Self Assessment Cultural Competence

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Chapter 2

REVIEW THE PROBLEM-MANAGEMENT AND OPPORTUNITY-DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

In Chapter 1 , you were asked to explain the overall goals of counseling to another person. Chapter 2 provides a framework, the problem-management process, for understanding the helping process in more detail. The standard problem-management and opportunity-development process is at the heart of just about every approach to helping. Therefore, it is one of the key ingredients of successful therapy. Read the section on problem management in Chapter 1 and all of Chapter 2 before doing the exercise below.

EXERCISE 2.1: FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK COUNSELING IS

a. Interview three or four friends, relatives, or colleagues. Ask them what they think counseling is.

b. Get more than just a definition. Help them expand on whatever definition or description they provide.

c. Write a summary of the main facets in their definitions and descriptions.

d. Meet with two or three of your fellow learners and share what you’ve discovered.

e. What definition/description of counseling description emerges from your discussion? What are the themes? What are the variations?

f. After studying Chapter 2, discuss with the same group how the “public” sees counseling: what counseling is, what the helper’s role and responsibilities are, and what the client’s role and responsibilities are.

EXERCISE 2.2: EXPLAIN WHAT HELPING IS ALL ABOUT TO A STRANGER

Your ability to explain what counseling is to others is a sign of how well you understand it yourself.

a. Picture yourself (as a helper) talking to a stranger you meet on a bus, train, or plane. When the stranger discovers that you are studying to be a counselor, she (or he) asks you to explain what counseling is all about. On a separate piece of paper, write down the topics you would include in your response to the stranger.

b. Next, describe what counseling is all about to a friend, relative, or acquaintance. Include a brief description of what helping is, what its goals are, and some of its key elements. Don’t be too technical. Use language they will understand.

EXERCISE 2.3: DESCRIBE WHAT COUNSELING IS TO A PROSPECTIVE CLIENT

It is essential to tell clients what counseling is (and what it is not). Unlike in Exercise 2.2, you need to tailor your description to the needs of your clients.

a. After reading and rereading Chapters 1 and 2 of the text, prepare what you would say to a client in the first meeting. Let’s say that the client comes with a vague dissatisfaction with her life. She’s married, but marriage has not turned to be the partnership she had expected. She and her husband both want children but they do not have any yet. She is working, but the job is “not that interesting.” However, it does help greatly “to pay the bills.” There are no great problems, but there might be unused opportunities. Let’s say that you have spent most of the hour listening to her story. You have responded with understanding and you have probed to make sure you know the full story. She does not seem to be hiding anything. In the latter part of the session, you think it’s important to describe to her your approach to helping.

b. Write out what you would say. You don’t want it to be too long or too short. You don’t want to give a lecture. You do want to present it in such a way as to promote some sort of dialogue between you and the client.

c. Get a partner and deliver your description without using notes. Do so, whenever possible, in a way that might elicit a dialogue. For instance, tell the client that he or she can ask question and get clarification anytime during your presentation.

d. Afterward, get feedback from your partner.

EXERCISE 2.4: EMBED THE PROBLEM-MANAGEMENT AND OPPORTUNITY-DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN YOUR OWN LIFE

Whether you become a professional helper or not, learning the model, methods, and skills of The Skilled Helper can help you become more effective in your interactions with both yourself and others in all the social settings of life including family, friendship groups, and work settings. If you are a professional helper, the basics of the problem-management process must be part of your personal culture. Name some things you could do to embed this process in your everyday life.

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EXERCISE 2.5: DEAL WITH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWING A MODEL AND USING IT

Let’s say that you describe the standard problem-management process to someone you know and the person says, “Oh, I know that! You’re not telling me anything new.” How might you respond creatively to that person? Jot down a few ideas.

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EXERCISE 2.6: WHAT KIND OF PROBLEM MANAGER AND OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPER AM I?—A SELF-ASSESSMENT

As a counselor, you are going to be helping clients manage problem situations and develop unused or underused opportunities. It would be odd if you were not using these same skills in managing your own life. Here is an opportunity to use the problem-management process or framework as a self-assessment tool. Helpers can and should become better problem managers throughout their lives. Rate each of following on a scale of 1-7 (with 7 as a high score). As mentioned before, when self-rating, push yourself to be honest.

