Kevin Stoltz

Too many times I have limited my thinking of the use of technology in career counseling to the administration of assessments, job search services, and career research strategies. Recently, I was confronted with a much more difficult case and was able to bridge a cultural gap by using several tools available on the internet during my meeting with this international individual. I was able to learn a great deal on how to utilize technology to fill in communication gaps regarding a language and cultural barrier.

The person was from Japan and could speak basic English. She had been in the United States for a short time and was taking classes to improve her speaking and comprehension. The individual consulted with me concerning difficulties she was having with not wanting to stay in the US and finish her degree program. She had been experiencing much anxiety about trying to decide to return to Japan and giving up her original career plan. Our first encounter was an attempt to get to know each other and for me to gain a greater understanding of her difficulty. I have travelled extensively and I know that I often run into communication difficulty with non-native English speaking people.

I tend to have a habit of using a lot of metaphors when I talk and this is often confusing for non-native English speakers. Since I knew this about myself, I openly discussed this with this individual. I asked if it would be okay for me to use the dictionary and other internet resources to help us more fully communicate. She also used a Japanese to English electronic dictionary to aid her in communicating and understanding. We first made sure we understood what metaphors were and that we could relate metaphors from one culture to another. This actually became easier as we typed phrases into the internet and used pictures and other media to more fully understand the metaphors. An example of a metaphor with which we worked to find a common meaning was “when someone talks out of both sides of their mouth”. We found many fun and interesting symbols and pictures to represent the phrase on the internet.

As we talked and used the electronic resources, she began to risk more with me concerning her desires to return home. I asked her to talk with me about her home. She was from a large city in Japan and I was able to use the internet to find pictures and read about her home city. This helped her describe her home to me and she was able to relate more about why she wanted to return home. In summary, we were able to use these electronic resources to develop a greater understanding of each other and enhance the meaningfulness of our communication.

I have been one that usually dislikes technology as entertainment or for online counseling. I have experienced technology as a barrier to developing a counseling relationship and more recently in teaching online courses. I usually view technology as a necessary tool. However, after my experience with this individual, I now see technology in a different light. I was able to use technology to enhance the counseling relationship and gain better understanding of this person. Office technology can be a critical resource for helping people understand each other. Really, I credit the technology for adding much clarity to our conversation.

What are your views of incorporating technology into your counseling with clients especially cross cultural counseling?

Kevin Stoltz is counselor and an assistant professor at The University of Mississippi. He specializes in career counseling and Adlerian Psychology and has a strong interest (no pun intended) in early recollections related to work life.

Amy Johnson

Those of us who work within the realm of animal assisted therapy often see the effects that an animal can make on a struggling client, patient, student or resident. Animal assisted therapy makes an exceptional adjunct to traditional modes of therapy…even for some of the most challening cases. Angela Sabin Veek, started PAWSitive Changes when she was staff at a youth corrections facility in Oregon. PAWSitive Changes strives to reach youth and dogs in need by pairing incarcerated youth with shelter dogs for the benefit of both. The idea to start the program began she asked the question, “How can you make a youth care about something when they have nothing to lose?”

Many of the youth with whom she worked had no family support, had sentences that included the possibility of incarceration until the age of 25, felt alienated from society and had few to no pro-social community ties. What in the world would they have left to care about? One resident, we’ll call Dan, in particular showed her. He was seven years in to a ten year sentence. He missed every teenage milestone, every family event and lost touch with just about every childhood friend because of the choices that he made.

Facing the same daily routine of attending school, treatment, meals, recreation and receiving medication, there wasn’t much else to look forward to within those cold, hard, cement walls. Some members of society have asked why they should care. ..believing he made the choices that ultimately led to his incarceration. But thankfully, Angi didn’t feel that way. She picked this Dan as the first of three who would pilot her new animal interaction program. The pairing of incarcerated youth with shelter dogs to teach pro social skills wasn’t a new idea, but it was one that held serious potential. If she could somehow teach youth to care about someone…or something… could empathy and compassion be further developed? Could this provide opportunities for reformation within the family? She believed that it could.

