School Psychology

Pet Peeves

2009-01-26T12:43:00.002-06:00

Prior to stating what exactly my pet peeve is, I'd like to mention that my internship experience has really picked up now and it is...fabulous. I LOVE my supervisors and the experience that I'm gaining. It is soooo valuable.

That being said, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm sitting in a team meeting and people are complaining about how they don't have enough resources. Naturally, my instinct is to suggest that they inform the District about their concerns. Unfortunately, the answer that I always get is, "oh, of course we have," with a frequent eye roll or a "don't even go there" attitude. But I'm serious. Maybe it's my lack of experience, but how many problems could be solved with a research-based time study assessment of school needs? If the evidence is strongly supported, can the district really deny the need? I find that hard to believe. The problem, I think, is that yes, people often complain about needing more resources. But unless you present a strong argument with evidence instead of a generic situations then really...why would anyone take you seriously?

Stupid...

2008-11-05T09:20:00.002-06:00

I did a stupid thing today... I don't know what I was thinking not telling my supervisor that I would be having a group after school for Computer Club. It was an initiative I had taken on my own. I felt it was so removed from the fact that I am an intern that it would be alright. I asked permission from the assistant principal and assumed it would be okay.

Unfortunately, it could breach my contract and make certain people uneasy... *Sigh*. If I weren't an intern I wouldn't even be worried about this issue. My supervisor and I talk about a lot of things, but she's also in the middle of things a lot and I don't like to bother her. I've tried to do things on my own, but this was just dumb. Of course I would need to let her know. What was I thinking?

Sigh

2008-10-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

My journey has indeed begun... It's the end of my 2nd month here. I'm about 1/5th of the way through my training. I've decided that change happens too slowly and my awful start has really set me up for a difficult year. As a general optimist, the beginning of the year was pretty important. It's a kickoff and a good time to make connections and get started. With 1/5th of the year already over, I'm somewhat discouraged about making positive changes...

I've also felt a bit less smart than I thought I was. It's been pretty humbling being in the school system working with people that have so much experience. I'm really learning the process now, but my confidence for the profession is dwindling. I miss my classes, my classmates, my professors. I miss positive attitudes and the latest in research. The disconnect between the classroom and the school is quite frustrating. I often ask myself, "what good is my education if the rest of these people don't know what the heck I'm talking about?" It isn't even that I couldn't teach them or bring it up -- because I could. The problem is that it isn't something I can bring up in any sort of regular team meeting because it's so obscure to talk about research based programs and ongoing assessment of these interventions.

I'd really like to run things a lot differently all over my school. There's a culture here that makes me feel quiet. I don't like that feeling. If I had plans to stay here long term, I might be pushing harder, but I don't.

So for now I'm going to do the best I can. The cases I have are gold and I can really dedicate my time to them. I don't feel overwelmed and I do see change happening at the elementary where I feel my education is valued. The education system here is amazing. If there's anything going for this district, it's that their education is just wonderful. The unfortunate part about it is that there isn't enough for students that can't succeed. And most high school people know that most of the problems at the high school aren't even related to academics. :/

I'll try to be better about updating this and maybe being a little less pessimistic ;).

Internship Begins.

2008-09-23T12:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much time to update here on my journey to becoming a school psychologist. As it is my lunch and I am fasting, I figure I would take this opportunity to share. I have begun my internship at the same site I did my practicum last year.

While the previous year was surrounded by a fog of knowledge about the direction of eduction, the beginning of this year was quite the contrary. Rather, the year began with talk of change and development. Not only that, but RTI was a topic at hand. I was agast. My "challenge" school just became my "progressive" school. Of course, credit to that change most certainly comes from the state mandate, but I'm happy to see change all the same.

As an intern, you're not treated like a faculty member here. I found that out VERY quickly. No orientation, no paperwork notices, no work space, no computer, no e-mail, no ID, no, no, ....and no. Nothing is quite as frustrating as sitting around for two weeks without everything in order. This is not a shadowing position -- it's a practicum training -- as in, practice. Rest assured. Slowly, but surely, things began to fall into place. I share an office, I have my filing space, I have e-mail, and all my paperwork is done. I also found out today that my laptop is finally available.

So, it's week 4, but at least I've started "working." I have several cases that I'm working on and I'm actually using my brain. I'm finally feeling like I have input to share and like I am a part of the team. That will grow IMMENSELY when I have a computer to work with. I can't keep using these public computers because all of my work -- including e-mail, is confidential! Soon it will come together.

I'll hopefully set out some time in my day to reflect every once and awhile. I believe my journals to be helpful to others since I somehow get international hits... Until then.

ELL Classes

2008-05-27T12:03:00.002-05:00

After presenting in my consultation class about ELL classes I discovered that I had no idea what sort of ELL services were offered at the high school. I knew about all of the types of ELL programming, like English-only, pull out, transitional, maintenance, and dual-language learning. I thought that surely a school with so many resources would have some of the best researched ELL programs available (maintenance or dual-language learning). But to my surprise, students in ELL classes received instruction only in English with the idea of teaching English (rather than maintaining the student's native language). Therefore, if you are a 15-year old student coming straight from a foreign country, you would be placed in an ELL class where no one spoke your language and also regular English classes -- expected to perform at the same level as everyone else.

Does that sound crazy to anyone else?

Granted, I can appreciate that my area happens to only have about 30-40 students per year that qualify for ELL services. But can we really call that services? Are we doing them some kind of service by forcing English and American expectations on them? Is the argument really that it is the best we can do?

My mother is an assistant principal at a Chicago Public School with a community filled with diversity. I almost wonder if the students at my high school would be better off in Chicago where they would at least be immersed in a diverse community.

When I went to observe the ELL resource classroom at my school, I had a long conversation with the teachers about these issues. As they are on the front lines, they are well aware of all of these complications. I asked them if they had an advocate and there seemed to be some gray about that. We sat and brainstormed possible solutions to many of the problems. I truly hope that next year we can figure out some new ways to accommodate these students. We discussed the possibility of a school-community collaboration with diverse communities. Gathering a resource list of bilingual social service members would also be beneficial to have.

It just boggles my mind how a community can support new sports uniforms when students aren't receiving an appropriate education.

Lethargy Doesn't Work

2008-05-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

This week was interesting because the morning began with almost absolute silence for 2 hours. I try not to bother my supervisor when I know that she has a full day because she has to write reports, score data, and plan. On the other hand, it usually leaves me terribly bored and lethargic. I try to bring in school work or books, but 2 hours is a long time. So after the hours were up, I had a student interview with a student. I don't think I could be any more drained while giving this interview. I could hear in my voice that it was too calm. And I realized that if I was going to get any true or useful information out of the student that I was going to have to have more energy. Unfortunately, the interview did not spur more energy. I got the information I needed, but I think I've learned a lesson from the experience. Drink coffee or tea or move around prior to talking with students.

