Progression
Picture taken by myself. December 26, 2012 Richmond, VA
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth - Genesis 9:16 ESV
I thoroughly enjoyed the assigned readings. Chapter 7, Giving Feedback, is a technique we are practicing now in our counseling session. Chapter 8, Terminating the Counseling, provided great information regarding different types of terminations and when it is appropriate to end the therapeutic relationship and provide referrals. Chapter 9, Managing the Counseling, provided great framework for how the counseling session should be structured. In chapter 7 Thomas and Sosin state, “Words are powerful. They can heal and they can harm” (2011, p.188). Proverbs 18:31 states “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (NIV, Holy Bible). As a. emerging counselor this verse really resonates with me. I have been called to help those who need healing. Even though it is my job to be honest with clients I need to be mindful of what I say to the clients. This is when allowing God to speak through me and use me as a vessel can ensure the right words are reaching the client. Chapter 8 provided information regarding the termination of counseling. I enjoyed how Thomas & Sosin used the word termination to create techniques to help counselors end the therapeutic relationship. Termination, whether requested by the client or counselor, is a very sensitive process. We as counselors must treat this situation with care and understand we cannot help everyone. God may feel that we have done our job and played our role in that client’s progression. Chapter 9 gave a great overview on how a counseling session is conducted. Some of the overview contained information that we currently use during our practice session. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. It helped me to better understand the essentials in the counseling session. Ultimately there is only one powerful force that can control the counseling session, God!
Sosin, L., & Thomas, J. C. (2011). Therapeutic Expedition Equipping the Christian Counselor for the Journey.. Nashville: B & H Pub. Group.
ReplyDeleteTiffanie,
I enjoyed reading your blog. One point that really stood out to me is that where you mentioned that we have to be aware that we cannot help everyone. This was a hard concept for me to grasp when I was younger. I wanted to help people, and I wanted my efforts in helping people to always show some type of progress. However as time went by I realize that I cannot help everyone. I also realized that sometimes you are going to pour into people’s lives and not see any type of change. Truth is, they have to really want change in their lives for it to actually happen. Keep up the good work.
God bless,
Erica Contreras
Erica,
ReplyDeleteThat is very true. I think as counselors we will be so eager to help everyone that we come across which can be harmful and helpful. It is still hard for me to accept that change happens within a person first and we cannot physically or mentally change a person if they do not want it. As you stated, sometimes our rule is to be influential in someone's life to lead them to that change or a person who will help!