Week 4 Assignment

COUN 6346 Child and Adolescent Counseling

Week 4 – Blaming Adolescent

Disruptive Behaviors Select one child or adolescent with a disruptive behavior. Then critically observe the counseling sessions for that particular child or adolescent. You will be prompted with questions during your critical observation. There will be an opportunity to record your responses within the media. It will be saved directly to the computer that you are using. It is important to view and respond to the questions in their entirety, as your recorded responses will only be saved to this computer. If you change computers, your recorded responses will not be saved. Press the ‘Review’ button to see your recorded responses. [FOUR CASE FILES APPEAR WITH A PHOTOGRAPH OF EACH OF THE CHILDREN PAPERCLIPPED, ONE ON EACH OF THE FOUR INDIVIDUAL MANILLA FOLDERS] Blaming Adolescent COUNSELOR: So David, I know we were just in the other room with your mom, and we are talking about counseling and stuff. And we decided that it would make sense for you and l to have some time just to talk one-on-one. But before we start, I just wanted to let you know that what you say here is private, personal information. I certainly won't be sharing it with anyone unless there's a possibility that you might be planning or doing something dangerous to yourself or someone else. And if that's the case, then we'll have to get with your mom and talk about how to deal with that. But before you say anything, I just want to make sure that you know that. And so now you're welcome to start wherever you'd like. DAVID: I already told you. It's my parents' fault. They should be here in counseling, not me. And if it wasn't one of the kids at school who told me about taking the gym teacher's car for a drive, I wouldn't even be here. COUNSELOR: So you did take your gym teacher's car for a drive? That's what you're saying, right? DAVID: Yeah. It was cool, but I mean, he set it up. He left his keys in the car, so it's his own fault. COUNSELOR: But you're the one who got in trouble.

DAVID: But I shouldn't be in trouble. The guy left his keys in the car. And if it wasn't for that one jerk who told on me, I would have pulled it off. COUNSELOR: Now, I'm not sure if you're blaming your parents, or if you're blaming the gym teacher for leaving his keys in his car, or if you're blaming the other kid for narcing on you, but one thing you're not doing, is you're not taking personal responsibility for the actual behaviors that have gotten you in trouble in here. DAVID: You're just trying to make me feel bad for a joke that went wrong. I mean, if my dumb gym teacher hadn't left his keys in the car, it wouldn't have happened. It's totally lame. If you were my age, you would have done the same thing, or something like it. COUNSELOR: Well, I might have wanted to take the car for a drive, but I would have thought about the consequences, and then I would have done the right thing because I wouldn't have gotten in trouble, and the bottom line is, you know, David, if you keep on doing these kinds of things and you don't take responsibility for it, you're just going to get in trouble over and over and over again. And that's what we need to work on here in counseling, is to make it so you stop getting in trouble. DAVID: Well, that's just totally stupid. You're pathetic. [A SET OF QUESTIONS APPEARS ONSCREEN] Reflect on what you just observed. Record your responses in the boxes provided then press ‘Continue’. What approach did the counselor employ? Was it effective? Why or why not? What approach or techniques could the counselor have used to create a therapeutic relationship with this client and why would it be successful? Press the ‘Continue’ button to view the next segment. [INSTRUCTIONS BOX APPEARS] You will now observe a different approach with the same client. Look for differences in counseling techniques compared to the earlier session. Click the ‘Continue’ button to start the session.

COUNSELOR: So David, I know we were just in the other room meeting with your mom, and that we decided that it would be nice for just you and I to speak separately. And I just want to let you know before you say anything that what you say here with me is private, personal information. What you say here stays here. As you know, I think, from the paperwork, there are exceptions to that; kind of the standard thing, that if you were to be a danger to someone or yourself or some kind of risky thing, then I would need to- - well, we'd need to talk to your mom together about that. Not that I suspect that's going to be the case, but I wanted to let you know before you said anything that was the way things worked. And so you're welcome to start wherever you'd like. DAVID: I already told you. It's my parents' fault. They should be here in counseling, not me. And if it wasn't for one of the kids at school who told me about taking the gym teacher's car for a drive, I wouldn't even be here. We wouldn't even be here. COUNSELOR: OK. Well, thank you for telling me that again. And I guess I'm wondering what would you rather talk about first? Would you want to talk about your parents and why they should be in counseling, or would you like to talk about the gym teacher's car thing? DAVID: I thought you knew all about what happened with the gym teacher's car thing. COUNSELOR: Well, I know a little bit about it, and I do know some of what other people say, but I've never really heard your side. I'd love to hear it straight from you, your own perspective of what happened. DAVID: All right. Well, my gym teacher's a jerk. But he has a sweet car, and he left his keys in it and I saw that, so I waited until he went inside, and I hopped in, and I went for a short ride. It was nothing much. COUNSELOR: What kind of car does he have? DAVID: A Porsche; very cool. But I never trashed it; just a short, 10 minute ride. COUNSELOR: So really, a very cool car; and when you think about this, you think, “Well, I never trashed it, so what was the harm?” DAVID: And that's what I'm thinking. And I don't get what the big fuss about this is for. COUNSELOR: Yeah, I guess a lot of other people are getting fussed up about it, but from your perspective it's like, "Nothing bad, nothing happened, really," right? DAVID: Well, I guess I could have gotten in a wreck, but I'm a good driver.

