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3 Feb 2007

Counselling Homework, Activity Three Answers


Its Answers time, Remember these are my answers and not in any way professional or totally correct! Also remember that i do a lot of this in class, so i get lots of help from fellow students and my tutor.

You are setting up your own voluntary counselling service.

1. Think of a name for your counselling service? any suggestions will be taken into consideration for my future practice!

Well in class, I came up with 'The Helping Hand'. But some of the suggestions i got where excellent!
Ruth's: THE LISTENING EAR was great.
Some not so excellent:
Tomcats: "Rambunctious Red's" (me thinks he thought brothel not counselling service!lol!)

Any more suggestions?

2. What kind of premises would be most suitable?

A purpose built building would of course be the best option, but this would cost lots of money and as this is a voluntary service, you just don't have that amount of cash!
So a large Victorian terrace would be good.
Something with front and rear access, for privacy and confidential issues, also better disabled access.
The building should be situated away from the centre of town, this is again for confidentiality issues.

3. How can you make best use of the setting in which counselling takes place? (consider-privacy, equality, safety, comfort)
  • Privacy: Front and Rear access, Windows with frosted glass or blinds.
  • Equality: Disabled access, including access to all facilities (toilets etc), Hearing Aid Loop.
  • Safety: Panic buttons in counselling rooms, security lights and cctv outside the building, furniture placed at equal distance away from the door.
  • Comfort: Calming colours on walls, but no pictures with people or animals, as this might trigger off painful and upsetting memories, comfortable furniture, toilets.

4. What can you do to ensure equality of access to the service for all potential clients? (consider physical access, cultural diversity, gender, disability, age, religion etc)

  • Physical access: should be available to everyone so this is why we provide disabled access. By also making it a location that is easy reachable by any mode of transport.
  • Cultural Diversity: By providing leaflets and information in different languages and having a service available to as many cultures and languages as possible, also having male and female staff to cater for different religious needs.
  • Gender: Having male and female staff.
  • Disability: catering for people with a range of disabilities, confined to a wheelchair, deaf, blind. These all need individual care and attention so that no one is discriminated. leaflets in larger fonts and in braille.
  • Age: Catering for all ages by having children counsellors, also being aware that some people may have issues with someone counselling them that is younger or older than them.
  • Religion: Having access to a prayer room and male/female staff if their religion requires it.
5. Draw a floor plan of your counselling premises on flip chart paper.
(try to incorporate as many ideas as you can into your plan)

Too difficult to put up at the mo, but i am working on it!

Also if you have any more suggestions, comments or answers, please feel free to comment, i welcome any help! If you have been counselling and had a negative/positive experience due to the environment or setting that would also be helpful to me, but of course this might be to personal, its just an enquiry on my part.
I hope you enjoyed doing this and the next one will be up soon. Also i hope that everyone is working on their self development and setting realistic goals to be obtained this year! If you haven't started already, set yourself some now and let me know. The key to this is be realistic, have a look at my recent Thursday Thirteen to see some of mine for this year.
(just read that again, of course you dont have to let me know! but you can if you want)

17 comments:

  1. Great job Claire-I like the "Helping Hand" name. It's great!

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  2. Your ansers sound good to me. A really good point about no animal/people pictures....I wouldn't thought of that.

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  3. Your ideas/plans here sound like pretty good ones to me - that you did your homework, Kid!

    Hmmm - "A Helping Hand" - that was the title of my blog from last Tuesday but it must not have registered with my readers as I only generated one comment from it. (And no response otherwise either. Dang! I was really hoping people would like to get behind this idea too!)

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  4. I hate it when I have too much homework, come on teach, give us a break. It is football weekend.

    Oh I forgot, your football is different...........

