Reflection Week 7

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University of Guelph *

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1150

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Psychology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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3

Uploaded by CoachArtBoar10

FRHD 3400: Reflection Week 7 This week the textbook discussed that many people struggle to fully own their feelings (Reiter, 2022). They may talk in third person, rather than in first person, intellectualizing their experiences and difficulties rather than allowing their raw and personalized emotions to surface (Reiter, 2022). Clients may be hesitant to express their emotionality because doing so may be painful and fear-provoking, and so excluding their emotionality safeguards them from being hurt by their past trauma, memories, and experiences (Reiter, 2022). Clients may have been hurt in the past from having exposed their true feelings, and experiencing shame and judgment. Learning this helped me reflect on the importance of establishing trust, exercising patience, and demonstrating unconditional positive regard within the therapeutic relationship. My first experience attending therapy was at the age of 16 and was due to pressure from my mother. Not only did I not want to attend, but I had no trust in my therapist or the process of therapy. For the first several sessions, I told my therapist my innate dislike of the sessions, and of my distrust in revealing my innermost core emotions. She was very patient with me, and with time, gained my trust. While I no longer attend these sessions, I experienced first-hand the importance of establishing trust within a therapeutic relationship. In class this week, we had the opportunity to hear from a guest lecturer who highlighted the importance of educating therapists with a trauma-informed approach, specifically for marginalized communities and identities. During class, I engaged with the speaker, asking what advice she would provide to eager therapists seeking to adopt this approach. She explained that while it is important to educate ourselves on the various cultural exposures and experiences of our clients, we should never attempt to be experts, especially if we have never shared or experienced their intersecting difficulties. Hearing this reminded me of many of the principles
used within psychological gestalt therapy. According to this ideology, humans are the sum of their experiences and exposures (Upton et al., 2014). This helps me understand the importance of seeing my future clients as the complex and unique beings they are. The way each person sees the world and various aspects of pain has been permanently tainted by the sum of their experiences, cultural background, and family. In seminar, we discussed the importance of being heard in an interchange. This involves not only the listener hearing your words but their active seeking to understand them and the motivating factors behind them. I often talk to my mom when I feel anxious or am at a loss for a decision. When I feel heard, I feel like she is not simply waiting for her turn to speak but is actively seeking to derive meaning from my words and understand the root cause of my distress. This is certainly an important skill to develop as a therapist to better understand our clients to provide the best help we can.
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