Am grading student videos of their first counseling experience in their very first class. Here are two reflections
1. I’m amazed at the depth of problems their counselees choose to bring up right away. These are people who know they are being videotaped for a class project and though only the grader and the student watch it, it is still taped. And yet, they tell about very personal matters. I’m blessed to be able to hear their life struggle and the student is blessed to hear it as well. I can’t say that I would talk about such deep matters if I were asked to be a counselee for a beginning student.
2. First year counselors do pretty well when it comes to gently attending to their clients and exuding kindness, empathy, and compassion. What is harder is for them to identify and discuss subtle and/or painful emotions expressed by the client. Instead they go for more data from the client. Get more history, more details and maybe it will be better. I think we do this when we listen to our friends. We provide pithy advice, we want to know more details, or worse–we talk about ourselves. My students know not to talk about themselves but yet they struggle to identify and repeat painful emotions.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
I have a friend who goes to a beauty school and lets them cut her hair. She says it’s worth the risk to get a free haircut, but I can’t imagine!
I suppose this is the same concept. Sort of.
Did my video in the second summer of LEAD and I have to say I miss those student counseling sessions. By the time we did the practice sessions and videos we knew each other well enough to be open and truthful. I found it easy to talk and listen because I truly cared about the people in front of me. Not that all counselors shouldn’t care about the people in front of them. but it was very different when a friend and fellow student was the other person. There was pre-established bond.
I’ve just started counseling and I have to say I’m looking forward to the point where I can be fully open and truthful. At the moment my counselor is gathering data, trying to get to know me, and I am trying to get to know her. We have “connected” but I’m still at the point where I’m uncomfortable being on this side of the room. She is picking up on my emotions and questioning me on them, but I find my response interesting. I’d rather concentrate on giving data. Perhaps a little denial on my part. Perhaps a comfort level in talking about the data and ignoring the emotions.
Bob,
Oooh. You are on to someting here: “I’d rather concentrate on giving data.” I think your possible reasons (denial, comfort, ignoring emotions) are likely but I also think that counselees do that because of two other reasons: one good, one not so good:
1. Story telling is a way to be seen. And it may be that counselees like to be seen more than they like to be fixed. Is it the equivilent of me wanting to show my wife a scratch that I got and how I got it.
2. Data gathering and assessment of the problem (focusing on the whys) keeps the conversation from getting too deep and/or keeps it at an external level. Because, though I want to be seen, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be seen naked. That’s too vulnerable!
Maybe I’m just restating your points. Thanks for making them.
Nice blog. I supervise 1st year counseling students and am amazed often how well they do. I enjoy the process of supervision and exploring the experience of therapy as much or more than counseling itself.
Sovann,
Thanks for your comments. I agree, supervision is a great deal of fun and energizes me in my own clinical work.