Personal Development Groups for Trainee Counsellors


Book Description

Personal development (PD) groups are a key feature of many counsellor training programmes. Personal Development Groups for Trainee Counsellors: An Essential Companion is a comprehensive and accessible study guide written by experienced tutors and lecturers to support students with their PD group work and other personal development activities, helping students to get the most out of these experiences. This essential resource is aimed primarily at those who are new to counsellor training. It will also be useful for anyone who wants to understand more about the nature of PD groups and how these can be used effectively. Case studies, questions and activities encourage readers to reflect on different topics and on themselves, including looking at how to improve self-care and how mindfulness can help. The book looks at the historical background to PD groups; how they can be used effectively, and also real-life experiences from both tutors and recent students. Other chapters invite the reader to develop their self-awareness through gaining an understanding of how ethics, relationships and identity are developed. There is a discussion about the merits or otherwise of mandatory personal therapy for trainees and also a discussion about the use of supervision. Finally, other important aspects of personal development are discussed including personal therapy, supervision, self-care and mindfulness. Personal Development Groups for Trainee Counsellors will be of use to counsellor trainees on undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas to introduce them to PD groups and other essential activities. It will also be highly informative to those who are on counselling certificate courses to introduce them to aspects of personal development, as well as for tutors to support them in their work as PD group facilitators.




The Personal Development Group


Book Description

The personal development group is a feature of many counselling and psychotherapy trainings. How does it facilitate personal development? Could it be more effective? Looking from the perspective of the student, this book offers an insight into the workings of the group and the communications that take place within it. The complex relationship between group and individual is explored in the wider context of culture and society. Through examples and exercises, readers can learn about themselves as they learn about the group processes that they are experiencing. Chris Rose charts the course of a PD group through various stages, dealing with fundamental themes such as conflict, authority, resistance and difference. The task is always to keep in focus both the individual experience and the group process. This dual perspective provides group members with important resources to understand and make better use of their own PD group. The elusive task of personal development is vital to the formation of competent counsellors and psychotherapists. Any course that has a PD group will benefit from the understandings that the book can offer, irrespective of theoretical model. This book encourages students to engage with their own development in a pro-active and informed manner. It invites them to challenge attitudes and assumptions in a thoughtful self-reflexive style. This book also provides an introduction to group work that will be valuable for those who are no longer students but are curious about what happens in groups. Whatever the stage of development, there is material to engage and stimulate the reader.




Self Awareness and Personal Development


Book Description

Personal development is integral to much counselling and psychotherapy training. Self-awareness and critical reflection are also vital for developing effective therapeutic relationships. This uniquely focused sourcebook offers a fascinating range of approaches to the challenging and sometimes elusive task of self-development and self understanding. This textbook begins by introducing four core ways of seeing the 'self': as multiple, contextual, open to change, and always in relation to the 'other', and finishes by bringing together a range of specialist practitioners to explore different pathways to self understanding. Self Awareness and Personal Development provides hands-on resources for the ongoing project of exploring the self. It is an invaluable text for students, trainees and practitioners in counselling and psychotherapy.




Write Yourself


Book Description

Write Yourself is the ideal introduction to how to facilitate groups and individuals in finding inspiration for their creative personal writing voices. This book explains how and why writing is such an illuminative and cathartic process, and provides many practical exercises that encourage the exploration of emotions, memories and experiences.




Personal Development in Counsellor Training


Book Description

This book provides the answers to that all- important question: what are personal and professional development and why are they necessary for counsellors? This new edition explores: @! the importance of personal development and the core concepts that underpin it @! the aims, commonalities and differences of personal development in different settings and levels of training @! the key differences in theoretical approaches and their implications for personal development @! communication and relationships between counsellors and professional organizations, society, and the ′virtual′ world, with all its demands on identity, privacy and congruence. @! the trainee and trainer and the challenges of personal development. Packed full of vivid accounts of personal experiences, questions and points for reflection, this book will prove an essential companion for anyone wishing to grow personally and professionally as a therapist. Hazel Johns is a Fellow of BACP, and has been for many years a trainer, supervisor and BACP-accredited counsellor.




Group Activities for Personal Development


Book Description

Aimed at professionals working with groups that are developing social skills and exploring relationships, this photocopiable handbook is a vital collection of workshops covering specific themes. Each theme is clearly divided into warm-ups, main exercises and closures. Intended to help professionals save on preparation time, the organisation and format of this book reflects its highly practical content.




