Developing students reflective skills through the use of cognitive change methods

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Developing students reflective skills through
the use of cognitive change methods

• Alec Grant,
• Course Leader MSc in Cognitive Psychotherapy, INaM

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Theoretical rationale

• Creativity
• Re-storying
• Self-practice learning
• Human change processes
• Case formulation

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Theoretical rationale

• Self-compassion/
• nurturance
• Compassionate social mentalities
• Widening the toolbox
• Increasing self-knowledge
• Kolb-Lewin learning cycle

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Main themes emerging from students stories
first submission

• Understanding how difficult it is to confronts
  ones own thoughts,
• feelings and related behaviours (implications for
  building empathy for clients)
• This could quite easily have been a client
  looking a themselves and finding
• It difficult and I can now understand why this
  is
• Experiments to weaken old rules and test new
  ones, resulting in pleasant
• Surprises (implications for role modelling hope,
  optimism and curiosity with
• Clients)
• I have learned that if I show my emotions
  people respond in a very
• supportive way
• I have learned from my reflective log that I
  persist with this ideathat it is
• important to me that others do not expect too
  much of me. However, I have
• also found that I have beliefs about being
  strong and capable which dominate
• from time to time and which I, at the time at
  least, believe strongly

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• Developing a possibility focus and re-storying
  through writing
• (both having direct implications for client
  work)
• If I could develop a new perspectiveI would
  feel less inhibited in (previously)
• stressful situationsIn writing this it occurs
  to me that what I might gain from
• developing new beliefs is a greater freedom to
  be myself, albeit that myself
• would be altered
• I would feel freer in myself. I would be more
  spontaneous when in new company
• and develop awareness that I do not have to be
  liked by all people. My major
• learning would be that rejection happens and I
  can cope with this
• Writing this has made me realise that my worry
  about having to do things well
• has other implictions. I am interested in but
  feel that I could not possibly take
• on any projectsbecause I do not know (much
  about the area).But by not doing
• anything I can not possibly improve. So I think
  that is a cue for an experiment

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Main themes emerging from students stories
second submission

• Experiments to weaken old rules and test new
  ones emerging issues
• (implications for role modelling hope, optimism
  and curiosity with
• Clients, while being patient and recognising that
  change takes time and support)
• When I have noted that I have slipped into
  people pleasing, or avoiding saying what I want,
• I am at times rather hard on myself. I have an
  inner critic who tends to scold and I begin to
  feel
• that I have failedMaybe I am trying too hard
  I could see my growing awareness or
• watchfulness as a good thing. At least I am no
  longer unaware. I dont always have to take
• action
• In the short time since I wrote (the first
  story)I have had a handful of opportunities to
  test
• out my beliefs and fears through behavioural
  experimentation. I have found that the tendency
• to avoid remains that I will still have my
  performance adversely affected by thoughts of
  failure
• (However) I sense that, by degrees, my
  confidence has started to grow but that it is
  fragile and,
• given a poor performance, it could easily revert
  to its former state where it was potentially
• disabling. It is early days but there is
  sufficient impetus, generated through reflecting
  upon
• the small successes I have had, to persevere
• What have I learnt? I become too easily
  discouraged!...If the principal safety behaviour
  I use

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Experiments to weaken old rules and test new
ones, resulting in pleasant Surprises
(implications for role modelling hope, optimism
and curiosity with Clients) My experiment
was to go into the office and ask if one (would
do a task I requested me being in charge).My
prediction was that I would either be ignored
or they would make up some excuse. To my surprise
they all listened to me and one automatically
said she would do it As a result of this I
learned it is okay not to know how to do certain
tasksNothing terrible happened as a result. In
fact, it prompted other experiments involving
risk taking. What have I learned? Firstly,
people are much kinder and more forgiving of my
mistakes than I am. Secondly, other people make
mistakes too Ongoing experiments seem to be
part of my daily life not. My level of
procrastination has diminished. I have increased
my level of social/leisure activities
slightly I did it and I will be okay to do
it again. I still dont like it but now I have a
choice and the fear has been given a whipping I
do now feel a little liberated and need to
think about how to move this forward some
more The survey has made me realise I am not
unusual in the way I feelI no longer think this
rule is a problembecause my feelings have been
normalised I have made great in-roads in
disagreeing with people who I consider to be
important To bring in a piece of video
footage with the belief that I would receive
criticism with developmental issues, which I
would mentally filter as a generalisation that
Im always a rubbish therapist. This was
comprehensively disconfirmeddecreasing my belief
from 60 to 10
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Over-ambitious goal setting (direct implications
for client work) Irealise now that I set
myself far too many goals to begin with, and
because I was not successfully completing all of
them I believed that I had failed
completely Developing a possibility focus and
re-storying through writing (both having direct
implications for client work) I re-read my
story How I would like to be and discovered an
interesting Freudian slipI found myself (at
university) in an academic world inhibited by
lots of bright, articulate students. I meant to
say inhabited but I think my unconscious spoke
up! Understanding how difficult it is to
confronts ones own thoughts, feelings and
related behaviours (implications for building
empathy for clients) I was surprised to find
that Id actually been experiencing some
resistance and suddenly had an insight as to
what clients can experience at the point they
are facing losing safety behaviours. I felt
anxious and fearful at the thought of losing
mine
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