Stage I—Task A Behavior

• I spot problem situations as they begin to develop. 1-7 ____

• I tend to address issues directly and immediately. 1-7 ____

• I act on the “prevention is better than cure” principle. 1-7 ____

• I’m always on the watch for life-enhancing opportunities. 1-7 ____

• I analyze problem situations clearly; I quickly grasp what’s going on. 1-7 ____

• I quickly analyze the potential of any given opportunity. 1-7 ____

• I apply these behaviors to the rest of problem management—goal setting, strategy development, and implementation. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage I—Task B Behavior

• I am open to getting feedback from others. 1-7 ____

• I find ways of getting in touch with my blind spots. 1-7 ____

• I am open to exploring my blind spots with others. 1-7 ____

• I translate blind spots into useful, life-enhancing new perspectives. 1-7 ____

• I understand that I can have blind spots at any stage or task of the helping process. 1-7 ____

• I am a vigilant person. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage I—Task C Behavior

• I know how to separate the important issues of life from the trivial. 1-7 ____

• I know the difference between what is critical and what is merely useful. 1-7 ____

• In both problem management and opportunity development, I focus on the bigger issues of life. 1-7 ____

• I do not let myself become a victim of the trivial things of life. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage II—Task A Behavior

• I’m open to problem-managing and opportunity-developing possibilities. 1-7 ____

• The psychology of hope is important for me. 1-7 ____

• I brainstorm about the future. 1-7 ____

• The concept of “possible selves” is important for me. 1-7 ____

• I look for ways of increasing my creativity. 1-7 ____

Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage II—Task B Behavior

• Goals play an important role in my life. 1-7 ____

• Even though I am goal-driven, I am still flexible. 1-7 ____

• My goals have the kind of focus and clarity needed to drive action. 1-7 ____

• I appreciate all kinds of goals—emerging, adaptive, and coping. 1-7 ____

• I tailor goals to the kind of problem situation or opportunity at hand. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage II—Task C Behavior

• I have a practical understanding of the dynamics of incentives, commitment, and motivation. 1-7 ____

• The goals I set are both useful and appealing. 1-7 ____

• I take my commitments—both to myself and to others—seriously. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Stage III Behavior

• I know that there are usually a number of paths to a goal. 1-7 ____

• I explore these paths diligently. 1-7 ____

• I choose strategies that my style and the circumstances. 1-7 ____

• Whenever required, I turn the strategies I choose into a step-by-step plan. 1-7 ____

• My plans are living realities, not just words on a page. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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Implementation Behavior

• I am a doer, not just a dreamer. 1-7 ____

• As soon as I start to think about a problem situation or an opportunity, I begin engaging in little actions that get me moving toward more substantial outcomes. 1-7 ____

• The stages and tasks outlined above make me think of things I can do. 1-7 ____

• I am open to changing my cognitive behavior, my external behavior, and/or the ways I express my emotions. 1-7 ____

• My actions are usually focused, not just actions for the sake of action. 1-7 ____

• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:

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General Problem-Management Behavior

• The behaviors outlined above constitute a mentality, a way of approaching life. 1-7 ____

• The framework is in my bones; it is part of my lifestyle. I’m a doer. 1-7 ____

EXERCISE 2.7: COME TO GRIPS WITH THE TERMS “STAGE,” “TASK,” AND “FLEXIBILITY”

These three terms are very important, but they are often misunderstood. The problem-management process has three stages and each stage has three tasks. The Action Arrow, as we shall see in Chapter 8, runs through all stages and tasks.

a. Define stage.

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b. Define task.

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c. Define what flexibility means with respect to stage and task.

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d. What problem comes up with respect to these terms?

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e. How can this problem be solved or managed?

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f. Why is this so important?

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EXERCISE 2.8: FLEXIBILITY OF THE PROBLEM-MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK IN ACTION

As noted in Chapter 2 of the text, the problem-management framework is intended to be flexible. This flexibility is an acknowledgement that making progress on a problem can unfold in a variety of ways, depending on the values and preferences of the client. If you have a solid understanding of the terms “stage” and “task,” it will become clear how flexibly you can use them.

a. What is meant by the “sequential logic” of the stages and tasks of the problem-management process?

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b. How does the “clinical use” of the stages and tasks of the problem-management process take precedence over its “sequential logic”?

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c. Explain this statement: Clients can begin their stories anywhere they want in the “geography” of helping.

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d. Explain this statement: Within therapy, clients can move to whatever stage or task they think will be helpful.

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e. Explain this statement: Throughout therapy, therapists can suggest that the client move to a stage or task of the problem-management process that the therapist believes will help the client make progress—doing so, however, in collaboration with the client.

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EXERCISE 2.9: DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGE OF MULTIPLE APPROACHES TO THERAPY

Someone says to you, “There are literally dozens—some say hundreds—of approaches to therapy. That means either that it doesn’t matter which approach you use or all of them are nonsense. Scientists must laugh at all of this.” How would you respond? Jot down a few ideas that would be included in your response.

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