Personal Development for Smart People


Book Description

Despite promises of ''fast and easy'' results from slick marketers, real personal growth is neither fast nor easy. The truth is that hard work, courage, and self-discipline are required to achieve meaningful results - results that are not attained by those who cling to the fantasy of achievement without effort. Personal Development for Smart People reveals the unvarnished truth about what it takes to consciously grow as a human being. As you read, you'll learn the seven universal principles behind all successful growth efforts (truth, love, power, oneness, authority, courage, and intelligence); as well as practical, insightful methods for improving your health, relationships, career, finances, and more. You'll see how to become the conscious creator of your life instead of feeling hopelessly adrift, enjoy a fulfilling career that honors your unique self-expression, attract empowering relationships with loving, compatible partners, wake up early feeling motivated, energized, and enthusiastic, achieve inspiring goals with disciplined daily habits and much more! With its refreshingly honest yet highly motivating style, this fascinating book will help you courageously explore, creatively express, and consciously embrace your extraordinary human journey.




Personal Development and Clinical Psychology


Book Description

Personal Development and Clinical Psychology is a vital reference text for all those involved in clinical psychology and related professions. This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the methods, approaches, theories and issues surrounding personal development, incorporating a number of different views from both those practising and training in the field, and includes service usersâ?? perspectives. The importance of personal development is considered and chapters are devoted to presenting a model of the different processes, examining issues of power and identity, and assessing how training courses currently approach and encourage personal development and how it might be evaluated. The book culminates in summarising the major themes, and offers suggestions for future developments. In line with BPS accreditation criteria which identifies personal development as a core learning objective Offers an historical overview of the clinical psychology profession Includes the voices of service users and carers Considers how personal development can be assessed Also of interest to counselors, psychotherapists, and nurse therapists as well as clinical psychologists and related professions outside the UK




Handbook of Counselling Psychology


Book Description

"This book has done the almost impossible - improve on what was an informative and worthwhile second edition." - Gella Richards, Roehampton University, London "The Handbook of Counselling Psychology continues to be a key resource for people considering undertaking a career as a counselling psychologist, current students and more experienced practitioners. It has continued to develop its focus over time and has justly earned a reputation as a classic text... This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every Counselling Psychologist. " - Professor Rachel Tribe, Director of Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and related programmes at the University of East London "The contents cover key areas of theory and practice include the key issue of reflexivity that is a particular philosophy and signifier of this profession. The articulation of future opportunities highlights some leading-edge ideas." Professor Vanja Orlans, Metanoia Institute/Middlesex University This third edition of a seminal text reflects new developments with counselling psychology. In six sections, it covers areas such as neuroscience, narrative approaches and post-modernist thinking. New chapters include: - the nature of evidence - interpreting case material - attachment thoery and neuroscience - community psychology - legal frameworks - testing measurement and diagnosis - the interface between psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches. Special attention has been paid to the research evidence, current issues and debates, theoretical and philosophical underpinnings, political and resource issues and illustrative case material. The handbook is an essential companion for students and practitioners in the field of counselling psychology, at all stages of their careeer and across the whole range of settings- NHS, education, private and voluntary.




The Science of Intelligent Achievement


Book Description

Smart strategies for pragmatic, science-based growth and sustainable achievement. The Science of Intelligent Achievement teaches you the scientific process of finding success through your most valuable assets: · Selective focus – how selective are you with who and what you let into your life? · Creative ownership – how dependent are you on others for your happiness and success? · Pragmatic growth – how consistently and practically are you growing daily? First, this book will show you how to develop your focus by being very selective with where you spend your mental energy. If you've failed to reach an important goal because you were distracted, misinformed, or overcommitted, then you know the role focus and selectivity play in achievement. Second, you will learn how to stop allowing your happiness and success to be dependent on other people and instead, start taking ownership over your life through creative work. Finally, you will learn the art of changing your life through pragmatic decisions and actions. Self-improvement is not the result of dramatic changes. Instead, science has shown that personal and professional change is initiated and sustained by consistent, practical changes. To grow, you must leverage the power of micro-decisions, personality responsibility, and mini-habits. Your own biology will not let you improve your life in any other way. What do you currently value? What are working to attain? Have you been taught to value your job title or your relationship with some other person above all else? Have you been convinced that the most valuable things in life are your paycheck, the number of people who say 'hello' to you at the office, and the number of people who say 'I need you' at home? Or, have you become so passive in what you value that you let anyone and anything into your life, as long as whatever you let in allows you to stay disconnected from the cold hard truth that when things really go wrong in your life, the only person who will be able to fix it and the only person will be responsible for it is you. If so…welcome to fake success. Passivity, dependence, and the sacrifice of practical thinking and personal responsibility to fuzzy, grandiose ideals and temporary feelings — these are markers of fake success. Intelligent Achievement, on the other hand, is not a moving target. It's not empty either. Instead, it's sturdy, full, and immovable. It's not something that's just handed to you. It's not something you're nudged to chase or coerced into wanting. Intelligent Achievement comes from within you. It's a collection of values that are aligned with who you are—values you have to protect and nurture. These values do not increase your dependence on other people and things. Instead, they relieve you of dependence. This kind of achievement is something that you have a part in building from the ground up—you know what's in it—you chose it, someone else didn't choose it for you. Achieving real success means you must focus, create, and grow daily. The Science of Intelligent Achievement will show you how.