By the end of the day, things had gotten more interesting, but it was still generally slow. I wrote up my student interview, counseling group was canceled, did my classroom observation without the teacher there (and hence no intervention was done), and attended a meeting. The final part of the day involved a meeting with the assistant principal and a few other people regarding the high school's implementation of RTI. This is very interesting to me because I like parts of RTI. In addition to liking the idea, we've actually learned a great deal about it. So much so, that the process appears simple to implement. However, when discussing it in the meeting, it felt completely overwhelming.

I knew that what they were saying was about RTI and I think I understood what was trying to be done, but the vocabulary was entirely different. There was this strange hesitation about it that I felt would hinder any kind of transition to RTI. Apparently, RTI is being discussed at the district level, a group made up of many members of the district, and then by each school. Therefore, communication was being addressed at all different areas and it seems confusing at best because there was an uncertainty about what should be done. As I tried to make sense of how things were being done, I felt I was being pushed away at the same time. I don't feel included in the process -- not that I need to be, but I feel like I have a lot of valuable information. I would love to be on the official task force for implementing RTI. Instead, I'm somewhere in the middle getting bits and pieces of it and trying to make sense of what is going on. I hope that when the year is over I can discuss with my supervisor to include me in the plans for next year.

Consultation Week

2008-05-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

This week I had the opportunity to have several consultation opportunities with teachers about two different students. I was able to apply much of the techniques that I have been learning in our consultation class. I have found that the teachers I am working with really desire tools to manage a particular student. In their eyes, they have tried everything with a student. At least, everything they can think of. My goal is to present ideas that may not have been thought of, but also think of solutions collaboratively.

In one of my consultations, another teacher joined in. When that teacher joined in, she offered her own frustrations. Typically, that sort of thing is fine. However, when trying to problem solve it puts more of the pressure on me. It became a "well, what's your idea? what should be done?" rather than a team effort. This taught me that I should try to consult in a more private area when accessible.

I am looking forward to my internship next year. I am hoping that I will have some kind of office space that is private enough for situations like I described or for testing. I think that I will be much more effective if I have these things. I have learned that I will have a laptop which is great. I am much more useful when I am given technology to learn.

Aside from consultation, I did some report writing and intervention planning. That is hopefully another area that I will be able to spend time doing at work next year. While I do not mind bringing work home generally, I work much better when I am in a work environment doing work. It is unfortunate when school psychologists have to do their report writing at home because they do not always have the resources they need at home. I found out that I will likely have about 25 cases next year. This should give me enough time to finish work at work -- hopefully.

Seminar - Consulations & Interviewing

2008-04-22T11:13:00.003-05:00

This last week at my practicum site was very busy. Aside from having Challenge Day earlier, the week was filled with consultation with teachers. I talked with three separate teachers about ways they could change their current practices to accommodate students. When I do a classroom observation on a student, I typically look for three main things. I look at the student, instruction, and curriculum. I also always start out my conversations that way. I think that teachers are more receptive to what you have to say if you're letting them know that there are factors other than the student that contribute to student learning.

From all three of the teachers, I was presented with some resistance about changing something. They all felt they had tried everything and that students simply are not motivated. Fortunately, research has shown us that students can be motivated learners. I posed a few alternative suggestions which will be tried during this week. I'm hoping that there will be some difference, but if not then I will have to go back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, high school students are very difficult to change this late in their development. Either way, we haven't exhausted all of our options.

I've found it somewhat difficult to consult with teachers due to my lack of experience in their field. I know a lot about how things should theoretically work, but little about how they actually play themselves out. And as an advocate for students, to say that there is an instructional element to a student's success places an uneasiness between myself and the teachers. Not that there was any, but just that I almost feel like there should be.

Aside from consultation, I was engaged with my internship interviews. There were two and I am now waiting to hear back. I thought I presented myself better at the second interview than the first because I was talking with someone who did not know me. The first interview was with my supervisor and another school psychologist who works part-time at the high school so it was difficult to "sell myself." The second interview went a lot better because I could talk about my experiences more.

Seminar - Observations

2008-03-11T12:59:00.003-05:00

This last week was filled with observations in the classroom. I came in for two days last week and I would say that half of my time between the two was spent observing in classrooms. I love doing classroom observations because I feel like I am a detective. Teachers who have a student in their class with some kind of problem are usually very busy teaching the whole class that they can't pay attention to what could be going on with the student. Teachers have guesses about what is going on (and are usually right), but it helps to have another set of eyes.

I was given a student to observe in two different classroom settings. The suspicion was that the student was not performing to their best potential in one class and was doing fine in another. Something that I believe service teams do not always realize is that the problem could be a number of things. It could be that the student is not motivated, or it could be that the instruction and curriculum do not match with the student's learning style. I have found that it is very unlikely that a school will assume responsibility for why a student might be failing. This was definitely the case in the classes I observed. There were a few other students sleeping, hardly any engagement, and the style was mostly in a lecture format. Had I not observed and given extensive support for my observations, I feel like this student would have been labeled as being lazy.

It is for this reason that I like working in a high school. High schools are typically run by traditional lines of thought and I feel like I can offer a good perspective. Anyway, so after my observation I was able to write up my observations as divided by "Student," "Instructor," and "Curriculum." Then I wrote down what was happening at what point in the classroom for each of these categories followed by the duration of the tasks. What I discovered was that the entire class period for both classes was spent in a lecture format. If we have a student with special needs and clearly they are unable to focus for 45 minutes of a lecture, something else needs to change. When put in a group setting or the tasks were applied to real life situations, the student perked up. Frankly, I think that all students in the classroom would have benefited from that kind of instruction.

Too often I think that we expect students to be like every other student and "toughen up." The reality is that all students do not learn the same way. It is backwards to expect them to do so.

That was primarily the excitement for this last week. I also had my counseling group and had great feedback on the activity we did the week prior. Unfortunately, one of the people who I thought would benefit the most did not attend. I am hoping to have another update this week. The social worker really liked the idea that I brought to the group and has asked me to bring some other practical tools/skills that they can use for this week. I feel like my philosophy on "doing" and "practicality" in schools has gotten a lot stronger.

I'd also like to briefly mention a presentation that we heard in class yesterday for Mental Health. I will be updating this blog with my whole thoughts about it, but it was on social-emotional learning. It was exactly what I think I would like my future research to go into. I strongly feel that social-emotional skills need to be taught in the schools so that they will be better prepared for life after high school.

Seminar - On My Own

2008-03-04T13:56:00.003-06:00

This week I had the opportunity to do many things on my own. It was the first day where I felt like I was acting like a school psychologist. I also got my first "case" that I will be working on. While I usually do segments of a case, this is one where I will be doing all of the testing and likely the report writing as well. It does not seem difficult by any means, but at least I am gaining the experience. Aside from starting this case, I also worked on my consultation case independently. I was working with the teacher I mentioned last week about a student's behavior. I was able to observe two times last week and plan to observe two more this week. I got a lot of great data and am pretty positive that this is a straight forward case. I think the function of the student's behavior is attention and will be presenting that information this week.

