The joys of teaching

Yesterday I had a wonderful evening giving a guest lecture on trauma informed practice at Macclesfield College. The 12 students on the diploma in counselling course were engaged, curious and willing to thoroughly get involved. It's always such a joy as a lecturer to work with trainee counsellors who are so very passionate and proud of the work they are doing.

As the course is person-centred, we spent time thinking about how trauma informed working fits within client-led practice. It was great to see students applying a critical lens to theory, considering how to offer psycho-education in a non-directive way and how to introduce methods of self-regulation when their practice to date had focused strongly on letting the client lead and avoiding taking an 'expert' position.

The consensus at the end of the evening was that working with trauma is most certainly compatible with a person centred philosophy, in particular, the depth of attunement and the quality of the therapeutic relationship offered in the stabilisation phase of trauma work.

I was reminded how much I enjoy teaching and working with enthusiastic, open minded trainee counsellors who are about to head out into the world ready to work alongside people and make a difference.