As the clock reached three minutes before the start of lab, I felt sweat forming on the palms of my hand and a pounding in my chest. After each minute passed, these symptoms worsened. I noticed myself ruminating on the thought of entering into the lab session late. I imagined myself walking into the therapy room a few minutes late and all group members staring at me. As I imagined this, I just grew more disappointed in myself for getting onto the bus later this morning. Therefore, due to this rough start, I felt that I started this helping session with more negative thoughts and feelings. Fortunately, though, after discussing our highs and lows for the week, I felt better as I was able to verbally release those feelings negative feelings or get them off of my chest. As a group member this week, I felt that I was able to connect on a deeper level with the other members. In this helping session, the leader had us …show more content…
More specifically, I experienced conflicting feelings of feeling heartbroken and joy. I felt heartbroken as I was aware that this was our last helping session and that all group members would be going their separate ways. However, I also experienced joy as I learned about some of my strengths. It felt nice hearing difference perspectives about my improvement over the course of the semester. Throughout this semester, I frequently felt disappointed after helping sessions as I felt that I did not perform as well as I wanted to. Therefore, I felt joy after hearing these strengths because it made me realize that I performed better than I thought. Although this session involved sadness, I felt that the group leaders helped us effectively end the session. Our group leaders gave us the opportunity to reflect on our personal strengths, along with weaknesses, and overall experiences in lab, which allowed us to end our session slowly and leave the group
So if we want joy, love, and empathy in our lives, we need to let vulnerability into our hearts.... ... middle of paper ... ... But instead of reacting negatively, I was pleased to see that Anabella and Francisco and Santos – and all my other students – understood. They saw that I was trying my best, and that for any positive change to occur, we, all, had to put ourselves at risk in the arena.
Last week at practicum was a time of renewed energy. Megan and I had a meeting with one of our supervisors and we discussed our experiences, thoughts, and concerns regarding the placement thus far. Additionally, our other supervisor completed his IPT comments, leading us to have a productive conversation about how our goals are being met and what needs to happen during term two to ensure that we achieve the remainder of our goals. Having this conversation before our mid-term evaluation was very meaningful, and at this point, I think that my practicum placement is as good as it could be. Moreover, I feel very validated by the level of support I have received from my supervisors and how they have taken our feedback of the agency seriously. Seeing my suggestions be authenticated and incorporated into the volunteer orientation makes me realize that my contributions will have a lasting impact on the community. The primary changes that I want to see are workers approaching clients from a strengths perspective instead of from a deficit one, and more mental health training for volunteers. After learning about reframing the way people think about issues during the cognitive behavioural therapy lecture in SOWK 310, I feel more prepared to give concrete strategies and examples of how workers at the agency can empower clients by using a strengths approach. In this context, reframing will aid the agency in seeing problems as opportunities
Corey, Corey, and Corey (2010) identify courage and inventiveness as two helpful characteristics towards being an effective group leader. Courage is defined as a willingness to be vulnerable, to be honest, and to be "emotionally affected by others and to draw on your own experiences to identify with them" (Corey, et al., 2010, p. 31). I feel that courage is something I have been able to utilize while leading and developing groups in the past. I have also received feedback from patients at the end of their inpatient treatment that supports my ability to be "emotionally affected" in a positive way. I was often told that, "I could see you experiencing the feelings I was talking about." These patient's were mainly from a corrections population and considered to be anti-social. They often presented with a flat-affect and an inability to be connected to their own emotional experience. It was very difficult work and extremely emotionally taxing. I couldn't help but be emotionally
I was devastated that I had to possibly get some of my summer taken away, or re taking the same grade and not going to high school on time. I mostly was just so embarrassed that I had to go through that and not have it easy like others. I then realized that I couldn't give up so easily I needed to just pick myself up and think positive. I knew that I could do it I had to I couldn't just sit for the rest of the year and retake the year. I started to pick up my slack and do what I had to do to pass the 8th
I walked in my third and final mock session with a level of comfortability that I knew what I was dealing with and prepared for the client. Feed back form my classmate during my last case presentation was perfect a gave me an air of confidence for my last session. However, it was a grounding experience when the client brought up a current crisis she was dealing with at the moment. The client mentioned that she was was pregnant and was not able to make a decision of weather to keep the baby or have an abortion. The client came in with a very real level of anxiety that created a tension throughout the session that really tested my ability to stay present and support the client during this sensitive time.
We know that the mind clings to the negative — but research also shows us that 3 times more positive things happen to us than negative things every day. At any given time, a lot of things are going right in our lives. Either in our career or in our personal lives. It could be that you enjoy what you do at work, are grateful for the paycheck, or appreciate your organization’s values or benefits. It could be the joy you derive from your family, hobbies, sports, or community service. When we savor our experiences, we derive more pleasure and satisfaction from them. Spending time enjoying and feeling grateful for what is going right in your life will help you weather the rest. Caroline spent hours every week devoted to a community service activity from which she derived the joy and strength with which to face her other
Thus, in my opinion, these connections were essentially interactions that were in effect a “gift” that could be passed on. I am not just here to help individuals, I am here to create notable connections that would present the motivation to others to also aid those in need and bolster the community. Overall, the most important learnings for me in this experience stem from witnessing the client’s struggle. Besides, this pre-practicum experience remains undoubtedly one of the best learning exercises that I have been involved with.
My costume today was dressier and better put together than usual. Impression management was influential in my choice of clothing today. I had a doctor appointment today and wanted to present myself looking better than I have been in the last few months. I feel my home is my ultimate back stage where I can just be me, I feel the same when my boyfriend is home. I was alone until I arrived at the clinic, where it took me a minute to compose myself. I have recently lost a child and find myself breaking down often. I realize people are probably sympathetic and just don’t know what to say,
This meeting lasted about 1 hour and I felt very welcomed in this warm compassionate setting. Attending this meeting, I knew that I wasn’t going to be judged or looked down upon because of my situation or issues. Everyone who attended this meeting has a story to tell and that is why they choose to come. I choose to attend this meeting because of my past struggles, so I felt that I could relate to the material that was presented. The ...
I was excited to take the Gallup Strengths Finder assessment. Although I am more reserved and shy, I typically find myself placed in leadership positions. I am always surprised when people refer to me as a leader but family members and close friends have made me more aware of this personality characteristic. I really enjoyed taking the Gallup Strength Finder assessment and I can see why this would be an assessment growing in popularity across the globe. When I finished the assessment, my results showed that my strengths, from first to last, are developer, empathy, input, connectedness, and restorative.
Day 2: Day 2: Reflect on the last time that you were helped and the last time that you provided help to someone. Did your self-esteem seem to suffer after receiving help? Who was the source of the help? How did the person that you helped seem to feel after the assistance? The last time I received help was when my wife and I were on the verge of divorcing.
Therapy Analysis The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of my work as a co-therapist during the fifth session with the simulated couple Katy and Michelle. I will discuss our therapy agenda and the goals we hope to attain during the session. It is prudent to begin by giving a brief outline of the couple’s present problem and the patterns of dysfunction that I have identified within their relationship. In my opinion, it is the therapist’s job to recognize patterns and behaviors that disrupt the intimate bond between the partners.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
My strongest writing skills were illustrated with the expression and analysis of the benefits and the drawbacks associated with the group project. While I was able to present the arguments and responses both verbally and in writing, there is additional work could use improvement. As English was not my first language, there were instances and moments where the