Brandon Ballantyne, 28, a licensed professional counselor at Reading Hospital in Reading, Pa., has found a way to use his passion for the arts to help his teenage clients. Ballantyne, a member of the American Counseling Association and the Pennsylvania Counseling Association, has been a drummer for more than 15
Tag: Creativity
Creativity
Meeting the needs of today’s students is challenging for counselors working in the schools, particularly with the increasing diversity of the U.S. population. To engage today’s students, school counselors must think innovatively in delivering school counseling services. Creative “nontraditional” counseling approaches, when integrated into traditional school counseling services at both
Before they understand the various diagnoses and treatment options available, many clients present to counseling because of trouble navigating the same human phenomenon: heartbreak. Under this label fall countless events such as a painful breakup, the death of a loved one or the failure to attain a major life goal.
When taking my undergraduate and graduate classes many moons ago, my least favorite courses were Biopsychology and Cognitive Processes, during which our professors would lecture at great length about the structure and function of the brain. As a student embarking on a new career in mental health, I was aware
Cliff Hamrick was meditating long before he became a counselor, having found the practice useful for treating the depression he had experienced some years before. Now a private practitioner in Austin, Texas, Hamrick integrates Eastern and Western approaches to counseling because he believes it benefits his clients. Partway across the
The elementary school counseling model used in the Athens (Ohio) City Schools is one in which our counselors serve several schools, so I (Katherine Ziff) structure my work with priority to offering preventive and developmental services to groups of children. Three years ago, in consultation with our school psychologists and
Write what you know. This classic adage from creative writing class has launched many a novel. According to those who practice narrative therapy, it also can launch a counseling client into a transformative and healing process of self-reflection. Narrative therapy refers to the work most often attributed to Michael White
David Christian is a high school counselor in the Denton Independent School District in Texas who opts to go outside the box – literally – to better connect with his students. Christian, who is a doctoral candidate in the counseling program at the University of North Texas (UNT) and a member
Sometimes the easiest tasks can be so difficult to perform. Mindfulness meditation has always fallen into this category for me. I struggle so much to get myself to sit down and meditate on a regular basis, even though I know from experience that when I sit in meditation for even
Picture the following scenario. You are a counselor with less than one year of experience. Recently, an employment opportunity opened up at a school to work with adolescents who have a variety of behavioral issues, including excessive anger. An interview is scheduled, a job offer extended. You eagerly accept. The