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2019 NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education

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2019 NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education

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Conducting Program Review Using the CAS Standards

Saturday, June 15th * 09.00 AM - 05.00 PM

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Conference
2019 NASPA Student Success in Higher Education Conferences

Abstract
In this interactive session, participants will learn and practice detailed steps to implementing Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) standards for program review. Through the use of case studies, individual and small group activities, individual advisement, and discussion, participants will learn how to prepare a unit or division for the program review process intended to foster substantive program improvement. Participants will leave with concrete action steps and tools for implementing a CAS program review on their own campus.

Addressing Financial Wellness at The Ohio State University

Sunday, June 9th * 09.00 AM - 12.00 PM

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Conference
2019 NASPA Student Success in Higher Education Conferences

Abstract
Scarlet and Gray Financial (SGF) is a nationally recognized financial wellness program housed in the Office of Student Life Student Wellness Center at The Ohio State University. SGF supports thousands of Ohio State students each year through one-on-one peer financial coaching, presentations and online resources. Attendees will be exposed to a comprehensive review of the SGF program and steps required to develop a financial coaching program in the higher education setting. Presenters will supply information about the recruitment, selection and training of volunteer peer educators, including an in depth look of the Leadership Development Program (LDP), a for credit course taken by all new financial coaches. Moreover, strategies will be provided to identify key stakeholders, build partnerships and institutionalize a financial coaching program. Lastly, presenters will relay how assessment and data collection inform SGF's evidence-based practices of financial education and how financial education impacts the holistic well-being of students. To conclude this interactive session, presenters will lead a planning activity to assist attendees in developing a strategy for addressing the financial wellness of students on their campus.

Assessment 101: Introduction to Student Affairs Assessment

Sunday, June 16th * 09.00 AM - 12.00 PM

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Darby Roberts , Director of Student Life Studies - Texas A&M University
Pamelyn Shefman , Director of Planning and Assessment - University of Houston

Tim Kresse , Director of Budget & Technology, Division of Student Life - Miami University

Conference
2019 NASPA Student Success in Higher Education Conferences

Abstract
This pre-conference workshop is a "boot camp" for student affairs assessment. The program offers an opportunity to develop your skills on assessment as a practice while covering the basics you need to either enhance the work you are already doing or start something new for your area or campus. In this session participants will learn from presentations, as well as engage in practical workshops within small groups that represent your campus experience so you can get the most from your time and make assessment more salient in your work. As a result of attending, participants will become familiar with approached for departmental review and accreditation in student affairs while having the opportunity to create an assessment plan for a program including: student learning outcomes, identifying data sources, and reporting strategies.

Data Analytics for Student Affairs: Developing a Foundation for Organizational Effectiveness

Sunday, June 16th * 09.00 AM - 12.00 PM

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Tom Howa, Associate Director, Business Intelligence Center of Excellence - University of Utah
Dane Luby , Business Analyst, Assessment, Evaluation & Research - University of Utah

Conference
2019 NASPA Student Success in Higher Education Conferences

Abstract
The purpose of this pre-conference workshop is to provide a foundation to develop the analytics capacity for student affairs assessment professionals. Student affairs assessment as a field continues to evolve with the increased use of business intelligence and predictive analytics. This workshop will focus on organizational readiness and implementation strategies including: ethics; data access; interdisciplinary team building; organizational maturity; and, student affairs use cases and planning considerations. As a result of attending, participants will have the chance to: develop an assessment about their organizational culture to ethically and effectively use analytics; gain an understanding of the IT requirements for data access and reporting; develop strategies to build an interdisciplinary team; and, understand implementation strategies.

Increasing the Institutional Sustainability of Your First-generation Student Program

Sunday, June 16th * 09.00 AM - 12.00 PM

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James K. Winfield , Assistant Director for Faculty Development, University 101 Programs - University of South Carolina

Conference
2019 First-generation Student Success Conference

Abstract
Advocates of first-generation college students are often the most enthusiastic higher education professionals on their campuses, and with that excitement, it is easy to be affected by the challenges that come with building sustainable student support programs. This session will focus on identifying common obstacles to program growth and sustainability as well as creating viable pathways around those obstacles. Specifically, the workshop participants will learn how to increase both grassroots and top-down buy-in, deal strategically with resistance, and develop a plan for weathering inevitable institutional culture change.

