![]() Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979 CE for Psychologist, Social Worker, Counselor, & MFT!!
Section
14
Question
14 | Test
| Table of Contents In the last section, we discussed Investing in Solitude. We described two techniques for investing in solitude, as well as the panic of being alone, and the three ways in which clients may try to avoid self-awareness. The three ways in which clients may try to avoid self-awareness are busyness, killing time, and noise. As you may already know the Web Construct encourages the
processing of therapeutic issues through the identification of negative constructs
that result from internalized emotions. I have found that this
identification allows the client to make connections between negative cognitions
and their precipitating events. Due to her frustration, her therapist suggested she maintain her metaphor
of ‘tangled emotions’ by trying to name each emotion or string. At
home, Amber quickly jotted down words which she felt exemplified her state
of mind. Some of the words Amber wrote included ‘loss’, ‘pain’, ‘alone’, ‘violated’,
and ‘anger’. Because Amber wanted to express
the depth of each grief emotion, she wrote each word in colored
marker on a blank index card. Using crayons, Amber drew a visual image
of her connotation of each word. ♦ Three Goals of the Web Construct --The first goal of the Web Construct is to emphasize individuality. Essentially, Amber was faced with the necessity to adapt to a changed reality. Thus a constructivist approach allowed her to find new ways to view herself in her new world. Though many clients believe they need to ‘let go’ of the deceased and try to return to their ‘normal life’, many of the clients I have treated find that ‘normal life’ is no longer possible. These clients must grieve not only the loss of the deceased, but also the loss of previous constructs. When I use the Web Construct, I find it important to help clients evaluate the assumptions that were challenged by the loss. Would you agree that this moves the client toward a new framework of meaning about life and the loss? I have found that no singular emotion really exists among grieving clients. Rather, like Amber, my clients experience a tangle of emotions. Grieving clients that I have treated tended to ignore certain emotions while allowing themselves to feel other emotions which may have been expected of them. For example, clients may feel it is unacceptable to express feelings of anger and resentment. These same grieving clients may feel it is acceptable to express sadness or even depression. Some clients may even try to impose a time limit for their emotions. I have found that the Web Construct emphasizes individuality of grief and therefore allows clients to experience each emotion. --The second goal of the Web Construct is to reestablish equilibrium. As you know, clients experience disequilibria when faced with new and unfamiliar circumstances. This disequilibria becomes the catalyst for the process of constructing meaning. I have found that grieving clients experience disequilibria as a response to the rapid alteration of constructs that occur from a significant loss. For clients experiencing grief, making meaning of the trauma that caused grief can help reestablish equilibrium. I have found that this meaning can be found in some cases by using the Web Construct. -- The third goal of the Web Construct is to help reconstruct client’s lives. The Web Construct provides a dynamic conceptualization of the grieving process as well as a method to help reconstruct client’s lives. As healing continues clients may feel freed from their emotions and begin to construct new emotions as they reconstruct their lives. For example, Amber continued to work with her Web as she healed. Eventually, words like ‘shame’ and ‘regret’ were replaced by ‘peace’ and ‘courage’. Amber realized that though life experiences are permanent, the emotions associated with them are not. Amber successfully reframed her experiences using the Web Construct. Think of your Amber. Could she or he benefit from using the Web Construct? In this section, we discussed The Web Construct. I described
how The Web Construct works and three goals of the constructivist approach. The
three goals are to emphasize individuality, to reestablish equilibrium, and
to help reconstruct client’s lives. This CD set has covered such topics as: Feelings of Isolation, the Relationship Inventory, Feelings of Guilt, Shattering Assumptions, Secondary Wounding, Healing Self-Statements, Physiology and Mind Sets of Grief, The Positive Side of Grief, The Three D’s of Grief, Replacement Children, Success, Solitude, and The Web Construct. I hope you have found the information to be both practical and beneficial. We appreciate that you've chosen the Healthcare Training Institute at homestudycredit.com as a means for receiving your continuing education credit. Other Home Study Courses we offer include: Treating Teen Self
Mutilation; Treating Post Holiday Let-Down and Depression; Living with Secrets:
Treating Childhood Sexual Trauma; Interventions for Anxiety Disorders with
Children and Adults; and Balancing the Power Dynamic in the Therapeutic Relationship. |