This week I conducted the counseling group on my own without the social worker there. At first the group seemed a little apprehensive, but after about 5 minutes I was able to get everyone talking about a number of issues. We did a role play and talked about other issues that were present. I felt like I was able to get the whole group involved and was able to give them things to practice for the week. Typically, the group does not practice a skill for a week and so we were trying something new. I am looking forward to seeing what the group will come back with this week.

Research was a bit slow this week. I met with one of the teachers to discuss more about the proposal to the district and we talked about some missing elements I need to do. I need to write out the exact letter we're going to use for our survey to the students. Hopefully this will be sufficient and tomorrow when we meet we can start getting the contact list ready. If we can get the surveys mailed out by the end of March, I think I will be in good shape. I have set this deadline with everyone and they seem to agree that it is possible.

My only concern so far with my practicum site is the internship prospect. I've been told that an internship will be available, but have not heard many details about it. The application process has not begun because the district is still determining which school psychologist will take on an intern. This is somewhat difficult because most of my peers have gone through the application/interview process already and have accepted their positions. I would really like to stay where I am at, but would also like a safety net. As it stands, it's difficult to get a safety net and my current position is not 100% secure. I talk to my supervisor about it every 2 weeks, so I will likely bring it up again tomorrow. Mostly to update her on what other districts are doing and the state of my peers. Aside from these things, my site has been pretty fun.

Seminar - Busy Day

2008-02-26T13:18:00.003-06:00

Last week was a very busy day. Right from the start of the day we were constantly moving from meeting to meeting to testing and more. We began the day immediately with a staffing. Like other meetings, it was heavily related to the testing data. In addition, it was very critical of the student. It appeared to me like the student was given no options or choices, which had me disturbed. As the school psychologist is the advocate for the student, I felt like we did not hear the student out enough. I saw this at my previous practicum site a few times also. I think it's very important, especially at the high school level, to really understand the student before making all kinds of changes to their lives. It directly affects the student.

After the staffing, we went to a quick vocational education meeting about how the school could add more vocational opportunities (or credit recovery). After that a student was give the WAIS-III by the school psychologist. While I watched this testing situation, I did give a student the WISC-IV later in the afternoon. I was very pleased with the opportunity to do this, however the student I was given was very low functioning. It was difficult to stay within the standard boundaries of the test while working with this student. It makes me question why we even give the tests at all. I realize that the students need a recent record for life out of high school, I just wish that it did not need to include this form of assessment. Sometimes it is so obvious that a student needs supports out of high school that I wish we did not have to put them through the testing.

That being said, I tried to move away from the standardization of the test, but it was difficult with all of my training in Cognitive Assessment. Fortunately, the school psychologist could save me at certain points of explaining the directions so that at the very least the student could understand what was going on. It was a great learning experience for me because it helped me loosen up a little -- which is very necessary I think in this situation.

Aside from conducting the WISC-IV later in the day, I was also able to set up a time to meet with a teacher from the ED program I am doing my research project on -- for my consultation project. She is perfect because she is a first year teacher and has a lot of students to think of for our consultation. I met with her the next day for an hour or so to discuss the situation. I will be going in to observe her class and begin the brainstorming process for what could be going on. I like the concept of this project. It feels a tad bit unnatural to use the framework we were given, but it's a good place to start and my teacher was very understanding about the formality of it. It should be an interesting process.

Seminar - Professional Development Weeks

2008-02-19T12:24:00.003-06:00

For the majority of the time during the last 2 weeks at my practicum site, I have been engaging in professional development. I often find myself in long conversations with my supervisor. While these conversations are interesting and I tend to learn from them, I think I am more interested in gaining experience on my own. It is difficult to change this routine that my supervisor and I find ourselves in, because the conversations usually include information pertinent to being a school psychologist. Even though I do not think it is a "waste" of my time by any means, I think my days need to be more structured.

My supervisor recognized this as well, I think. We spent last week doing record reviews in the morning and preparing for my administration of the WISC-IV for a student up for reevaluation. Unfortunately, the opportunity to meet with the student was not present and so we have rescheduled for the next week. This would be the first full case I think my supervisor is offering. I will find out tomorrow whether I will have the opportunity.

One of the most interesting times I have in my practicum day is when I do the counseling group with the social worker. Now that I have been a part of this group for some time, I feel more comfortable making suggestions. Typically, the group is centered around talking about how the week has been going and having the students rate their feelings. If a significant issue comes up, we discuss it. I think this method is healthy, but thought the group might also benefit from practicing techniques for different situations. I suggested role-playing and so tomorrow we will do a role play for anger management. We will then have a discussion about it. I have also been keeping track of the feelings of each member of the group (they rate from 1-10). I am hoping this data will show a general improvement for the rest of the year.

I had an interesting conversation with my supervisor after an IEP meeting. The person leading the meeting was discussing how a student's capacity was X and his abilities were Y. The person said that the student's Y abilities were lower than his X capacity and that they needed to achieve X capacity. It took everything I had not to say "Actually, people achieve over their capacity all of the time. The tests don't mean that -Name- can only reach X capacity." I mean, who wants to be told that they have a ceiling for what they can achieve and have the capacity to achieve? I had a long conversation with my supervisor about how I really thought she should talk with that person leading the meeting about what the tests actually mean. It's really awful I think for parents to hear that their child is capable of achieving more, but not much.

Seminar - Observation Day

2008-02-05T13:56:00.000-06:00

This last week was more of an observation week than a practicing one. For the first portion of the day, I observed my supervisor administer the BASC-2, WAIS and WASI to two different students. I then went to talk about my research project with a teacher and was unable to find them, so very little was done on that end. I then had my weekly counseling group. I have been trying to think of ways that it can be more structured and was thinking of keeping track of their moods at each meeting. I could watch the trends this way.

At the midway point of the day, my supervisor and I discussed the presentation of my research project. We decided that my proposal was too formal and so we are meeting tomorrow to simply discuss the idea with an administrator.

The rest of the day I spent at a social service team meeting and then a special education meeting on filling out IEPs with the electronic system. It was an institute day, so there were no students to see in the afternoon. Learning about the electronic IEP system was interesting, but I think they need to have a manual explaining some key issues that might come up. If I end up interning, I think I will make that one of my goals. I enjoy learning about software and what can be done with various programs.

Seminar - No Students Week

2008-01-22T14:51:00.000-06:00

This week at my practicum site was not very eventful. The students were having their finals and so the day was shortened. In the morning, we had a BIP planning meeting with a teacher, which was very helpful to me. It was my first time in a BIP planning meeting and I was able to see the tools that they use to decide what type of intervention plan should go into place. The sheet divided behaviors into categories that helped to determine the function of the behavior. I had always wondered how teachers did that, as this particular tool was not discussed in my FBA class.

