Teens in Therapy Essay Example for Free

Teens in Therapy Essay Richard Bromfield, PH. D, is a psychologist, he is also a faculty member at the Harvard Medical School, and he specializes in therapy with children and adolescents. He is a writer and wrote several best sellers about children, adolescents and psychotherapy. This book is one of Bromfield’s many award winning writings. Introduction The book I chose to review for this assignment is entitled: Teens in Therapy: Making It on their own: Engaging Adolescents in Successful Therapy for Responsible Lives, by author Richard Bromfield. This book offers therapeutic advice and key insights into overcoming difficult clinical terrain. I selected this book based on my passion and fervor for working with adolescents. It is my belief that working with adolescents and being quite young myself would be a challenge. This book’s key focus is to help clinicians engage adolescents in therapy as most individuals are coerced into the activity, and are reluctant at giving their all during therapy sessions. The backbone of the book consists of clinical case material, which explores real stories, and events that take place in most therapeutic sessions. Bromfield uses adolescents and their stories as authors of the book, as their experiences shape the stories making them vivid and noteworthy. The books content is highly comprehensible, realistic, intellectual, and honest. It caters to an audience of beginner therapist, as it explores the essentials of adolescent therapy without jargon or over reliance of theory. Critique â€Å" Only when people realize what is in their lives can they make decisions to continue their old ways or choose active paths towards change. † (Pg. ) this was one of the many quotes that stood out for me during the course of readings as it is one of the first concepts that all therapist need to accept and acknowledge. The author emphasizes that adolescents, like all people, do not change until they want to, and only after they see and accept their challenges can the therapy begin to progress. Each chapter mirrors the therapeutic process, from treatment planning, confrontation, opposition, motivational ass essment, to crisis management, boundary setting, and enduring failed therapy sessions. Each chapter is well laid out with the order and content that it covers, as it explores various different scenarios in a step-by-step process. The first three (3) chapters echo the first stages of therapy, such as creating the correct settings, going through the initial greeting and meeting phases and addressing the preliminary difficulties that may occur during therapeutic sessions. Just as it is difficult for us to trust people and let them into our lives so to he says is the case with adolescents. Building trust has been described as one of the earliest developmental task and the foundation on which all others are built (Erikson, 1980). Establishing a trusting relationship is fundamental to the development and the progress of any therapeutic relationship. The therapist is portrayed in this book as someone who enables the adolescent client to take control of their life, by recognizing and regarding them with all their weaknesses and the challenging systems it may take, setting parameters, and meeting these adolescents wherever they are, sympathizing and interacting with them on their level using their jargon. A major technique that Bromfield describes in his book as he speaks about interacting with adolescents is creating a shared language. He depicts this by using a case study of a boy named Karl. â€Å"Bitch Alert, Headache no 25 and pretending to strangle his own neck were like minded key words used by my teenage patients to speed dial how they felt†( pg. 116) . Bromfield adds, â€Å" Whether embodied in a word, catch phrase, play scenario, secret world or entire world of metaphor, languages and world that therapist and their adolescent patients mutually create can become their own. These shared meanings become the powerful routes through which the therapist and teenager communicate best† (pg. 117). This suggestion has allowed me to broaden my style and approach to creating a more comfortable space for adolescents to open up and share. This he adds would serve as a shortcut for difficult events and the way they express those events verbally, allowing a more unique and connected space for the teenager and myself. Empathy is a central theme that runs through the entire book. Dr.  Bromfield highlights the importance and significance of empathy, understanding adolescents while balancing the need to challenge and push them. Empathy is an emotion, I value highly as a future humanistic counselor as I believe it can be a very potent tool in therapy. â€Å" As to this day I am awed at empathic understanding’s near miraculous power to soften children’s and adults’ defensive resolve† (p48), he describes the miraculous power of empathy and how it can allow persons in therapy to uncover those other emotions that they may have suppressed quite well. In chapter six (6), Bromfield points out several small gestures that therapist may do to create a more comfortable and secure environment for adolescents. I concur with this belief, as feeling a sense of security and importance in therapy are key in its progression. He claims that simple gesture such as; offering a shawl, opening a window or simply adjusting the heater can assure these teenagers that their needs are important and valuable to you. Bromfield’s passion for helping adolescents are mirrored in every case study that he describes, where he goes the extra mile to ensure that the engagement in therapy is successful. His patience, fervor and persistence are what ensure most therapeutic sessions are successful. Those characteristics are the ones that should be heeded and exhibited by each new counselor. Bromfield uses a whole chapter to discuss a key subject in therapy, honesty. His chapter entitled, â€Å" Truth or