GiST2 – 60/365

23 February 10 | 4 comments

  1. 90% on my most recent paper. Yay me!
  2. The 2 hour workshop I presented (with my group members) this morning went really, really well. Our prof noted that we did a really good job and that she was really impressed. YEAH!
  3. Having a bit of time to lie down after school. (I wasn’t feeling well last night and this morning, so I’m EXHAUSTED.)
  4. I am feeling better this afternoon/evening – but still very, very tired.
  5. I did my final counseling interview today – live! – and now I just have to write a paper about how it went.
  6. I only have one more presentation this week. PHEW.
  1. Kelly’s avatar

    Kelly on 23 February 10 at 9:00 pm

    You presented a workshop? Wow, that’s very cool.

    Reply

    1. violet’s avatar

      violet on 23 February 10 at 9:25 pm

      I did! It was a 2 hour workshop, with 4 other co-facilitators (aka “my group”). We talked about how to run a group for “Anger Management” for 8 and 9 year old children of both genders. It covered the basics of screening participants, methods of assessment, a sample 8 week agenda of sessions, background info about challenges/issues/concerns to consider, and a bunch of experiential bits where we played some “feelings” games and talked about emotions and did some role plays.

      We had grape-apple drinkin’ boxes, chocolate chip cookies, and some foil-wrapped chocolate eggs for snack. (No point going healthy – our entire class is pretty much swamped and stress-eating lately anyway.. :)

      It was WAY fun! And we did a really good job, I think!

      Reply

  2. Sylvain’s avatar

    Sylvain on 24 February 10 at 10:20 am

    Ok I have a question. Might be obvious, but I’m going to ask anyway. Does having kids in that age range provide you with a significant advantage over classmates that don’t? Or rather, are classmates who don’t have kids struggling at times because they lack “hands-on” experience?

    Reply

    1. violet’s avatar

      violet on 24 February 10 at 1:06 pm

      In this case, no, not really much of an advantage – we had to present theory and practical bits and do a lot of research into how to appropriately deliver a group session. Basically, setting group goals and deciding how to attain those goals, how to measure our attainment, how to determine whether a kid is suitable for the group, etc.

      I was able to give some advice to my group around things like “what kind of music would a 9 year old like/dislike” for the sake of planning a session, but I don’t have personal experience with directing a group of 8 year olds in anger management. I have some basic idea of developmental stages for kids in that range, of course, but not from a clinical perspective – so I can say, “MY 9 year old could do X and Y” but that’s not necessarily typical and might not be relevant for planning the sessions.

      For me, the biggest ‘advantage’ I have is when we’re talking about F&CS or adoption or similar things – I have experience with it, obviously, so I can discuss things like Crown Wardship or why kids come into foster care or the legal processes (etc).

      Reply