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Hogwart’s Bad News Magic
Marjorie Corman Aaron
This client counseling exercise serves as a light-hearted introduction to the challenge of delivering bad news to a client while keeping the client’s trust and confidence). I often begin with a question about why it’s difficult to deliver bad news to a client, and how NOT to do it. Sometimes, after introducing the topic, and even before discussing how not to do it, I ask the students to do the Hogwarts exercise in the WORST way possible – just for fun. Lots of laughter and hubbub follow. I just give them a couple of minutes to read their roles and then a couple of minutes to do an “absolutely terrible job.” This is followed by a quick debriefing: ask the students to nominate the worst terrible ways they delivered the bad news. And then ask the clients how they felt about it. This should be light and brief, not heavy-handed.
Imagining Bad News & Wishing for Magic at Hogwarts: Client Counseling – Teaching Note (PDF)
Imagining Bad News & Wishing for Magic at Hogwarts: Client Counseling – The Wise Doctor (PDF)