The next period, my supervisor and I met with a teacher to discuss the ED research project I am conducting. We formulated many of the questions to go into the survey for post-secondary students and discussed the methodology for gathering this data. We decided that we would try to contact the students by e-mail and have them fill out a web survey. I contacted my school psychology department and have found out that I will be able to use the university survey software to do this. This was great news as I think this survey software will help greatly in aggregating the data. We set a date for our proposal to be in 2 weeks, which should be enough time for me to write things up.

The final period was spent working on the financial aid resource list I mentioned last week. I was able to finalize most of the details and send it off to the social service team for review. I hope that this tool will be helpful to the team and has the information they were looking for. I will find out Friday, if this was the case. Overall, this week was productive, proving that a school psychologist's job is never over even without the students there.

Seminar - Back to Classes Update

2008-01-18T22:48:00.001-06:00

It's the start of a new term at National-Louis, which means it is time for an update on what has been going on at my practicum site over break. For the last 8 weeks, my practicum site has been getting better and better. The counseling group for girls is going well and I have been given more responsibility and tasks to practice with. I have been able to conduct student interviews, lead the counseling group on my own (while the social worker dealt with an individual's crisis), attend a social service team meeting on my own and take notes, administer a few subtests of the WISC-IV, and work on my research project. I am still attending several different types of meetings, but as I become familiar with the students involved, the process is more interesting.

I have gotten into several ethical and philosophical discussions with my supervisor which have been very educational. I have learned a lot about systems change and politics at the high school level. I have also been able to discuss some difficulties within the system and provide feedback on how I think certain goals could be achieved. My supervisor and I have brainstormed about programs in the school and how they could be monitored better or how to better deliver services for students. I think it has been a learning experience for both of us.

One task that I was given over break which I think will help me and the school a lot was to update the financial assistance resource list that is given to families in need. I called approximately 22 locations to figure out their services they provide and update their address or phone number. This list was about 8 years old and there were a few places that offered more services or had different contact information. I created this list in a chart format that I thought would be beneficial to parents by organizing it by need (clothing, food, medical, etc.). I have attached the documents to my LiveText journal section. One is an Excel sheet and the other is a Word document. I intend for it to be a one-page handout.

As for my research project, that has also been going well. I have been able to gather some preliminary data and more research articles in support of the techniques of the ED program. I have met with the main teacher in the program to discuss my ideas and we have begun working on the survey to give to students who have graduated high school. While I gather some information from the teachers in the program for specific details on the techniques used in the program, we are also working on the proposal to give to certain student service personnel to approve of the process. I look forward to seeing how things will turn out. Our proposal will be written in a couple of weeks.

Overall, things are on the right track and I have gotten a lot of great opportunities to practice some school psychologist skills. I am very interested in staying with my current site for my internship and think that I may have a good chance.

Seminar - Overall Experience

2007-11-19T17:44:00.001-06:00

My experience this term has been much more interesting than the previous terms. As mentioned in my latest journal, I feel as though I have had more independence this term. We are now placed in schools on a regular basis and are doing applied school psychology. There are still things that we are observing, but it feels more integrated with practice now. All of my courses this term were about practicing and very little about theory. After five years of learning about theory, it was a refreshing term.

One of the main concepts I learned about while in practicum is the nature of school systems. While we learn many possible ways of implementing ideas in our coursework, the actual format of implementation in a school can be very different. Things that seems to be common sense to a school psychology student (like progress monitoring) are not necessarily common sense in the schools. For example, PBIS is a research based program that we have been taught is an effective means by which to increase positive behavior in students. This idea is so ingrained in my mind that I thought anyone would jump on it for the same reasons that I saw. However, to implement a program like PBIS would require that 80% of the staff were on board (which can be a lot of work in a high school). Therefore, simply introducing the idea does not mean everyone will agree.

The mechanics of systems change are fascinating to me. I feel like my school is sometimes too afraid to make changes, yet it has also been around a long time and has gone through many things. It feels as though there is some resistance. Perhaps the people who run the school are familiar with "what works." Regardless, if I were the school psychologist, I would want to present researched ideas to the school and work on implementing them before assuming they would not work. I have not gotten too much of an opportunity yet, but I have been keeping track of the people at my school who seem to be motivated by creating changes. If I were to ever continue work with my high school, I would want to find the people with a similar vision for change and build off of that.

This term was also great for developing my research project. I feel I have not been able to gather enough background literature for this project, but am hoping I can add to it over break. I have so far enjoyed working with the ED program team in determining what their program is all about. It is my hope that I can help create a framework for their program and a consistent system for reevaluation.

While this term has been interesting, I imagine that the next two terms will be even more busy. The winter and spring are testing seasons for the traditional schools and I expect to get a lot of testing experience. This will be helpful for the school psychologist and I will feel more confident in my abilities to give standardized tests. I do have some ethical questions about using these tests, but I realize the value that is placed on them by society at large. Besides, if I hope to be a facilitator of change, I will need to know both sides of the coin. In general, this term has been a good experience and has helped me to connect theories with practice.

Seminar - Independence

2007-11-18T23:22:00.000-06:00

The last week or so in practicum I have been establishing greater independence. I have been able to review more research and present my articles to the ED program team. Particularly, I found a research article about how to evaluate ED programs and some of the components of effective ED programs. While the surveys were meant for internal use only, I still decided to give them to the team so that I could figure out for myself some of their focal points.

It has been difficult to build and discover what the framework of this ED program is. It has appeared thus far to be a program based on ideas that have "worked" for a number of years and not based on any one theory. This has made for an interesting project as I attempt to find the strengths and weaknesses of this program. I gave the surveys to three of the team members and expect to have them back in a week or so. These surveys will inform me in the subject areas that the ED program is focused in (e.g. academics, social skills, or behavioral management). My plan is to then take that information and find out some similar problems or theories based on what the team views as the strengths of the ED program.

Aside from the research project, I have started a weekly counseling group with a social worker. There are 2-5 girls weekly who come in for about 20-30 minutes to talk about various problems. The focus of the program is around self-esteem, assertiveness building, talking out problems, and facing anxiety. I had my first session and it was pretty interesting.

The social worker was used to giving information or talking out problems, so I was able to offer some school psychology perspectives on her tactics. I brought up the idea of progress monitoring and solution-focused brief therapy treatment techniques. I suggested to have much of the therapy client-directed or group created. For example, if we asked the students to come up with their own answers on "how to talk out a problem," we could use their creation as a means for monitoring their success. At various points, we could ask them how they think the counseling is going. And finally, I added how I thought we could relate an individual's problem to another group member's similar (but not identical) problem in order to make solving the problem relevant for everyone. The social worker valued all of my input. She decided to hold a follow-up meeting with the girls this week on an issue that was brought up by one of them and is planning to use my ideas.

