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Arianne Broadnax

CNS 738b-GG-Ivers
Assignment Week 14: Self-Evaluation Paper
August 11, 2015
Completing my practicum with Amos Cottage in a clinical mental health program, providing day
treatment services presented both unique challenges as well as opportunities for growth. The anticipation
of beginning my practicum unearthed excitement as well as anxiety. I strongly considered what a unique
opportunity my work site could potentially provide, considering it is a clinical mental health setting.
Added benefits of being able to continue to develop skills working with children were additional
motivators for using my work site. I perceived the setting to be a perfect site for my practicum however,
although I had reservations in regards to my site supervisors ability to provide the level of supervision I
felt I needed in order to grow.
My practicum with Amos Cottage served as a trial run, to assess whether or not the site could
potentially serve as an internship site as well in the future or in turn, precipitate the pursuit of other
possible mental health settings. There were many personal and professional achievements that I can
reflect on during my practicum that serve as takeaways from my site. Some are positive as well as some
are extracted from the more challenging and frustrating aspects of completing my practicum at the site.
Key areas that I recognize the most growth include areas of time management, flexibility, creativity,
perseverance and assertiveness during my practicum experience. I was challenged in the realm of juggling
my regular work routine schedule in addition to manipulating my time in order to incorporate myself into
outpatient sessions, a rather arduous feat. The Day Treatment program which is an enhanced Mental
Health service is group oriented in that provision of individual therapy sessions is limited. The outpatient
component of the program, often coinciding with day treatment services, created barriers to my ability to
seek learning opportunities of observation and engaging in counseling clients to learn skills. Often my

site supervisors schedule was not conducive to my regular work schedule. I took the initiative to plan and
schedule in advance, sessions to set the stage for acquisition of service hours that would provide more
potential opportunities for learning experiences when possible. I took responsibility for my learning
experiences literally by the horns, to make the adjustment for more exposure to the outpatient component
of the program.
Also learning how to creatively work within the constraints given considering the programs
functioning mostly as group oriented, I needed to come up with ways to be able to work with clients I had
access within day treatment services, on an individual basis to increase my direct service hours in this
area. Assessments of my current work schedule and using free blocks of time to initiate individual
sessions for practicing skills and recordings were commenced. Learning to work with the resources I had
available to me although challenging and frustrating at times I professed to be a favorable asset that as I
transition to an internship experience will be a productive skill. I also was able to further validate the
value of group therapy and through my experiences with particularly a challenging and diverse group, in
itself, as it relates to various diagnoses, and was able to work through issues of sustaining control of
facilitating the group through recognizing, accessing and utilizing the power of the group. I learned in
depth through my experiences about the importance of how group structuring and planning group therapy
sessions, impacts on the milieu of the group. Skills of learning to work through barriers in group sessions
such as redirecting disruptive behaviors and staying the course when group sessions were repeatedly
perceived to be unsuccessful, demonstrated personal qualities of perseverance which eventually paid off.
Another area that I am proud to admit in regards to self-growth is being able to balance the
duality of roles on the job (as a Recreational Therapist and a counseling intern), home/family,
extracurricular activities all the while maintaining self-care skills. Conducting a practicum and working
full time, with increased stress levels all limited not only time but motivation to add another activity or
task on top. Despite the stress load, I maintained self-care duties to stay in balance by engaging in
activities such as regular work outs at the gym, using my lunch break for spiritual renewal-reading my

bible, prayer, meditation, and talking through my frustrations with family, my university supervisor.
These were all avenues I used to stay afloat during the stressful moments. These activities I foresee will
also be a very imminent part of my life as I shift into the role of a counseling intern and even into my full
professional role of being a counselor. I also realize the benefits of having self-care skills as an anchor
that keeps me grounded so that I can be effective for clients in the future. Not only am I promoting this
for clients but modeling this as well as a part of my life in that I am truly practicing what I preach.
Professionally there are few other areas I would like to highlight in reference to my practicum. I
was able to grasp the true value in my work with clients more on an individual basis. I was able to
practice my skills in both group and individual counseling sessions with children and through my
practicum experience feel more confident in applying basic helping/counseling skills with children. I
believe I really learned how to be present more with children considering I work with children from the
modality of Behavioral /Recreational Therapy, which roles are seemingly more directive in nature. I felt
like I touched the surface of learning how to be present with a child, entering their world and being able
to use counseling techniques to help clients open up and share more without directing the client as much
or coming up with a plan/activity which I believe to be a pivotal point for me professionally. Having more
of the ability to allow the client to lead and direct in sessions and at times balance it with sessions that are
more directed and guided by myself as the counselor will benefit my clients even more.
Increases were also noted in my depth of understanding of skills application particularly with
being able to apply CBT/BT techniques simultaneously in sessions with clients, which were most
beneficial. Through individual counseling sessions, competencies of recognizing skills and techniques
employed, as well as being able to articulate why I am choosing to use various techniques or skills in a
session were developed. I anticipate gaining increased comfort in this area in future practice
opportunities. Observations of engagement with families of children being seen through outpatient was
also a novel area peaking questions of how to engage the family with the child during therapy session and
be able to address the needs not just from the perspective of the child but the family as well.

Considering all the areas of growth from conducting a practicum experience, created an ease of
constructing goals for my internship. The three key areas that I would like to achieve during my
Counseling Internship I is to be able to observe various evidenced based treatments with children
particularly CBT, Trauma work, EMDR . I also would like to learn more about elements of play therapy
techniques with children potentially i.e. sand tray/play work through exposure and practices in both
individual and group work are of high interest. I also desire to grow in the area of Crisis Management in
an outpatient setting, learning how various situations are handled and care is managed as an outpatient
therapist/LPC. Lastly I am interested in learning more about the behind the scenes work of billing, coding
and various roles that accompany a counselor operating a private practice. These specific areas
highlighted I reflect on as stepping stones to becoming a better counselor and are all vital characteristics
that successful counselor needs to have. I am thankful for every frustrating circumstance, every barrier
faced during my practicum, because I know that these experiences helped me to grow and prepare me for
whats to come.

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