Therapy with Classmates

The experience I had being the therapist was like a roller coaster. The first time I did the role-play of a therapist I felt awkward. I also felt like I was doing everything wrong. I thought we couldn’t use the Kaduson book but I was wrong because when I looked around everyone was using their books for guidance. I tried my best to be a good role play therapist since I didn’t have my book with me. As I was doing my role-play as a child therapist I forgot everything I had memorize, I was nervous. And then I would see the professor walk back and forth checking to see we were being doing our job. I felt a lot of pressure because I didn’t know if I was doing right or wrong. I remember taking out bowling kit and explaining to the child (classmate), why he was here in counseling. I couldn’t stop laughing because it was hard seeing the classmate as a child, when he wasn’t one. I also couldn’t stop laughing because the child would take it serious. And I remember being the therapist for a few minutes but for me it seems forever. I also felt that I needed more direction upon what we had to exactly do.

The second time came around and I had to be the therapist but with a different classmate it was different. This time I remember to take the Kaduson book with me. As I started doing an activity with the child it was actually going smoother. The child listens to my instructions and follows my directions as I was leading the session. The activity I did was stomping on paper, as we did this the child was paying attention to me and not laughing. This activity was for children that have a hard time talking out their anger. The professor saw what I was doing and gave me great feedback, which made me feels less nervous about this. As the therapist I felt great because I felt that I had a real session with a child even though it was just a few minutes. As time when on I felt that I improve as a therapist and I no longer was shy or nervous.