particularly useful for exams. You’ll learn the material well, developing a deep understanding and continue to refine this as you paraphrase the information. You’ll also be practising your ability to share this information in a way that is well-written, avoids plagiarism and engages your audience. This means, you’ll be able to easily add these ideas into your assignments or exams, having already taken the time to understand the ideas deeply and even practised sharing this information. You’ll be able to show the depth of your learning through paraphrasing, proving you understand the bigger picture and the finer details. 

Paraphrasing: The Technique for Improving Writing Ability

Once you’ve understood the concept well, the process of paraphrasing can improve your writing ability in a variety of ways. You’ll improve your vocabulary by making use of synonyms and identifying key words. You might also switch between word categories, using a noun instead of a verb or changing  adjectives into adverbs. Overtime, this will make you a better writer. Paraphrasing is more than changing a few words and can involve switching between the active or passive voice, this can improve your ability to distinguish between the two. Effective paraphrasing also involves playing around with sentence structure, you might utilise shorter or longer sentences to convey the idea at hand. 

These benefits can still be found even when using paraphrasing tools . You’ll still have to test your understanding by assessing the paraphrase the tool produced. Likewise, you’ll be exposed to new ways of writing things, new words, sentence structures, and organisation. You’ll learn how to pick out the paraphrasing styles that do or don’t work for your writing. Beyond the more technical aspects of writing, paraphrasing can also teach you how to communicate more clearly. You might rearrange the information to emphasise a particular point, or simplify the language to make it accessible to your audience. This improves your ability to clarify the ideas of the original material, and make ideas that might be overly complex, easier to digest. 

Paraphrasing: The Skill for Better Communication 

Finally, paraphrasing can make you a better and more creative communicator. By engaging in the process of paraphrasing, you’re developing your ability to share one idea in a variety of ways. For this to be engaging, you have to get creative. You might play around with the tone, switching between formal, informal, casual, or persuasive. Imagine a business launching a new product, communicating the idea to various internal teams, and customers, each would require a different approach and yet the meaning behind the information would remain the same. 

You might ask questions such as, how can I tailor this information to my audience? How can I bring this aspect of the idea to life? This highlights how paraphrasing can really exercise your ability to communicate creatively. Similarly, paraphrasing can teach you how to share ideas in your own personal way. Whether you’re sharing an idea with a friend, or on social media, you’ll find you can share information in your own personal style while still retaining the original meaning. This can make ideas more accessible and relatable to those in your circle. Additionally, this can prove to be a useful skill in your career, studies or creative endeavours.

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What Is Time Management? 6 Strategies to Better Manage Your Time

Manage your time to reduce stress, raise productivity, and increase well-being with these tips.

In school, work, and daily life, we may encounter people who seem to have it all together. They are productive, stress-free, high achievers. But chances are, they were not born that way. Managing, organizing, and distributing time are skills that we can learn. Doing so can help you control your time and promote overall satisfaction.

Here are some tips and methods that can help you harness your time for better well-being.

What is time management?

Time management is the process of consciously planning and controlling time spent on specific tasks to increase how efficient you are. You may be familiar with setting deadlines, writing to-do lists, and giving yourself small rewards for accomplishing certain activities.

Motivating ourselves is a core part of time management—and it takes a bit of effort not only to motivate yourself but to cultivate good habits to work and live more efficiently.

To develop good routines and habits, you can start by knowing what strategies and best practices are out there. You can experiment with them in your own life to see what works for you.

Benefits of time management

Good time management can lead to a healthy, balanced lifestyle that may manifest as:

Reducing stress

Increasing energy

Achieving goals more efficiently

Prioritizing what's important

Accomplishing more in less time

Reducing procrastination

Boosting confidence

Getting further in your career or education

How we spend our days...

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim,” wrote Annie Dillard in her book The Writing Life [ 1 ] .  

This quote summarizes how humans conceptualize time and how we can develop skills and schedules to maximize productivity and achieve our goals. 

6 time management strategies

If you’re looking to take control of your time, here are six tips and strategies to get you started:

1. Conduct a time audit.

Start by assessing where you actually spend your time. Create a visual map of the approximate hours you spend on work, school, housework and chores, commuting, social media, and leisure activities. Then, you can drill in on school or work, dividing your previous week into days, then hours. How much time did it take to finish that paper? Did a work project take longer because you were scrolling on your phone?

Set goals based on this outcome. Planning ahead and setting time limits on your tasks and priorities can free up time for what’s most important to you, like spending more time with friends and family.

Start by dedicating a half hour every Sunday to intentionally planning your week ahead and setting daily goals.

Awareness, arrangement, adaptation

At the core of time management methods are the basic skills of awareness , arrangement , and adaptation [ 2 ]. This means being mindful of your time, structuring it, and adjusting it as you go, is the secret to effective time management. Executives now point to behavioral skills as the most important for the modern workforce, with “time management skills and the ability to prioritize” ranking second in IBM’s skills gap survey [ 3 ].

2. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to set your priorities.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a popular tool that helps you distinguish between tasks that are important, not important, urgent , and not urgent . The quadrant has four boxes in which you can split your tasks to prioritize what you should focus on first. They also correspond with the 4 D’s of execution: do, defer, delegate, and delete .

Quadrant 1: Important and urgent. Do these tasks first. These are the priorities that are most relevant to your goals.

Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent. Defer these for later in your schedule.

Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important. Delegate these to others, if possible, especially if they do not contribute to your long-term goals.

Quadrant 4: Not important and not urgent. Delete these tasks, or do them when you have free time because they are distractions from your priorities.

For an even simpler approach, create a task list and mark each item as urgent or important. Often, we prioritize urgent tasks instead of important ones—such as tasks that may be creative, important, and fulfilling but do not have a deadline—so identifying and labeling them can be a helpful step toward accomplishing your personal and professional goals.

3. Employ methods to “chunk” your time.

Once you have a better idea of what your priorities are, setting limits can be an excellent time management tool. There are several options for chunking your time into digestible pieces.

Try the Pomodoro method . This technique was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, a university student who was overwhelmed by studying and assignments. The Pomodoro method requires using a timer to break down your work into 25-minute intervals, separated by 5 minutes of break time. After four pomodoros, you may take a longer 15-30 minute break. Pomodoro (“tomato” in Italian) promotes concentration and relieves mental fatigue, which is especially useful for open-ended work like conducting research, studying for an exam, or finishing a consulting project.

By “chunking” time, you make big projects and goals less daunting. Less procrastination, more productivity.

Try an app to help you focus

Download Pomodor on your desktop or the Focus Keeper app for your phone.

4. Focus on one thing at a time. 

For most of us, multitasking is generally less efficient than focusing on one task at a time. In fact, one study found that only 2.5 percent of people are able to multitask effectively [ 4 ]. Doing too many things at once can impact your cognitive ability, making you feel unproductive or dissatisfied with your progress. Arranging your time so that you complete one task before starting another can boost your confidence.

Further, it may be helpful to compartmentalize tasks. If you are a writer, for example, you might dedicate Monday to research, Tuesday through Thursday to writing, and Friday to editing. 

5. Give yourself a reward.

Rewards can be a great source of motivation for adopting good time management habits. For each important task you accomplish, you can give yourself a little treat. It doesn't need to be extravagant or expensive. Here are some simple ways to motivate yourself:

Taking a break to enjoy your favorite snack

Going for a short walk outside

Call a friend or family member

Meditate for five minutes

Listen to a podcast episode or a chapter of an audiobook

For bigger rewards, you can indulge in activities like reading a book in the bath, planning a night out with friends, or booking a getaway. Exciting rewards can help you push through an especially tough project or work period.

6. Use apps to block out distractions.

Sometimes, rewards and good intentions are not enough to keep us focused. An app or browser extension can help you minimize distractions by blocking you from using social media or touching your phone. Here are some apps and extensions you can try:

Forest is an app that helps you stay focused and off your phone. The company partners with an organization called Trees for the Future to plant trees when you spend virtual coins earned in Forest.

StayFocused is a browser extension that prevents you from using time-wasting websites like Reddit, Twitter, Wikipedia, Instagram, and more. It’s highly configurable, so you can customize it to your specific distractions.

Freedom is a tool that can block both websites and apps on all of your devices, simultaneously. Take advantage of their free trial to know if it’s right for you.

How to create your own time management strategy

Now that you have some potential time management tips and methods in your toolkit, it’s time to create a strategy. You might experiment with several techniques before establishing the most effective long-term habits and routines for you. 

Establish goals and priorities.

Consider your lifestyle, whether you are a student or a working professional (or both), whether you have a family or aspire to become a digital nomad (or both!). Think of your long- and short-term goals for your career and personal development. Make sure the goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. What will it take to achieve them? How can you manage your time to maximize your productivity?

Once you have established your goals, prioritize them in order of importance. It may be helpful to use Post-its or pen and paper to visualize them.

Choose the best method for you.

Using the list of tips above, decide upon a method or two to implement. Based on what has worked for you in the past, you can mix and match different time management skills. If you are unsure of which ones will work for you, pick one at random and give it a try.

Plan and implement.

Apply your chosen method over a period of time. A month is typically enough time to evaluate whether a strategy is working. Over 30 days, monitor your progress. Take notes on how you feel after one or two weeks. Was one method more effective than the other? 

Take action today

Use a physical planner, Google calendar, or a simple notebook to set your monthly and weekly goals. For daily tasks, write a to-do list every morning with achievable (Swiss Cheese) goals. Feel free to buffer your days for flexibility and sprinkle in plenty of little rewards.

