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Personal Philosophy on Counselling By Claire Rachael Pitt

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Disclaimer of sorts..... This presentation was done with my fellow counselling students in mind, the poor folks that have been stuck with me for the past three years... It is missing a lot of the personal waffle that makes this slightly more coherent, as that was adlibbed on the night of the presentation. You may like or find something of use in this presentation, or you may not. I am adding this to the online world so I that can upload it to my blog and keep it there to remind me of my views on counselling and counselling studies at this moment in time. I have probably made a total mess of some metaphors, analogies and whatnots. Read on if you like .......

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Hey! How did I get here? Well not actually here, I know how I got here tonight. I meant here as in ‘On the Counselling Diploma’. I stumbled upon the level 1 course after seeing it mentioned in the paper or something like that, I can’t actually remember where.. whoops. I just know the idea got stuck in my head somehow. I remember my sister had to take/make me sign up and I was disappointed to find out it was full up! That disappointment was quickly followed by relief, phew I escaped! Anyhoo I got on the course after all (obviously), after some rejigging ( or a hit on the person that stole my place). And so it begins.......... Dam dam der! (meant to sound sinister)

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So Why Counselling? The main motivation was to get my brain back into action after bombing out of university, looking after the mum and generally feeling like I was just going through the motions in life. In all honesty though, I wasn’t thinking that deeply about it back then. Counselling was just one of the many topics that I could of picked. Counselling would be a piece of cake, it is just like talking and stuff after all. Although I don’t actually like talking about myself......... I hope I have made it clear that I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, I may of said the right things at the time, but I certainly wasn’t ‘feeling’ them at all.

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Hmmm they all seem to get it As the course progressed and I reached the diploma level, I still wasn’t ‘getting it’ . The talk was being talked, but I wasn’t feeling that counselling was something I could actually wrap my head around. If I couldn’t understand the benefits myself, how would I be able to work with clients? Do I even like listening to people that much? Am I any good at it? Will I ever stop feeling sick/terrified of bloody skills practice? Did the students that had been through their own personal therapy have more of a grasp on the concepts because of their experiences with therapy? Was I really putting in the effort to give this a real chance ?

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Opening that can of worms Oh? I am not actually ‘Perfect, Fine and ah hem normal’ Which is something I already knew, but putting it out there was a whole other ballgame. Looking back at my blog in the very beginning, I took a very theoretical approach to my counselling studies. Wanting to know how everyone else felt, not realising or even thinking to ask myself how I was feeling. I just found it all ‘fascinating’ or ‘interesting’. I was focusing on everything and everyone around me and not bothering to look within. To be honest just writing ‘look within’ would of made me retch and think ‘what an idiot’, ‘what is she harping on about’ ‘bloody hippy’. Light bulb moment after doing my own past, present and future window artwork

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“ That's a whole new can of worms”

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Ouch! This is rather blood painful.

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Peeling back the layers The onion (metaphorical me) got peeled and guess what? It does in fact feel bloody awful at times. You get the Highs of the Light bulb moments. Which makes certain things clear and you have a sense of self awareness that just wasn’t there before. Then you get the Lows . Unfortunately once you turn that self awareness button ‘ ON ’ there is no ‘ OFF’ button and that self awareness follows you round like an uninvited guest at times. Once you start peeling back those layers, there is no stopping you, well certainly not in my case.

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This can feel Painful and Lonely

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Leading to Bad Times

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But if you Dig a little deeper, peel off a little more.

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It can Lead to Good Times.

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My old personal philosophy “ My personal philosophy is....Life is full of potholes, you might fall down them. So pack a torch, rope and crampons, climb the fuck out and get ready to do it all again.” Sounds good? Does it? Unfortunately life is not that simple and its much easier said than done.

