So anyway, I have decided what I will talk about on Friday. In terms of family dynamics, prior to the course, I was always a great one for 'solving' whatever crisis was going on. Not only with the children but also in my relationship with my husband. Though my willingness to deal with issues is probably a good thing, my coping strategies have not always been a good choice. So, lately (faced with a fairly insoluble situation) I have decided on a new approach: Stepping away and just seeing what might happen.
The one major benefit is that I seem to have got rid of an almost crippling anxiety. I think I've noticed this because I've been lugging it around for years. My baggage as it were. Something that started when my father died and I had to become emotionally self-sufficient. An event that coincided with puberty and its attendant insecurities. I really think at the age of 49, I'm allowed to put it down.
Showing posts with label Anxieties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anxieties. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Thursday, 23 October 2008
WEEK 3: 17TH OCTOBER 2008
" 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.
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.
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