Overall, I am feeling like I am able to do more here. The social services team is becoming more familiar with who I am and are taking some of my suggestions seriously. It will be a difficult decision about whether I should apply for the internship with this high school. I feel very connected with the research project I will be working on and do not want to leave it. At the same time, I would like a well-rounded experience by trying an RTI school or elementary school. At this point, I am desiring to stay at my current site, but it may depend on the upcoming testing crunch.

Mental Health - Treatment Plan #2

2007-11-11T23:38:00.001-06:00

This week I got another great opportunity to counsel a student about a problem they were facing. The counseling occurred sporadically and I had little time to prepare for it. The student had ADHD and was not very organized. It took a bit of time to understand what problem the student was willing to discuss with me. At first it appeared to be about a teacher, but it soon developed into concerns with homework. We examined possible causes for the homework problem and the student attributed the problem as a result of the teacher's failure to communicate. We then explored other concerns that the student had about homework, including when homework is generally completed and whether the information was difficult or simply too much. The student expressed that the subject matter came easily to them, but that the assignments were not explained well. After the counseling experience, I created a treatment plan that I am hoping will be beneficial to them.

It was difficult to help this student because they were all over the place. In my previous counseling experience, I needed to spend time letting the student develop their own perspective on the topic. However, in this situation, the student needed much more guidance and focus. It supports the perspective that a single therapy technique will not work with all students. My supervisor listened again to this counseling session and made another great recommendation. She recommended that when a student is all over the place that I can say "I'm sorry, I'm confused, you were saying ____." This would allow the student to understand when they are losing their focus and it also helps bring the conversation back to perspective.

Another interesting thing that I did not expect to happen this week was an opportunity to participate in a counseling group. My supervisor talked with a social worker at the school and asked whether I could participate in a weekly counseling group with her. I have not been informed about what the topic will be, but I will be meeting with the group once a week for about 45 minutes. We have not discussed too much about group counseling in this class, but I am certain I will be able to use some of the techniques I have learned this quarter. It sounds like it will be great experience for me.

For both of the counseling cases I have been examining over the last two weeks, I have been using the Treatment Planner Guide that we were required to get for class. This treatment guide is extremely helpful because it has suggestions for a number of categories with unique suggestions within each category. At first I was skeptical about using a preordained group of strategies, but I have found that many of the strategies are general enough to be adapted to individual situations. The most helpful thing about this book is that it creates triggers for effective brainstorming. I have found it most effective to combine multiple strategies and create a treatment plan with the strategies appropriate for the situation. There is a Homework Planner that I do not have that goes along with this book which might be interesting to purchase at some point as well.

Seminar - Overload

2007-11-06T15:20:00.001-06:00

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.

Mental Health - Treatment Plan #1

2007-11-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

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.

Mental Health - SFBT

2007-10-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

This week we focused on Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). This type of therapy is very close to what the title implies. It focuses on the solutions and is a form of therapy that does not take a terribly large amount of time. Similar to Reality Therapy, this type of therapy does not focus on past events and how they might have influenced the present condition. These therapies share the idea that just because it is known how the problem came about, it does not necessarily inform how to fix the problem. The example used in our textbook is about a flat tire. While the process of receiving a flat tire may help us to avoid hitting a pot hole or bumping over a curb, it does not tell us how to fix the tire. I like this analogy and think it is useful in certain situations.

If we take the attitude that our present and future are more important than our past, we are then likely to have a fresh perspective each day. This is not to say that one should ignore the past entirely, rather that each day or moment we have an opportunity to examine a problem in a new light. This is the perspective of SFBT. It does not matter what has happened in the past, right now is what is important and working towards a solution is where the focus should be. In addition, SFBT adds to this by bringing in the idea of "building on positive things that work." Three central quotes revolve around the idea of SFBT:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
"If it works a little, build on it and try to do more of the part that is working."
"If it is broke, do something different to fix it."

An important thing to keep in mind about SFBT is that while it is solution driven, it does not rely on solving the problem all at once. People seem to get discouraged when they imagine their worst problem and can see no way on how to resolve it except the same negative, seductive thing they continue to do -- which keeps them in the same miserable spot of not confronting the problem. An idea behind SFBT is to break down the major problem and put it into small steps the individual could take that would make them feel better. If they have achieved smaller goals, it is possible to build on those successes and lead to more progress. This is not to say that the problem will ever entirely be solved, but that it is in a better place.

I attempted this therapy this week and the results were not terribly successful. I think I have a tendency to want to help people with problems that they themselves do not see as a problem. If people are comfortable in what they are doing it is impossible to change their minds. I would love to try this therapy in a setting in which the person had a real problem that they wished to solve. I am hoping to get this opportunity this week. Regardless, I did attempt this therapy with someone who did not ask for it.

It took quite a bit of discussion to lead the conversation in the direction of therapy. After it had been achieved, I asked questions about what the person thought would be in their capabilities in order to make the situation better. Most of the replies were "why should I do anything at all?" But some were followed by thoughtful pauses and unsure responses which lead me to believe that the person was considering the alternatives. I did not use the miracle question in this situation because I imagined the person's miracle would be that the problem would be gone -- and in this scenario that was not possible.

Overall, I learned a great deal about change and how difficult it can be for some people. As mentioned in other entries, change is something that a person must want to have in their life in order to welcome it. Perhaps some of the jumps I was making were too big and that would be important to keep in mind. I was stuck on certain jumps I thought the person could do and maybe I should have tried smaller strides that were less intimidating. Although, it could have also been the persons inability to see the purpose in resolving a problem in a way that was not harmful. I also left out a key component of SFBT which was to build on what has worked for the person in the past.

Seminar - Mediation

2007-10-24T16:45:00.001-05:00

Today was a fantastic practicum day. For a couple of reasons, but one reason in particular. Towards the end of the day there was a meeting with the ED program team. We talked between the teachers and an administrator about how the program teachers address language/topic concerns. Primarily, how the team handles threatening concepts or inappropriate language. There were a number of different ways that the teachers handled the situations, but there was no universal format for doing so.

The administrator then went on to explain how in the real world there is zero tolerance for that kind of thing and so it should also reflect in the classes. I could not agree with this idea more. However, when dealing with a population known for their atypical behavior, it gets more tricky to address this concern. Teachers expressed this idea in various ways, but the bottom line was that zero tolerance needed to be enforced regardless. The enforcement plan was to give students a warning and then send them to the dean. The teachers didn't appear too thrilled about that because introducing a zero tolerance policy out of no where would probably not solve the core problem.

This is where my brain started ticking and desiring to blurt out. I didn't find the right moment, unfortunately, but I did bring up my thoughts to my supervisor after the meeting. I said that there appeared to be a missing gap in the thinking at the meeting and that was how to implement the desired policy. Students need to be aware of the new expectations and the expectations themselves need to be clearly defined. Role-playing, debates, and overall sensitivity training are options for making students aware of what is expected of them. A warning does very little for this group of students. These students need to be taught how to demonstrate those skills and have an atmosphere that supports the goals. Clear expectations being posted around the room go a long way.

