13 Things I Learned at Module 1

The topics covered at Module 1 include: Law & Ethics, Narrative Therapy, Structural Therapy, and Epistemology. This list reflects the information that has stuck to my brain.

1. Narrative Therapy helps the client to externalize their problem by anthropomorphizing and discussing the problem in the third person.
2. Structural Therapy was developed by Salvador Minuchin, and in this modality of therapy, family hierarchy and idiosyncracies are noted.
3. Laws of confidentiality are to be taken very seriously. Also, it's best to have a no-hugging/touching policy. Hand shaking is the only exception.
4. Epistemology can be summed up like this: how do we know what we think we know?
5. By the end of the lecture on epistemology, I came to realize that what I think, what I believe, and what I know and whether or not if I truly know anything is far too much of a mental exercise to contemplate at the end of an intensive 5 day module.
6. The childhood programming I received from my mother regarding the drills she'd have on what to do if a stranger came to the house, etc. and to be suspicious of strangers has been unlearned. I'm no longer anxious and afraid to meet new people, or be in a room full of 50 new strangers.
7. "Sneaky poo" is the euphemistic term for encopresis.
8. Where most therapists run into legal trouble is in creating dual relationships with their clients. A dual relationship is forming a friendship outside of the therapeutic setting, going into a business deal with a client, or the extreme: having sex with a client.
9. I can be disciplined in how much I allow myself to dwell on missing Smee, or talking about Smee to my classmates.
10. Our respective internships will be both our greatest learning opportunities and challenges.
11. I need to ask myself: What kind of therapist do I want to be? What kind of therapist will I be?
12. I can survive without checking my e-mail hourly.
13. Getting my own hotel room is sublime! No roommate!