Becoming Centered

This episode uses The Aspect Compass to frame the role of a Residential Counselor as serving as The Chief function with the clients to set limits, to help regulate, the kids' emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. When residential staff don't set enough limits, you'll see a phenomenon called contagion.   This comes from firefighting and describes how a fire will spread from one tree to another.   It...

This episode reviews The Domain Compass, which is a way to visualize four domains of psychological functioning. In the East, there's the domain of emotions, consisting of feelings and moods.   In the South, there's the domain of cognitions, consisting of thoughts and beliefs. In the West, there's the domain of behaviors.   That's includes both external behaviors and all the internal workings of yo...

High level team work is an absolutely essential aspect of being an effective Residential Counselor.   There's a classic way to think about the formation of effective teams.   It breaks team development into 5 over-lapping phases:   Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning. (1)  Forming refers to all the dynamics that happen between team-mates when you're relatively new to working with on...

Therapeutic relationships help your clients become centered in four domains of psychological functioning.   This can be visualized using The Domain Compass: ·       In the East, there's the domain of emotions, consisting of feeling and moods. ·       In the South, there's the domain of cognitions, consisting of thoughts and beliefs. ·         In the West, there's the domain of behaviors, consistin...

Professional boundaries includes: 1.          the schedule of when you'll have contact with the kids, 2.          limits on physical touch, 3.          limits on personal disclosure, and 4.          the general tone of the professional relationship.   1.   Your contact with clients is during scheduled hours.         Be polite but minimize any accidental contact with clients outside of work.      ...

Welcome to the first episode of Becoming Centered.  This episode begins the Residential Counselor Orientation series, designed for the new Residential Counselor.   It introduces a way to understand your role, your relationship with clients and other counselors, and introduces some basic tools for becoming a skilled Residential Counselor.   Episode 1 focuses on a specific understanding of the role...