The counseling process
Assignment Instructions: Tony Sabia
2/20/25, 2:14 PM
NEW
Hey class! I’ve had a lot of discussions with my friends and students about this topic, so I’m glad to be able to share my thoughts with y’all!
I think there are 3 main drivers of change, but that you can’t really lead to lasting change without all of them being present. The formula for this can be summarized by one of my favorite Youtubers, struthless. “The state of our mind and body are in x the strategies we form x the story we tell ourselves = making our lives better.” When any of those values don’t exist, or register as zeroes, the end result is a zero as well.
Within The counseling process, we focus on helping clients establish and maintain most of the aspects listed previously. The first part, the state of one’s mind and body are often addressed in intake sessions, where we get a feel for our client’s cognitive abilities. Ensuring our client has a healthy state of mind helps us better attack the other 2 parts of the equation.
When it comes to having a strategy or plan, we often know what our goals are. Receiving a masters degree, getting married, or buying a house. But a strategy often means detailing or knowing what the steps to achieve those goals are. As counselors, we are uniquely positioned to help clients uncover what they believe the steps to their goals are, whether or not they have incorrect notions, or a lack of steps to begin with. This step of change resonates a lot with Solution Focused Brief Therapy.
I believe that the stories that clients maintain when going to therapy are huge factors in their ability to enact change. Those who are resolutely convinced of their abilities, available options, or what their future will hold, are often unable to make change happen because they see it as being incompatible with their situation. Like the story of a fish being judged for climbing a tree, it’s just not going to happen. So, what if they believed they weren’t a fish, and climbed the tree anyway? As I mentioned last week, I am a fan of Narrative Therapy’s approach to clarifying a client’s story and problems in a way that invites change. As such, utilizing the viewpoints and skills from Narrative Therapy can help. If you view yourself as someone who will never write a book, reframing the narrative into someone aiming to become a writer invites change by making the problem less daunting.
As an ending question, what would your stories be for your own lives? If you could change one story, what would that look like?
I’d love to know y’alls thoughts, see you guys in the comments!
References:
Walker, C. (2024, September 25). Transform your life in 100 days. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfHlp4xd-aU&pp=ygUKc3RydXRobGVzcw
Tawanda Vaughn
2/19/25, 8:37 PM
NEW
In your opinion, how does change happen in the counseling process?
I need 175 word reply
Paper Format: APA
Answer preview to The counseling process
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