Exercise 8 - TCL4 Placement perspectives
Trainee (Susie) Part 1
It is just after Easter in the second year of my TCL4 Diploma. I’ve had a tough
time. I worked hard in the first year, I love skills practice and group process
work, but I find the theory quite hard. My Mum died unexpectedly in September
just as College was starting up again. I had done the training for a placement in a
bereavement agency but I knew I couldn’t do that so had to give it up and find
another one. I fell behind with my portfolio and haven’t caught up yet. But I
passed my EA in January, thank goodness. I’ve found another agency where the
placement manager has been really kind and referred lots of clients.
Trainee (Susie) Part 2
I’ve only done 25 hours of client work though which is not as much as most
people in my group. My tutor said I couldn’t count the hours I had done in the
drop-in though, so it is even less than that. To be honest I’ve struggled a bit with
some client work, I still miss my Mum so badly and I can’t listen to other people
going on about their losses. I’m putting on a brave face though because I so want
to pass this course. I’m working hard to catch up and finished one of the essays
last week, and I’ve started a case study.
Agency Placement Manager (Rob) Part 1
Susie started work with us last December - she interviewed well and was very keen
to start what she said would be a second placement, in addition to counselling for
a bereavement agency. She did our 2 day mandatory training and I made it clear
that for the first 2 months she had to work as a befriender in the drop in centre.
She did well, always making good relationships with the clients, and started
counselling one to one in early February. I think she’s done about 15 hours now.
Agency Placement Manager (Rob) Part 2
I didn’t know that she had lost her Mother in September, or that she had given
up her placement with a bereavement agency because of this. This only just came
out when she told me she did not want another referral which had anything to
do with bereavement. So now I’m not so sure she’s been entirely honest with me.
She’s a hard worker, is always here on time, keeps good records, and the feedback
from clients has been excellent. I want to give her a chance, so I think I just
need to monitor her more carefully for a while.
Exercise 8 - TCL4 Placement perspectives
Personal Therapist (Jo) Part 1
Susie contacted me last summer saying she needed to complete 10 hours of
therapy for her course. We were due to start in September when her mother died
so she postponed the sessions. She’s had 9 of her 10 sessions now and is due to
have the last one next week. At first she didn’t want to talk about her mother’s
death, which I thought was odd, but respected her autonomy and we spent time
mainly discussing things to do with her peers and tutors on the course, and her
on-off relationship with her boyfriend.
Personal Therapist (Jo) Part 2
Something got stirred up when she was with a bereaved client recently and over
the last 2 or 3 sessions she has focussed on her Mum’s death, seems very angry,
quite distracted and very tearful. I am not at all sure she should be counselling
others right now. With her permission I’ve told her tutor about my concerns. I
don’t want to sign off her 10 hours next week and believe she would benefit from
at least 4 more.
Supervisor (Chris) Part 1
Susie has been my supervisee since February. She has engaged well in our
sessions and seems to have done useful work with her clients. I am not sure that
she has a very good grasp of theory and in fact finds it difficult to articulate what
her core approach is. I know that the clients have given her good reports in their
evaluations and Rob is keen to keep her. Two things have concerned me lately.
She wanted me to sign an interim supervision report which I was happy to do
and we worked through the form together, but where it said placement hours
completed to date she had put 25 whereas I know from my records that I have
supervised her for only 15. The first 10 hours that she is claiming were
befriending work, not counselling and I did not see her at all during that time.
She disagreed with me, said that I was mistaken and got very angry.
Supervisor (Chris) Part 2
The second thing is that a current client, a female of similar age to Susie has just
lost her Mum. In telling me the client’s story Susie started to get very tearful and
upset. It then appeared that this had triggered off memories of her own Mum
who died in September. Up till that point she had not mentioned that her Mum
had died so recently, though I did always get the feeling there was something
holding her back. I don’t think she should be working with this client. In fact
I’m not sure she should be counselling at all at the moment.
Exercise 8 - TCL4 Placement perspectives
Tutor 1 (Rav) Part 1
I’ve taught Susie all the way through from Skills and Studies and now Diploma.
She’s always been highly motivated, willing to learn and is a natural at making
relationships with others. Her written work is not always as good, though she
does try very hard. She’s had a difficult time, losing her Mum in September was a
big blow and we spent a lot of time talking this through in tutorials at the
beginning of the year. I admired her for making the decision not to go ahead
with placement work at the bereavement agency. She quickly found a different
placement and from group supervision in class it sounds as if she is working well
with a range of clients.
Tutor 1 (Rav) Part 2
She is a bit behind with her portfolio work, but that’s only to be expected. She
can catch up with it over the summer holidays if necessary. I know she’s done
very few client hours, but she still has all next year to do those. She’s only just got
stuck into it really and I wouldn’t want to discourage her, she’s so motivated and
does work well with her clients. She’s found personal therapy a real help but I
know she can’t afford to do any more than the 10 hours.
Tutor 2 (Ali) Part 1
I’ve always found Susie to be a bit of a nightmare. I didn’t know her until she
joined the Diploma group and she didn’t impress me at the start, I’m not sure I
would have taken her on if I’d been interviewing. She never seemed to be up to
date with her learning reviews, was OK in skills practice, but found it very hard to
assimilate the theory and integrate it into her written work. Then she moaned no
end about having to do the training for the bereavement agency on top of the
Diploma. After her Mum died she said she had decided not to join that agency,
but we never heard that she even finished the training and I don’t think she went
for the interview, so she might not have actually been accepted anyway.
Tutor 2 (Ali) Part 2
In group training supervision she talks about her client work in very general
terms but makes out everything is fine. She gave in a draft case study and it was
very poor, badly written, lacking links to theory and consideration of the process,
it was mostly narrative. I think she lacks self-awareness and think she ought to do
more personal therapy. In fact she is so behind at meeting criteria, has so little
work in her portfolio and has so few client hours I think she should repeat the
second year.