The Current & Future of College Completion: Critical Student Affairs Practices

Sunday, June 16th * 09.00 AM - 12.00 PM

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Conference
2019 First-generation Student Success Conference

Abstract
Student affairs practitioners must find new and innovative methods to contribute to national and institutional completion efforts which are critical in an environment of sometimes competing demands between policy-makers and enrollment goals. Complete College America is a national non-profit dedicated to increasing the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees. Session participants will receive updates on national "Game Changer" strategies and proven practices that are accelerating completion and attainment rates throughout the country. More institutions are developing guided pathways, working to decrease time to degree, and placing greater emphasis on career outcomes. CCA will work with participants on the creation of plans associated with the most high impact practices, including a discussion of how practitioners are transitioning into student success roles.

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2019 NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education

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June 16 - June 18, 2019 at Orlando, Florida | The 2019 NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education will provide those committed to student success from across the institution with dynamic keynotes, thought-provoking workshops, and engaging networking opportunities using a cross-functional approach to student success.

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cas standards | list of standards | new standards | cas | council for the advancement of standards in higher education | self assessment | higher education assessment | learning outcomes | student learning outcomes | quality in higher education | student affairs assessment | college student assessment | assessment framework | council for standards | college functional areas | higher education good practices | higher education best practices | promoting quality in higher education | college standards | higher education standards

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CAS Standards | Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education

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CAS has developed 45 sets of functional area standards for higher education programs and services.

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http://www.myacpa.org/considering-career-student-affairs

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Considering a Career in Student Affairs
By Dr. Patrick Love
Associate Professor, New York University

Are you looking for a meaningful career? A career in which you can make a difference in the lives of other people? A career where you could work at a small liberal arts college, a community college, or a big university? A career where you will be challenged to develop skills in a variety of areas, such as leadership, advising, administration, or supervision? If so, then you are in the right place, because the field of student affairs provides just such careers. Welcome to the American College Personnel AssociationProfessional Preparation Commission Directory of Graduate Programs Preparing Student Affairs Professionals, where you can gain information about the field of students affairs and many of the institutions that provide graduate preparation programs for the field of student affairs.

The purpose of this essay is to provide information about the field of student affairs to users of this directory, especially those users from outside the field. This brief essay identifies: the roots of the student affairs profession;

foundational documents and beliefs;

what jobs student affairs professionals hold (e.g., residence director, academic advisor, dean of students);

the types of departments in which student affairs professionals work (e.g., financial aid, orientation, career services);

the types of institutions in which student affairs professionals work (e.g., community colleges, liberal arts colleges, research universities);

where student affairs is going (our future); and

why you might consider a career in students affairs.

History of Student Affairs

The field of student affairs arose from a variety of strands of college work. One strand emerged from the advising and counseling positions that developed on campuses--the personnel movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The other was through the proliferation of administrative and management functions as institutions of higher education grew in size and complexity during the late 19th and throughout the 20th century. The first Dean of Men was appointed at Harvard University in 1870. The number and type of advising, counseling, administrative, and management positions continued to increase throughout the 20th century to meet the evolving needs of institutions and the students who attend them. Other factors that contributed to the development of the field of student affairs include the proliferation of colleges and universities during the late 19th and throughout the 20th century, the inclusion of women and students of color, the rise in the importance of extracurricular activities, and research conducted on the experience and development of college students. More recent trends influencing the field include the expansion and integration of developmental theory, refocusing on the learning experiences of students, and exploring the role and enhancement of student engagement.
Foundational Documents and Beliefs
There are core beliefs and principles of student affairs practice that have persisted throughout its history and there are those beliefs and principles that have evolved and emerged as institutions of higher education and the needs of our society have changed. One of the most important early documents that attempted to capture the emerging complexity of the field was the Student Personnel Point of View, published in 1937 by the American Council on Education. It was reviewed and rewritten in 1949. Since then additional documents have been produced that have attempted to capture the beliefs and principles of the field, while providing vision and guidance for future development in the field. These documents have included: Student Development in Tomorrow's Higher Education: A Return to the Academy (1972); the COSPA statement (1975); A Perspective on Student Affairs (1986); The Student Learning Imperative (1993); and Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs (1998). These are all relatively brief documents and it is highly recommended that anyone considering a career in student affairs would do well to read them.