After one month of your new time management methods, it’s time to reassess. What’s working? What’s not working? Adjust your strategy and plan to be more effective. Continue to practice these habits each month, adapting them as your priorities change. What works for you when you are a student may not be the same as when you start a new job.

Remember, practicing time management is an ongoing process, and life happens. It’s about progress, not perfection.

Learn how to manage your time effectively

Learn more effective time management tips from instructors at top universities with a course like Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal & Professional Productivity from the University of California Irvine. This course is offered on its own as well as part of the Career Success specialization.

Give your team access to a catalog of 8,000+ engaging courses and hands-on Guided Projects to help them develop impactful skills. Learn more about Coursera for Business .

Article sources

Dillard, Annie. “ The Writing Life , https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Writing_Life.html?id=it8NwjEKwCMC." Accessed July 14, 2023.

Harvard Business Review. “ Time Management Is about More than Life Hacks , https://hbr.org/2020/01/time-management-is-about-more-than-life-hacks." Accessed July 14, 2023.

IBM. “ Research Insights the Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap , https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/epymnbja." Accessed July 14, 2023.

Springer-Verlag. “ Supertaskers: Profiles in Extraordinary Multitasking Ability - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review , https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/PBR.17.4.479." Accessed July 14, 2023.

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

8 Best Paraphrasing Tools in 2024 (Compared)

Pricing: $4.17 per month Standout Features: Advanced Paraphrasing Ability, Powerful Grammar Checker, User-friendly Interface

Pricing: $39 per month Standout Features: Intelligent Paraphrasing, Built-in Grammar Checker, Supports 30+ Languages

Pricing: $27 per month Standout Features: AI Detection-free Rewriting, High-quality Content, Plagiarism-free

Are you tired of rewriting text manually? Paraphrasing tools can help you save time and create unique content without sacrificing quality. However, choosing the right paraphrasing tool can be challenging. That’s why, in this post, we’ll compare the best paraphrasing tools so you can choose the right one for your needs. So relax while we help you level up your writing game!

• 1 What is a Paraphrasing Tool?
• 2.1 1. QuillBot
• 2.2 2. Jasper
• 2.3 3. WordAi
• 2.4 4. TextCortex
• 2.5 5. Writesonic
• 2.6 6. SpinRewriter
• 2.7 7. Paraphraser.io
• 2.8 8. Hypotenuse
• 3.1 Paraphrasing Tool Feature Comparison
• 3.2 Paraphrasing Tool Price Comparison
• 4 What is the Best Paraphrasing Tool?
• 5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a Paraphrasing Tool?

A paraphrasing tool is a software or online application that helps you rewrite existing text. It alters the original phrasing while maintaining the same meaning. It uses synonyms and sentence restructuring strategies to formulate new content from pre-existing material.

Paraphrasing tools are frequently utilized by writers, researchers, students, and professionals who need to rephrase sentences or articles to prevent plagiarism or enhance readability. They offer a quick and easy solution for generating unique content, removing the necessity for time-consuming and manual rewrites.

The Best Paraphrasing Tool

We have handpicked eight incredible online paraphrasing tools to enhance your writing experience. Let’s take a look!

The Best Paraphrasing Tools Listed In Order

• SpinRewriter
• Paraphraser.io

1. QuillBot

🥇 best paraphrasing tool overall.

QuillBot is a great AI-powered writing assistant. It’s designed to streamline the art of writing. Thanks to its advanced paraphrasing and grammar-checking abilities, it has gained significant recognition as one of the best tools.

Excelling at rephrasing sentences while preserving their original meaning aids in preventing plagiarism and enhancing readability. This makes the writing process not only simpler but also more effective. For those who value accurate word choice, QuillBot is undoubtedly captivating.

Additionally, QuillBot features a powerful grammar checker that accurately identifies errors and offers helpful suggestions for corrections. Its user-friendly interface promises easy navigation. QuillBot is a top paraphrasing tool — a priceless asset for anyone looking to boost their writing abilities, including students, professionals, or aspiring writers.

What We Like About QuillBot

• Free Plan: QuillBot provides a free plan that doesn’t require you to sign up. This allows you to try out the tool before you decide to subscribe. You can test the tool’s features and determine whether to upgrade.
• Writing Enhancement Tools: QuillBot provides various helpful tools such as a grammar checker, summarizer, citation generator, and plagiarism checker. These tools can improve your writing experience and quality.
• Integrations: QuillBot provides extensions and apps for Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, and macOS. These extensions help you easily use QuillBot in your everyday writing on different platforms.

What Could Be Improved

• Only Two Free Writing Modes: The free version of Quillbot may limit your writing options, which could restrict you if you’re seeking more advanced paraphrasing features.
• Character Limitations in Plans: You can find character limits in free and paid QuillBot plans, restricting how much text you can process.

