Caption:
time-clock-head-woman-face-view-outlook-watches
Time is of the essence.
Within a day, time hands us 24 hours to fulfill what needs to be achieved. In
contrast, through the eyes of humans, time has always been a commodity labelled
“hard to get”. It seems that time runs and leaves us behind, that time is never
enough. In a fast-paced community like New York City, individuals have grasped
the concept of time as very fundamental to their actualization process. In the
movie, Alice in Wonderland (1951), we
observe White Rabbit’s constant consciousness of time when he is seen singing the
words, “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date. No time to say “Hello,
Goodbye.” I’m late. I’m late.”
Counselors too observe
the essence of time and timing in the counseling profession. We see the need to
compress lengthy procedures or apply certain psychotherapeutic processes into time
constrained sessions over short periods of time. An example is the use of solution-focused
brief counseling in school settings to help students who do not have the opportunity
of seeing a counselor for long periods (Jones et al., 2009).
Despite the restraining
concept of time, timeliness is crucial in the counseling session. Young (2017)
makes mention of knowing when or when not to utilize skills such as questions in
the session. I concur with the author when he shares how important it is to
leave questions out of the first few sessions where it is critical in building
a good rapport with the client. A client would not want to approach
counseling only to play the game of 21 questions, when at that moment, the counselor’s
authentic presence is needed. Therefore, the ability to appropriately use
counseling skills in a timely manner is very important. However, these skills
are not learned in a day.
It will take Time!
References
Jones, C. N., Hart, S. R., Jimerson,
S. R., Dowdy, E., Earhart Jr., J., Renshaw, T. L., &
Anderson, D. (2009).
Solution-Focused Brief Counseling: Guidelines,
Considerations, and Implications
for School Psychologists. California School Psychologist,
14111-122.
14111-122.
The White
Rabbit (Character). (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0088704/quotes
Young, M. E (2017). Learning the Art of Helping:
Building Blocks and Techniques (6thed.)
Boston, MA: Pearson.
Ya, this was a really cool perspective that carried a good message. I had never thought about time or timing as being a crucial part of counseling. However, I see, as you noted, that there are appropriate times for things in the counseling session. This could mean a well placed paraphrase, allowing silence, or probing for a deeper understanding. I like how you related this topic to what we are learning though. We have been practicing not using questions, especially in beginning sessions with clients. This is a time to establish the therapeutic relationship. It is more clear to me now that there is a reason for the timing of questions as well as other counseling techniques. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteTime, wow. As I was reading this blog all I could think of was human hurriedness. Many times we get accustom to being in a hurry or moving right along. But, what if we're only one link to the chain? What if we're not suppose to be life changers to everyone? What if we're suppose to be moment changers. Individuals aren't necessarily promised the rest of their life or even tomorrow, but if we can help them walk through process in that moment its perfect for time. We don't have to be in a hurry in sessions. Counseling is a process, not necessarily a destination.
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