This essay will explore the nature of the therapeutic process; using my fifty minute long real play session with one of my colleagues. Also, I will explore my experience of the therapeutic relationship and how it influences therapeutic change and increase the affectivity of the therapy.
In addition to this, I will be attaining feedback from my client after discussing each stage of the therapeutic process in detail to help me understand what worked well for the client and gain more insight into what I need to improve in order for my future sessions to be more successful. Before the beginning of the session, I made sure I place the chairs in an appropriate position to promote equality and decrease the power dynamic between myself and the client.
According to Vossler (2010) a mindfully arranged room creates an appropriate emotional atmosphere. For instance a light neutral room with upright chairs suggests equal, rational conversation, while proximity between the seats indicates openness as well as discreetly informing boundaries between counsellor and client.
Additionally, a client is unlikely to be comfortable and at ease about disclosing intimate personal information unless they are sure that their privacy is protected and there is no chance of anyone overhearing. Therefore, I have set up a neural room with minimal furniture in an attempt to make it a helpful environment and help my client feel safe to share intimate details about their vulnerabilities; express themselves freely and be themselves without fearing judgment. In an ideal world, this space would be different from their everyday encounters and experiences thus, will allow clients to talk without any suspicion of exploitation and manipulation.
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...eldard (2005); I explained to her that I was from a different culture and explained the difference in our belief systems. Also, this helps clients feel at ease and valued as an equal adult. However I refrained from sharing what I would do because I did not want the session to become an advice giving session instead of it being a counselling session.
Additionally, I have also, noticed the fact that she has referred to me “counsellor” in a sarcastic tone. This shows an indication that she was coming to the realisation that although i was a counsellor i was not an expert sine,she was the one doing the entire decision making. Clarkson (2003) believes that a counsellor’s self disclosure contributes in the process of healing as it is a sign that the client is realising their own strengths to use their resourceful self to find their own way of coping with their issue.
Therapeutic communication can help promote a relationship between the nurse and the client, by focusing on the client’s needs. The nurse can do this by using various types of communication skills, such as giving recognition, giving information, and offering self. Giving recognition is acknowledging the client’s needs in a non-judgmental way.An example of giving recognition in Bed Number Ten is “After you’re a little better, we’ll be taking you to the physical therapy department for regular work to rebuild your strength” (54). Sue enjoyed the conversation with Charles because he was the first to spoke to her about getting better. Giving information is providing specific factual information the client may or may not request. “All the way through,
This study looked at the therapeutic relationship and its influence in the process of Child-centered play therapy (CCPT). An exploratory single subject quantitative-qualitative design was used to examine therapist relational variables and their associations with changes in children’s behavior in CCPT (Hilliard, 1993; Jordans, Komproe, Tol, Nsereko, & De Jong, 2013). Specifically, we examined changes in levels of therapist process variables and their corresponding relationships with changes in children’s behaviors within and between cases to better understand therapeutic processes that impact child behavior, as well as the therapeutic relationship.
Rye N. Child-Centred Play Therapy. In: JH Stone, M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. 2010.
In this paper, the readers will learn that I, Chantiara Johnson, played the role of a therapist. My friend, who is a college Sophomore played the role of client. I will use the techniques that I learned during the first three weeks of this course; these techniques will help me conduct the interview with my client. Throughout this interview, I will mock and reflect a therapy session of a client who is facing the feeling of loneliness and the feeling of not being enough.
Wehrman, J. D., & Field, J. E. (2013). Play-Based Activities in Family Counseling. American Journal of Family Therapy, 41(4), 341-352. doi:10.1080/01926187.2012.704838
The counselling process is one that may last for as little as one session or for years, it is within the middles stages of the helping relationship that particular counselling skills such as a focusing, challenging and immediacy can be implemented, as well as use of advanced empathy that can be applied due to increased familiarity with a speaker. Many actions may occur within middles stage of the helping relationship such as transitions that occur for a multitude of reasons and the outcome of which can vary based on the attitude of the speaker. Self-awareness remains vital throughout the entire counselling relationship due to the continual influence of empathy in the helping relationship and remaining aware my own motives and values when using advanced empathy and specific counselling skills. Ethics and boundaries are also involved within the counselling process as within a counselling relationship, I as the counsellor, must be careful with the balance or expenditure of power when challenging.
