Gemma Mason - Professional Portfolio

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Answers

Counsellor response one Many thanks for your initial message. I hope you have recieved my suggestion for a contract and that is okay for you. What you seem to be holding inside seems very heavy and something that bothers you. I sense that you feel anger at not being able to express it. I am also sensing that you are experiencing confusion around the two roles you have of Christian and counsellor. The former says anger is bad and the latter something good. Have you any idea what these two sides would like to say to each other? Would you feel comfortable with letting them talk about this to each other? You mentioned you had a religious upbringing but how was anger accepted in your family? I am wondering if this affects you difficulty with being angry wioth those closest to you? It is my sense that in order to express your anger in daily situations you must feel comfortable within, about the prospect of doing this. I hope this is useful

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

Client intial e-mail I think I would like to talk about anger. I rarely get angry - or at least I rarely show anger - but I am often irritated by the actions and attitudes of other people and then go over them in my mind so that I get really worked up inside. It gets so bad sometimes that I have to physically calm myself down or I might do myself an injury. This is where my counselling experience comes in handy. These thoughts I have, tend to revolve around what I would like to say or do to the person that has irritated me. The words and actions that come to mind are often very extreme and I am sometimes alarmed to find that I am actually plotting someone's murder! I am aware that these thoughts are just that - thoughts and nothing else but I am sure they must be having an affect on me both physically (I have high blood pressure) and mentally. I am not sure if they just stem from a vivid imagination or whether they are a result of my not being able to express annoyance or anger. I often make the excuse that I cannot tell so-and-so what I think because I have to live with them (these thoughts are often about people I live with). I ought to mention that I am a practising Christian so perhaps my upbringing in the Christian religion has led me to look upon the expression of anger as something bad yet all my training as a counsellor tells me that the expression of anger can be a good thing if it is done properly. Do you have any ideas on this?

Counsellor response one Many thanks for your initial message. I hope you have recieved my suggestion for a contract and that is okay for you. What you seem to be holding inside seems very heavy and something that bothers you. I sense that you feel anger at not being able to express it. I am also sensing that you are experiencing confusion around the two roles you have of Christian and counsellor. The former says anger is bad and the latter something good. Have you any idea what these two sides would like to say to each other? Would you feel comfortable with letting them talk about this to each other? You mentioned you had a religious upbringing but how was anger accepted in your family? I am wondering if this affects you difficulty with being angry wioth those closest to you? It is my sense that in order to express your anger in daily situations you must feel comfortable within, about the prospect of doing this. I hope this is useful

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

Experiences of on-line group supervision.

Working format. The supervision arrangements for our group were that we would send a weekly e-mail on some aspect of the relationship. Then other members would all send a reply with their comments, observations, suggestions etc.

It was felt that this way of working was better than in real time because it was difficult arranging a time when we were all available. It is my sense that this way would work well than in real time. I find that in a ‘chat room’ it is difficult to find a good order in which to respond. It could become very cluttered and important aspects lost within the confusion.

Although at first this did feel a bit strange I have found receiving three interpretations of the material I presented very useful. As always it has been useful reading and sharing the other group members dilemmas and I have learnt a lot from taking on the role of a co- supervisor.

How it was to receive supervision. With regard to my anon client it took courage to initially send material to the other group. Whether this was due to the material my client brought to our exchanges, my aprehension about working on-line with clients or just the newness of receiving supervision in this way.

There were times when I felt challenged by the comments others brought but on the whole I have felt supported and the vulnerability I experienced was often noted in the material the other members brought to the group.

How it was to supervise others. This was a new experience for me and initially I felt some reluctance in stating my initial observations. But I am learning that these observations are usually the best to go with and I now I do so.

It was interested to note that our different styles and models to which we work, brought valuable insights into what could be happening in the work we were doing. I have learnt a lot about how we can make working within this medium more effective and how different models can be incorporated.

What would I change? A more structured time scale would have been useful. By that I mean that exchanges would be sent out and feedback received by certain days. On one occasion some really useful feedback was received too late. I don’t know if others experienced this.

Due to technical difficulties of one group member the flow of the supervision wasn’t consistent, but that is just one of those things beyond our control.

Overall a way of working that I would recommend and look forward to participating in such a group again.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001