🥇 Why We Picked It

QuillBot is our top choice for an AI paraphrasing tool because it empowers you with advanced paraphrasing to produce plagiarism-free and semantically accurate content. Its intuitive interface, diverse modes, and extensive customization options seamlessly cater to writers seeking an effortless and effective way to rephrase text with precision.

Who is QuillBot Best For?

Whether you’re a student, professional, or just aiming to rephrase your writing, QuillBot is one of the best paraphrasing tools to accommodate your needs.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Users appreciate QuillBot’s effortless paraphrasing and summarizing features, user-friendly interface, language options, and helpful customer support.

Quilbot offers a free plan with limitations such as 125 words in paraphraser, only 1200 words to summarize, and access to only standard and fluency modes. Premium with unlimited access to all features starts from $4.17/Month.

Get QuillBot

🥈Best Paraphrasing Tool For Teams

Jasper AI is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology focused on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and comprehension. Its primary purpose is to generate text that resembles human writing, deliver accurate responses when asked questions, and engage in coherent conversations within specific contexts.

Jasper AI’s Intelligent Paraphrasing capabilities make it stand out from other technologies. These capabilities allow Jasper AI to grasp the subtleties of text and rephrase it without losing its original meaning. This functionality is particularly advantageous for content creators, writers, and anyone looking to enhance the clarity and uniqueness of their writing.

Using Jasper AI’s paraphrasing ability, users can effectively elevate their content by presenting alternative wordings while maintaining core ideas and intentions. With this remarkable feature, writers can save time on manual rewriting processes while ensuring their texts remain captivating and distinctive.

What We Like About Jasper

• Efficiency:  Jasper offers a speedy process for creating several reworded iterations of your text. This not only saves you precious time and energy but also guarantees the content stays true to your preferred tone.
• Originality: Jasper can help you avoid plagiarism by providing unique phrasings of your ideas, which can be important when paraphrasing text.
• User-Friendly Interface: The tool offers an easy-to-use interface, making it accessible even for beginners in AI writing tools.
• Unlimited Words: With every plan, you receive unlimited word credits. This lets you freely create content without stressing over word counts.
• Price: Jasper’s pricing starts at $39 per user per month, which might be costly for specific individuals, such as high school or college students.

🥈 Why We Picked It

Jasper stands out as another leading AI rephrasing tool due to its robust capabilities as an AI writing assistant. It excels in producing top-notch content, providing options for customizing tone and style, and effortlessly integrating with various platforms. With its easy-to-navigate interface and advanced language models, Jasper is a prime option for enhancing efficiency and productivity in essay writing.

Who is Jasper Best For?

Jasper caters to professionals and businesses, offering a pricing model that reflects its premium positioning.

People appreciate Jasper AI as a highly effective tool facilitating content creation. It is the preferred choice for many due to its unparalleled efficiency and quality in generating content.

You can get started with a free 7-day trial, after which you must upgrade to paid plans starting at $39/user/month

🥉 Best Paraphrasing Tool For SEO

WordAi is an artificial intelligence-based tool that aims to generate human-like text. It uses advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to understand context, grammar, and syntax to produce high-quality written content.

One of the notable attributes of WordAi is its contextual comprehension and ability to produce coherent, contextually significant content. WordAi provides various modes for paraphrasing that enable users to customize their output according to specific requirements. These modes offer the ability to produce easily understandable, SEO-optimized content, whether for everyday reading or creative pursuits.

WordAi also claims that its rephrased content is entirely free from plagiarism and detection by AI Content Detector. This versatility makes WordAi ideal for a diverse range of requirements in content creation.

What We Like About WordAI

• Bulk Rewriting: WordAI enables you to rewrite a significant amount of text at once, helping you save time and effort, especially if you have a lot of content to work on.
• Plagiarism, AI Detection-free Content: The tool is made to create text similar to what humans write, improving the clarity and quality of the text. This helps prevent AI detectors from recognizing it as AI-generated.
• API Integration: Developers can easily integrate WordAI’s rewriting capabilities into their applications or platforms using the API feature.
• Speed: WordAI allows you to generate content efficiently and effectively with its fast output speed.
• Cost: WordAi offers a starting price of $27 per month with the annual subscription or $57 per month for the individual option. This positions it as one of the more expensive tools for paraphrasing content.
• English-Only: Currently, WordAi only works with English text for rephrasing. This limitation could disappoint those wanting to rephrase content in different languages.

🥉 Why We Picked It

WordAI is another powerful AI paraphrasing tool that offers high-quality rephrasing while preserving the original meaning, making it ideal for creating unique content quickly and efficiently. Its advanced natural language processing capabilities ensure accurate and human-like results that can easily pass the AI detection test.

