I would like to wrap up what I loved about this class in three words, tools, tools, and tools. After going through my notes for the final exam, what shined the most was personal experiences and hands on examples from how to treat a client to what to say. In this class the professor took the class to a grass roots level of experience. We got into the nitty gritty of what's going to happen during an assessment to what to say when they get angry, and addiction is a tough issue. It's not really a popular one.
As an example, I remember one role play where our professor pretended she was a client who had many years of experience but relapsed. I was stunned. There was no assessment that I knew of for this client and our teacher just gave us one off the cuff. Here it is. What is your purpose of meeting with us? What's not working this time? Is thee anything in your past that may be comming up? What about relationships, or lack of them? What about depression? And I love this line, "I don't have the time we need to get to know you. Could we meet again? Here the teacher projects as sense of almost intimate caring. When she talked I would think, "Could I come?" Now that is what I am here for.
I really want to learn how to be a supportive person who builds trust early on in the relationship and can maintain it, always giving the client something to take with them as they gain self-efficacy and the quality of life of their choosing.
