Sunday, August 3, 2014
Chapter 17 Conclusion
To conclude Counseling Theories I have learned a variety of theories and techniques that will undoubtedly help me in the future as a school counselor. When a student comes in to my office I will have a series of thoughts to determine how I want to approach helping that particular student. It is important to remember that my personal style and preferences are different than others. It is important to choose a technique that is empirically valid, stimulating, and practical. Knowing yourself is the first step in becoming an effective counselor. Without acknowledging our personal biases and beliefs, we could influence clients or students. Although I will clearly not be providing therapy to students, it was very interesting to learn the different perspectives and to gain knowledge related to counseling.
Chapter 16 Mindfulness Approaches
Mindfulness Approaches, more specifically, ACT Therapy was originated by Steven Hayes. ACT focuses on healthy thinking. It is important for individuals to remember that thoughts are just thoughts. ACT focuses on not letting clients give in to short term needs that are unhealthy. ACT focuses on the long term goals, and don't let short term wants get in the way of the future. ACT therapists very much hold clients accountable for their actions.
This approach insinuates that everyone should just "go with the flow." However, this is very hard for some people to accept. Students with a serious dilemma would perhaps benefit from reminding them that their issue is only temporary. Also, I think letting students know that "life happens" is a great way to prep them for future issues. Sometimes, things are out of our control. However, if a student does make a bad choice, as a ACT counselor it would be beneficial to talk with the student about the fact that they made that choice. Also, it would be important to discuss long term and short term goals.
This approach insinuates that everyone should just "go with the flow." However, this is very hard for some people to accept. Students with a serious dilemma would perhaps benefit from reminding them that their issue is only temporary. Also, I think letting students know that "life happens" is a great way to prep them for future issues. Sometimes, things are out of our control. However, if a student does make a bad choice, as a ACT counselor it would be beneficial to talk with the student about the fact that they made that choice. Also, it would be important to discuss long term and short term goals.
Chapter 15 Narrative Therapy
Narrative Therapy is most closely associated with Michael White and David Epston. Narrative Therapists are not focused on what motivates people. Rather, they are focused on an individual's story. The therapists work with clients to create meaning from the clients stories. The stories are comprised of experiences and interactions with others. Clients have multiple selves, and expressions change from situation to situation. The goal of Narrative Therapy is to take the story that the client has told and make what they can out of it. The goal is to deconstruct the problem stories and then make new, more desirable, stories.
In a K-12 setting this approach is pretty idealistic. However, with a mature student it could work well. A student who has great self control and ethics would benefit from this approach. If a student had a "story" of doing drugs and making bad choices, the student is probably labeled the "bad student." That is obviously a dominant story. According to this approach it would be the student's responsibility to make new choices and in turn make new dominant stories, to be labeled a "good kid."
Video: Narrative Session with Dr. Madigan and David about Frustration
In this video the client is trying to do well and it seems like there is not any room for a mistake. He often gets frustrated and mad. The counselor points out the things that he does to not be frustrated, such as soccer. And the boy agreed but said that he can't understand something he finds completely boring, like history. He cant understand and focus on this subject in particular because it is of no interest to him. The boredom then leads to frustration.The counselor points out that the characters themselves aren't boring but perhaps the way the story is told is what makes the subject boring. The counselor used Narrative Therapy in a very literal sense and asked the boy to literally write a new story. He can take the information and write a new story, to make homework more exciting.
In a K-12 setting this approach is pretty idealistic. However, with a mature student it could work well. A student who has great self control and ethics would benefit from this approach. If a student had a "story" of doing drugs and making bad choices, the student is probably labeled the "bad student." That is obviously a dominant story. According to this approach it would be the student's responsibility to make new choices and in turn make new dominant stories, to be labeled a "good kid."
Video: Narrative Session with Dr. Madigan and David about Frustration
In this video the client is trying to do well and it seems like there is not any room for a mistake. He often gets frustrated and mad. The counselor points out the things that he does to not be frustrated, such as soccer. And the boy agreed but said that he can't understand something he finds completely boring, like history. He cant understand and focus on this subject in particular because it is of no interest to him. The boredom then leads to frustration.The counselor points out that the characters themselves aren't boring but perhaps the way the story is told is what makes the subject boring. The counselor used Narrative Therapy in a very literal sense and asked the boy to literally write a new story. He can take the information and write a new story, to make homework more exciting.
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