Consequences: Assessing and Promoting Honesty in Therapy†, assesses one significant moral characteristics for me as; I believe honesty is a key moral characteristic that is needed in therapeutic sessions. Bromfield points out that honesty in therapy should be a two-way communication, and that both the therapist and the adolescent need to adhere to this trait. The importance of respecting someone’s honesty is also highlighted in the books as to not be judgmental or disappointed when the truth is revealed in sessions. He reveals that being genuine and real with adolescents aids the therapy, as they are quite keen on detecting when therapists are being fake or unreal with them. The aspect of sincerity have always been a hurdle for me, as I often ponder of what may occur if I demonstrate negative facial reactions to any information that a client may reveal to me during a session. The author gives insightful and detailed suggestions as to how to avoid or rather prepare oneself to hear the most outrageous and absurd stories, in so doing, avoiding the element of surprise. Reading some of the stories that the author portrays has helped me overcome that hurdle as he offers other suggestions and avenues for avoiding judgmental comments or expressions. The author cautions â€Å" Therapist do not take the fact that a teenager has opened the door a crack, as an invitation to kick it down with critical and probing questions†, instead he gives alternative responses that may show adolescents recognition for their bravery of telling the truth. The subject of balancing between clients and their parents is also discussed whereby he examines the importance of confidentiality. This being another main battle that I see myself having a struggle with as being pressured for results from some parents, and then balancing the confidentially and trusting relationship the child and I may have developed. Sending parents out the room is never an easy task; Bromfield fails to elaborate on this key aspect of therapy and the mechanisms one may use in order to address such an issue. The issue of clients ‘falling in love’ with the therapist is an important issues that Bromfield doesn’t take into account in his book. The age of adolescence is quite a complicated stage, during this time hormones begin to release and new feelings and motions are experienced. Therefore, having an adolescent ‘fall in love’ during sessions is quite a prevalent phenomenon. One of the most engaging chapters —â€Å"Failures, Missteps and Lost Causes† — it sets a tone of consolation, as it highlights that having failures is normal and that not every therapeutic session will always be a success. â€Å" Do your best and forgive yourself when you fall short†, Bromfield argues that therapists, can only do as much as they can and not always their attempts in fixing a situation is successful but each failure should be looked at a lesson and a chance for growth as a therapist. Bromfield claims â€Å" When I began doing psychotherapy with teenagers and children I was naive, I saw myself as a purist† (pg. 29). An increased sense of comfort came when he added that he found himself being taught by his young patients and he needed to find other methods of helping them. He learnt a little, by little after each session where he added new skills and tools to his repertoire, in an attempt to help adolescents engage in successful therapy. This assertion challenged my misconception that therapist had to know it all and helped to realize that everyone has to start somewhere and not always would we have all the answers r solutions for the problems that are presented to us, but as time goes along we would add to our knowledge and experience. However this chapter fails to address the topic of recognizing professional limitation, where a counselor must recognize their inability to work with a specific client or deal with specific problems. When a client’s personal dilemma, begins to cause a counselor personal difficulties to a stage at which their own effectiveness is compromised, then a referral should be considered. This issue of â€Å"burnout† is also deficient in this chapter. Burnout may affect many counselors and can compress their effectiveness of their professional life Grosh and Olser (1994) The book does contains a few grammatical errors which occasionally requires the reader to re-read a sentence to work out its meaning. However, this book is a well-written, pragmatic guide for beginning therapist or students pursing courses in therapy, psychology or counseling. It can also be a beneficial guide for parents of adolescents as it offers advise on coping with many difficult situations. It teaches and addresses minor situations to extreme situations, from introvert issues to violence. However, I disagree with the author’s recommendation for it being suitable for seasoned professions, as I believe they would have already had the knowledge and experience into most of these scenarios that he has revealed in his book and the information maybe monotonous to them. The book also lacks theoretical framework, as it is highly reliant on simply clients that Dr. Bromfield interacted with. It is a highly subjective book and as it is based purely on his perspective and experience as a counselor. I would highly recommend this book to students and beginner therapist, as it is easy reading. Bromfield is a humorous writer, his use of witticisms, vignettes and unfiltered language would entice and hold a readers attention. This book led me to find myself taking every free opportunity to engage in further reading; at no point did I ever feel confused or unable to comprehend the messages that were being illustrated. The use of real life situation deepened my understanding, as I tend to be a visual learner. I have already ordered another of Bromfield’s books, as I believe his writing has a lot to offer me as a future child and adolescent counselor as it has made me feel more confident and prepared.