Who is WordAI Best For?

WordAi is an excellent tool for content creators and marketers who require a fast and effective solution for rephrasing premium quality, distinctive, and organic content.

WordAi is appreciated for generating high-quality, readable content with advanced spinning capabilities, providing diverse output efficiently, and saving time by automating the content spinning process.

A free 3-day trial, $27/monthly  after that when purchased annually.

4. TextCortex

TextCortex is an AI-powered writing tool that assists in producing top-notch content with greater speed and efficiency. It can paraphrase, generate text, perform language translation, compose creative content, and provide informative answers to your inquiries.

TextCortex’s AI-driven paraphrasing tool assists professionals and students in rewriting text while maintaining the original meaning. It allows you to effortlessly convert your ideas into compelling and high-quality content within seconds, all while creating a fully personalized AI model that adapts to your input, knowledge, and style. With TextCortex, generic interactions are now a thing of the past.

If you are seeking a solution to rephrase your content and effortlessly generate high-quality, tonally-matched text at an accelerated pace, TextCortex is worth considering.

What We Like About TextCortex

• Ease of Use: TextCortex provides a user-friendly interface, allowing small marketing teams, business owners, and solopreneurs to create content swiftly.
• Personalization: You can use the tool to create personalized AI personas and input knowledge connectors. This helps tailor the generated content to match specific tones and styles according to your preferences.
• Variety of Content: TextCortex offers tools that help you create different types of content like blogs, product descriptions, YouTube captions, Instagram posts, email content, and outreach emails to meet your marketing requirements.
• Intelligence:  Advanced deep learning algorithms and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, such as sentiment analysis, actively empower ZenoChat to efficiently comprehend user queries and, consequently, deliver relevant responses.
• Content-Length Restriction: The free account limits the length of content you can generate to 200 words, which makes it challenging to create detailed articles and blog posts without switching to a paid plan.

Who is TextCortex Best For?

TextCortex is an exceptional tool for writers, marketers, and business owners who aim to produce high-quality content quickly and easily.

Users of TextCortex highly appreciate the tool for its exceptional output quality, user-friendly interface, wide range of applications, integrations, and other features. These positive reviews can be found on platforms like G2 and Capterra.

The  free plan  lets you create up to 2500 words with all features. If you need more, the Lite plan begins at  $5.59 per month  for up to 12,500 words, and you can always choose to upgrade for more words.

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5. Writesonic

Writesonic is an advanced AI writing tool powered by GPT-3.5 and GPT4 32K. It claims to speed up content creation by ten times. The tool operates as a cloud-based platform, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to produce text, translate languages, generate various forms of creative content, and provide informative responses to your queries.

Writesonic’s paraphrasing tool lets you effortlessly rewrite sentences, paragraphs, essays, and articles free from plagiarism with just one click. Moreover, Writesonic offers a bulk upload feature that allows users to quickly paraphrase or rephrase thousands of sentences, paragraphs, articles, or essays within seconds. It’s an excellent tool for individuals or businesses seeking to paraphrase content quickly and effortlessly. Whether you are a content writer, a business owner, or someone who regularly creates text-based material, Writesonic can significantly assist you in producing large quantities of engaging content with ease.

What We Like About Writesonic

• Multiple Languages Supported: With support for content generation in 25 languages, Writesonic is a versatile tool for users worldwide.
• Content Personalization: You can adjust the tone of your content from enthusiastic and formal to humorous and theatrical, enabling you to create customized content.
• Generous Free Plan: Unlike other platforms, you can generate up to 50 standard feature items without a word limit.
• Advanced AI Models: You benefit from the advanced AI technology that Writesonic employs, which includes GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and exclusive algorithms. This ensures the quick and efficient generation of top-notch content.
• Confusing Price Structure: Writesonic’s pricing structure can be a bit confusing. Although there are paid plans starting at $12 per month, this plan only allows you to use its Chatbot, Chatsonic. To access templates and other advanced features, you must upgrade to the Individual Plan, which costs $16.67 monthly.
• Credits-based Usage: Writesonic divides its features into Standard and Advanced categories. Standard features include the chatbot, rewriter, photo generator, templates, etc. Advanced features include a fact checker, plagiarism and citation checker, SEO features, and more. With the paid plans, you can use standard features unlimited times, but credits limit advanced features.

Who is Writesonic Best For?

Writesonic is an ideal choice for writers, content creators, and marketers seeking aid in producing top-notch content.

Writesonic users appreciate its user-friendly interface, AI-generated content speed, quality, and versatility in content creation, such as blog posts, ads, and articles.

Free plan available, with paid plans starting at $12 monthly

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6. SpinRewriter

SpinRewriter is a tool designed for spinning content and rewriting articles. Its primary purpose is to create unique versions of existing articles or content, making it particularly useful in content marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. By generating multiple variations of an article, Spin Rewriter enables users to publish them on various websites or platforms without worries about duplicate content.