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Changing that philosophy <ul><li>What happens when you fall down that pothole and just can’t find a way out or lack the energy to climb out. </li></ul><ul><li>Its dark down here and your scared. </li></ul><ul><li>How can a therapist help you get out? </li></ul><ul><li>Abseil down and sit with you in the dark? Well it would be nice to have some company down here, it is lonely. </li></ul><ul><li>Talk about getting out and how that would feel. </li></ul><ul><li>As you talk and begin to feel stronger you realise that you do have the strength to climb out of the pothole by yourself. </li></ul><ul><li>They may bring biscuits and a thermos of tea. </li></ul><ul><li>Hit the therapist on the head and steal their rope, its much better than your one.... </li></ul><ul><li>Next time a pot hole appears in your path, it might not be as scary because you gotten out before. </li></ul>

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The Integrative Approach Just what is the integrative approach and how does it work? I have been my own guinea pig on this and have come up with several ways of trying to explain it.....

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The Smoothie Imagine that each type of therapy is a fruit and the therapeutic process is a blender. The fruit can work well on its own, but together they can work in a different way. For each new client you can make a new smoothie. The outcome is not unknown as you know your getting a smoothie.

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The Porridge Test Goldilocks is looking for the perfect porridge therapy, but what is perfect for her? Bowl One : 3 spoons of CBT, 1 spoon of PC and a big splash of Psychodynamic. Bowl Two : 1 spoon of CBT, 1 dollop of Gestalt, 3 spoons of PC and a small splash of psychodynamic. Bowl Three : 5 spoons of PC and a splash of psychodynamic. Which one? After all that searching for the perfect bowl of porridge, it had gone bloody cold. Although you know all the ingredients involved, you have to remember that most important is goldilocks and not her porridge.

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Hmmm I think I like it. If we hadn’t been studying an integrative approach, I believe my own personal development would of been stunted. I wasn’t keen on the idea of psychodynamic or CBT, I think it was the language used in both. PC (Person Centred) sounded okay, just listening right? The more I learnt the more I could see the value in each therapy, how they worked individually but more importantly how they worked together. I think the ‘Inner Child’ work really resonated with me and I have learnt a lot from it, the ability to use it in the ‘here and now’ has made it a very valuable tool for my particular toolbox. Each element used in the integrative approach has had an impact on me and I will whizz through them now.

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Hello from my Inner Child (from Jungian psychology) “ The most potent muse of all is our own inner child.” Stephen Nachmanovitch

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I would of never gone here.... Peeking inside wee me at age 11, more painful than I had first imagined

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Or here

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Fear and Monsters (CBT) Just what are my monsters?

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Change it..... (CBT)

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Talk about it (Person Centred and psychodynamic)

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Doodle It (Art Therapy)

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Not the tutor

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Blog it.... (Creative Writing) Blogging during the whole of my counselling studies journey has been immensely helpful.

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So? What is my take on the Integrative Approach?

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It is a fluid thing <ul><ul><li>I think if you substitute ‘warrior’ for ‘Therapist’ this quote sums up how I feel about being a therapist. Therapy should be a fluid thing, not an exact science but not trial and error either. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>You can talk about porridge and smoothies till the cows come home, some clients will get it and some will not. </li></ul></ul>“ Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.”” Carlos Castaneda quotes ( Peruvian born American best-selling Author and Writer , 1925 - 1998 )

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Don’t be rigid “ Unless the knowledge gained from experience is reconditioned in each new situation, it is a rigid and a dangerous guide.”

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Square Peg Round Hole

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I got it Backwards I may of started this course with the wrong thinking hat on, but I have begun to realise that although I wasn’t sure why I started this course or at least why I thought I started this course, I can now see why I stayed. Looking back at myself and within myself has enabled me to see the way forward. “ Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

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Shit Sandwich Life is a shit sandwich. But if you've got enough bread, you don't taste the shit. ~Jonathan Winters Life does not have to be a shit sandwich and you don’t have to eat it. Hopefully keeping a check on your mental health will one day just be like popping into the dentist, no stigma attached.

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Thanks for listening and reading <ul><li>It has been a bumpy road, a river full of rapids, but the most enjoyable thing I have ever done. </li></ul><ul><li>Not actually this presentation, although it has been nice.......... </li></ul>