Best place for apa formatting

As many of you already know all of our papers have been in the APA format. APA stands for American Psychological Association. and the format is a specific way to organize as well as write your references in a paper or journal.

Many of you who are past your master's degree or even your bachelor's degree will know of this site already.  The owl at Purdue is the next next thing to having the spa Manuel itself and its free. Below is the link that will connect you to this website.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Weel of fortune

This item is also available on Amazon and it a great sedative to groups where you want to ask questions, give out prizes, present scenarios to discuss.

It can be attached to any white board or metallic service as it has 2 powerful magnets on the back.

You can buy it here for 34 dollars at
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00486ZSQI/ref=pd_aw_sim_op_22?refRID=0107BWW4CPEKBHV5DVAD

Business Cards

Beach ball ice breaker

This is a great ice breaker exercise for groups of any age and/ or from any population.

Simply put all you need is a beach ball and a marker. In my case I also needed tape because the beach ball I had was waaay to dark to write on.

Anyway, after you have your items you just need to determine what sort of ice breaker/mental health questions do you want to ask.

Totika

This is an individual and or group of atoms that is very useful in interactive. I've used it with children adults and teenagers all from diverse populations with great success. it basically works like a Jenga game. however each of the wooden blocks is a different color and each of these colors corresponds to a question on one of the sets of cards.

Each of these sets of cards has a theme. Here are some examples of the themes offered: self esteem, ice breakers, life skills and many more. If you follow the link below you can buy one of your very own on Amazon 52 dollars.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009B2P3M8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1426864394&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=totika+set

Awesome box

This is a group and/or item to have in your office. I like to fill mine with different kinds of quotes that I either have someone shoes at random or you let them take home. I find that it's a fun and interactive way to get some messages across.

This can be made into a group by having each member choose a quote and either have them discuss it in their own words or have the group discuss what the quote means.

Group Therapy 101

Office design

Should you have a couch? Hang all your degrees? Have plants? Artwork?

All of these details to your office can seem to be pretty innocuous. However, each of them will tell the client a little about you. And depending on your population they can have either a positive , negative , or a mixture of both.

Let's say for example you decide to hang all of your degrees in your office. Depending once again on your population this can be either good or bad. so some clients may prefer to see your degrees because they want to know that they're seeing someone who is highly trained and educated and that gives them peace of mind. however on the other hand some clients might see all your degrees and feel like you're so above them that there is no hope you would ever understand them because you are so much more educated than they are.

The same thing can go for the other categories that I just mentioned in the beginning of this article. You really need to base your office design on your clients.

Just like I spoke about before meeting your clients where they are. this goes back to that you need to make your office a place where they can feel comfortable what talking with you and needs to be in an environment that meets their needs where they are.

Fair Fighting rules

This is from http://cmhc.utexas.edu/fightingfair.html

I use this in all of my conflict mediations as well as my conflict management groups and I find it quite use full for preparing clients to deal with conflict.

Other than what ill copy below one of the things that you should stress to your clients is that there is NO way to avoid conflict in their lives. Weather they want it to happen or not conflict happens. However, you can be prepared for it which I where I go over a copy of these "rules" and steps for them to use:

Fair Fighting: Ground rules

Remain calm. Try not to overreact to difficult situations. By remaining calm it is more likely that others will consider your viewpoint.

Express feelings in words, not actions. If you start to feel so angry or upset that you feel you may lose control, take a "time out" and do something to help yourself feel calm: take a walk, do some deep breathing, play with the dog, write in your journal- whatever works for you.

Be specific about what is bothering you. Vague complaints are hard to work on.

Deal with only one issue at a time. Don't introduce other topics until each is fully discussed. This avoids the "kitchen sink" effect where people throw in all their complaints while not allowing anything to be resolved.
No hitting below the belt. Attacking areas of personal sensitivity creates an atmosphere of distrust, anger, and vulnerability.

Avoid accusations. Accusations will lead others to focus on defending themselves rather than on understanding you. Instead, talk about how someone's actions made you feel.

Try not to generalize. Avoid words like "never" or "always." Such generalizations are usually inaccurate and will heighten tensions.

Avoid make believe. Exaggerating or inventing a complaint - or your feelings about it - will prevent the real issues from surfacing. Stick with the facts and your honest feelings.

Don't stockpile. Storing up lots of grievances and hurt feelings over time is counterproductive. It's almost impossible to deal with numerous old problems for which recollections may differ. Try to deal with problems as they arise.

Avoid clamming up. Positive results can only be attained with two-way communication. When one person becomes silent and stops responding to the other, frustration and anger can result. However, if you feel yourself getting overwhelmed or shutting down, you may need to take a break from the discussion. Just let your partner know you will return to the conversation as soon as you are able and then don't forget to follow-up.

Establish common ground rules. You may even want to ask your partner-in-conflict to read and discuss this information with you. When both people accept positive common ground rules for managing a conflict, resolution becomes much more likely.

Fair Fighting: Step by Step...

1. Before you begin, ask yourself, "What exactly is bothering me? What do I want the other person to do or not do? Are my feelings in proportion to the issue?"


2. Know what your goals are before you begin. What are the possible outcomes that could be acceptable to you?


3. Remember that the idea is not to win but to come to a mutually satisfying solution to the problem.


4. Set a time for a discussion with your partner-in-conflict. It should be as soon as possible but agreeable to both persons. Springing a conversation on someone when they are unprepared may leave them feeling like they have to fend off an attack. If you encounter resistance to setting a time, try to help the other person see that the problem is important to you.