After a half hour or so discussing this topic with my supervisor, she was in agreement. We talked about her role as a mediator and facilitator to helping everyone achieve this goal. I look forward to hearing the results of this process because I truly believe that students cannot be held accountable for things they have not be taught or had consistent reinforcement on. I sincerely appreciated my advice being seriously considered and really feel like that is what being a school psychologist is all about.

Seminar - Better Week

2007-10-23T14:58:00.000-05:00

This week was probably one of the best weeks I've had at my practicum site since I arrived 5 or so weeks ago. It was a Friday instead of a Wednesday, which may have contributed in the types of things I was doing. There was more free time available which led to less staff meetings and more time to explore other parts of the school. Particularly, I was able to look at the instructional ED program that my research project will be centered on.

It was not a typical day for the program. It was not an instructional day, rather it was a positive reinforcement day. Every third Friday the class gets to participate in playing video games, watching movies, talking, playing computer games, or just about anything they would like to do -- if they completed all of their assignments for their classes. Students who did not complete their assignments had to spend their day working on those assignments in a separate classroom with a teacher who monitored them.

I spent a few hours observing this class day at different times and it was very interesting. I got to see how the students interacted with one another and the type of social skills they had. Most of the students got along very well with each other and had positive relationships with the teachers. When I was watching the class, I noticed the variety of reasons students were placed there. Some were likely the type who constantly created problems and others were more likely to create rare problems.

I also was given the opportunity to learn more about the program by looking at their handbook and talking to the teachers (there were about 5). The program uses great practices that have been around for a long period of time. It appears to be an eclectically based program from prior knowledge of "what works." This program looks like a great idea and I think it has a lot of room for growth. It has the potential to become research-based, organized, and able to pick up for anyone. After observing some of the class, I am optimistic that I will be able to help. This appears to be the only form of social skills training at the school and I can see a lot of other good things growing out of this starting point.

There is also a situation I have been thinking about which has been bothering me. Whenever there is a situation when a student on an IEP exhibits dangerous behavior, a manifestation meeting is required. At this meeting, people discuss whether the behavior was a result of the student's disability or not. The second half of the meeting is about whether the problem is a result of the district's failure to implement the student's IEP. I've noticed there is a tendency to ignore the second part. How can a student be responsible for their behavior if they have not been taught how to behave? How can a student be responsible for their behavior if their needs on an IEP have not been met? It gets sticky at the high school because people are of the belief that "students should know how to behave by now." I don't think that is true -- and there are some situations where students have not belonged to their school districts. Rather than passing the problem along, ignoring it, or not knowing how to deal with it, we need to investigate this type of thing and take responsibility so that students can be in the Least Restrictive Environment (as the law deems).

Mental Health - Presentation

2007-10-21T22:17:00.000-05:00

This week I did not have as much of a chance to use more Reality Therapy. But it was on my mind for much of the week and I tried to apply it to my own life. When I was considering how to face a problem regarding another person, I would think about how I can only control my own behavior and not the behavior of others. When I lost the mentality of thinking I could control someone else's behavior I regained control over the situation for myself. Instead of thinking of an impossible goal, I thought about small changes I could make that were in my capacity range.

The video about the married couple that we watched in class was very insightful. It had a couple who had been married for a long time and they were arguing about how the other person doesn't do certain things. They both agreed that there was a time in the past where they were happy. In addition, they discussed things they could each do to make the situation better. While the idea of making compromises in a relationship was not new to me, thinking about it from a one-step-at-a-time approach seemed to make sense. Instead of wishing that things were how they used to be, people in relationships should focus on what they can do in the here and now to change. That being said, each person in the relationship can start small taking responsibility and build on that.

Another interesting idea presented itself in the video. It is the idea that if the same problems have existed for a long period of time, and no one is willing to change to make things better -- then it's time to quit. While quitting is not the ideal situation, it makes sense and at the very least is a good perspective to have, since people seeking help generally want things to change. I wish that I had the opportunity to present this idea to a couple I am friends with, but the chance unfortunately did not come up this week.

This last week we had a presenter in class, Larry Letwick, who talked about reality therapy. He was very interesting to listen to and had the reality therapy attitude built into him. I think having that attitude is important as a therapist practicing it. The attitude is the same as the title of the therapy -- it's very "realistic." It isn't about focusing on things in the past. It's about life as it is in the real moment and about real things that people can do about it. I appreciate that it is a "doing" model and not a "reflecting" model.

School psychologists generally do not have time for long therapy sessions. Reality therapy is a form of brief therapy that is practical to use for a school psychologist. Brief therapy is all there is time for and it seems like it can lead to positive results in a short amount of time.

Seminar - Doing

2007-10-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

This week I started my practicum experience at a workshop put on by the Alexian Brothers Behavioral Care center. This workshop was very fancy with breakfast and plenty of handouts. It was about school refusal which is a problem I think many schools face -- especially high schools. While I was hoping for interventions or information that I could use practically in my profession, what I got instead was an overview of the Alexian Brothers internal program. It was still worth it because it would appear as if their program is pretty comprehensive. It addresses all kinds of issues regarding school refusal and is based off of Kearney's model of school refusal.

After 4 hours or so, I was sold on their program. I believe that if there is a student that the school just can't handle, I will remember their program on school refusal as an option to look at before alternate schools at the very least. I was able to do some networking and chatting with people from surrounding school districts. Most of their reactions to the workshop were filled with bitterness and a desire for interventions. They were primarily social workers who appeared to have seen enough in their days to feel hopeless. They seemed jaded by many of the changes in schools and lacked all kinds of guidance or information. At one point a woman informed me how it was great I was learning all of the things I was learning at graduate school, but that I should not expect any of those ideas to get done. Fortunately, I don't typically give in to speeches like those.

After the workshop, I returned to the high school for the remainder of the day. It was an early dismissal day, so the afternoon was taken up by faculty/staff meetings. I went to a total of three meetings with different types of people. The first and last meeting were more about procedural steps that faculty should take in IEPs or in regards to special services. The middle meeting was about the program I am hoping to do my research project on. The group discussed how they could improve their program and handle special cases of students. While I did not come early enough or stay long enough in the meeting to discover what kinds of goals they were planning, I did get a sense that they were interested in program improvement.

So far, my experience has been somewhat limited. As with the week prior, I feel as though I am being under utilized. Perhaps it is because I am only attending one day a week. The meetings that I have been attending do not feel like the most beneficial thing I could be doing. I would much rather spend time in the classrooms or special services programs to help see what kinds of supports are in place. I am not as interested in procedural tasks or voting on whether a student I know nothing about requires services. I am a "doing" person and require more "doing."

