Kiss'Shonna Curtis

Leadership Competencies Gained

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Scope of competence

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During this seminar, after every role play assignment, we were required to fill out a fidelity sheet that measured whether we had adequately completed each step of Patient activation coaching. Essentially it was a rubric for our role plays. This allowed for me to measure my scope of competence on each section which was helpful because it allowed me to see what I needed more guidance on, and what I was excelling at. Each week, we would be required to fill out a fidelity sheet, and it was really cool to see my scope of competence grow larger as the weeks progressed.

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Confidence

This class was the first class that was designed to be primarily role play based, and initially this was very scary and outside of my comfort zone. I was new to learning the material and I had to record the videos with my classmates and then submit them to be reviewed by my professors. I was not confident at first, but as I continued to practice and reflect on each role play, I began to gain more confidence. I learned that it was also helpful to have feedback from both my peers and professors so that I could get confirmation on both my strengths and weaknesses.

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Responding to change

For each role play, we were assigned different people to record with each week. This decision was made intentionally to help us respond to change. Each week we had to role play as the therapist and as the patient, and we were encouraged if we were acting in the role as the patient to change up the types of symptoms we were having from week to week. This gave each person the opportunity to troubleshoot and come up with solutions to new problems. This practice really helped me think more flexibly and on the spot. I was able to consider different perspectives and I learned how to think on my feet.

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Follow Through

I learned the best practices on following through via role playing as well. As the therapist, we were required to schedule a week’s worth of activities with each patient. We were advised to be very detailed in our planning of activities for the week because research shows that the more detailed plan you have, the likelihood of you sticking to that plan is higher. Knowing this, with each role play, we asked the patients what the activity would be, where they would complete it, at what time, and with whom. In my personal life, I have also found success in this. The more detailed plan I have, the more likely I am to follow through with it.

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Empathy

Empathy was one of the main focuses of the class. Having empathy and showing empathy is essential for a therapist to be able to establish a good rapport with their patient. During this class, we were using a short-term intervention strategy called patient activation, and initially I struggled with the concept of displaying an adequate amount of empathy in such a short time frame. However, as I practiced each week, I learned how to rely on both verbal and nonverbal strategies to convey empathy. I learned that there are many ways to communicate empathy through body language and active listening.

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Looking Ahead

 

The experiences that I had during this class not only gave me really good insight on what I could expect from a client practitioner interaction, but it also lead to me making lasting connections with one of my professors. After the class ended, I was able to participate in a study taking the role plays we practiced in class and putting them into practice in real sessions with mild/moderately depressed clients. This experience once again affirmed my passion for counseling and helped me further develop my active listening and helping skills.