By leveraging Emulated Natural Language (ENL) technology for spinning articles, SpinRewriter can understand the relationships between words within their contexts. This profound comprehension leads to creating top-quality, easily digestible articles that mirror human accuracy, all achieved with just a simple button click.

SpinRewriter has become increasingly popular among content writers, bloggers, and SEO professionals. Its unique functionality allows users to produce exceptional and authentic content for websites, blog posts, articles, and various marketing materials.

What We Like About SpinRewriter

• User-Friendly Interface: The Spin Rewriter dashboard is easy to use, allowing you to navigate and make the most of the tool effortlessly.
• Readability: The tool makes spun articles easy to read by spinning content at the sentence and paragraph levels, using emulated natural language (ENL) technology.
• Pricing Options: Spin Rewriter provides various pricing plans to cater to your needs and budget. One of the options available is a lifetime single payment plan, offering you flexibility in choosing the best option.
• Limited Language Support: Spin Rewriter currently only supports spinning content in English, which might be a restriction for you if you require content in other languages.
• Manual Corrections: Although Spin Rewriter offers various features, you still need to try to edit and refine the content it generates to ensure it meets quality standards.

Who is SpinRewriter Best For?

SpinRewriter is an invaluable tool for content writers, bloggers, and growth hackers, explicitly designed to help them excel in their fields.

A 5-day free trial is available with the annual plan that costs $77/Yearly afterward.

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7. Paraphraser.io

Paraphraser.io is an AI-driven online tool that uniquely rephrases text while preserving its original meaning. It is a valuable tool for improving content coherence and ensuring it remains plagiarism-free.

Furthermore, Paraphraser.io is an exceptional resource for individuals seeking to enhance the clarity and readability of their text while avoiding plagiarism-related issues. Students and researchers requiring help paraphrasing in academic environments will particularly appreciate this.

Paraphraser.io is an excellent option to consider if seeking a straightforward approach to enhancing the readability and clarity of your text without any extra features.

What We Like About Paraphraser.io

• User-Friendly Interface: The platform has a straightforward and user-friendly interface, allowing beginners to use paraphrasing tools easily.
• Multilingual Support: Paraphraser.io is a helpful tool for people who deal with content in languages other than English since it allows paraphrasing in multiple languages.
• Variety of Paraphrasing Modes: The tool provides various paraphrasing modes like Fluency, Standard, and Creative to meet different paraphrasing requirements.
• Intrusive Ads: You may notice that the free version of the tool includes many ads that could disrupt your experience as a user.

Who is Paraphraser.io Best For?

Paraphraser.io serves as an ideal tool for writers, students, and professionals alike, offering assistance in rephrasing and reworking text for a range of uses.

Paraphraser.io users find the service valuable due to its complimentary plan, affordable pricing, and user-friendly interface. Many reviewers, primarily students from schools and colleges, value the assistance the tool offers for their assignments.

You can use Paraphraser.io for free for up to 600 words and basic modes such as Standard and Fluency. The paid plan starts at $12.5/month with a limit of 1500 words to paraphrase and access all methods, such as Creative, Smarter, and Shorten.

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8. Hypotenuse

Hypotenuse AI is an artificial intelligence-powered writing tool that assists in producing top-notch content with incredible speed and efficiency. It uses a powerful language model trained on extensive text and code datasets, enabling Hypotenuse AI to generate highly accurate and creative text effortlessly.

Hypotenuse AI leverages AI technology to rephrase and enhance your content to match the desired tone you wish to convey, whether conversational, authoritative, or enthusiastic. This feature ensures the maintenance of your unique voice and style while guaranteeing that your text remains authentic, original, and plagiarism-free.

Whether you’re seeking an AI writing assistant to enhance content creation efficiency, accurately accommodate your tonality, and ensure high-quality output, Hypotenuse AI is a worthy choice.

What We Like About Hypotenuse AI

• Ease of Use: Hypotenuse AI offers a user-friendly interface, making it easy to navigate and use its features effectively.
• Template Variety: Hypotenuse AI offers you a variety of ready-to-use templates for various types of content, helping you kickstart your projects promptly and efficiently.
• Fact-Checked Content: Hypotenuse asserts that all the content it creates is accurate. This could be an excellent method to prevent incorrect content and hallucinations that many AI tools can produce.
• No Chrome Extension: Not having a Chrome extension can be inconvenient if you prefer having an AI writing tool in your browser for easy access.

Who is Hypotenuse AI Best For?

Hypotenuse AI is the ideal tool for Content Marketers and Agencies due to its profound emphasis on marketing and growth-oriented resources.

Hypotenuse AI is appreciated for its blog rewriting feature, customizable tone, and professional content creation tools, offering users a comprehensive and polished writing experience.

