Blog 13

When I read the case study “Samuel’s Mother” the one thing that jumped out at me was that Erin decided to intervene “after a few minutes”. I don’t think I could stand by and watch something like that for a few minutes without at least letting the teacher know I was there if she needed me. I don’t believe that you should rush in and think you can “save” every situation (we are just not that powerful!) but I do believe we should have each other’s backs as staff. When I read the challenge questions and it asked us to be honest about what we “saw” as we imagined this scenario I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really have a clear picture of the mother in my head. Usually I do but not this time. My first thoughts were to assist the teacher and I also was wondering if Samuel was witnessing his mother’s outrage. I think it was just parents at this event but those were the thoughts that first ran through my head.

My client this fall in Brief Counseling was a 9 year old boy on the spectrum with ADHD and who also is in the gifted program at his school. His mother had talked to me about his problems with executive functioning and I quickly realized my lack of expertise in this area. I enjoyed working with Joel and although I was initially frustrated with what I deemed a lack of much progress in our sessions, I realized that he is a pretty complicated case. I instead looked at what we had accomplished and decided to celebrate those things. The Japanese word “kaizen” means to celebrate even small gains in a person. I also realized the need for continued education and professional development in so many arenas. We don’t have to be experts in everything but we should at least have a basic understanding of many of the issues our students may be facing. The other thing is to have a great list of resources in your office and know who is well respected in their field.

I found the section on Spirituality interesting to read and think about in a school setting. I worked for a church for many years so we talked a lot about spirituality and also the views of our particular church and denomination. I have a little angst thinking about talking about these things in a public school or at least I wonder how I will talk about this subject. I personally find this subject very meaningful as spirituality and religion have always been an integral part of my life. This is one area that I feel pretty comfortable talking about I have had a fair amount of exposure to world religions. I look forward to exploring this area more as I work in a school setting.

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