Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e8S3It904974; Wed, 27 Sep 2000 23:18:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 23:18:55 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000201c028f9$f7cf4e60$80019ad8@my-computer> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Jenny Horsman" <jhorsman@idirect.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1019] Therapy supports X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6209 Lines: 102 What a lot of interesting comments. I agree with Kate (in fact I think I learned it from Kate!) that where a teacher treats students with respect and creates a trusting atmosphere in the classroom, whatever the content, some students will disclose, except perhaps if we give off powerful silent messages that we will not/cannot hear - I do know long time teachers who have never been told disclosures. My entry into this work was when doing research in the 80s many women I was interviewing disclosed horrendous stories of the violence in their lives and then when I was back teaching a student said "things happen to children that shouldn't," then called me up to apologise. I hadn't even noticed the significance of what she had said in class, but told her she could say anything she liked in our group - which led her into disclosing more and more, and me into making many, many mistakes - I was completely boundaryless, thought she needed me to rescue her - you name it I did it wrong - fortunately eventually I figured out that we could create a tutoring relationship reading and writing about experiences of violence as a way to put some boundary on the work we could do together - 8 years of tutoring and 2 years later we are still good friends - she's rather proud of being responsible for kicking me into this area of work!!! I started the research that led to the book because I was sure there must be literacy workers all over the country who like me had learned as they went along. I hoped if we brought all our wisdom together and heard from therapists working in this area, I and others could learn from the collective wisdom how to teach better and others could avoid being quite as unprepared as I was! One therapist said to me that for all the mistakes we might make don't forget that the survivor is strong and has survived far worse than you! I think we often worry enormously about the consequences of disclosure, I do think that it is important to pay attention to our responsibilities, but I worry equally about the consequences of silence. Especially I worry about the silence that can seem to suggest that violence is OK. Students (and our colleagues) can draw judgements that violence should NOT be spoken about here, and even worse should NOT be spoken about anywhere. I think the crucial message to convey in an educational setting is that no violence is ok, that it is not shameful to have experienced violence, that you can bring the baggage from experiencing violence to class and get help to learn, and that there are places to get support to get out of violence and places to get support to talk about the aftermath of violence. I don't believe the place to tell the detailed story has to be the literacy program. I was very impressed when I was doing my research by instructors who were clear that for whatever reason they couldn't hear the stories of violence but could clearly name that, name that the teller deserved someone who could truly listen well, and be supportive to help the student find that listener if they didn't already have the supports they needed, check in with the student to see how they were doing and continue, as Kate calls it, as the "side support", not the main support. I believe that the literacy field - teachers, students, administrators, researchers - have to lobby for counselling supports for teachers and students to be seen as essential - i worry that as long as we say they are a luxury they will remain that way. I think counselling support ought to come before computers in the list of essentials and I don't know many literacy programs that have not a single computer. Daphne you asked whether programs in Canada have counselling available - the answer is that programs in community colleges do - though like Kate mentioned they may be primarily academic counsellors, with limited time, and with cutbacks their time is often the first to go (that luxury argument again.) Programs that are based in libraries, community centres etc often use volunteers for much of the teaching and have not usually had counsellors available though I do know a few who do, mostly they have used project funding to hire a counsellor, or found a counsellor to volunteer some time, and even one or two innovative projects which have included a section taught by a counsellor. I don't believe that all students will want to enter into western therapeutic models - I think different cultural groups may choose different models - I know First Nation instructors that help students find an elder to talk to for instance, and I worry about the medical model of sickness perpetuated by some models of therapy - I think some people will prefer other modes of addressing their pain that are less spoken and include art or movement or music or...... In the program I have been working with we wrote a substantial sum for counselling supports into our project budget. We also got the support from our local community health centre and women's health centre in the nearby hospital to give workshops for our students and give priority for free counselling to students. Like Kate I found many students did already have counsellors, some others have now found free counselling. I found the support I got from a therapist we paid for "supervision" absolutely invaluable and I talked about the difference it made so often that now all the rest of the program staff go to her when they need to. What we are learning is that it is not a huge amount of counselling time that we need, but each meeting or phone conversation we have needed hugely - it has been absolutely essential to help us work through a difficult situation, or check out how we responded or deal with our own stuff that has been brought up. I don't think that we will find at the end of year that the cost will be particularly high. Oh dear I have a dozen different thoughts floating round my head - but I can't think clearly any more - I'll try and sort out the key ones for tomorrow! Thanks everyone. Jenny Jenny Horsman Spiral Community Resource Group jhorsman@idirect.com www.jennyhorsman.com Have you checked out www.thehungersite.com to donate much-needed food every day?
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