To work with Dan, Angi picked up a squirrely puppy from the animal shelter that the staff indicated would never be adopted due to her “bad” behaviors and dominance traits. Her name was Mango. When Angi asked Dan’s parents to sign the Release of Responsibility paperwork, his father’s eyes glazed over with amazement and emotion. He said that Mango was the nickname that he gave his son when he was a child and was shocked that the first dog his son would be assigned to work with, would be Mango.

The first day that Mango entered the correctional facility, there was a lot of excitement… and a lot to learn. Dan was proud of her and happy to, in his words, “have something to care about.” He told Angi that when Mango was there, he couldn’t stop “smiling from ear to ear” and always looked forward to working with her again. Angi saw first-hand how the bond between a youth with almost nothing, and a dog with no hope, was a powerful tool for change. His behavior began to evolve. Staff observed that he was more helpful, more motivated and overall, seemed to be a “nicer” person in the unit. He began to excel in his program and other youth looked up to him. Should we thank Mango? Angi…and Dan…say yes.

Dan’s family adopted Mango, who became a substitute child until he could come home. He was able to visit Mango on holidays and special occasions until he ultimately earned his release. The family continues to send pictures and stories of Mango’s first Christmas, her trips to San Francisco and even the sprinkler system that she chewed in the backyard. Angi feels that somehow, Mango helped define the family and made it more tolerable for them over the years to deal with all the pain and allow them to feel pride for their son’s accomplishments, rather than just any possible shame over his incarceration. Angi would go as far as saying that Mango helped them all care about something. Please feel free to share your stories for upcoming blogs! I look forward to hearing from you.

Amy Johnson is a counselor, lecturer, founder, and program director of the non-profit organization, Teacher’s Pet: Dogs and Kids Learning Together.

Pat Myers

As I review textbooks on ethical, legal, and professional issues within the counseling profession I see almost identical lists of virtues and ethics that are the foundations of the profession. These lists all include the moral principles of justice, fidelity, and veracity. As counselors, we all know that a primary objective is nonmaleficence: to do no harm. The counterpoint to this principle of doing no harm is the principle of beneficence. Beneficence means to do good (a word with many meanings), and to promote well-being and health. Theodore Remley and Barbara Herlihy state “It could be argued that the obligation of ordinary citizens in our society ends with doing no harm to others, whereas professionals have a higher obligation to provide a service that benefits society. Thus, counselors actively do good or are helpful and work to promote the mental health and wellness of their clients”.

Last night when I got home from work I watched some news programs. One of the stories dealt with a free health care clinic held in New Orleans for which over 1000 people showed up for services. Many had not received any medical services since before Hurricane Katrina.  Rich Stockwell has written a sobering piece about this clinic that challenges me regarding the moral principles of justice and beneficence. Stockwell writes that “health reform is not about Democrats or Republicans or who can score political points for the next election, it’s about people. It’s about fairness and justice…” According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health (2009) the lack of health insurance is associated with the death of 44,789 Americans yearly.

Currently more than 46 million Americans lack health care coverage. It is easy to lose sight in the midst of these numbers that we are talking about real people and not just statistics. Chances are that each of us knows at least one person who is uninsured. Focus on that person’s face as you consider this issue. The challenge, as I see it, is how as counselors we are going to promote beneficence both within and outside of our counseling sessions. How do we promote well-being and health for those who can not afford us? Please share about the counselors and programs that you know of, or ideas you have about promoting beneficence and justice.

Patricia Myers is a counselor, an associate professor of counselor education, and doctoral student.

Robyne Stone-Davis

“Walk, please.” “Set a leadership example.” “Make an intelligent choice to walk instead of run down the hallway.” These are Responsive Classroom phrases I use in order to encourage safe school-wide behavior. The two students slow down, smile and say “Hi Ms. Robyne” as they pass by. I work as a counselor and dance/movement therapist at a Washington, DC public charter school. The school serves both special and general education K-8th grade students. In many of my sessions, I receive honest, humbling answers to everyday questions. For example, I casually ask a fifth grade girl (whose shirt has not been washed for days), “How is your Mom?” She turns her head away and responds softly, “Ms. Robyne, my Mom stays in bed all day.” I mention to a lethargic fourth grade student, “What did you have for dinner?” Her barely audible answer is “We don’t have enough food in the house.” I asked three sixth grade boys in a counseling session to identify male role models in their home life. They laugh and say “I don’t have any male role models at home.” When encouraging a seventh grader to think of times that she has been successful, she shrugs her shoulders and states “I haven’t had any.”

