Monday, October 28, 2013

Blog 8

            After being enrolled in courses where I have learned about the solution-focused approach, I have become a firm believer in the power it has to help facilitate changes in an individual's life.  Most importantly, placing myself within the process of implementing a solution-focused approach has enabled me to become a more positive and confident individual.  I have seen a number of counselors prior to attending Millersville, and many times the focus was on talking about past events that have affected who I am today and diagnosis. My past experiences with counselors focused on two events in my life that continued a rumination of thoughts leading to anxiety and depression.  Those two events being utilizing self-injury to regulate my emotions and the coming out process.  For a majority of my life, I was the individual that kept to themselves, rarely developed friendships, and lived under the radar of being noticed.  I had been diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder because of my self-injurious behavior as well as depression and anxiety.  For these counselors and psychologist, the next steps were always to see a psychiatrist to see if medication would alleviate what I was going through. I did not have experiences where I sat down for a session with a counselor and we talked about the formation of goals and solutions that I could work towards.
            Reading this week's chapter on "Collaboration and Consultation" could not have been addressed at a more appropriate time.  My CSCP group members and I communicate on a daily basis, and we all realize the importance of taking the time to work together in order to develop an effective CSCP.  As for my smaller group for this class, I will be meeting with members tomorrow before the start of class.
            Collaboration has been an ongoing process in my life.  At my old grad school, developing and conducting research was a team effort among faculty, undergraduate students, and myself.  It is only through a collaborative effort that a more holistic perspective becomes available.  As I work on requirement of the pre-practicum portfolio, and even the discussions I had with the counselors I interviewed, collaboration is a paramount piece to becoming a successful and effective school counselor.
            I am currently working with faculty in the creation of a display for students at the library so that they are aware of the  Sexuality and Gender Institute on campus.  In addition, I am also in the process of developing a library study guide to provide students with how to gain articles, books, online resources pertaining to sexuality and gender.  As these resources may be spread throughout the library from anthropology, political science, etc. it is of utmost importance that collaborating across domains will help students to find resources.

Dollarhide, C.T. & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs. (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.


Kahn, B.B., (2000). A model of solution-focused consultation for school counselors.Professional School Counseling, 3 (4), 248-54.

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