along with presence, I introduced mediation and deep breathing as coping skills the client could use to help clear her mind when she needs to. While the client thought it was helpful as evidenced by her response in the evaluation, she did challenge using it within the session. I believed I was able to handle the challenge from the client and get more buy-in for the use of the technique in return. The client mentioned “Frank introduced breathing technique and meditation successfully”. I was able to disclose some of my experience with meditation and deep breathing to help guide how it could be beneficial for her as well. I also introduced roleplays as a way to show different perspectives to the ones she introduces while talking about how others will treat her if she talks about her pregnancy. I believed this portion shined a light on some of her misconceptions she had about
These different tools are useful in building and maintaining a therapeutic relationship. Paraphrasing includes repeating the content that has been expressed in a different way, this method can provide the client with a feeling of importance and recognition. Reflection of feelings/content involves identifying the feelings and/or content in what has been said (highlighting the key aspects of the story). Again, this method encourages the patients to be validated and heard. The relationship between the person seeking help and the nurse/counsellor should be appropriate for producing therapeutic change, to ensure that the patient maximizes the therapeutic relationship.
Current research implies that an empathetic clinician-client relationship and interrelated ecosystems play the majority role in the success of therapy (Kilpatrick & Holland, 2009). The clinician’s ability to be present and actively perceive what the client is experiencing is of utmost importance in creating a therapeutic alliance. It is imperative that the clinician gains positive regard towards the client and their environment displaying honest acceptance towards the client no matter what issues are presented in session. This closely relates to a sincere presentation of genuineness that instills a feeling of honesty within the client and clinician (Kilpatrick & Holland, 2009). An experienced clinician builds upon the therapeutic
In addition, some clients may want to explore their multiple identities and how they position themselves in a world that is highly influenced by culture. Nonetheless, as I read this question, I realized that there is no right or wrong answer. Similarly, there is no right or wrong reason to come to therapy. Therapy is for the individuals who want help regardless of a reason or problem. It is possible that some clients may not have a problem but that is not for the therapist to judge. Instead, the therapist must remain curious and explore the client’s perception of the problem or problems in order to identify unique outcomes and help build preferred
Both types of therapies had the specific elements that PCIT wanted to convey. One element was an emotional calm that play therapy produced in work with children. However, the calm play that the therapist and child do inside session, is far from the relationship that the parent and child may have outside therapy. By training the child’s parent to provide behavior therapy, enables treatment benefits to be longer-lasting. The use of play therapy in parent-child interaction strengthens the parent-child attachment and provides the child greater exposure to the calming therapy with their own parent. However, play therapy is not the only appropriate intervention when it comes to disciplining children. Parents get the skills need to deal with the behavioral issues by the live parent training, for setting limits and drawing back from tough discipline (Funderburk,
This is a counselling method used to help youngsters communicate their inner experiences through using toys and play. Nondirective play therapy is a non-pathologizing technique founded on the belief that youngsters have the internal drive to attain wellness (Petruk, 2009). Play therapy is grounded on the theory that play is a youngster’s language, the toys considered the words a youngster uses to express or show their inner experiences and how they experience and perceive the world. Within a play session, and throughout the course of sessions, themes develop in the youngster’s play, giving the therapist insight into the child’s feelings, thoughts, experiences, and interpretations of their world (Petruk,
This theory suggests that play plays a vital role of treating children’s disorders, children are able to gain some sense of control and alleviate their negative emotions including anxieties, fears and traumas through playing (Heidman & Hewitt, 2010; Freud, 1961). From the psychoanalytic perspective, play has a cathartic effect for children as it can assist children to cope with adverse feelings (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Therefore, play is regarded as a therapeutic method to deal with the emotional problems (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Moreover, this theory is of the view that play is an avenue to connect children’s past, current and future inner life (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Sigmund Freud was the pioneer who made a considerable contribution to this theory and he called “play” as the “royal road” to the child’s conscious and unconscious world (Willians, 2009, p. 575). He believed that play allows a combination of fantasy with reality, children should spend time playing every day as it is very healthy and necessarily (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Children are able to resolve psychological dilemmas, soften their worries and develop their understanding of life experiences (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Erikson had further developed this theory, he recognized that the particular events are critical to shape the nature of
The use of drama and play techniques in therapeutic situations has always intrigued me. The opportunity to experience a drama therapy course was too much for me to miss. Although my daughter is in the drama therapy program, I was not prepared for the weekend workshop. According to the course title the subject would be about how to create a playful connection with the therapist. I assumed that I would learn how to use play and specific techniques in a therapeutic setting. Although I was exposed to some play techniques, the course lacked a foundation for therapists who are not already grounded in the creative arts. Lacking even a minimal theoretical background left me wondering what, as a marriage and family therapist I could ethically use in my practice.
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.