| August 11th 1999 |
| I had a particularly
good supervision session today which covered a number of important topics. I
explained to my supervisor how I believed that one of the modules on the
Marlin course should be taken
as NLP training. Currently only the first Module on NLP Theory is accepted as
NLP training for accreditation pruposes. This is the Module 5 - NLP Clinical
Practice. I started this log on the third of the five weekends but two are
written up here Jan 30th / Feb
3rd and here May 27th & May 31st. In Module 5 we had: Peer group supervision where we formed groups of 5 and presented a case history and explained our reasons for taking our courses of action. Colleagues then questioned us and made suggestions and criticisms. We looked at how we present to our clients, how we control our own internal state, in the very first stages of therapy where our client is only a potential client. We took time to play around with that first 10 minutes or so of therapy and how we set the scene and begin therapy. We also looked at research about the effectiveness of therapy and studies that suggest that 35% or so of people get better with no intervention at all. How can we explain and prove that NLP is more effective ? We also look at practical issues in running a practice - note taking, data protection, legal issues et c. I am sure that we did more but this exercise told me that I need to go back and review that module more fully to ensure that I am putting the learning in to action. In one area I had a gap. It was talking about explaining NLP and its brief nature to clients that I've came to a new way of explaining my work. I said that I have lost one client, that I know of, because I had said that NLP was quick. My potential client then said that she wanted a more long term relationship and therefore she would go elsewhere. Eileen, my supervisor, suggested that I should explain that I work in two ways: one is short term therapy for issues that can be resolved in that way and the other is a much longer term where I am happy to work with a client for as long as progress is made or the client needs me. Explaining my therapy in these terms will I hope encourage those potential clients who are seeking longer term relationships to choose me. We also talked about those clients that come for the first session and then never return. I have been wary of following these clients as it feels a bit like "ambulance chasing" - which is something I want to avoid at all costs. Eileen agreed but suggested that a simple two line letter saying that "...as and when...." the client wished to return I would be more than happy to see them. This she explained ensures that the client understands that the option to return is always available. This also covered a recent couple I had been working with. Who after six sessions, four joint and two single, one partner had decided to divorce the other and so they would not be returning. I feel that I can now in all good conscience and professionalism write a very short letter that leaves the door open for either of them to call me in the future. I shall do this along with a couple of other clients who didn't return after the session. Oh, and we had an eclipse today, only 97% of totality here in London but fun none the less. Actually, the blanket TV coverage on BBC1, BBC News 24, Channels 4 and 5 and in the printed press, radio and Internet reminded me of Princess Diana's death. I mean that as our society gets more and more fractured - the development of digital television, the Internet, Wales and Scotland having their own assemblies - so there are fewer and fewer events that we can all participate in. If the definition of "community" is "a body of persons leading a common life "(The Chambers Dictionary. Copyright © 1994 by Chambers Harrap Publishers, Ltd. All rights reserved.) to which I would add "shared life" then events that we call participate in and be seen to participate in become all the more important as evidence that we live in a community. Diana's death was all the more important because we could be seen to have a role in it - the same is true for this eclipse. |
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