An analysis of the documents reveal some of the ideals toward which we strive as a profession. They include:

A belief in the dignity, uniqueness, potential, and worth of each individual.

A belief that our role is to enhance student learning and student development.

A belief in the development of the whole person, including the importance of intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual elements.

A belief that learning occurs in diverse places and diverse ways.

A belief in supporting the goals of individuation and community, recognizing the powerful role of community in learning and development.

A belief in communities where diversity is desired, mutual respect is expected, and where ideas and assumptions are to be explored and questioned.

A belief in encouraging conversation and communication, instead of stifling it, no matter how offensive the ideas may be to some.

A belief that the mission of student affairs flows from the mission of the institution.

A belief that higher education and student affairs have roles in assisting in transforming our society into one that is a learning society.

Roles, Functions, and Institutions
At its broadest definition, student affairs could be said to consist of any advising, counseling, management, or administrative function at a college or university that exists outside the classroom. However, the traditional notion of student affairs often includes a mixture of the following functions taking place in the following departments.

Functions - Student affair professionals perform a varied mixture of leading, educating, individual and group advising, counseling, supervising, teaching, training, planning, program development, inquiring, managing, financial management, and assessment and evaluation. Emerging functions include resource attraction and grant writing, entrepreneurship, outcomes assessment, political negotiation, and cultural assessment.

Departments - Department and program areas typically associated with student affairs include residence life, commuter services, graduate student services, admissions, new student orientation, financial aid, counseling centers, advising centers, leadership development, Greek affairs, student activities, student unions, leadership development, community service, service learning, career planning and placement, discipline and judicial affairs, alumni relations and development, services for students with disabilities, developmental learning services, and advocacy and support programs (e.g., for students of color, lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender students, veterans, women, international students, adults).

Institutions - Student affairs professionals work in every kind of institution including private liberal arts colleges, community colleges, public colleges and universities, research universities, women's colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges, urban institutions, and for-profit institutions.
The Future
The student affairs field recognizes the on-going changes and transformations that are occurring in society and affecting institutions of higher education. The field and the professionals within it are dedicated to meeting those challenges. However, at its core, the student affairs profession will be called to continue its traditional responsibilities of helping to shape our institutions and to meet the learning and developmental needs of all students and humanizing the college campus. To achieve these goals we will need to learn how to make colleges supportive, learning rich environments for all students, including traditional age students, adult students, graduate students, part-time students, commuters, students of color, students with disabilities, and poor and otherwise disadvantaged students. In addition, student affairs practitioners will need to develop policies and practices that allow students to stay connected to each other and the institution in the face of technological and societal trends that will increasingly foster disconnectedness.
Considering a Career
Given the wide variety of needs being addressed and the wide variety of roles and functions, the field of student affairs seeks individuals from varied backgrounds, and with varied experiences, skills, and interests. What we hope is common in the individuals seeking a career in student affairs are the values listed earlier in this essay, especially a desire to assist in the growth and development of all college students, and a willingness to continue to grow and develop in one's abilities to meet the needs of our students and the needs of our institutions.

We encourage you to talk with people already working in the profession. We are sure you will hear stories of challenge, frustration, even discouragement. But we also know that you will hear stories about the joy of positively influencing someone, the satisfaction of making a difference, and the exhilaration of meeting challenges and overcoming obstacles. Working in the field of student affairs is an exciting adventure. We hope you will consider joining us!
Suggested Readings
American College Personnel Association (1994). The student learning imperative: Implications for student affairs. Washington, DC: Author.

American College Personnel Association and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (1997). Principles of good practice for student affairs. Washington, DC: Author.

