Respond to your peers’ posts, focusing on similarities and differences among what you’d be looking for in a counselor. 

Barbara post

I have two Therapists that I will have the pleasure soon to follow under and learn from.  The first one is Annette Escalante, MSW, MLADC. She is the VP of our Substance Abuse center in Manchester Nh.  She has over 27 years of experience in this field.  The next Therapist is in the same location and is Charolette Trenhelm LICSW and MLADC.  She has over 20 years of social work. Her main focus is providing high-quality care to youths and families. I know I would be well taken care of under either one of these therapists. They both have impressive credentials to learn from. I’m definitely looking forward to working with both in the future.

Alexandria post

 Vicki Dyar is a counselor I found via the site Psychology Today, she lists a variety of treatment approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), mindfulness-based (MBCT), and Psychodynamic to name a few that she lists in her profile. I think CBT is what most people think of when they think of seeing a counselor as they have the client discuss their feelings about what they are discussing with the counselor. I personally have seen counselors before and some have used CBT with me and I found that I liked this form because it really made me think and lead to some good realizations for me. MBCT I have also previously had a counselor try with me for stress relief and it did not work for me because I found it very difficult at the time to be only in the moment and my stress was coming from past, present, and future worries. I believe that if I only had present time stressors then maybe this form of therapy could have worked for me. Finally, we will look at psychodynamic therapy which is similar to psychoanalysis but also encouraged more of a relationship between client and therapist so that the therapist can learn how the patient relates to people in their lives. I believe this has been done with me by counselors but it is not something they straight tell the client that they are doing and I have no objection to this method as it makes me feel as if the counselor and I are friendly and not strictly professional even though I do know it is strictly professional but it allows me to feel more comfortable talking with the counselor. With this information, I believe I could get along with this counselor just if she suggests the MCBT approach then I would tell her I have tried that and did not find it useful and would like to try something else. 

With Ebony and Barbara post  Please be sure to ask questions and comment on their responses 

Ebony post

     The importance of the relationship with Stan for therapy is to show him to love himself and to work on trusting others.  I would talk to him about the importance of loving himself and showing him how to take care of himself. Also show him how important is to make sure you do things that keep you happy. In the first session i would make sure I get an understanding from him on his personality.  In Stan situation I would like to understand more about self care and nobody is going to judge you and you can be open about your feelings. Let him no my background and understand you can stay positive and this is a no judgement zone. If I was in Stan shoes I would like to have an understanding of our differences and how to build himself up. 

Barbara post
 

The most important thing to build a relationship with Stan, in this case, is to concentrate on the suicidal thoughts.  Stan needs to feel that even with those thoughts he can count on the therapist to put this one into perspective first.  The next would be his support system. Sounds like he never had a support system growing up. The next step would be the trust and social issues he has with people.  He needs to build on relationships around him.  I think this will lead to the relationship between Stan and the Counselor.

Getting Stan some Therapy groups and a very good support system is helping to build the alliance for him in the long run. The more he can account for everyone around him the more trusting he will have for everyone.  The support is so big for him when he hasn’t had that before. 

Stan needs to hear that we are going to build the support system around him, get into therapy groups, Have a sponsor he can trust, and call in hard times.  Also, build on the current chapter that he is building.  But the big question I would ask as a Counselor is why he doesn’t think he’s an Addict? Why does he think he needs to be here?  What help does he see himself getting out of therapy? Will he recognize that he does have a condition that does warrant him getting help?