A free 7-day trial . Then, you must upgrade to paid plans starting at $24 monthly for up to 50K words.

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Comparing the Best Paraphrasing Tool

AI writing tools are rapidly advancing, with various specialized tools focusing on tasks like paraphrasing. In such an intriguing period, selecting the right tool might pose a challenge. Therefore, we have organized these tools into convenient tables to assist you in making an informed decision.

Paraphrasing Tool Feature Comparison

These are our top three highly recommended paraphrasing tools. We’ve carefully analyzed their key characteristics to assist you in selecting the one that best suits your requirements.

Paraphrasing Tool Price Comparison

Finding the perfect paraphrasing tool that fits your budget can be challenging. We have compiled a table comparing the top-rated paraphrasing tools and their respective prices. This will provide you with a comprehensive overview of cost-effectiveness, simplifying your decision-making process.

What is the Best Paraphrasing Tool?

If you require a paraphrasing tool, whether it be for academic assignments or casual use, our top recommendation is QuillBot . This powerful tool offers many features and advanced capabilities that make paraphrasing content effortless. With QuillBot, you can easily change the style, tone, and length while maintaining the original meaning intact.

However, Jasper AI is ideal for a business or agency looking to paraphrase or generate content at scale. Its advanced features, like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Intelligent Paraphrasing capabilities, provide unmatched solutions for writing content and paraphrasing at a quality unmatched by other tools.

On the other hand, if you’re a content creator or blogger needing to paraphrase or spin articles that feel human-written without being detected by AI content detection systems and ensuring zero plagiarism, WordAi is your ultimate choice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Let’s take a look at some of the common inquiries about the best paraphrasing tools. If you have any other questions we overlooked, feel free to ask, and we will respond!

Which is the best paraphrasing tool?

Which is the best paraphrasing tool for seo, is it ok to use ai to paraphrase, can ai detectors detect paraphrasing content, what is the different between paraphrasing and plagiarism.

Featured image by cosmaa / shutterstock.com

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With so many great options available, it can be hard to pick one. find out why quillbot is our favorite. 👇.

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My name is kelvin.before chatgpt came alot of content writers were everywhere looking for helpers.at the time,i was heavily writing content for my sweetlingo.com.i can surely agree with you that quillbot actually tops all ai writers if there was no chatgpt.and i agree with how you list them

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Here's Exactly How Much Social Security Checks Are Forecast to Rise in 2025

June 08, 2024 — 03:44 am EDT

Written by Sean Williams for The Motley Fool  ->

In April, close to 51 million retired-worker beneficiaries brought home an average Social Security check of $1,915.26. Although this isn't a game-changing amount of monthly cash, Social Security benefits have proved vital to the financial well-being of most retirees.

In addition to pulling approximately 16.5 million seniors aged 65 and over out of poverty in 2022, Social Security benefits represented a "major" or "minor" source of income for 88% of the retirees surveyed by national pollster Gallup this past April. Considering how important Social Security income is to the financial foundation of retirees, all eyes have begun turning to the 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) .

Image source: Getty Images.

Why is Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment so important?

Put simply, Social Security's COLA is the tool used by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to account for changes in the price of goods and services. For example, if the price for a broad basket of goods and services that seniors regularly buy increases from one year to the next, Social Security benefits should, in a perfect world, rise by a commensurate amount to ensure no loss of purchasing power. Keeping benefits on par with inflation is what Social Security's COLA is all about.

Before 1975, cost-of-living adjustments were entirely arbitrary and passed along by special sessions of Congress. Only 11 benefit increases were passed between 1940 and 1975 , with none administered during the entire 1940s.

Things changed in 1975. For roughly the last half-century, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) has served as the program's annual measure of inflation. The CPI-W has more than a half-dozen major spending categories and a plethora of subcategories, all of which have their own respective weightings. These weightings are what allow the CPI-W to be reported as a single figure each month, which makes for easy comparisons to previous months or the prior year to determine if inflation (rising prices) or deflation (falling prices) has occurred.

Social Security's COLA calculation is unique in that only the CPI-W readings from the third quarter (July through September) factor into the calculation. While the end readings from the other nine months can help identity price trends, they won't be used by the SSA to calculate Social Security's COLA for the upcoming year.

In simple terms, if the average CPI-W reading from the third quarter of the current year is higher than the average CPI-W reading during the comparable period of the previous year, inflation has occurred and beneficiaries are due a bigger payout. The year-over-year percentage change in average third-quarter CPI-W readings, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, determines how much Social Security checks will increase in the upcoming year.

A higher prevailing rate of inflation means Social Security checks will grow larger in 2025. U.S. Inflation Rate data by YCharts .

