Was Len being helpful in this situation?
Yes Len was being helpful
What was he doing that fits with the core conditions?
Len is concerned that Georgie might hurt himself, so decides to look in on him on a regular basis.
Makes him a cup of tea and talks to him to calm him down.
Being aware of his personal feelings but manages to put this aside.
Realising Georgie is really scared about what is happening.
Listens and talks to him empathetically.
In what ways did his attempts at helping fit with the core conditions?
Len is being congruent by putting aside his personal feelings and being genuinely concerned about Georgie’s concerns about what is happening to him.
Len is being empathic by putting himself in Georgie’s shoes and realising Georgie is really scared about what is happening to him.
Above all else i think this piece of homework shows how hard counselling can be. In order to be a good counsellor you must genuinely like or empathise with something about that person or you wont be able to help them.
There are going to be issues that you just couldn't counsel someone over because of your personal feelings, for example one lady in my class said she would have trouble counselling someone with a history of violence against women as she had been beaten badly by a previous partner. I really cant tell what i myself would be like if that situation came up?
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hey Claire—
ReplyDeleteyes, there are always going to be concerns we as counselors have to deal with in order to be able to counsel others without letting our own issues to get in the way.
rather than trying set those aside, we need to face our own demons and deal with them. that’s why I recommend therapists consult therapists themselves—in order to keep current with our own concerns so we don’t act them out toward the people we’re trying to help.
and, there will be some issues we simply can't move past, no matter how hard we work at it. then, we need to know our own limits and respect them.
just a thought.
Thank you SO much for visiting my blog! I'm afraid your posts are a little over my head lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally two crows, apparently when qualified you have to see a supervisor. A supervisor is anyone who is as qualified or more qualified than you. Thanks for checking out my blog again.
ReplyDeleteClaire
Skittles, your blog is great! and read posts in between counselling stuff, you realise that a lot goes over my head!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Claire
Sounds like you're well on your way! You're right, a good counselor is one who can emphathize with his/her client, interpret their feelings accurately by listening to both verbal and nonverbal cues (and checking-in with the client for accuracy), etc.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important for every new counselor to identify clients/settings that they prefer not to work with--as it will aid them in knowing when to make a referral. At the same time, as a counselor, it's important that one doesn't allow their "stuff" to blend with that of the client's.
Good Luck with your assignment!
Oh..I just read Two Crows comments...I agree.
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest that her peer look into some individual counseling--as it sounds like she still needs to work through some issues in former relationships.
I believe that all counselors could benefit from therapy. It helps you to realize how difficult it is to sit in the other chair...
isn't as easy as it seems...
:)
Wow! Thanks for the two awesome answers 'the counselor'! I have actually finished this lot of assignments and i am starting next stage on tuesday! but this helps me so much. Our tutor told us that a lot of the people who do counselling courses are actually wanting or needing counselling themselves, and they use this as a form of self counselling.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Claire
Huh?
ReplyDeleteThe Dragon is lost. I use a completely different side of my brain than "The Counselor".
Seriously, ask her. :)
Any side of the brain comments welcome here!
ReplyDeleteClaire