Comparing the Rich versus the Poor Essay -- Poverty

Rich vs. Poor: Distributing the World’s Wealth Equally Think about the house that you live in, the neighbors that surround you and the town where you come from. More importantly, think about the car, clothing, and material things that you possess. Living an absolutely affluent life, as most of us do, is something that we take for granted. Now put yourself in the shoes of a child at the age of 5 in Zambia. There is no roof over your head, no shoes on your feet, and no food on the table to eat. You live every day wondering how much longer you will survive in this situation. This example may represent an extreme situation in Zambia, but forces one to think about how many people are living in poverty throughout the world. Poor people often lack adequate food and shelter and education and health, which keeps them from leading the kind of life that everyone values. They are extremely vulnerable to illness, to economic displacement, and are treated negatively by institutions in society. Of the world’s 6 billion people, 2.8 billion live on less than $2 a day, and 1.2 billion live on less than $1 a day. In rich countries, fewer than 5 percent of all children under 5 are malnourished, in poor countries as many as 50 percent are (Attacking poverty 3). This impoverishment continues to exist even though human conditions have improved more in the past century than ever before. Global wealth and technically advanced capabilities may be at their highest levels yet, but the distribution of these gains is tremendously unequal. The increasing rates of poverty throughout many countries in the world and the imbalance of wealth leads me to believe that the rich have a moral obligation to help those who are less fortunate. According t... ... and improving sanitation conditions would better the life of the poor. If people would be willing to make small contributions to the poor, poverty rates could possibly begin to decline altogether. If the extremes of relative wealth and poverty are diminished I believe it would lead to a world where being absolutely poor no longer exits. Works Cited * â€Å"Attacking Poverty: Opportunity, Empowerment, and Security.† World Development Report 2001/2002: 1-12. http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty * â€Å"Rich vs. Poor Stats.† Online: http://geocities.com/mrastafari/richpoor.html * Singer, Peter. â€Å"Rich and Poor.† Practical Ethics, 2nd ed.: 218-246. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993 * Singer, Peter. â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty.† The New York Times. September 5, 1999: 1-7. http://www.fordham.edu/economics/combs/savechild.pdf

Chapter: research methodology Essay

The research was conducted using questionnaires as the main tool of data collection. Questionnaires were used for the research mainly because the research focused on areas and questions that could not be put across verbally through interviews. Advantages of using questionnaires. Questionnaires have the advantage of privacy and secrecy. They were chosen for the research because of the nature of the subject of research (Furedi 2007). Terrorism is a phenomenon that does not go well with many people in Yemen especially after the 2006 attack. Through the use of questionnaires, the researcher is able to be guaranteed honest and true answers unlike other methods of data collection. A total of 304 replies were received from the people. This was a good number and showed that many respondents appreciated the subject of research. Questionnaires are also used because they are easy to be used by the respondents. The type of language used in the questionnaires is simple and easy to understand. Many respondents tend to prefer the usage of questionnaires as they give them ease in trying to answer the questions posed to them (Toolis 2005). They also enjoy the advantage of giving the respondent time to reflect on what they had forgotten and give an answer that they think is right rather than being rushed into giving answers without reflecting on them or without being given time to think. If a respondent is given time to research and reflect on what he/she had forgotten, chances are that he/she is likely to give informed answers, opinions and vies. Disadvantages of questionnaires. In some circumstances, questionnaires could be of demerit to both the researcher and the respondent. Some questions in the questionnaires need explanations by the researcher. Such explanations are normally not accessible as the researchers are always not within reach. Such interruptions may cause the respondent to give information that is not related to the questions asked as a result of misinterpretation of the questions. If such a scenario occurs, the researcher is bound to lose out in the area in which the question was asked and decide either to leave it out or conduct the session again. The other disadvantage of questionnaires is that, they need time for the exercise to be a success. Drafting of the questions, sending the questionnaires to the respondents, filing of the questionnaires and sending them back to the researcher will take some time which would have been used in other useful areas concerning the research. It is evident that respondents will tend to take some time before responding to the questionnaires posted or delivered to them. The other disadvantage is that when using questionnaires, they are bound to get lost or get into wring hands (Furedi 2007). When they are posted by the respondents, they might get lost along the way and not reach the researcher at all. In some cases, they may get into wrong hands thus exposing what was meant to be privacy between the researcher and the respondent. Such cases could lead to breach of contract as the respondent might have been promised that whatever he/she says will be confidential to the two of them. On the other hand, the information contained in the questionnaires might also be distorted before it reaches the researcher. This could also lead to misrepresentation of the information by the researcher thus leading to wrong conclusions and false recommendations about the subject matter in discussion. Secondary Sources of data collection. A variety of sources were used in data collection for the research. Such sources included the CNY’s post-incidence report, documents which as scholarly in nature, government press releases