Here's how much Social Security checks are forecast to rise in 2025

Over the last three years, Social Security beneficiaries have enjoyed a meaningful boost to their monthly checks , with cost-of-living adjustments of 5.9% (2022), 8.7% (2023), and 3.2% (2024). For context, the average COLA over the last 20 years was 2.6%. Beneficiaries are hopeful that an above-average hike awaits in 2025.

On May 15, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its much-anticipated April inflation report, which offered clues as to which direction collective prices are headed. The CPI-W increased by 3.4% over the last 12 months, which remains well above the Federal Reserve's long-term target of a 2% prevailing rate of inflation.

Thanks to stubbornly high core inflation, which removes food and energy costs from the equation, nonpartisan senior advocacy group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) has, once again, increased its long-term forecast for Social Security's 2025 COLA. Although we still haven't reached the months that actually matter in the COLA calculation, TSCL believes the 2025 COLA will come in at 2.66% , which would round up to 2.7%. If accurate, this would (barely) mark a fourth consecutive year of above-average COLAs for beneficiaries.

But it's one thing to see a percentage forecast on paper and an entirely different beast to see how that percentage can tangibly impact Social Security checks. With the understanding that COLA forecasts are still fluid, let's take a closer look at exactly how much a 2.7% cost-of-living adjustment would increase Social Security checks in 2025.

For retired workers, who I noted earlier brought home an average check of $1,915.26 in April, a 2.7% COLA would translate into a $52 monthly increase next year. In short, the average retired-worker beneficiary would be bringing home about $1,967 each month, if this prognostication proves accurate.

Workers with disabilities and survivor beneficiaries would see meaningful boosts to their monthly payouts, too. The roughly 7.25 million workers with disabilities who received benefit checks in April would see their monthly payouts rise by an average of $42 to $1,579. Meanwhile, the 5.8 million survivor beneficiaries can expect their monthly checks to increase by $41, to an average of $1,544.

Keep the champagne on ice

Although most signs point to Social Security recipients enjoying a fourth straight year of above-average cost-of-living adjustments, the 2025 COLA is unlikely to be cause for celebration. While a higher inflation rate appears set to increase benefits, the costs that matter most to seniors are rising at an even faster clip .

For example, seniors devote a higher percentage of their monthly expenditures to shelter expenses and medical-care services than the typical working-age American. Higher mortgage rates have brought the housing market to a virtual standstill and caused shelter inflation to remain stubbornly high (5.5% over the last 12 months, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or CPI-U). A slightly above-average COLA isn't going to make a dent if shelter inflation remains well above historic norms .

Likewise, medical-care services inflation has picked back up over the last six months and currently sits at an increase of 2.7% over the trailing-12-month period.

The pace at which shelter and medical-care services are increasing suggests that seniors, who make up roughly 86% of Social Security's beneficiaries, are going to see the pricing power of their Social Security dollars decline in 2025. According to a TSCL study from May 2023, the purchasing power of a Social Security dollar plunged by 36% between January 2000 and February 2023.

Unfortunately, there's no easy fix for this ongoing loss of purchasing power for a majority of the program's beneficiaries. The CPI-W is inherently flawed and focused on the spending habits of working-age Americans who, in many instances, aren't receiving a Social Security check and spend their money very differently than seniors. Without change on Capitol Hill, Social Security beneficiaries appear destined for disappointment with the 2025 COLA on deck.

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Reference Examples

More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual . Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual .

To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of work (e.g., journal article ) and follow the relevant example.

When selecting a category, use the webpages and websites category only when a work does not fit better within another category. For example, a report from a government website would use the reports category, whereas a page on a government website that is not a report or other work would use the webpages and websites category.

Also note that print and electronic references are largely the same. For example, to cite both print books and ebooks, use the books and reference works category and then choose the appropriate type of work (i.e., book ) and follow the relevant example (e.g., whole authored book ).

Examples on these pages illustrate the details of reference formats. We make every attempt to show examples that are in keeping with APA Style’s guiding principles of inclusivity and bias-free language. These examples are presented out of context only to demonstrate formatting issues (e.g., which elements to italicize, where punctuation is needed, placement of parentheses). References, including these examples, are not inherently endorsements for the ideas or content of the works themselves. An author may cite a work to support a statement or an idea, to critique that work, or for many other reasons. For more examples, see our sample papers .

Reference examples are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 10 and the Concise Guide Chapter 10

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Textual works are covered in Sections 10.1–10.8 of the Publication Manual . The most common categories and examples are presented here. For the reviews of other works category, see Section 10.7.

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Data sets are covered in Section 10.9 of the Publication Manual . For the software and tests categories, see Sections 10.10 and 10.11.

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Audiovisual media are covered in Sections 10.12–10.14 of the Publication Manual . The most common examples are presented together here. In the manual, these examples and more are separated into categories for audiovisual, audio, and visual media.

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