PSY 550 Additional Resources

Internship Task 6/11/14

Cindy Hanks

Tasks:

1. Tips & Tricks for Online Learning (Success Strategies for Online Learning) -
additional resources (on another doc)
2. Take to Work - focus on ways students can apply what they are learning to their
work life

Take to Work (Applying what they learn to their work life):

Week 0 through Week 2: Orientation, Human Person, and Flourishing

My thought here is to have the learner (helping professional) think about the first time
that they are placed in a "helping" setting where they meet their "helpee" for the first
time. The purpose of an orientation is to welcome, to get to know, to make the other
feel comfortable and generally become familiar with their new surroundings. What can
the helper do to institute practically an "orientation" for their new "helpee."
o Introductions
o Getting to know you
o What is their faith background, if any?
o What are the healthy relationships in their life?
o What virtues do they see themselves as possessing?
o Find commonalities, likes, dislikes.
o What would they define the word "flourishing" to mean in their own lives?
o Discuss personality type and learning style.
o Have them set goals and come up with a personal plan for growing and
flourishing and living a virtuous life.

Ideas/Activities:
o Survey - Helping professional will provide a questionnaire/survey for the
helpee to fill out upon meeting them, answering the questions above about
their interests, goals, needs.

o Ice-breaker activity - Provide an ice-breaking activity appropriate for one-on-
one interaction (can also be applied to a group setting ). Whatever the
helping professional asks, the questions should be open-ended. Ask
questions like (examples.yourdictionary.com):
Who would you have dinner with if you could have dinner with anyone
in the world?
What books would you take to a desert island?
Who is your hero or role model?
Do you have any children?
Where are you from and what is your favorite thing about your home
town?
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
What have you done lately that has demonstrated strong faith?
What are the most important qualities in a healthy relationship?
What are your strongest personal virtues?
What is your favorite way to learn?
What in your life is flourishing currently?
If you could set three goals for yourself, what would they be?

Resources for the helping professional:
o Book resource form the IPS library -
Egan, G. (2014). The skilled helper: A problem-management and
opportunity-development approach to helping. Belmont, CA., Cengage
Learning.

o PDF file of a Chapter in the book, Moving beyond icebreakers: An innovative
approach to group facilitation, learning, and action.
Pollack, S. & Fusoni, M. (2005). Moving beyond icebreakers: An
innovative approach to group facilitation, learning, and action. Boston,
MA., The Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc. (Ch. 5, p. 52-72)
Link - http://www.movingbeyondicebreakers.org/chapters/interactive-
meetings.pdf
Although this book is designed for facilitators of meetings in a business
setting, Chapter 5 (Interactive Meetings: Making them Work) offers
some great ideas about interacting with others, how to implement a
positive environment, and tips on making a meeting run smoothly.
These skills can also apply to interactions with a helping professional
and his client.

o A blog entitled "Building Rapport By Making Others Comfortable." This blog
points out that the most important thing when interacting with people is to
ensure that they feel "valued, appreciated, and more comfortable." Mr. Smith
also has a podcast available for subscription.
Smith, T. (2013). Building rapport by making others comfortable.
[Web log]. Retrieved from
http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/06/05/building-rapport-by-
making-others-comfortable/

o Some ice-breaker questions
LoveToKnow, Corp. (2014). Examples of ice breakers. [Web resource].
Retrieved from
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-ice-
breakers.html

Week 3-4: Obstacles

My thought here is to have the helping professional begin helping the helpee to identify
obstacles in their own lives and how they have or plan to overcome these obstacles.
They need to also determine if the obstacles (and emotional baggage) are a part of a
vicious cycle in their lives. The helping professional needs to also think of ways of
helping the helpee to identify stress and how to manage it. One way would be to
change their way of thinking from self-centeredness to serving others - seeing the good
in other people. The goal is for the helpee to envision positive relationships as key to a
healthy existence. The helping professional needs to bring in the topic that supernatural
"faith, hope, and love promote our happiness," that the Catholic-Christian faith "can
influence healing." Positive relationships with others can bring healing to our soul.

Ideas/Activities:
o Outdoor therapy - Arrange/suggest for your helpees to take part in Outdoor
Therapy, where they are given the chance to be active and free in a place
where they can appreciate others and God's creation. Outdoor activities have
a way of "healing the mind" and changing lives. The activities are designed to
help the helpee recognize that they are able to conquer challenges, while
providing "feelings of a deeper spiritual connection." Types of activities are as
follows:
High/low ropes challenge courses
Backpacking/hiking
Biking
Canoeing/kayaking
The Ranch (2014). Outdoor therapy can help troubled teens break
vicious cycle. [Web resource]. Retrieved from
http://www.recoveryranch.com/articles/addiction-treatment/outdoor-
therapy-can-help-troubled-teens-break-vicious-cycle/

o Social Media Fast - Assign the helpee a time where they must "fast social
media." Have them reflect in a journal about their thoughts and feelings of the
assignment, as well as a log of their day-to-day progress. Have them look for
ways that fasting social media changes their daily activities, as well as how it
makes them feel emotionally and spiritually.

o Serve others/outreach - Have the helpee come up with ways that they can
actively serve others. (familyshare.com)
Donate clothes and toys
Small service activities for their immediate neighbors
Bake treats for a neighbor
Neighborhood clean-up
Random acts of kindness
Feed the needy
Make gifts for hospital-bound people
Visit the elderly
Adopt a grandma or grandpa
Donate warm clothes, boots and blankets to the homeless
Howells, S. (2014). 10 ways your family can serve others. [Web
resource]. Retrieved from http://familyshare.com/10-ways-your-family-
can-serve-others

Week 5: Meet the helping professionals (continue here)

My thought here is to have the helpee recognize that there is a need to help others, to
have them start thinking about life goals - how they want to impact society on this
journey, how they can serve humans (education, counseling, social work, psychology,
law enforcement/public service). Come up with activities that will give them realization
of who they are (their core identity), but identifying themselves through God's eyes.
Have them look for ways to see themselves the way God sees them. Also, have them
gain understanding of their personal and practical relationships. Lastly, have them work
on identifying their professional path - or calling.

Ideas/Activities:
o Refer the helpee to the following website for insight on the importance of who
they are, rather than what they are: http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/know-
your-true-self/

Resources for the helping professional
o Web log discussing ways to determine WHO you are, rather than WHAT you
are - http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/know-your-true-self/
o Great article from a Christian perspective distinguishing the difference
between who you are and what you are -
http://www.cornerstonechristiansupply.com/firstchapter.asp?mode=view&inde
x=251