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  5. Claire- I love " A Helping Hand".... supportive and not intimidating. I'm sorry you've had to spend lots of time in hospitals with your mom... this recent bout with my friend is the first time I've had to be in one in 5 years. Before that, we spent a lot of time in them cause our youngest daughter had auto-immune neutropenia... a total lack of neutrophils... that was a nightmare too. I'm sending you and your mom lots of white light... Cheers!

    Sarge-- If you'd like a something to chuckle over, come check out my post on my parenting tightrope with my 9 year old... I promise NO politics!!!!!!

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  6. A brothel?!!? Oh my! :-O Perish the thought. When i came up with the name 'Rambunctious Red's', I envisioned a pub with counselor/bartenders. It would have four doors with a sign on each: Exit, Ladies, Gents, and Therapy. When the counseling became intense, you and your client could take a break and toss off a pint or two. ;-)

    Seriously, I do have questions about one thing. How many languages do you speak? If you have brochures in several languages for non English speakers, can you provide them therapy in those languages too?

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  7. I don't think anyone would seek counseling from my "Calamity Counseling". :)

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  8. I like A Helping Hand but I have another suggestion too 'Lending an Ear' because your profession is listening not doing.

    You have all the other things well covered I think. You will be a great counsellor.

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  9. Thanks Mags

    Hey Ruth thanks for playing along, your input is always welcome!

    Hey Jeni, I hadn't read that post as i have been a bit slack on my part and not been visiting you! sorry!
    Please come back and comment on any of my future stuff!

    Sarge we have Rugby! who needs your football!

    Thank you indeed, Women on the verge, Thank you for the white light (but you will have to elaborate on that for me please).
    I hope your daughter is doing much better now.

    Tomcat, just no! also fyi toss off is not good term to use here in UK!
    On the languages issue, I only speak the Queens English, but if i was setting up a voluntary service, i would hope that i would at least have access to multi lingual counsellors, and therefore be able to point clients in the direction.
    Especially if it was a multi cultural community, there would be opportunities to train local people.
    Is that an ok answer?

    I am sure you would be able to counsel abused cameras Ryan!

    Oh i like 'Lending an Ear' vic, its going in the portfolio!
    You are getting pretty good at this!

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  10. This might be kind of lame but how about "The Comfort Zone" as a name? It's what you are providing and it also sounds like your setting would be comforting also.

    Sometimes I think that when we go for counseling (been there - done that due to some particularly nasty 911 calls) one of the things that we're really looking for is some comfort - sort of the mental equivalent of a good cup of hot tea and a cozy blanket to snuggle up in.

    Well, in my humble opinion that is!

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  11. Hey Linda, thats a really good idea. Instill the idea of comfort without having to supply the tea (which we are not allowed to do!). I will mention all these on tuesday to my tutor.
    Also i didn't think Americans drank hot tea?

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  12. Claire, that's a great answer. Does 'toss off' have an errant meaning there? I meant 'drink' of course.

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  13. I was going to do this one, I ran out of time!!

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  14. I don't know about the rest of America but my daughter and I love a good cup of hot tea! I have over 17 teapots and one of the best Christmas presents I got this year was a wooden tea chest from a paramedic friend of mine. Must be the English in me - my mother's mother was a Collins and her father was a Hart - both very British!

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  15. Linda-

    I'm a tea drinker too... darjeeling, oolong, herbal ( ok, kind of picky about the herbal teas... some of them make me think I'm drinking furniture polish...)white, and my favorite, green tea. Come on over, the kettle is always on at my place!

    E

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  16. Oops... sorry Claire... forgot to explain the white light reference... sort of like saying "keeping you in my prayers".. white and green light are associated with healing energy and higher level spiritual connection :-)

    E

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  17. Hey tomcat yes it does have an errant meaning not unlike jerk off!

    Erika i am disappointed!lol! new one will be up sometime today.

    Linda you talk sense! do you have tea with milk and sugar?

    Hey W.O.V, i am with you on herbal tea. also trying to drink more green tea, my friend brought some back from China.

    And a big thank you for the white light now that i know what it is!

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