Mental Health - Key Questions & Reality Therapy

2007-10-14T23:17:00.000-05:00

Unlike some of the past weeks, I was really able to apply my key questions list (Karl Tomm Questions) and indulge in a bit of Reality Therapy. I have had some difficulties finding the opportune moments to get into a problem solving situation with my friends. This week, however, I was presented with a good chance at addressing a problem that my friend had been having for many months now. What I discovered was very similar to my concerns last week. The concern was that in order for a person to change their behaviors or patterns, they must desire to change.

I started with as many of the Karl Tomm questions as I could remember. This time, however, I had focused more on future-oriented types. I would phrase questions like "What would it look like if you had achieved this goal?" While the individual could certainly picture what things would look like in pretty adequate detail, the amount of self sacrifice it would take on their behalf seemed not worth it. The individual was capable of modifying their behavior so that it was bearable to face a similar problem, but felt as though they were acting against their true nature to be open and fun.

Many of the questions that I asked were very good at understanding the entire picture of the situation. I asked questions like "Is this what usually happens when you do this?" (process-interruption), "When you do ____, then what happens?" (hypothesis), or "How long have you had this idea?" (distinction-clarifying). Unfortunately, none of these questions really helped me to come up with a solution. Most of my embedded questioning came up unsuccessful in gaining a positive reciprocation to the ideas.

This is where Reality Therapy came in. Reality therapy is centered around the three main ideas: reality, responsibility, and right & wrong. When anything goes against any of these three ideas, there is conflict. In addition, this type of therapy focuses on the now/future and not the past. This therapy is centered around the idea that people can only control their own behavior. We can't control the behavior of others. William Glasser, a Reality therapist, states "serious conflicts evolve from our attempts to control others who will not accept our control, because what we want does not satisfy them."

When presenting this idea to the individual, the tone changed from "this person did this to me" to "I can't control that person, but I can control me." A misconception that I had was that once this part was realized, the rest would fall easily into place. This was not the case. Discovering that we are responsible for ourselves does change the focus a bit, but taking ownership over the idea is another story. Taking full responsibility for our own happiness with our relationships with others is a true mental challenge. The individual did not desire to change their perspectives because the problem did not seem worth it. As the problem was not a constant irritant, it was not worth it to put the effort into self-change. I'm going to keep up with this individual and Reality therapy to see how it can go. I'd like to see this therapy broken up more into a step-by-step process and see what the milestones look like.

Seminar - Doing More to Accomplish More

2007-10-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

This week I was able to meet with the teacher I will be working with on my research project. It was a one hour meeting with the school psychologist, the teacher, and myself. It was difficult to get the project on focus since I knew very little about the program. I had asked the school psychologist for information about the program in the past and she had indicated that she would explain it to me in further detail at some time. It hadn't felt appropriate to ask during the meeting about what the ED program was about, so we mainly focused on the question.

Since I was not presented with the project and the school psychologist was, I let her handle running the questions for most of the meeting. Had I been running the meeting, I'm sure I would have done things differently, but it did not seem like it was my place to do so. The primary goal of the research project was to see whether students with ED were making long-term progress if they had been put in their program. The program had been adapted about 5 years ago and very little data (if any) had been collected about the success of the program. The teacher seemed interested in how their program compared with programs around the nation.

I attempted to redirect the research question towards a multi-level goal instead of one goal by asking the teacher whether what he was asking was "How effective is the program?" He agreed that it was essentially what they wanted to know. Without any knowledge about how the program originated, what their goals were, whether it was research-based, and more, it was difficult to provide input on what should happen next. This was very similar to how our class created the V-Diagram about this research question.

Since this was a preliminary meeting, I am certain that things will become clearer as we go along. The teacher is enthusiastic about having a practicum student to work out some of these questions into a researchable format. I hope that the school psychologist feels the same. I think that if I am given the opportunity to work on this, I will do a successful job. Basically, I am feeling a lack of opportunity and resources to do what I am required to do. When I asked the school psychologist for more information, she informed me that she would give it to me later (for the 2nd or 3rd week in a row). When I asked the teacher those questions, he said he could get them to me and was overrided by the school psychologist who said "I can get those to you," instead. I feel that perhaps there is an aura of "practicum students are not qualified to do or understand _____," or maybe she feels I should not ask basic questions. It's really difficult to determine at this point and I hope things get better. I like the school psychologist, I would just like to be doing more.

Mental Health - Cognitive Therapy

2007-10-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

This week we learned about Cognitive Therapy. Cognitive therapy does not deal with the unconscious mind. Rather, it deals with automatic responses to core beliefs. Typically, a client will believe that they are unable to change a core belief -- which can be true. The goal is not to change a core belief, but the attitude about the appropriate response. The goal of the clinician is to be an "active agent," or someone who helps alter pattens in the client's life.

I found that it was difficult to help convince people of alternate routes to take. It seems like there are people in this world who simply want to wallow in their own self-destructive behavior. I am a strong believer of the idea that people can only change if they want to change. That's what can make a therapist's job so successful is that a lot of times people who see them have some hope of change. In Theo's case, while he attended the therapy session for his girlfriend, he at least had some motivation for wanting to change for himself.

Not everyone has that same motivation. It can be difficult to see people engage in destructive behavior and enjoy it. I could see cognitive therapy being helpful for people who are sincerely interested in changing their patterns. For those that are not, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) may be more up their alley. Self-defeating ideas are a key aspect of REBT. The idea of REBT is to help people move from irrational thoughts to rational ones.

These types of thoughts, like in the case of Elena, can include ideas like "I can't do it," "I'm never going to do anything or go anywhere," "it was like she didn't care or didn't listen," or "If I make the wrong decision, I will regret it forever." While REBT also includes finding patterns and helping to change them, I think it might be more successful with people who reject change on their own. This is because I think that when people are presented with their own words, they generally realize how irrational they sound. By acknowledging the irrational thoughts, I believe it could motivate people to see there is a need for change.

While I was not presented with a great opportunity to utilize some of these therapies alone, I did attempt to integrate the ideas when I talked with various people. With one of my friends, I asked them how much time they thought they spent worrying. When I was told that they didn't know, I asked them to keep track of how much and get back to me. I am hoping to receive a response so that I can see if they might be willing to limit that amount to 1/2 to 1 hour if it goes over (which it likely will). This is a technique that will help them to gain control over their worrying and hopefully put those thoughts into perspective.

Seminar - Research Question

2007-10-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

This week we were asked to think about our research question for our practicum experience this year. I have a knack for research and enjoy conducting research to find solutions to problems. When I discovered that we would be doing a research project this year, I was excited. I am happy doing just about any kind of research that leads to new information. Therefore, when my school psychologist recommended a possible topic, I jumped on the idea.

