249 – Stages of Grief

Working with Interpreters in Therapy – Waking Dreams

Starting off 2023 with Episode 249 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly return with two familiar topics – and a new addition, ‘Practice Today’, where we look at contemporary developments and challenges you may face in the therapy room.

In today’s podcast:

• Returning with ‘Theory in Practice’, today we look at Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ stages of grief.
• Then in our new section ‘Practice Today’ we look at working with interpreters in therapy.
• And finally, returning once again is ‘Practice Matters’ where today Rory speaks with Allan Frater about waking dreams.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ Stages of Grief [starts at 02:54 mins]

You’ve probably heard the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – and in this section, Rory and Ken will explore these stages in more depth and how they may present in the therapy room:

• The 5 stages of grief are often presented in a linear format – however, this isn’t always the case. The stages can present in any order, and for some people, not all stages will be experienced.
• A client may experience retrospective bargaining – thinking things like ‘if I had done this…’, ‘if only I had thought to…’.
• The theory of the stages was put together from observing people who were dying – this means it may not always translate to those who have lost someone.
• The theory has been adapted and modified since its initial release.
• Using the stages as an example, we can normalise a client’s feelings of anger – removing some of the guilt/shame they may experience from feeling this way.
• Any of the stages can persist long after the initial loss – they can especially be triggered by things such as birthdays or anniversaries.
• All of the stages can be reverted into – acceptance isn’t a finality.

Working with Interpreters in Therapy [starts at 19:51 mins]

In the therapy room, you may be in a situation where your client is unable to communicate with you using spoken English. If you have a client that speaks a language you don’t or communicates using sign language – you will need to find a way to understand and respond to them.

The key points of this section on working with interpreters in therapy include:

• If you choose to look for an in-person interpreter or translator for counselling – you shouldn’t use a family member/friend of the client. There may be things the client doesn’t feel comfortable sharing with them in the room, or the translation you receive may be filtered.
• When you are given a translation from a third party, the client’s words are now coming from the translator’s frame of reference. This is something important to be aware of when working with interpreters in therapy.
• Keep a close eye on the clients’ body language – look out for the emotions they are conveying through this.
• If you decide to look into using translating software (such as Google Translate), there are some things you need to consider:
  • There is an assumption of literacy, your client may not be able to read and/or write.
  • There is a chance of the translation being inaccurate.
  • If a client is typing their material into this translation software, do you know if this data is protected? Or if it is stored by the application?
• Be wary of these things if that is the path you decide to take.

Waking Dreams [starts at 35:39 mins]

In this week’s ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Allan Frater about waking dreams.

The main points of this discussion include:

• Waking dreams are a mixture of waking and dreaming – the overlap of an imagined reality and the normal, physical world.
• Thinking about memories as images.
• Considering worrying about next week as an imagined reality that overlaps with physical reality.
• In therapy you might explore waking dreams with their eyes open – this allows the client to remain grounded in the room with you, working with images in a safe way.
• You can look into stand-out images in these waking dreams and what they might mean.

Links and Resources

Counselling Skills Academy

Advanced Certificate in Counselling Supervision

Basic Counselling Skills: A Student Guide

Counsellor CPD

Counselling Study Resource

Counselling Theory in Practice: A Student Guide

Counselling Tutor Shop

Facebook group

Website

Online and Telephone Counselling: A Practitioner’s Guide

Online and Telephone Counselling Course