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Counselling Tutor

052 – Self-Care in Skills Practice – Topdog and Underdog in Gestalt Therapy – Is Age a Barrier in Counselling?

Counselling Tutor

Ken Kelly and Rory Lees-Oakes

Education, Courses

4.6 β€’ 636 Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 30 September 2017

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In episode 52 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Ken and Rory discuss how to look after yourself in skills practice. 'Theory with Rory' looks at the concepts of topdog and underdog in gestalt therapy. Last, the presenters debate whether (either younger or older) age is a barrier for counsellors. Self-Care in Skills Practice (starts at 2.02 mins) Is it ethical to ask students to divulge their own personal material in skills practice when counselling is a contracted activity? And is it possible to become a counsellor without being counselled by your fellow students? Ken and Rory offer the following insights: Bringing real material to skills practice is much better (and less complicated) than trying to fabricate a story, but this material does not have to be deep. For example, you could talk about an everyday situation where you had recently felt irritation or another emotion. It is important that the tutor provides leadership to the group, in order to help keep everyone safe. Making a consensual group contract at the very beginning of the course is vital in this respect. The tutor should ensure that students know they are free to share as much or as little as they feel comfortable with. It does take time for mutual trust to develop; this often happens naturally as you get better acquainted with your peers, especially on longer courses and those that involve personal-development groups. Remember that when a tutor or peer is observing skills practice, they are focusing on the counsellor's skills rather than on the client's material. Topdog and Underdog in Gestalt Therapy (starts at 12.30 mins) Fritz Perls, one of the founders of gestalt therapy, believed that the topdog-underdog split is common in the human personality. You can see Perls counselling Gloria on the video below (though modern gestalt practitioners would use a more relational approach). The topdog is your conscience (or superego, in Sigmund Freud's terms). Β Rory gives the examples of speeding on the road or having an extra glass of wine: your topdog tells you off! The idea of the topdog in gestalt therapy links to that of introjected values in the person-centred approach. Meanwhile, the underdog is the part of the psyche that rebels against the topdog, saying: 'I can't!', 'If only …' and 'Of course, but …' The topdog can be compared to a parent figure that guides your moral compass, while the underdog is a child, looking for ways of avoiding the difficulties of life. Typically, the underdog wins the battle, often triggering anxiety or depression. The idea of topdog and underdog underlie the basis of gestalt therapy: to reflect back and challenge clients' incongruent parts in order to help them become whole (hence the term 'gestalt', meaning 'whole' or 'circle' in German). Rory goes on to describe the empty-chair technique, used in gestalt to help clients break out of being trapped. Is Age a Barrier in Counselling? (starts at 16.34 mins) Can you be too young or too old to counsel a client effectively? Ken and Rory think not. Although clients are of course free to judge you as such - and may start with an initial judgement of your age relative to theirs - any apparent difference is likely to dissolve as the therapeutic relationship is built and as relational depth is achieved. If it is you yourself that feels you are too young/old to counsel a client, explore this with your peers, tutor and/or personal counsellor. Feeling this way could stop you being fully present with the client. Getting to understand your feelings could be a rich source of personal development, leading to enhanced self-awareness and greater effectiveness as a counsellor.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Counseling Tutor Podcast.

0:04.4

The must listen to podcast for students of counselling and psychotherapy.

0:10.6

Here are your hosts, Rory Lee's Oaks and Ken Kelly.

0:15.6

Hello and welcome to episode 52 of the counselling tutor podcast with me, Rory Lee's Oaks.

0:23.0

And with me is my fellow traveller in the phenomenal logical field as it's experienced, Mr Ken Kelly.

0:30.4

How are you, Ken?

0:31.1

I'm okay, Rory.

0:32.1

And I'm going to be honest.

0:33.0

I'm going to be congruent in that I'm feeling slightly less energetic today than normally. I've been pulling

0:38.6

14 to 16 hour days and I'm noticing it taking a toll. It's probably about nine in a row now.

0:45.3

So I am here and I am eager, but maybe less bubbly than normal. Yes, yes. And that's okay,

0:52.4

isn't it, Ken? We don't have to be bubbly all the time. I'm reminded of what Roger's said. I don't have to be consistent. I just have to be myself. Oh, I do like that. And being myself today, I am excited as I normally am for the episode today. So episode 52, what can you expect? Well,

1:14.1

we're going to be speaking about role play, but we're going to be having a look at an important

1:18.1

part of role play, and that is the self-care. So if you're bringing material in your role

1:23.0

playing in a simulated skill sessions, how do you protect yourself in that? Theory with Rory, a really good one.

1:29.5

It is top dog, underdog, and we're going to be dipping our toe into Gestalt therapy there,

1:35.3

Rory. I'm really looking forward to that one. And then ending off with a bit of a debate,

1:39.7

and we're going to be speaking about the age barrier. and specifically from the point of view of the

1:45.2

counsellor can we sometimes feel too old if we're working with a younger client can that be

1:50.7

reversed can we sometimes feel that that we're too young and unexperienced when we have a more

1:55.7

mature client come in so we're going to be debating that yes it's a packed episode but we're going to be debating that. Yes, it's a packed episode, but we're going to start

2:02.9

with what we try to do every single week on the podcast is to take a comment that's been put

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