and agencies, the Internet, CNY intranet and other sources that were deemed fit for the research (Cachon 2007). Secondary sources of data collection were used mainly to boost the outcomes of the literature review. The fear of crime and terrorist attacks were addressed partially by the secondary sources rather than the primary sources. There is information that could not be found using primary sources of data collection. This information included the history of terrorist attacks in Yemen and other relevant past accounts in as far as terrorism is concerned. Books and journals were used closely as they were viewed as the most reliable and important sources of data collection. The Internet came in especially where previous researches were to be used in the writing of the literature review and other sections of the research. Scholarly materials were used especially where there was need to compare the views of other scholars against those in the research. Such views were so helpful as they gave direction and focus to the research in situations where it thought to be going out of way (Cachon 2007). How to prevent terrorism, how terrorism has been dealt with in the past, how other countries react to terrorism, the effect of terrorism among other issues were addressed by the secondary data. It is therefore important to say that secondary data could not be ignored in any way by the research. How the research was tackled. When determining on how th research was to be conducted, issues such as accessing the target, the cost of the research and the time available for the research were taken into consideration. The method of conducting the research was one that was intended target the whole CNY’s employees working in Yemen, as well as direct contractors working for CNY. This gave an approximate target of about one thousand employees for the research. The operating structure in Yemen was broken into two field based facilities, a storage terminal on Yemen’s coast and a head office situated in Sana’a (Lakdawalla 2004). The four locations were part of the population that was targeted by the research. The research tackled the intended research problem through the use of survey research, reinforced by interviews and research that also in the archives. Such a wide field allowed the researcher to gather information that was all inclusive and representative. More and more survey data was gathered by the use of a CNY intranet, questionnaires that were self completed, interviews that were face to face and other sources that were aimed at reinforcing the quantitative data gathered with qualitative data and information available. Due to the nature of the facilities and the number, it was imperative to design an intranet based questionnaire for the purposes of data collection and analysis. It was believed that all of the population in CNY had access to the company’s intranet, thus making it a more convenient and reliable tool for data collection and analysis. It main advantage was that a large population of people was able to be reached at a relatively low cost. Questionnaire design. During the construction of the questionnaire, several elements were taken into consideration by the researcher (Chapman 2000). The process was to decide the questions that were to be asked, the wording and sequence of the questions in their precision an also the simplicity and complexity of the questions and wording. The questions were phrased in such a way that respondents found them easy to understand and comprehend with the aim of them not affecting the responses from the respondents. The questionnaires were also made anonymous to the respondents as a result of the cultural sensitivity in Yemen. All the same, there was a section to be completed regarding whether the respondents preferred to be interviewed and if so, contact details were completed by the researcher. It was however found out that respondents were more than willing to take part in the research especially after being assured that the information they provided would be treated in confidence and that they would remain anonymous. Selection and sampling of the respondents. Members from each department were selected and included both the Yemeni and the expatriates (Chapman 2000). They were both asked separately if they were willing to have an interview that was face to face. A formal letter describing the objectives and the purpose of the research was mailed to those members that were selected for the research. The rest of the targeted population was emailed with the same letter describing why the research was being conducted. Interviews were also done thereafter as they tend to offer the possibility of the researcher modifying the line of questioning, then following up with interesting lines of investigation in a way that other forms of data collection methods cannot (Chapman 2000). A structured interview of about 45 minutes was conducted as part of the research collection procedure. The interviews were recorded o both tape and in note form. Due to the nature of the Yemeni culture that discourages recording of interviews, note had to be taken as a cushion to the same. This was done for the Yemeni nationals and not for the expatriates. An email reminder was send to the population that was targeted two weeks after the questionnaires had been distributed. The reminders were repeated after three weeks with the aim of ensuring that all the positions intended were covered. In order to avoid problems with the questionnaires and the interview design, the questions were piloted on a small sample of the population that was similar to the main surveys respondents. Problems encountered in the Research. There were various problems encountered during the research. Problems included those that were encountered during the process of the research and those that came up during the compilation of data and analysis. One of the problems was the difficulty in convincing people that the questionnaires and the interviews were meant for research purposes and not any other hidden agenda (Pun 2002). A number of the targeted population were a little bit concerned about the intention of the research. Given that terrorism is a sensitive area of discussion especially in the public domain, it turned out to be very difficult to drive the point home. The fear associated with terrorism made many people shun away from the topic thus leaving