Hernandez, P., Engstrom, D., and Gangsei, D. (2010). Exploring the impact of trauma: Vicarious resilience and related concepts and training. Journal of Systemic Therapies. 29(1), 67-83.
I chose Exploring the impact of trauma: Vicarious resilience and related concepts and training (2016) because in my future I would like to focus on trauma work. I feel as a therapist it is important to be aware of their empathic (feeling other person's energies), how they healed from their trauma, and their post-traumatic growth when working with clients. Hernandez, Engstrom, and Gangsei (2010) explain reciprocity; the therapist grow and changes with clients. However, the therapist also must recognize her identities in a clinical setting while growing and changing with her clients. A therapist focusing on trauma work with clients must also become aware the therapeutic relationship is framed. Another area that is very important for all therapists including ones who do trauma is to use supervision and give themselves self-care, including health (physical and mental) and leisurely activities.
Hanh Nhat, T. (2010). You are here: Discovering the magic of the present moment. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
I chose You are here: Discovering the magic of the present moment because this has found to be evidence-based practice in helping people come back into the present moment (the now). I can see this practice of mindfulness for myself as well. For instance, I have begun practicing 5-minute meditation at my internship in August of 2018; I was not able to do this at all. I now can do 10 minute meditations by Jan 2019 and lead a group meditation for five minutes. I feel more at peace with myself and less anxious. I can see working with clients who are accepting of mindfulness and that this can help reduce some of their anxieties or other disorders, such as depression. I enjoy how Hanh explains to cradle and accept your depression, anger, or anxiety. I appreciate this because as a clinician I can help my clients identify their emotions and accept them instead of rejecting them. I can also help bridge mindfulness with Western religion because Hanh helps explain this in the text. Hanh helps to describe mindfulness as being in the present moment and recognizing your emotional state for what it is, then begin to either cite a poem or say "Dear sadness, I know you are here. I love you. I am going to cradle you like a baby." Or something like that. I actually did this. It worked; I stopped crying withing two minutes. After I stopped crying I had a funny memory. I was able to accept being sad in the moment and move on with my day. When working with clients I can use mindfulness as part of a tool for them to learn how to cope with specific disorders, such as anxiety or depression.
Cepeda, L., & Davenport, D. (2006). Person-centered therapy and solution-focused brief therapy: An integration of present and future awareness. Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.), 43(1), 1-12. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.43.1.1
I chose Person-centered therapy and solution-focused brief therapy: An integration of present and future awareness because I believe in meeting clients where they are and that clients can solve their own issues. Therefore, I wanted to research how integrate Person-Centered Therapy (PC) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) into my practice. PC is understanding that our clients have the ability to make the changes they need to make, their issues are seen as a barricade because they have a blind spot to them. PC is also seeing that slight differences made in there issues is seen as positives because that can mean bigger changes later. Last, PC works toward the forthcoming. Then adding in SFBT into a session with a client empowers the client because they are coming up with their own solutions. The clinician guides the client with questions, such as what are some things you have done in the past that has worked for you, who do you go to for help, when do you think you can call that person, can you make a plan to call that person. The client is making all the decisions. Another grand part of SFBT is the miracle question which is something like, if a miracle were to happen tomorrow and your anxiety were to go away what would that look like? I have tried this question on a few of my clients and they could not come up with an answer, so I switched back to Motivational Interviewing. As my supervisor and Professor says, always have a back up plan and meet your clients where they are. With that said, I have had many successes in using PC and SFBT in my internship and will continue to have this in my of social work toolbox.
Hass-Cohen, N., Bokoch, R., Clyde Findlay, J., & Banford Witting, A. (2018). A four-drawing art therapy trauma and resiliency protocol study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 61, 44-56. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2018.02.003
I chose A four-drawing art therapy trauma and resiliency protocol study because of it's ability to reach different types of trauma experiences. Another interesting aspect of art therapy is that it can be combined with other types of therapy, such as CBT. While reading this article I found that the researchers had a wide range of cultures and diverse populations they could implement art therapy with and in a variety of settings, including prisons, inpatient treatment centers and outpatient treatment centers. This type of art therapy helps clients redraw their trauma. I am highly interested in working with client who have experienced trauma in my career. I may be able to use this practice on an individual when I am specialized in trauma. Of course , this is the beginning of my research and I would need more information and supervision. With that said, this article shows promising results with decreased depression, pain, and emotion.