The Reflecting Team Shift the meanings and beliefs of the clients I believe Michael White identified some of the variables within the language of Diane story or narrative about her life throughout the session. Through the conceptualization phase of the session, Michael White reach his initial plan which was to make contact with Diane, Mathew, and Andrew and to develop some appreciation of their experiences of life while getting an understanding about priorities for discussion.
Diane started talking about her professional paper which interest her, she wondered how people cope with kinds, with all kinds of tragedies in their lives, particularly with kids with disabilities. Diane was curious about how people make meaning of their lives after a catastrophic event occurs. Michael white move to shift the meaning and belief to the client by asking Diane question about her own personal crisis and how she respond to it.
Diane indicated in the session that she was struggling with a lot of the same question, she stated in the session; “I was really struggling with a lot of the same questions myself, it was becoming real difficult for me, um I’ve been separated for a year from my husband. A little over a year… we’re going to be divorced and just struggling with all the things about being a single parent, and trying to remake my life with having the difficulties of having any children, but just particular difficulties that I have with my boys.
And um, just trying to um figure out where to go from here. ” (Reauthoring Lives in the Face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 18:45:19:19). Diane also indicated in the session that she get absorbed in her school work which helps her to be more structure. I believe Michael White move to shift the meaning and beliefs of client, when Diane started to internalizing about her understanding and her experiences with the sense of having a relationship with hope, what it caused and what it cost from her own personal perspective.
Diane stated in the session “Yeah, you know it’s terrible but you see I always, always have that hope, even you know it’s like I fall down, I dust myself off and I pick myself up, and I sometimes withdraw for a while from Andrew and everything with him. I just kind of have to take some time out and then I … then I kind of get rejuvenated again. But it’s always dangerous I know to have that hope, because then you fall harder. I do that a lot. ” (Reauthoring Lives in the Face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 34:31:35:01).
It is at this juncture that Michael White notice that Diane began to view hope as being dangerous and a hard task master, forming a negative perspective. Because, hope has been truly significant and a driving force in Diane life. Michael white shift the meaning into a more positive perspective indicating that hope is important and move toward other elements that had aided her thinking in a more positive perspective. Because Michael white stated in the session; “I guess, hopes important but I guess um, the issue is about the extent to which the issue dominates, so in terms of what you’re doing and how you’re generally approaching things.
So has there been a shift with that? Like you have a different sort of relationship with hope. You know you mention that um, you didn’t have this all the time but that you actually came out of that. Being absorbed in your work helped a lot. I was wondering if there was other thinks as well that changed for you. ” (Reauthoring Lives in the Face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 35:02:35:36). I believe Michael White shift the meaning and the beliefs of Diane in order to revise her relationship with hope from a positive view, plus revise Diane relationship with herself to the degree that she experience things from a more positive perspective.
Restructure client interactions or direct the client to change his or her behavior After Michael White had examine his assumptions about how Diane evaluate herself and her life, Michael White put forth this effort to help Diane to process her issues about her relationship with hope and to help her to change her behavior by engaging with Diane in a joint process of constructing meaning to provide a useful narrative. Here is an example of Michael White questioning Diane to obtain a more constructing meaning in the video session; “Ok, you mentioned a little bit about how you have this bit of crisis around meaning.
Was that correct? Could you tell me a little bit about what that crisis was about? ” (Reauthoring Lives in the face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 20:43: 20:53). Diane talk about her being overwhelm dealing with Andrew and the concerns about the difficulties of taking care of Andrew physically with Mathew having a lot of energy and how she is going to remake her life. Here is an excerpt of Diane response to Michael White question in the video session; “Uh, well I guess it’s something that comes and goes, and I think that a lot of that had to do was around Andrews surgery he had surgery this summer and it was horrible.
He had both of his hips were dislocated they had to be??? (21:1) in video weeks and I just felt totally overwhelmed. I mean he was in a lot of pain, and it went on, even when he was out of the cast. The difficulties, his discomfort went on for probably about five months. I mean it’s just been in the last couple of months that he’s been comfortable again. And I was feeling just really overwhelmed with Andrew, and how I was going to continue to take care of him, because physically it’s getting hard and Matthew has got lots and lots and lots of energy in his own uniqueness.
I just felt like, how was I going to remake my own life. I would love to have a relationship again someday. And I’m overwhelmed with would anybody want to come into this situation and so it’s feeling kind of depresses on that. ” (Reauthoring Lives in the Face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 20: 54: 22:24). Michael White seek to restructure Diane interaction or direct her to change her behavior by getting her to talk about her resources that contribute to helping Andrew with his condition. Michael white identify the word we in their conversation talking about Andrew condition and to give new meaning to the word we as being a eam, and how that teamwork survived even through separation.
Diane internalizes the conversation that moved from using the word we, to the new meaning of being a team or teamwork. Diane had acknowledged this as being pretty good to absolutely essential. She further acknowledged that she not only have a team but a community of help. This acknowledgement direct Diane to change her behavior in a more positive way. Here is the example of an excerpt how Michael White see to restructure Diane interaction or direct her to change her behavior; ‘When you said we, do you work with a team?
No, I guess I’m still talking about my ex-husband. I mean because he is involved in making decisions and helping to pay for these things so that’s important. And we feel the same about Andrew and having this care. We try to have a cooperative spirit, about the kids and what they need. That teamwork has survived the separation? Pretty good. Pretty good. Yeah, I do most of the… like 95% of the research, and then I tell him what I found out. But he certainly is very involved with Andrew in the hospital, he was there for the surgery.
That’s been our primary goal… is to keep that spirit in tack. Absolutely essential… we both know that we need each other for that, so we really try to work hard. And I guess I do feel like I have a team, anyway… I mean between the therapist and Andrews teachers, and my parents and his doctors, I mean it really is a… it’s a community. “(Reauthoring Lives in the Face of Lost Dreams, 2012, 24:45: 25:55) Impressions of the use of the Reflecting Team I believe the purpose of the Team serve more of a collaborative effort to view a