Clearly, one counselor cannot meet all of these students’ needs in one half hour or hour-long weekly counseling session. Fortunately, the students are surrounded by a caring staff of teachers and school administrators who provide a nurturing environment while teaching academics. The staff has been trained in the Responsive Classroom and PBIS approach. Responsive Classroom encourages self-reflection of students’ academic and behavioral choices, modeling classroom expectations and utilizing positive behavioral intervention supports (PBIS).

Implementing this progressive national program to promote a positive school-wide culture has begun to fill the gaps lacking in the social-emotional aspects of the students’ lives. In the above example, the students did not get in trouble for running down the hall. They heard a positive reminder from a caring adult and responded appropriately to the situation. All too often, students react to the negative cues in their environment with verbal or physical aggression. The goal of Responsive Classroom is highly compatible with the counseling profession. It is to build a foundation of success rather than one of failure. To learn more about Responsive Classroom and PBIS, go to the following websites: www.responsiveclassroom.com and www.pbis.org.

I appreciate the opportunity to share my work experience in the ACA blog. If you are employed in a similar setting, it would be valuable to hear both your struggles and triumphs. It is my hope that counselors who work with inner-city youth will feel more empowered and less isolated when reading our stories.

Marianela Medrano-Marra

Shifting from the laptop screen my eyes glance at the family of cardinals landing on the deck, one after the other, forming a red line, to then disperse in a disorderly manner. Their perky crests sticking up proudly, chests open, confidently pecking the seeds stuck between the boards, while a few finches dance their way around the openings in the hanging feeder. I push the computer aside to give the birds my undivided attention. A family of blue jays, five of them, arrives, and the cardinals fly away. The blue jays establish supremacy, and the finches too depart. One blue jay ventures so close to the glass door that I can see how the blue darkens in a circle around the neck, the wings and tail spotted with white and light blue. In the distance, I hear other jays singing out their dominant call. The visiting jay finds its way around, hopping from one end of the deck to the other, until a red-bellied woodpecker bullies it away. Not content with pecking at the suet feeder hanging to the left, the woodpecker flits to the cylinder feeder, and once again chases away the finches, who had ever so stubbornly returned. I look in ecstasy at the gleaming red cap, the slender body and the long beak and feast on the privilege of my seat.

The birds return, mingle, fly away, only to immediately come back. They form a colorful tapestry, and a vision of ongoing adjustment and adaptation, and I can’t help but reflect on the similarities between the complexity of their exchange and that of our human relationships. Despite the difficulties, they seem to make up their minds, or their instincts, I should say, and to be okay with each other. The scene repeats over and over, from one group of birds to another— from cardinals, to blue jays, finches, woodpeckers, orioles, and warblers. From my seat, I witness the complex simplicity of their interactions, and the similarities to ours—our need to find connection, and our tendency to disconnect. We too push each other, cuddle, tolerate, change our minds, share spaces in this dance we call relationship.

I think about the many stories we hear from our clients, stories of disconnection, of longing for connections, and also stories of profound connections they have with others. Like the birds, we too go through the dance, connecting and disconnecting, but unlike the birds we have the additive of emotions encoded in our cognition. Emotions make human interactions more complex. Observation provides the blueprint to understanding our clients’ emotional messages encoded in their overt and covert expressive manifestations; it births understanding and knowledge.

In order to discern patterns of actions and the principles behind them, we need to fine-tune the lenses through which we look at what we are trying to understand. Being mindful of how we observe and why can preclude us from unskillful interventions. Like the birds, we too can chase our clients away if we don’t remain attentive to the messages encoded in their interactions with us, and their interactions or ways of being in their environments. We must learn to decipher their scripts so we can deliver relevant and genuine interventions.

Observation is the foundation of creative thinking, an essential part of good counseling. We must look at clients’ ecologies with fresh eyes, unbiased by pre-conceived knowledge, be curious and purposeful observers. In the language of Philip Cushman, it is not about “reading our clients as texts, but more like standing behind them and reading over their shoulders the cultural text from which they themselves are reading.” The key is to remember that we observe in order to contextualize our clients’ stories and to become familiar with their landscapes

Marianela Medrano-Marra is a counselor and Dominican writer living and practicing in Naugatuck, CT. She writes poetry, essays, and creative non-fiction; with publications including essays and four books of poetry.

