This week I had very little opportunity to work on my research project on the ED program. One of my classes required that I find a student to do some counseling with, so most of my day was focused on that. This next week I will have to do the same type of counseling activity and also present some of the literature review I have been working on.
The counseling part of my experience was very exciting. It was sort of weird having my supervisor there, but she played it off very well as if she was not listening. At the end of the counseling, she was able to give me so much feedback that I was not expecting her to give. One of the best pieces of advice that she gave me was to allow the client to explore the topic on their own to come to their own conclusions. I have been keeping this in mind as I've been talking with different people about their problems. I have been trying to give people less options and more opportunities to discover things on their own. It seems to be working more effectively and people then feel as if they have ownership over their problems.
While this experience and the one I am hoping to have tomorrow are very beneficial for my learning, I feel as though my research project is creeping up on me relatively quickly. I am hoping that once classes are over I can really work on a project proposal for the school. Probably the most frustrating part about being in a quarterly system is that there is very little time to reflect. Granted we have assignments to reflect on our experiences every week, but our reflections tend to point out daily occurrences more than the big picture ideas.
To really develop a philosophy about how we feel regarding the field and direction of school psychology, we need longer deadlines. Similar to how we are working on our research projects, it would be beneficial to me to have our personal philosophies developed each quarter bits at a time. It's true that we should be thinking about our philosophies throughout the program, but it would be helpful to break it down according to specific areas. For example, we could think about our overall perspectives on consultation, RTI, standardized testing, or behavioral assessments. And rather than having this philosophy due at the end of the quarter, we could spend time working out our ideas in class with a partner.
I don't particularly find it useful to discuss each person's idea in class every class. After awhile of doing the same activity, my eyes start to glaze. I find it much more helpful to get into group discussions about the big ideas and then into how to implement them.
I think I have detracted from my original idea, which was my research project. I am hoping to work on this project after classes have ended. It feels like my professors forgot about some of the larger projects due next week and now we're jumping into them with little explanation (research project excluded). Fortunately, Dr. Shinn extended our 10-page opinion/perspective paper, so that is one less thing to worry about. Regardless, the most interesting thing I am doing right now is related to my research project. I would like to spend more time putting together my ideas in the lab. If we could spend practicum time working on our own projects, that would make things much more doable, interesting, and helpful.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Mental Health - Treatment Plan #1
The assignment this week was to find a student who is having a problem, discuss with them the problem, and come up with a treatment plan for them. This was not an easy assignment to do since I don't feel entirely qualified at this point to be offering counseling to a student with real problems. In some ways it did not feel ethical to be using a real student at this point. On the other hand, it was excellent experience and I felt like I was really helping the student think about their concerns. The environment was not threatening for the student because the student had agreed to speaking with me for the purpose of completing this assignment.
While the student may have other, more serious concerns, we did not delve into those things. My supervisor did not want to hand over a student with a serious problem right away, and I respect that line of thinking. Instead, I discussed a small dilemma the student was having with their significant other. On the surface, the topic seemed innocent enough and I truly did not believe I was going to get into anything that would require a "treatment plan." But after about 20 minutes or so, I could see some of the underlying issues. I was able to identify areas in self-esteem that could definitely be worked on.
I started the discussion with the Karl Tomm Questions in whatever way I could. My intent was to get into SFBT, so I believe I may have gone too fast into that idea. I spent too much time on my own agenda in the beginning and less time having the client develop the problem on their own. My supervisor let me know that she thought I did a very nice job of using open questions, but that I could work on giving the client time to think about the things they were saying. There was a lot of room for exploring some of the deeper issues and by the end of it, it seemed like I was really picking up on some of those things.
The counseling, overall, went pretty well. The client was very comfortable with discussing their problems and I felt like I had pretty good control. It is interesting to note that the client frequently looked at me for the solution to the problem. It was difficult to not share my opinion of what I thought the client should do. I tried using embedded questioning at times, but I also don't want to feed the answers to the client. The client should come to some of those conclusions on their own.
It is also important to keep in mind that sometimes the solution the client wants is not the one that is best for them. Without getting into details, the goal of this problem was one that could be potentially harmful to the client. There were times when I found myself trying to help the client achieve what they want, but what they wanted could be dangerous. So instead, I tried to direct the conversation away from the problem question and into more personal issues about what the client might need. Generally, things went the way they were planned though. I am hoping whatever treatment plan I come up with will be helpful to the client.
While the student may have other, more serious concerns, we did not delve into those things. My supervisor did not want to hand over a student with a serious problem right away, and I respect that line of thinking. Instead, I discussed a small dilemma the student was having with their significant other. On the surface, the topic seemed innocent enough and I truly did not believe I was going to get into anything that would require a "treatment plan." But after about 20 minutes or so, I could see some of the underlying issues. I was able to identify areas in self-esteem that could definitely be worked on.
I started the discussion with the Karl Tomm Questions in whatever way I could. My intent was to get into SFBT, so I believe I may have gone too fast into that idea. I spent too much time on my own agenda in the beginning and less time having the client develop the problem on their own. My supervisor let me know that she thought I did a very nice job of using open questions, but that I could work on giving the client time to think about the things they were saying. There was a lot of room for exploring some of the deeper issues and by the end of it, it seemed like I was really picking up on some of those things.
The counseling, overall, went pretty well. The client was very comfortable with discussing their problems and I felt like I had pretty good control. It is interesting to note that the client frequently looked at me for the solution to the problem. It was difficult to not share my opinion of what I thought the client should do. I tried using embedded questioning at times, but I also don't want to feed the answers to the client. The client should come to some of those conclusions on their own.
It is also important to keep in mind that sometimes the solution the client wants is not the one that is best for them. Without getting into details, the goal of this problem was one that could be potentially harmful to the client. There were times when I found myself trying to help the client achieve what they want, but what they wanted could be dangerous. So instead, I tried to direct the conversation away from the problem question and into more personal issues about what the client might need. Generally, things went the way they were planned though. I am hoping whatever treatment plan I come up with will be helpful to the client.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