The school has many concerns that are researchable, but the school psychologist was presented with a research question provided by another faculty member. She was asked to look up information on students who receive instruction emotional disability (ED) services. The school psychologist asked me to start collecting research that has been done on the outcomes of students with ED. I fortunately discovered a great deal of research on the statistics of what happened to those students. Many of them had difficulties maintaining jobs for extended periods of time and often did not pursue a higher education.

I did not gather the full scope of what the school psychologist was interested in, but I imagine she is interested in the high school's own ED services and what outcomes are typical for those students. By comparing the high school program to the standard national outcomes, the school psychologist can perhaps see how their own students compare.

When thinking about this topic as a research project, I am immediately drawn to the methodology. I would like to know how this can be achieved. It would be difficult to establish a control group because students with ED should not be kept out of this program (unless it is completely new and not research based). I need to find out more information about what the faculty member and school psychologist have in mind for this project. I need to know what their goals are, who would be involved, what other treatment methods they have tried, and whether they maintain statistics on their graduates. I am sure I will come across more and more questions as I go along.

If this research project does not work out, I am also interested in looking into truancy behaviors and appropriate interventions. I have not found many interventions at the high school level that would be practical for the school to implement. While several of the interventions may be what are necessary, it would be difficult for a graduate practicum student to make a recommendation and receive financial support for it (like introducing the "small schools" concept). I have not completely given up on looking into this matter, but for now I may be switching topics to meet the focus of the school.

Mental Health - Karl Tomm Questions

2007-10-01T07:31:00.000-05:00

This week we practiced using what are called the "Karl Tomm Questions." These questions are divided into categories depending on the type of question they are. During the last class session, I attempted to write down as many examples of each of the question types as possible. I was able to keep a record of at least one example for every type.

While it was difficult for me to use some of these questions with my friends without them realizing what I was doing, I was able to try some of the questions. The type of question I found myself using the most was distinction-clarifying. Typically, the question would sound like "What does ____ think about this?" or "How do you feel about that?" These questions would not only help me to understand better what was going on, but they also helped the individual critically examine their thoughts.

Another type of question I found myself using frequently was confrontational. I've noticed that I am typically confrontational in general, especially with my friends. An example of this type of question is "Are you sure you ____?" I have to be careful when using this question type because I saw that I had a tendency to carry a tone in it. My tone is not usually neutral and could work against me in a real therapy session. On the other hand, I know my friends so well and vice versa that I felt comfortable challenging their thoughts. In any case, when people are seeking help, these types of questions can shut them off, so I should be careful.

I did not have the opportunity to use all of the question types and I would like to in the future. I did not have the opportunity to try hypothesis and future-oriented. While I did typically ask "what happens next?" I rarely asked what it would look like. It would be ideal to learn these questions and have them become second nature, rather than referring to my notes each time. I was often put in a situation where the questions would have been very helpful, but they were not in my reach. The solution is to practice these questions more and hope to memorize them. The tricky part is, of course, determining when to use what type of question. Much of that process comes only with experience, of which I am lacking.

Seminar - The Research Process

2007-09-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

The journal for this week involved reading a chapter in a book called Learning How to Learn. This chapter was about Vee diagrams and connecting concepts, theories, events, and methodology together. We are supposed to connect the ideas of this chapter with our practicum site.

Quantitative research is one of my passions. One of the reasons I went into the field of school psychology was because I would have summers off to pursue research ideas (should I choose to). The chapter in Learning How to Learn discussed some of the key elements of a good research project. While I have rarely used a Vee diagram to formulate the research process, it would not hurt to use it. Essentially, what a Vee diagram does is make sure you are covering all of your bases. It can be useful when having to defend a research project to a committee.

The Vee diagram is surrounded by numerous key questions that should be answered when deciding on a research project. The chapter in Learning How to Learn provides these questions and is an excellent tool to refer to. The chapter includes questions regarding concepts, theory, data collection, and what it all means. Coming from a more traditional background in research, I had to make connections from my previous learning with the present ideas. I discovered that they do not actually conflict, but explain things in a different way. My background explained things factually while the present chapter explained things theoretically.

Of course the chapter led me to consider my own research project and how to go about it. While I am still attempting to evaluate the school I am working at, a common theme that has come up is school attendance. It's difficult to imagine a school that does not have an attendance problem, but I am confident they exist at least in small numbers. As Novak & Gowin (1984) so adequately express, the most difficult part is coming up with the research question. The present plan is to look at what kinds of solutions are out there in regards to school attendance. Ideally, I would then like to apply and evaluate a model.

Mental Health - Listening Technique

2007-09-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

The listening technique involved indirect mirroring. Indirect mirroring is when you model the client's behavior, but not exactly. This can include crossing your legs, smiling, nodding, matching tempo, and matching breathing. As previously stated though, not exactly. For example, if a person has crossed their legs at the knee, you might cross your legs at the ankle. If a person talks a lot with their hands, you might match the tempo of their hands with tapping your finger. This process of keeping tempo and eventually slowing it down calms the client.

This therapy technique was not very difficult, and yet highly effective. I was amazed to find out how long people would continue talking without me actually saying anything. There were often times when I would have to break rapport to get out of the conversations. The first person I used this technique on talked to me for about 10 minutes without me saying anything at all. She was not a talkative woman either, just had a lot of opinion I guess. I used this technique on her throughout the day, and each time I had to break rapport to remove myself from the topic. I wondered if she noticed me doing it since she was a school psychologist, but she did not appear to.

The second person I tried this technique on also found it easy to talk. The conversation went from business to therapy in about 2 minutes. It was interesting because I've talked with this person about their problems in the past and they would always ask my opinion about various things. This time, however, the person did not ask since I was not doing my usual talking back. Instead, the person continued to talk and philosophize about this or that. Again, after 10 or so minutes, I ended up breaking rapport by breaking tempo or eye-contact.

There were several times this week where I tried this technique. Each time the results were the same. The person I was listening to would find it easy to talk and not stop until I made the conscious decision to look away. What surprised me most was that people who usually do not talk for long periods of time were doing just that. Whether it was about their lives or beliefs, people felt comfortable. I found it especially unusual because I was not actually being a great listener in my opinion. Most of the time I was thinking about mirroring their actions, matching their tempo, or matching their breathing. It took a lot of conscious effort to do that and often I felt I missed the major points the person was trying to convey.

The most difficult thing about this technique was matching the breathing. Eventually, I think I threw out the conscious effort of it because I would start losing the information being spoken to me. Also, the person speaking always appeared to have a much faster tempo than me and that would make me feel anxious when I tried to match it. I did not seem to master the technique of starting out matching their speed and then trying to slow them down. I think the main reason for that was that most of the people I spoke with did not have a tempo that I should be worried about. Nothing was so aggressive that it seemed to warrant a slow-down attempt.

In general, this technique was very effective and simple. I can see that it is something I will use in my practice. When people are not seeking for advice and just want someone to listen, this technique will be very useful.