Self-awareness: May 1st 2009

We are starting to think about where we might study next. I am considering the next year of the diploma. K is thinking about the MA, brave soul. Quite honestly the price makes me blench (plus paying for my own counselling) so It's the diploma for me. We also need to think about the next essay.

What was clarifeid for me about the act of counselling another is the need for self awareness. That is to say; it's fine to feel the same emotions as your client but, in order to avoid the horrors of counter-transference, one must be AWARE of one's identification with the client's feelings and seek to maintain a distance from them. This is to avoid the danger of projecting one's own desires onto the actions of another. K put it very well: We are human. Humans have needs. If needs are not acknowledged, they may (on an unconscious level) become demands. This was reassuring because as a counsellor, one is not an 'expert' necessarily, though I suppose that depends on the context of the counselling relationship.

On a practical level we started on the practical tasks of learning to establish a relationship with a client.

T and I discussed a 'script' for this purpose and decided that:
- be friendly and welcoming, good eye contact. Introduce oneself and establish the other person's name from the off.
- set up the framework eg: ' we're just going to talk about our previous experiences of being counselled for about five minutes'
- focus on client, open body language, encouraging 'um-hums' etc.

We engaged in role play in triads. K, V and I took turns to play at being a newcomer to the group and encouraged the newbie to relate a previous experience of counselling that had helped them. Very interesting to consider our non-verbal communication skills. For some peculiar reason I had a tight grip on my phone and I wasn't even the timekeeper. K also noted that I was a bit keen to leap in with observations from my own experience. All good feedback. K seems very accomplished, I must say. Her input is very valuable.

Arranged tutorial with A for next week.

Back in the swim 24th March 2009

So, new start of term and a new essay looms! Ha, bring it on I say...

It was good to see everyone again and interesting as A noted that if a client has had a break from counselling then sometimes the first session back is notable for the absence of client. Our group was no exception as a couple of members did not return.

We concentrated very much on reconnecting and starting to think about writing styles for the essay. A divided these styles into four categories: Diver, Patchworker, Architect and Grand Planner.

DIVER: Just gets straight in there and comes up with something.
PATCHWORKER: Draws research from a variety of areas and patches it all together.
ARCHITECT: Structured, planning. Methodical.
GRAND PLANNER: Writes it all in their head and just does it. No re-drafting.

We divided into groups according to which style we felt we were and brainstormed the advantages and disadvantages of each style. K and I were architects. The advantages were, organisational, methodical, logical, sound structure, intro, body and conclusion. The disadvantages were mainly to do with spontaneity (or lack thereof!) and the ability to admit valid new discourses. Ie: Don't get hung up too much on the planning to deny new ideas. This was an interesting approach with new essays imminent.

We then worked in triads to give, receive and observe counselling on writing styles. This got more complicated because there were three feedback forms to fill in. One self-reflective and the other two for the giver and receiver of the counselling. This will take a while to get used to. It was impossible for me to divide myself the-writer-as-counsellor from me the writer-of-scripts though I was certainly prepared to admit that my creative writing could also use the freedom of admitting new ideas and concepts.

End of the second term.

How time flies. Those of us who attended the progression routes presentation reported back to the rest of the group and discussion ensued. Much food for thought about the cost and time commitment plus the thing of working more autonomously at postgraduate level.

We worked in trios and pairs to fill in the Learning review 2, swapping partners with each section. K picked up that I never went to break with the others in the first term. I think I was a bit shy but I can understand how that might come off as a bit stand-offish. These days, I'm first in the caff and quite often keep an eye on the time so we don't step over time boundaries with A.

We divided into two teams for a quiz on different forms of counselling. Our team won but it was very funny to see how competitive people got! Our prize is to buy A a cup of coffee last class of the last term.

afterwards we went to The Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes for L's birthday. It was empty so we got served drinks quickly. Funny, we're all getting to know each other and we've only got one more term to go. Shame! Hopefully some will continue onto the next part of the certificate.

Result!

64%. Oh yes. Very happy with that. Plus some excellent feedback on developing my writing style around referring directly to this learning journal and the experiences of others and myself in the class.

On Saturday, I listened to a presentation on further study progressions. I'm thinking about a MSc in Humanistic counselling. It's going to be expensive (£3500 per year) plus your own counselling fees. Before that, one more year at Birkbeck for the Certificate!