Week 1 Discussion Response to Classmates

1. PEER RESPONSE TO STUDENT             I think I agree with everybody to one extent or another in this discussion. As George mentioned, Freud is challenging to me because of the association of sexual terms with childhood development. While his approach has contribute so much to the field of psychology and counseling, it is difficult for me to accept some of his views. It is difficult for me to get around his views about Oedipus for boys and Electra for girls. I also have issues with the concept that personality is completely formed in childhood (Levitt & Bray, 2010). Perhaps it is. Perhaps I am just being optimistic that some changes are still possible. Perhaps I am not understanding what Freud intended to define as personality versus how our personality responds to events and subsequently drives behaviors. As Kaiko has noted, though, I cannot deny the impact my childhood has had on the rest of my life, my behaviors, and my decision to be a counselor now. Within the context of psychodynamic theories, I lean towards Adlerian theory because it still acknowledges the impact of childhood while allowing for the possibility of growth and a sense of the client as "whole" not fractured (Levitt & Bray, 2010, p. 103). REFERENCE: Levitt, D.H. and Bray, A (2010). Chapter Four: Theories of Counseling. In Erford, B.  

(Ed.) Orientation to the Counseling Profession: Advocacy, Ethics, and Essential Professional Foundations (p. 95-123). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.

2. PEER RESPONSE TO STUDENT

           I thought it was very creative of you to construct possible statements for Mike and Jan based on the information in the vignette. I wonder what would be different if you had addressed the positive experience they had over the weekend. I also thought your responses were appropriate for each of the types assigned to us. I do have a concern about one portion of your paraphrase response. You stated, "I am sorry that you feel overwhelmed by the amount of arguing" (2010, July 8). I wonder if this is a type of counter-transference. Sheperis and Ellis (2010) describe counter-transference as a "projection of beliefs, emotions, or experience... from the counselor to the client" (p. 139). While at first glance it may not seem like "I'm sorry" is a judgment of the client's current state, the client may feel otherwise. It inserts your feelings into the client's reality. I think sometimes this is appropriate, but most of the time it is a personal reflex that should be left out. The times I have found it appropriate are when a client has gone through an awful trauma and needs the acknowledgment that what happened was not okay by any means. Arguing could lead to positive changes. Maybe it is not such a bad thing. If the counselor is sorry the client is having a bad experience then it kind of validates it as a bad experience instead of leaving the possibility open for it to be a good experience in the end. "I'm sorry" is perceived as such a benign, well-intentioned sentiment that it is difficult to explain the subtle shift in client response it can create. Just a thought. REFERENCES: Lastname, F. (2010, July 8). Counseling process and skills [Online forum content].