the first time i counseled a student..i was panicking and forgot everything that i had learnt in class!! everything was gone out of the window! but i still managed to remember a few basic things like seating positions, such as the ‘L’ seating position, not to rely too much on writing the details down, but more towards focusing on listening to the client’s woes, and also i remembered to actually paraphrase and clarify what the student had said..it just came naturally!heheh..3 years of learning psychology and it all came down to a few aspects that i remembered! shame on me..:( it turned out that my client had a psychological disorder called bipolar mood disorder and lots of symptoms of depressions and very rigid thinking!he also had suicidal thoughts too..the poor guy..

the first session, we just talked about his side of the story, his ‘subjective reality’ . i was just paraphrasing, clarifying some things that i wasnt able to understand..and challenging his thoughts. it lasted for almost 2 hours! yes i know..its suppose to be 55minutes only..but hey!this is not acting like what we did for our counseling role-play project! this is the real thing! anyway..it was my first time counseling a real life client! so it ended after almost two hours!when he left..i felt a migraine building up in my head..when i came home..it was a full blown migraine..heheh..it always happens to me after being stimulated by a stressor ..but hey..after that, i have grown more mature in dealing with situations like that! because the second session was a lot easier for me to think and apply an intervention to my client. the result was..most of his symptoms have been reduced, he’s a lot happier and no more suicidal thoughts!i dont mean to brag, but thats what he reported to me when i asked how he’s feeling. well..i couldnt take much of the credit there:P because as counselors, we are just there to open up new alternative ways for the client to live a better life, make him see the stuff that he had not seen before, work on his strength and weaknesses, make him aware of the way he thinks and behave, and laslty, educate the client about why he behaves that way and what are the negative impacts of his cognitions and behavior!the rest is all up to the client whether to change, or not to change!

the group counseling session was pretty funny! the counselor and i counseled five students who played hookie (truancy). they didnt go out of the skool, they just didnt go to class and wandered around the school (like some students here in IIUM:P). they seemed embarassed to see me in the counseling session because they kept giggling and covering their faces too. they also couldnt seem to pay attention either. how the counselor kept her cool and patience. so, the counselor gave them a series of psychometric tests about time management to see how they managed their time. it turned out that most of them didnt know how to. so we discussed the appropriate way to use the time. we also asked them what prompted them to play hookie. they replied that they were not interested in school and their teachers are boring and do not give any attention to them. the group counseling session is a lot quicker n saves more time because the counselor can focus on five of them straight away. the five boys were given each a book on how many sessions that they have been to, dates and times, and also reasons for referrals. the session took about one and a half hour! phew! it was very exhausting because, it was very hard to get cooperation from the students. but in the end, i just have to remember that they were just kids and needed to be guided. they were nice to me and they seem to want to change but was not given the opportunity and love by their teachers and also were neglected by their parents.

the boring part of the counseling practical was that, i had to do a lot of typing! especially printing out students’ names for their certificate of participation in the school’s programs. and i also had to endless lists of students’ name who wanted to participate in a program..b.o.r.i.n.g. But still, being the positive me and using cognitive restructuring on the stressful situation, i managed to complete my tasks and also learnt a few tricks and methods on how to print out a certificate! well to you, it may seem like not a big deal at all, but to me..i have never done those things before! ever! so, after this, i have some knowledge to apply to other programs which would require giving out certificates!yay!:)

another boring part of the experience that i got was that, the head master wouldnt allow me to relief other classes. i was disappointed because the counselors there got to do it! its their job! during the relief time, they would give out motivational talks, be with the students and share problems and experiences with them. that i didnt get to do. the head master was afraid that something bad might happen, then the school will be blamed or sued. ok fair enough. i just restricted my self to the counseling room and the cafeteria only ( the food there was awesome! i even managed to get a recipe ).

so there you have it! a month of experience as a school counselor, and i didnt even get paid (because it wasnt a real practical program)! it taught me a lot! the experience that i got was very valuable to me. because when i go out there to work..i wouldnt be panicky or scared! im not setting out to be a school counselor because im not sure yet, but i just feel that experiences are worth having some before going out to work. kay people hope you enjoyed reading my article! wassalam:)

so students of iium..if u r interested in ‘going back to school’ and guiding and helping the school students there, by all means, ur service is highly appreciated. schools nowadays also needs more quality programs for the students’ psycho-social development. apply what u have learnt in class n text books, and also the programs that u have organized during your stay at iium. we were once teenagers too..:P so i’m sure some of u still have memories n experiences as a teenager..y not use them to understand n help them.