the researcher with very little option (Lowry 2002). There was also the problem of finding the needed information. Due to the nature of the Yemeni culture, many respondents were not free enough to give information that they thought was right. They would give information that they thought could go well with what the questions required and not the real and true position on the ground. This problem led to some information being discarded as it was vetted and found out that it was unrealistic and not practical. The opinion of the respondents could change and even contradict depending with the type of method collection tool used. This was noticed in cases where both the questionnaires and interviews were used on one respondent at different times for data collection. The problem of time was also an issue. The research was to be done within a specific period of time. This time was short considering the nature of the research that was being done. The respondents were far from each other and this needed time to be able to reach all of them for the research. The process of data compilation and analysis took a lot of time due to the fact that three hundred and four replys were to be analysed. The analysis also required some data to be run using the SPSS program which was not familiar with the researcher. Consultations had to be made with the experts in SPSS and other people who had a thorough understanding of what the program was all about (Lowry 2002). This also took some time thus affecting the time scheduled for data analysis. As a result, some of the processes of data analysis were crushed so that some of the time could be used for running of data and generation using the SPSS program (Kumar 2008). The issue of bureaucracy also posed a problem during the research. Getting permission from the relevant authorities which included CPF, BAKPF, the head office at Sana’a and the terminal facility was so difficult. Letters had to be written by the university time and again but still the management found it hard to allow the researcher to go ahead with the research. It was only after several negotiations and pleading that finally the request was granted. The top management feared the fact that the research was aimed at inciting the employees in matters related to terrorism. The effect of the 2006 attack by the terrorists was still fresh in people’s minds and it was feared that any mention of the term terrorism would trigger an atmosphere of fear and animosity. Analysis and Results. The data collected was analysed independently for each of the four CNY locations in Yemen. Different procedures and target hardening initiatives were deployed at each location to meet the specific threat. Separate analysis of each location was used to identify issues that were unique to each one of them as it would be easier to make specific recommendations for each location in terms of improvement (Lowry 2002). Data from national and expatriate employees also analysed independently with the aim that separate analysis would make it easier to identify any cultural and social differences that could arise between the employees and the fear of crime. The CNY information technology department will be made use of in transferring data from the intranet to the analysis software. The researcher involved in this research was a working for CNPY at he main field facility. The rotation was in five weeks’ work at Yemen and five weeks’ vacation in the United Kingdom. The rotation was meant at necessitating god planning to ensure that all relevant data input was complete and accessible during the duty. Al the employees in Yemen work in a similar rotation and so it was vital to ensure that all the back to back positions had access to the intranet with the aim of enabling the completion of the questionnaires (Metz 2006). The work rotations also had their own advantages which included the reduction in the cost of transportation as CNT transport and internal flights would be used by the researcher. There was also the advantage of completing all the research on time and also the fact that data analysis, compilation and writing up of findings would be done during the vacation. The researcher had a back to back in Yemen who could assist with the sending of the late data from the questionnaires in the unlikely event that it would be necessary.

The Policing Model Brazil - 1160 Words

The Policing Model Brazil In Brazil there are five different police enforcements, the federal police, he federal highway police, the federal railway police, the state military police and fire brigade, and the state civil police. Brazil police officers only have two main functions which is to keep order and to make sure laws are not broken. The Federal Police: The federal police main function is to investigate crimes that are against the federal government, to fight international drug trafficking, and terrorism, and are the immigration and border police as well. The Federal Highway Police: These officers main job is to combat crimes on Brazilian federal roads and highways. These officers control and all vehicular watch traffic. Federal†¦show more content†¦Such services include forensic laboratories, police information systems, identification, and advanced police training. Provincial: These officers are responsible for controlling the areas outside of municipalities and to make sure provincial law and the criminal code is carried out. Municipal: The Municipal police is the largest in Canada. These officers carry out all laws concerning their jurisdiction and criminal code. United States In the United States, there is no national force only Federal and local. The federal officers handle violations of federal law that is in their particular jurisdiction. The local police handles specific crimes within their jurisdiction. The Judicial structure and the corrections System Brazil: In Brazil is represented by common law. Their justice system depends on Roman codes and federal legislative forces. Brazil has a judicial review. The judges has the option of ignoring the constitution in some cases. Brazil criminal law system use an adversary system. Unconstitutionally evidence is thrown out of court. There is a court in every state. The state courts handle most types of crimes except federal crimes, which will be heard in federal court. In a trial, the complaint must be accepted by the judge first. Then the judge will