Rock and Sky:
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Gear Reviews
  • Trip Reports
  • Meet Marge

Excerpts from My Imagination

9/28/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
The following are excerpts from my very first (!!) paper for grad school. They asked me to describe what my professional identity will be when I'm a counselor. Ya got me, I barely know up from down at the moment, let alone what I'll be when I'm done with this program. It reminds me of a similar paper I wrote for undergrad about what kind of teacher I'd become. I'd never taught a class. 

So why speculate?

To get my brain rolling towards the future I suppose. To begin to associate myself with my future profession. This is a good practice for any of us with a new future ahead: Begin to visualize your self in it. Speculate. Relate. Own it. Create your space, and move in. Here is what I see in the distance. 

Thanks for reading. :)
Picture
As a beginning counselor, shaping our professional identity is a silently running theme behind our studies and dialogue. As we read and write we search for values to imitate and relate to. This will be an ongoing process for the rest of our careers, varying in degree as we mature and become solidified in our own practices. In this paper I begin to explore my thoughts about professional identities and what mine may become.


I’ve worked for some time developing my professional identity as  teacher. Through different teaching scenarios it continues to evolve, though a few core elements remain. These core elements are also part of who I am as a person, and so they will transfer into my new career as a mental health counselor. I believe that an authentic relationship is the best way for me to connect with clients.

Theories
Gestalt Therapy’s focus is on present awareness, and the client coming to change through becoming more aware of who they actually are (Corey, 2009). This focus reminds me of the Taoist approach to life. It also sounds similar to a few training for climbing books I’ve read. Arno Ilgner, in The Rock Warrior’s Way said, “Awareness is the key to beginning any process and to solving any problem... If you are unaware of how you think you have very little power to change. Without change there is no improvement” (2003). The idea of mindfulness and a client’s interactions with the world can be directly applied to climbing as a sport. I would be interested to look into the application of training for climbing and it’s parallels in counseling, and the potential for designing a program that would use not only the challenge of climbing and the experience of being outside, but the practice of mindfulness and the subsequent dialogue as an agent of change.

Picture
In contrast to Gestalt Therapy, which is by nature not action focused, is Adventure Based Psychotherapy (ABP). According to Bandoroff and Newes (2004), “ABP is a therapeutic modality combining therapeutic benefits of adventure experiences and activities with those of more traditional modes of therapy.” The experiential learning takes place when clients become an active participant in their therapy. Gass (1993) took the principles of experiential learning and applied them to experiential therapy. What resulted was a list of principles that resemble the well established premises of theories like cognitive, humanistic and behavioral theory. These principles include client participation, meaningful activities, client-therapist relationship development, dissonance as a platform for change and relevant consequences of the learning.

Even before joining the MAP program, I knew I wanted to learn how to use experience to help others, much like experience has helped me. ABP seems to be the perfect medium to bring together multiple theories of counseling and apply them in a non traditional setting, which may result in even more meaningful change. The elements of humanistic theory that I appreciate, empathy, the relationship with the client, and exploration as a guide to insight are obvious in ABP. Gestalt theory also plays a role where we see the use of wilderness and the environment and how the client responds and interacts while in it.

The role of a counselor is to facilitate change. The client seeks out the counselor seeking that change, and the counselor provides the relationship, space, tools and support necessary for that change to occur. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this, just as there are a variety of types of clients and counselors. The unique pairing of people, skills and the timing in which they occur can bring phenomenal results.

1 Comment
Elizabeth link
9/29/2011 04:26:03 am

Thanks for sharing this, Aleya! Very interesting to read. Congrats again on going for what you want and believe in!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Aleya Littleton:

    Picture
    Migrant Science Teacher
    Rock Climbing Nerd
    Global Adventurer 

    Twitter: 

    Tweets by @AleyaJean

    Flickr:

    Picture

    Favorites:

    Moosejaw
    Picture

    Archives:

    December 2020
    December 2018
    January 2018
    April 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from chelsea.parker.photo, rachel_thecat