5. State the problem clearly. At first, try to stick to the facts; then, once you've stated the facts, state your feelings. Use "I" messages to describe feelings of anger, hurt, or disappointment. Avoid "you" messages such as, "you make me angry...."; instead, try something like, "I feel angry when you…."


6. Invite the other person to share his or her point of view. Be careful not to interrupt, and genuinely try to hear his or her concerns and feelings. Try to restate what you heard in a way that lets your partner know you fully understood, and ask your partner to do the same for you.


7. Try to take the other's perspective; that is, try to see the problem through his or her eyes. The opposing viewpoint can make sense to you, even if you don't agree with it.



8. Propose specific solutions, and invite the other person to propose solutions, too.


9. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each proposal.


10. Be willing to compromise. Allowing the other person only one option will make it difficult to resolve the concern. When you reach an agreement on a way forward, celebrate! Decide together on a time to check-in, discuss how things are working, and make changes to your agreement if necessary. If no solution has been reached regarding the original problem, schedule a time to revisit the issue and continue the discussion.

The importance of meeting your client where they are.

You might have heard this term from time to time in your classes during your masters degree period.

I cannot stress to you how important this really is. As my current supervisor said " when you are meeting your clients where they are you are not changing yourself or who you are; you are simply adjusting they way you present yourself to aide the client in their therapeutic endeavors".

To further explain what meeting your client where they are looks like/how to do it here is an example: you might end up let's say with a very wealthy real estate investor as a client that always comes to session on time and dressed in a suit. Now in order to meet this client where they are you would probably make sure that you are professionally dressed, you would have perfect posture in your chair, on time, and used the same level of vocabulary as they do.

Now let's turn this around and say that you have a client who is a 24 year old who is recently out of college and has been unsuccessful in finding a job in their field and now works in a bar. For this client you might curse a little when talking to them on session, you would use vocabulary words or slang words that they used in session, you might be in more casual clothes ( depending on where you work as well) , and you might slouch or sit comfortably in your chair.

Simply what I'm getting at is in order to meet your client where they are you need to adopt some of their mannerisms.

Individual and group activity called a night at the dinner table

This group is really good children teenagers and adults.

And you do it quite literally as the title implies you have the client describe a night at their dinner table.

It really easy to do and most clients understand it. To the clients this is going to seem like an icebreaker and not really therapeutic in nature.

 

So they're asking the clients to describe what a typical night at the dinner table eating dinner is like you as a therapist can glean a lot of useful information about your clients background or how they grew up. As well as any behaviors that they might have encountered/picked up.

 

Additionally for those of you who are marriage and family oriented this can give insight into the family/marriage structure. You can also glean information about alliances and common interaction and words.

Video update

Sorry for the delay but due to unforeseen events I was unable to make a video last Sunday one might be made today.

Dealing with doubt during counselor development

Nobody has ever become a master counselor overnight.

The journey from beginning to master counselor probably will take many many years. Many new counselors make the mistake of thinking that since they have their masters degree and they pass through there practice um so they must be a master counselors.

Many people including myself have gone through periods of doubt when we've encountered a situation that we thought we would have handled better. Things are often very different from how neat and clean they are in books and case examples.

Something that you need to remember that will help you when your going through a particularly rough patch of doubt is that, all growth comes with anxiety and doubt and if you weren't growing in your field you wouldn't be feeling these emotions and that would mean that you're complacent which means you're not developing at all.

Mental health job site

Hey guys I just stumbled upon this website that has a list things just for the mental health field it might be something that will really help those of you who are looking for a job or who are looking to change from their current job and I really don't like having to wade through all of the listings that are on liked CareerBuilder and sites similar to those.

http://www.ihiresocialservices.com/

How to best deal with co-workers who are not in the mental health field.

More likely than not when you get your first job in the mental health field or even when you're in the practicum or internship stage. You will be working with co workers that are not in the mental health field.

Now what does this mean some of you are asking. Well it can mean that sometimes they don't talk to the client or make decisions for the client with a mental health in mind or even with their emotions and feelings in mind.

For example for those of you who work in the school system and you have to retrieve your clients directly from class. Sometimes run to teachers who won't let you take the clients out of class or will put stipulations on how long you have to work with your clients. This puts a strain on your therapeutic relationship because on the one hand the teacher is putting a time constraint on your session or they're not letting you have your session at all.

One way to deal with that situation would be to  speak to the instructor first and see if there's anything that can be worked out ahead of time. Of course if this doesn't work the only other way to go about it is to talk to the principal and let them know that this particular instructor is blocking your ability to provide quality services to the students.

Another way that you can deal with coworkers who aren't necessarily thinking of the clients well being is to ask your supervisor if you could do a seminar or a short presentation on empathy. Empathy of course in its simplest sense is the ability to put yourself in somebody else's shoes. This can enable your coworkers to think about the actions or words they're about to say to your clients before they do.

Another even more layman's way of saying empathy is the golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you otherwise known as treat people the way that you would like to be treated. More often than not this way at least gets your coworkers to stop and think about the things they are doing and saying to your clients.

Finding a Practicum and or Internship Site