Kevin Stoltz

Okay, every adult had a childhood and in that childhood we used to play. Many of those play themes had to do with work. Specifically, I played with cars under a large tree in our backyard. Much of the play themes centered on me traveling from house to house visiting people and building lakes and bridges. We also daydreamed and had specific characters from books, movies, or television that had special meaning for us. One of mine from early childhood was the Lone Ranger (Yes, I am old enough to have watched the series in black and white on a real black and white television!). But, I digress. The meaning of the Lone Ranger had special significance to me. I saw this man as an ethical person that was concerned about the world and society from which he came. However, there was a down side to his drastic independence; he had very little connection to the society that he spent his life trying to protect. In many ways I lived this theme in my early work life.

I travelled over the entire US for a large corporation attempting to teach and help people install building products in accordance with architectural specifications (Okay, no silver bullets, but remember we are talking themes here!). Interestingly, my father was a sales representative and traveled throughout my entire childhood and adolescence. In my personal story you should be able to see some occupational image begin to arise. I saw myself as a very independent person and desired to be exploring the world and connecting with people for brief periods of time to be of help or assistance. Who was that masked man? Well, as you may guess, I eventually came into an occupational crisis. I wanted to have more connection, but this was difficult in that I was away so much that I did not even know my neighbors. Additionally, the position I held was more focused on things rather than helping people. This crisis led to a new career search and I wound up in the profession of Counseling. I still get to travel, I have a position that allows me to meet people and be of help, and I get to have more permanent relationships in my life. I am hoping that with my brief autobiography that you can see that my occupational image from childhood is still alive and well in my adult life. Even with all its pitfalls and struggles, my occupational image is mine and I have learned a great lesson from understanding more about this part of my early learning and experiences.

So what does this have to do with counseling? The narrative literature is focused on having clients tell stories and then counselors helping the client to narrate changes in that story. This process is used in career counseling, most notably by Mark Savickas. In his writing he posits a semi-structured interview called the Careerstyle Interview (Savickas, 1998). Specifically, one of the questions is about role models and who you wanted to pattern your life after. This and other questions help to form the individual’s occupational image that each person develops throughout childhood. It is this image that helps us succeed, yet it may also lead us to crisis. Understanding occupational images helps clients to understand their own values, morals, and interests. In addition, the occupational image may assist the client in understanding why he or she moves through life and especially work life in a specific manner. Exploring the early memories of clients in a broader context, like play themes, heroes, experiences and activities, and daydreams can coalesce into a full picture of values, interests, and even personality traits. Relating these to the world of work and asking about early views of worker roles helps to round out these occupational images. I have found that these types of discussions and focused interactions with career clients are extremely effective and help to further articulate more traditional assessment approaches.

I am interested in reading your thoughts about using occupational images in your work with clients. As I sit and read over this blog I can still “hear the thundering hoof beats of the great white horse silver”, yes, “the Lone Ranger rides again”!

What are your occupational images?

Kevin Stoltz is counselor and an assistant professor at The University of Mississippi. He specializes in career counseling and Adlerian Psychology and has a strong interest (no pun intended) in early recollections related to work life.

Ken Oliver

I learned a long time ago not to offer information about what I do for a living. In fact, nowadays I find myself giving as little information as possible when asked. To paint the picture, I’ve been a Licensed Professional Counselor since the ripe old age of 22. Now that you’re done gasping, I’ll continue. You could only imagine the puzzled looks I received when I would proudly respond to that inevitable question, “So, what do you do?” The nonverbal reaction usually spoke much louder than the words that would follow. YOU? A COUNSELOR? Hmm!

I would, and still do, often walk away questioning the reason for the response. As I’ve aged, I’ve found myself more inclined to ask outright or make comments about the reaction. “You seem surprised by that,” I’ll sometimes say. But then I question if I’m being arrogant or vindictive.

This societal appraisal of what a counselor is supposed to look like has led me to question what I can do to look more like the “quintessential” counselor. Maybe I should wear more cardigans. I’m not really a fan of loafers. Don’t smoke, so a pipe is out of the question!

