Introduction to Psychological Counselling Essay

What is Required in thoughtful Writing?Why Reflect?It is not sufficient simply to convey an understand in order to learn.Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten, or its acquirement potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reprimand that generalisations or concepts sack up be generated. And it is generalisations that reserve new business offices to be tackled effectively. (Gibbs 1988)Reflective composing provides an opportunity for you to gain further insights from your work done deeper reflection on yourexperiences, and through further comity of some otherperspectives from people and theory. Through reflection we can we can deepen the learning from work.The Nature and Content of Reflection So what do we mean by reflection? One tentative definition of reflection is offered by Moon (1999) a form of mental processing with a purpose and/or anticipated case that is applied to relatively complex or unstructured ideas f or which there is not an obvious solution. (Moon 199923) Moon continues by outlining some of the purposes for reflectionWe reflect in order to Consider the process of our own learning a process of metacognition Critically review something our own behaviour, that of others or the product of behaviour (e.g. an essay, book, painting etc.) induce theory from observations we draw theory from generalisations sometimes in practical situations, sometimes in thoughts or a mixture of the two Engage in in-person or self development Make decisions or resolve uncertainty Empower or emancipate ourselves as individuals (and then it is close to self-development) or to authorise/emancipate ourselves deep down the context of our social groups. (Ibid pp23)In this instance, whilst your reflective writing must relate to your experience, the exact focus and emphasis is for you to determine.Deepening Reflection triad Models of reflection When assessing your reflective writing you will be expect ed more than a superficial review of your experience, they will be seeking separate of deeper reflection. This substance moving beyond thedescriptive, and subjecting your experience to greater scrutiny.In Learning by Doing, Gibbs (1988) outlines the stages for a Structured Debriefing, which ar based on Kolbs (1984) existential Learning Cycle and which encourage deeper reflectionContinued ..Deepening Reflection Three Models of reflectionDescriptionWhat is the stimulant for reflection? ( incident, event, theoretical idea ) What are you going to reflect on?FeelingsWhat were your re serves and feelings?EvaluationWhat was good and bad about the experience? Make valuejudgements.AnalysisWhat sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. What was really going on?Conclusions (general)What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses you have under scratchn?Conclusions (specific)What can be concluded about yo ur own specific, unique, personal situation or shipway of working?Personal Action plansWhat are you going to do otherwise in this type of situation next time? What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt?On being Reflective Starting pointWe need to acknowledge our component part as theory buildersHave a clear method for making sense of our experience mount a range of theoretical perspectivesParticipate in learning opportunities to practice, theoriseand evaluate their work.The Method Kolbs (1984) Experimental LearningCycleExperiencing feeling posting & ReflectionWatching & thinkingTesting & Applyingplanning and doingAnalysing & ConceptualisingTheory buildingOn being Reflective Reflection is the ability to think about the things we have experiencedin a systematic way Evaluate those experiences and learn from them Reflective practice is where you as the youth, social or health work practician take a step back in order to review and analyse how well the work is progressing and how effective you are working. It has two components1. Reflection -in- action you are reviewing as you are working with a group of young people.2. Reflection-on-action you review after the event. A commitment to ongoing reflection is necessary if you demand to improve and learn as practitioners.Integrating Theory and Practice Key StageReflection involves asking a series ofquestions about your work and the waysin which you are approaching it.Key questions What were you aiming to achieve? What body of knowledge informed yourwork? What skills did you use to work? For example group work skills, my role asa Student, my learning style Interpersonal skills listening andresponding. The use of open and closequestions. The skills of providing information The skills of making suggestions orcommand (prescriptive intervention) Challenge and confronting skills beingness a catalyst Exploring feelings Providing supportModels of reflectionHatton and Smith ( 1995) identified four aims in the development of t distributivelyer reflection from teaching practice. In your reflective writing your tutorwill be looking for evidence of reflecting at the higher levels.Descriptive writing This is a description of events or literature reports. There is no discussion beyond description. The writing is considered not to show evidence of reflectionDescriptive reflective There is basically description of events, but shows some evidence of deeper consideration in relatively descriptive language. There is no real evidence of the notion of alternative viewpoints in use.Dialogic reflection This writing suggests there is a stepping back from the events and actions which leads to different level of discourse. There is a sense of mulling about, discourse with self and an exploration of the role of self in events and actions. There is consideration of the qualities of judgements and possible alternatives for explaining and hypothesising. The reflection is analytical or integrativ e, linking factors and perspectives.Critical reflection This form of reflection, in addition, shows evidence that the prentice is aware that actions and events may be located within and explicable by multiple perspectives, but are located in and influenced by multiple and socio political contextsBloom (1964) identified different levels of thinking processes, which he presented in a hierarchy these can also be used as a framework for more thorough reflection. They move from knowing, evidenced through recalling information, through to evaluating, evidenced through making systematic judgements of value. In your reflective writing your tutor will be looking for evidence of these higher level processes.ProcessIncreasingProcessKnowledgeRecognition and recall of information describingeventsComprehensionInterprets, translates or summarises given information demonstrating understanding of events.ApplicationUses information in a situation different from airplane pilotlearning context Analy sisSeparates wholes into parts until relationships are clear breaks down experiencesSynthesisCombines elements to form new entity from the originalone draws on experience and other evidence tosuggest new insightsEvaluationInvolves acts of decision making, or judging based oncriteria or rule makes judgements aboutDifficultyPossible sources of evidence for reflectiveOther things I knowPersonal aspirationsExperiential learningtheoryMe as a learnerSELFOrganisational reviewCOURSE WORKWork-based issuesWork-basedlearningPERSONALREFLECTIONYOUR LEARNINGPLACEApplication of othermodules / learningto these ideasApplication to othermodules / learningGuidelines for completing the ReflectiveJournal/ DairyStudies have shown that rreflection upon ones learning is key to a full learning experience. For this reason, you will be undeniable to keep reflective journals as part of your professional development. There are two different Reflective Journal templates. Learning Reflection to be finished after attendance of each one day of workshopTechnology Reflection to be competed after using the technology in your work practises. Participants are required to integrate at least two new skills into their work practises after each one day of workshop attendance.How long will it take? As a rough guide, each journal entry should take approximately 20-30 legal proceeding. Feel free to add comments but the minimum requirements are include in the template.What should I write? What you learn today .Confidentiality All information completed in journals is confidential.Learning Journal Reflect for a few minutes on today lesson and write your sample reflection on Reflective Journal Template. Dont forget writing your learning journal each week after lesson.Next Week 7 SessionIntroduction to Counselling SkillsReferences Gibbs, G. Rust, C. Jenkins, A. Jaques, D. 1994, Developing StudentsTransferable Skills. Oxford Centre for Staff Development. Kolb, D. 1984, Experiential Learning see to it as the Source of Learning and Development, Prentice Hall, New Jersey Moon, J, 1999, Learning Journals A Handbook for Academics, Students and Professional Development. Kogan Page Wright, Jeannie and Bolton, Gillie (2012) Reflective Writing in Counselling and Psychotherapy (London SAGE)