feelings – Iain Douglas Stewart

Reflecting on ending self-isolation

By Iain 24 June 2020Physicality, Reflections, The Mission, VideogamesNo Comments

This Coronavirus thing has been a bit shit, eh? I'm due to go back to work next week, and I have mixed emotions about it. On the one hand, I hate my current job, and these twelve weeks have been eye-opening to exactly how much I do hate it. I'm anxious to go back because of the health risks as…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 10th April 2020

By Iain 10 April 2020Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

Research is an interesting aspect of counselling and psychotherapy, and I think it is very important. It is essentially a sphere of knowledge that exists parallel to your own body of knowledge as a person and as a counsellor, and overlaps in places. Research, or “finding out what works” has created talking therapies and its different modalities and theories, and…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary 31st January 2020

By Iain 31 January 2020Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

This week we looked at why theory is important in counselling work. Through a group discussion we identified several key aspects of why it is important, and I was quite surprised by the amount we came up with. First though, I think it’s important that I reflect on what is meant by the word “theory”. A theory is generally a…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 17th January 2020

By Iain 17 January 2020Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

To solidify our learning and get an idea of how it is practically applied, it would be useful to take our knowledge of the three theories we have studied so far and apply it to a range of presenting problems. As I mentioned the last time we used these case studies (22nd November, when we were applying SMART goals to…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 10th January 2020

By Iain 10 January 2020Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

Over the past few weeks we’ve been learning about three very different counselling theories – Person-centred counselling, Psychodynamic counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – with very different methods, glossaries and philosophies that ultimately all work towards the same goal, which is helping people. They each offer a different language, and a different way of understanding our personality or self,…

L3CiCS Learning Log 10th January 2020

By Iain 10 January 2020Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the current culmination of several other therapies, in particular: • Cognitive therapy – focusing on a client’s thoughts and how they feel on the inside • Behavioural therapy – focusing on how a client acts and reacts to certain situations The philosophy behind CBT is that the client’s problem is not the problem itself; the…

L3CiCS Learning Log – 13th December 2019

By Iain 13 December 2019Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

The origins of Psychodynamic Counselling can be traced back to Sigmund Freud in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, and the psychodynamic theory has been continually developed, modified and refined over time. It is based around the philosophy that people are driven by unconscious patterns of behaviour and desires which are shaped by their past experiences. Some examples of things…

L3CiCS Learning Log – 29th November 2019

By Iain 29 November 2019Qualifications courseworkNo Comments

Person Centred Counselling was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1950’s around the philosophy that people can change, and that they are not bound by personal events in their past, or their circumstances in the present. This change is achieved by the counsellor making use of the core conditions of the Person Centred approach, and these are: 1. Empathy –…