Revise and re-write
Identify and describe Phase Three distinctives features: purpose, goal, chief aim, role, and responsibility.
- Purpose- The purpose of Phase Three is that I will make sure that Melissa is clear as to what she and I have decided that we are putting into action. She needs to know what and how she is going to move on with her next and future plans of moving forward with her life when she is not grieving. There are times when a counselee finds it easier to stay where they are (be it mad, sad, grieving). I want her to be successful with moving on and progressing with being happy.
- Goal- The vision clarification that I have for Melissa is that I want her to know how to grieve successfully and know how to remember her friends in a loving manner. This is all a part of her grieving successfully.
- Chief Aim-It is important for Melissa to learn how to grieve properly and execute properly how to handle her own problems before she can handle other people’s problems.
- Role/Responsibility- The rapport that I want to continue building with Melissa is that I will still be here to listen when she has her good or bad days. During our sessions I will hear how her week went and how she handled her thoughts of her friends and how she decides to move past her thoughts those thoughts and focuses on what is happening in her life today. I will encourage her to smile and remember the good times that she shared with her friends but not to make her grieving take over her life. I will encourage her to grieve for a time but then move on and keep her friends as a memory. It will be my job to help Melissa have hope of a future where she can remember her friends as a good memory that she can share and think of. Maybe she can create a photo wall of her friends that she can look at when she feels the need to see them or talk with them. She can start by putting them in her bedroom. Then as she progresses she can move it into the hallway, then into the living room and then eventually into a photo album once she is able to function without seeing them on a regular basis. This will show her, her progress and enable her to see how far she has come and give her hope for future outcome on other successes. “This is small concrete steps that lead to small changes which eventually generate bigger changes (F.A.I.T.H.).”
Briefly discuss the challenges you might face in Phase Three and identify/describe insights and /or techniques useful to maintaining forward progress.
The challenges that Melissa might face in Phase Three are that at this point she may feel like she is done grieving and now she needs to be there for other people. I feel that at this stage she needs to understand that grieving takes time and must be done in a proper manner or it will hit people harder in later months. She may also feel that when she has a few good days or bad days that she that this is how all the others are going to be. I want to encourage Melissa to look deep inside herself and allow herself to feel what has happened to her. She has lost her friend and so far she has not showed any emotions. This has to affect her but she is just giving advice and remaining calm during the situation (Crossroads).
During the supportive feedback break, what portrait, definitions, key thought, assessments, insights, wise counsel, action steps, and biblical insights do you need to reflect upon as you assess progress?
I want Melissa to continue with biblical insight (Clinton & Hawkins, 2009, pg. 10) . It is important for her to understand how the Bible intertwines with real life. Therefore, I would have Melissa journal scripters that deal with hope. For example, Romans 12:12, I would give her the scriptures written on the top of a page and ask her to look them up and write them out. This would give her the chance to use her Bible and give her the chance to write out the scripture. I would then ask her to draw, paint, and color or take a photo what this verse looks like to her. This gives her the chance to visualize what the verse and give it a perspective. At the end of the session she would a photo album of hope that she and I would put together so that anytime she got down she could look at it and know how she views hope.
In the event relapse, resistance, and or sameness is encountered, identify and describe techniques beneficial to action plans timely execution.
If Melissa had a relapse I would encourage her through her hope journal. I would also encourage her though what I discussed in the first phase that I mentioned that I was concerned about with her not wanting to continue and I discussed that I would have Melissa sign an agreement for a certain amount of sessions. I would simply encourage Melissa to continue and let her know that I am there for her and let her know that we all get discouraged but I would like for her to continue with the sessions that her and I set up. I feel that just being there for her and letting her know that her and I set the sessions up for her sake would be encouragement enough for her to continue. If it was not then I would let her know that she did sign for a certain amount of time and I would want her to keep her word. If that did not work that I would ask her what she was missing that she felt the sessions were not giving her. There has to be a reason that she is giving up. Encouragement is my main focus.
References
Clinton T. & Hawkins, R. (2009). The quick-reference guide to biblical counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics.
F.A.I.T.H for Solution Based Short Term Pastoral Counseling SBSPC
Harrison, John K. (2007) Crossroads: A story of forgiveness. Lecture notes.