Maybe nothing I do will help….you know, fit the mold. Instead, maybe the mold needs to change to include more people who look like me. Maybe that will help prevent situations from occurring such as my experience at one agency early on in my career. The short version is that I found my caseload full of Black clients, many of whom had been referred from other clinicians upon hearing of my employment with the agency. “Are these clients requesting me,” I asked the caseworker. “No, I just thought you would work better with them,” she explained. After explaining to my supervisor that I was not trained to just work with Black clients-in fact, just the opposite can be stated-I noticed my caseload starting to even out a bit. Maybe she was just helping me find my niche.

This, however, isn’t the only reason I’m inclined to downplay my profession though. Some people find it awkward to continue a conversation with me after my profession is disclosed. Others wish to garner my diagnostic impressions on the spot, but usually for a “friend” of course. Others seem so surprised by the revelation that they inquire about the obviously profound journey that got me to this field and out of a path toward drugs, crime, and whatever else they think young Black men do. But let me stop being vindictive.

Nowadays, I find myself trying to answer in a jovial fashion most of the time. When asked what I do, I might respond, “Oh, as little as I can.”

Kenneth Oliver is a counselor in Missouri and an assistant professor at Quincy University in Illinois.

Stacee Reicherzer

The greatest teachable moments I have as a counselor educator are those that my students and I have together. The particular moment that I’m writing about occurred last summer in a group skills development. The group was comprised of 15 students, 10 of whom were women of African-American or of mixed African-American descent. Of the other students, one was from a Latin American country and the others were White and from the U.S (I’ll get to why this is important, later).

This valuable discussion was introduced by two students (who were taking their turn as co-leaders) who invited the discussion of group members’ foundation or “rock.” This took the topic to the importance of religion in the students’ lives, with people sharing various degrees of spiritual truth. However, two of the African-American students, whom I’ll call LaTonya and Mary, remained silent.

After the group leaders completed their period in the lead, I reconvened in the group, and asked the group to help identify who had remained silent. Mary was quick to share: “I’m mad at the church. I’m mad at people using religion to mistreat people. My sister has a gay son, and she refuses to accept him on the basis of religion. That baby needs her!” Mary was visibly very hurt by what she revealed. LaTonya then shared, “I’m not sure I believe in God or the church.”

Not wanting to miss the moment that was needed for everyone in the room, and also trusting in the love and support that the group had come to establish over its time together (this was truly an amazing group of students), I asked Mary and LaTonya how it felt to name their experiences in a room in which so many people had expressed strong faith in God and their respective churches. “Scary!” they said in unison. “Scary because it’s hard to tell this stuff to Black people,” Mary said. “Scary because people expect you to have faith, and when you don’t, people assume you must be searching,” added LaTonya.

This very powerful group was able to be visibly moved, offering very sincere respect and support for Mary’s and LaTonya’s experiences. One of the women in the group, a minister whom I’ll call Loretta, offered also to Mary that she had a gay son, and talked about how her religiosity provided her a means to express love and compassion for his gayness. This was clearly important for Mary, who hugged Loretta in response. Several members also expressed to LaTonya their desire that she lives her own truth, whatever this might be.
As important as this moment would have been on its own, the group was able to take the discussion to another level of vulnerability. We identified how religiosity and church life have been such a solid identity component for African-American people and have been a source of survival and resilience for the culture in facing centuries of adversity. To that point, we specified the tremendous challenge for Mary and LaTonya to express their respective anger and ambiguity toward religion in a room that had not only African-American women on a continuum of religiosity, but non-African-American students, also.

The importance, as summarized by Loretta, was in the “textures” of people’s lives and experiences. How valuable it was to see these textures in our room, allowing each of us, both African-American and non-African-American members, to see the complexity in a people’s experience. The importance was in recognizing an individual’s challenges of belonging to a marginalized cultural identity, and owning in a room with people both inside and outside of the culture that even the deepest of cultural components feel less real. As one student reported, “I’ve been Black my whole life, but learned a lot today about what it means to be Black.”

Stacee Reicherzer is a counselor, a faculty member at Walden University, and a private consultant with special interests that include: transgender issues in counseling, lateral (within-group) marginalization, and sexual abuse survival.