" The therapist is ultimately not there to treat the patient but, via a circuitous and well-concealed route, to treat or protect or comfort himself. "
Thomas Maeder.
I was late but slotted into the morning's first activity which was to look at the learning commitment questionnaire and discuss in pairs our similarities and differences. V (for whom English is a second language) was concerned about mistakes in essay writing whilst I was concerned at painful revelations in class causing me to cry. Several people had similar anxieties but actually just expressing it lessened it. Some were anxious that classes would turn into group counselling sessions. Hopefully not.
We were then given four professions and asked to identify helping aspects of that profession which we then presented to the group and they had to guess what the profession was out of Teacher, Doctor, Parent, Friend. we then swapped around and drew up a list of those attributes that could be called counselling skills. Debate ensued about whether Counsellors gave advice (they don't) should have a good sense of humour and be a role of model (debatable!) Though I felt that a good counsellor would have all appointments filled and therefore have a kind of standing because of that.
We then got on to the history of counselling pre- and post- Industrial revolution. Before, people who were mentally ill were taken care of in their own communities but the great migration to the cities meant a fracturing of these old traditions and those unable to work were confined in workhouses. The mentally ill were disruptive and so began the Asylums where such individuals (mostly women) were confined and treated (by men mainly). Very interesting.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Monday, 20 October 2008
WEEK 2: 10th October 2008
" He (Carlos) had never had a male friend. 'Who needs them?' he once said to me. 'I've never met anyone who wouldn't cut you dead for a dollar, a job or a cunt'."*
An interesting and enlivening session in which we discussed a code of conduct for the group which centred around respect for others, listening, honesty,the freedom to be mistaken,not to attack others personally but to keep it within the context of feelings, i.e: 'what you said made me feel angry' not 'you make me angry'.
Anne to type up the rules and distribute to the group via e-mail..
Following on from the learning styles questionnaire, we divided into three groups: Practical, Visual and Auditory (depending on which learning style you scored highly on). As a good all-rounder I was encouraged to join a smaller group (the Practical one). We then discussed what learning in a practical manner might entail. Challenging or questioning theories seemed to predominate. The boundaries blurred between all the styles as one would expect. I'm glad I'm a good all-rounder.
We then did a kind of pictogram about who we were and how we saw the world. I confined my pictogram within the context of counselling and what I hoped to achieve from the course. I then shared this with two other members of the group. We all had very different approaches. The other two were much more wide-ranging in their approaches. I think I could do with that. Get some air in the experience. But then there is no right and wrong about this.
Outside of the group, I am reading Love's Executioner by Irwin Yalom*. He strikes me as a very egotistical psychotherapist!
An interesting and enlivening session in which we discussed a code of conduct for the group which centred around respect for others, listening, honesty,the freedom to be mistaken,not to attack others personally but to keep it within the context of feelings, i.e: 'what you said made me feel angry' not 'you make me angry'.
Anne to type up the rules and distribute to the group via e-mail..
Following on from the learning styles questionnaire, we divided into three groups: Practical, Visual and Auditory (depending on which learning style you scored highly on). As a good all-rounder I was encouraged to join a smaller group (the Practical one). We then discussed what learning in a practical manner might entail. Challenging or questioning theories seemed to predominate. The boundaries blurred between all the styles as one would expect. I'm glad I'm a good all-rounder.
We then did a kind of pictogram about who we were and how we saw the world. I confined my pictogram within the context of counselling and what I hoped to achieve from the course. I then shared this with two other members of the group. We all had very different approaches. The other two were much more wide-ranging in their approaches. I think I could do with that. Get some air in the experience. But then there is no right and wrong about this.
Outside of the group, I am reading Love's Executioner by Irwin Yalom*. He strikes me as a very egotistical psychotherapist!
Friday, 10 October 2008
Week One: 3rd October 2008
"In as far as our expectations are ideal they are unattainable; in as far as they are reasonable, they have a chance of being met."
Isca Salzberger-Wittenberg.
Really great to see a full house for the first week of the course. I feel it bodes well! People were already talkng to each other before the session started. A (the tutor) seems very friendly (as one would expect).We did the usual Birkbeck thing of finding out about our neighbour and introducing them to the group. Mine was K who already has a degree in psychology (I felt jealous of that). I remembered pretty much everything she told me. Interestingly, the only thing I omitted was the fact that she had been in counselling herself for two years. I wonder why? Whilst I was telling her about my life, I mentioned that I'd had marital problems and I said 'one of us had to go'. K took that to mean that I had left my husband when what I actually meant was that 'one of us had to go into counselling'. We laughed at the Freudian implications. Mostly women on the course, just two men. A wide range of backgrounds and experience. I'm looking forward to hearing different cultural experiences. We all seem to be hoping for insight and unexpected directions. Someone voiced the fear of painful revelation. Either way it promises to be cathartic.
Isca Salzberger-Wittenberg.
Really great to see a full house for the first week of the course. I feel it bodes well! People were already talkng to each other before the session started. A (the tutor) seems very friendly (as one would expect).We did the usual Birkbeck thing of finding out about our neighbour and introducing them to the group. Mine was K who already has a degree in psychology (I felt jealous of that). I remembered pretty much everything she told me. Interestingly, the only thing I omitted was the fact that she had been in counselling herself for two years. I wonder why? Whilst I was telling her about my life, I mentioned that I'd had marital problems and I said 'one of us had to go'. K took that to mean that I had left my husband when what I actually meant was that 'one of us had to go into counselling'. We laughed at the Freudian implications. Mostly women on the course, just two men. A wide range of backgrounds and experience. I'm looking forward to hearing different cultural experiences. We all seem to be hoping for insight and unexpected directions. Someone voiced the fear of painful revelation. Either way it promises to be cathartic.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Another displacement activity...
Yes, I'm at it again. Another blog, this time about the Introduction to Counselling course I'm doing at Birkbeck College. It will take the form of my weekly learning journal. Hopefully it will be more entertaining than it sounds.
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