COUNSELOR: When you stopped to think about it just now, you said, it's possible you could have gotten in a wreck, but you're an excellent driver, so the likelihood is no. But there was that possibility. DAVID: [NODDING HEAD AFFIRMATIVELY] [INSTRUCTIONS BOX APPEARS] You will now watch this session again. At key moments, you will be asked to reflect on what you observed and to answer specific questions. It is important to view and respond to the questions in their entirety, as your recorded responses will only be saved to this computer. If you change computers your recorded responses will not be saved. Record your responses in the boxes provided. Click the ‘Continue’ button to start the session [THE SESSION STARTS AGAIN] COUNSELOR: So David, I know that we were just in the other room meeting with your mom, and that we decided that it would be nice for just you and I to speak separately. And I just want to let you know before you say anything, that what you say here with me is private, personal information. What you say here stays here. As you know, I think, from the paperwork, there are exceptions to that; it's kind of the standard thing that if you were to be a danger to someone or yourself or some kind of risky thing, then I would need to-- well, we'd need to talk to your mom together about that. Not that I suspect that's going to be the case, but I wanted to let you know before you said anything that that was the way things worked. And so you're welcome to start wherever you'd like. DAVID: I already told you. It's my parents' fault. They should be here in counseling, not me. And if it wasn't for one of the kids at school who told me about taking the gym teacher's car for a drive, I wouldn't even be here. We wouldn't even be here. COUNSELOR: OK. [A SET OF QUESTIONS APPEARS ONSCREEN]

Reflect on what you just observed. Record your responses in the boxes provided then press ‘Continue’. How effective was this part of the conversation? Why was it done? What would you recommend should have been done? Press the ‘Continue’ button to view the next segment. [THE SESSION RESUMES] COUNSELOR: Well, thank you for telling me that again. And I guess I'm wondering, what would you rather talk about first? Would you want to talk about your parents and why they should be in counseling, or would you like to talk about the gym teacher's car thing? DAVID: I thought you knew all about what happened with the gym teacher's car thing. COUNSELOR: I know a little bit about it, and I do know some of what other people say, but I've never really heard your side. I'd love to hear it straight from you, your own perspective of what happened. [ONE QUESTION APPEARS ONSCREEN] Reflect on what you just observed. Record your response in the box provided then press ‘Continue’. What technique did the counselor use here and why did he use it? Press the ‘Continue’ button to view the next segment. [THE SESSION RESUMES] DAVID: All right. Well, my gym teacher's a jerk. But he has a sweet car, and he left his keys in it and saw that, so I waited until he went inside, and I hopped in, and I went for a short ride. It was nothing much. COUNSELOR: What kind of car does he have? DAVID: A Porsche; very cool. But I never trashed it; just a short, 10 minute ride. COUNSELOR: So really, a very cool car, and when you think about this, you think, “Well, I never trashed it, so what was the harm?”

DAVID: And that's what I'm thinking. And I don't get what the big fuss about this is for. COUNSELOR: Yeah, I guess a lot of other people are being fussed up about it, but from your perspective, it's like, "Nothing bad, nothing happened, really," right? [A SET OF QUESTIONS APPEARS ONSCREEN] Reflect on what you just observed. Record your responses in the boxes provided then press ‘Continue’. How effective was this part of the conversation? Why was it done? Would you recommend different questions? What questions would you have asked the client? Press the ‘Continue’ button to view the next segment. [THE SESSION RESUMES] DAVID: Well, I guess I could have gotten in a wreck, but I'm a good driver. COUNSELOR: When you stopped to think about it, just now, you said, it's possible you could have gotten in a wreck. But you're an excellent driver, so the likelihood is no. But there was that possibility. DAVID: [NODDING AFFIRMATIVELY]. COUNSELOR: OK. [A SET OF QUESTIONS APPEARS ONSCREEN] Describe one skill, technique, or attribute the counselor exhibited which fostered the therapeutic relationship with the client in the counseling session and explain why. Describe one skill you might teach and reinforce with the client in the counseling session and explain why. Press the ‘Review’ button to review your comments. Review Review and edit your comments within each of the text boxes.

When ready, you can copy and paste your comments to your computer by pressing the ‘Copy’ button, or by downloading them to your desktop as a text file by pressing the ‘Download’ button. Pressing the ‘Save’ button will record your comments to this computer so that you may return later to edit your responses.