American Council on Education (1994a). The student personnel point of view. In A. L. Rentz (Ed.), Student affairs: A profession's heritage (pp. 66-77). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. (Original work published in 1937).

American Council on Education (1994b). The student personnel point of view. In A. L. Rentz (Ed.), Student affairs: A profession's heritage (pp. 108-123). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. (Original work published in 1949).

Brown, R. D. (1972). Student development in tomorrow's higher education: A return to the academy (Student personnel series No. 16). Washington, DC: American Personnel and Guidance Association.

Council of Student Personnel Associations (1975). Student development services in postsecondary education. In A. L. Rentz (Ed.), Student affairs: A profession's heritage (pp. 428-437). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. (Original work published in 1975).

Cross Brazell, J. (1996). Diversification of postsecondary institutions. In S. R. Komives & D. B. Woodard (Eds.) Student services: A handbook for the profession (pp. 43-63). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Culp, M. & Helfgot, S. (1998). Life at the edge of the wave: Lessons from the community college. Washington, DC: NASPA.

El-Khawas, E. (1996). Student diversity on today's campuses. In S. R. Komives & D. B. Woodard (Eds.) Student services: A handbook for the profession (pp. 64-80). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Komives, S. R., & Woodard, D.B. (1996). Student services: A handbook for the profession. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (1987). A perspective on student affairs. Washington, DC: Author.

Nuss, E. M. (1996). The development of student affairs. In S. R. Komives & D. B. Woodard (Eds.) Student services: A handbook for the profession (pp. 22-42). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Rentz, A. L. (1996). Student affairs practice in higher education (Second Edition). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Woodard, D. B., Love, P., & Komives, S. R. (2000). Leadership and management issues for the 21st century. New Directions in Student Services. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

September 2003

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Considering a Career in Student Affairs By Dr. Patrick Love Associate Professor, New York University Are you looking for a meaningful career? A career in which you can make a difference in the lives of other people? A career where you could work at a small liberal arts college, a community college, or a big university?

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Psychotherapy theories provide a framework for therapists and counselors to interpret a client's behavior, thoughts, and feelings and help them navigate a client's journey from diagnosis to post-treatment. Theoretical approaches are an understandably integral part of the therapeutic process. But with so many different methods out there, how do you know which counseling approach works best for you? Whether you're a student learning about counseling theories or a client looking for the right therapist, the following detailed descriptions will give you a deeper understanding of each counseling method. These theories are integrated throughout the curriculum of Counseling@Northwestern and are built into a foundation grounded in the psychodynamic perspective.

Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Theory

Psychoanalysis or psychodynamic theory, also known as the "historical perspective," has its roots with Sigmund Freud, who believed there were unconscious forces that drive behavior. The techniques he developed, such as free association (freely talking to the therapist about whatever comes up without censoring), dream analysis (examining dreams for important information about the unconscious), and transference (redirecting feelings about certain people in one's life onto the therapist) are still used by psychoanalysts today.

Counseling@Northwestern uses this theory to train counselors, and it is embedded throughout the counselor training process. In general, psychotherapists and counselors who use this approach direct much of their focus and energy on analyzing past relationships and, in particular, traumatic childhood experiences in relation to an individual's current life. The belief is that by revealing and bringing these issues to the surface, treatment and healing can occur. This theory is highly researched, and as the field of neuroscience advances, counselors are finding how psychodynamic theory can actually positively affect a client's brain. Psychodynamic theory can be more time intensive in comparison to some short-term theories because it involves changing deeply ingrained behaviors and requires significant work on understanding one's self.

Behavioral Theory

Behavioral theory is based on the belief that behavior is learned. Classic conditioning is one type of behavioral therapy that stems from early theorist Ivan Pavlov's research. Pavlov executed a famous study using dogs, which focused on the effects of a learned response (e.g., a dog salivating when hearing a bell) through a stimulus (e.g., pairing the sound of a bell with food).

B. F. Skinner developed another behavioral therapy approach, called operant conditioning. He believed in the power of rewards to increase the likelihood of a behavior and punishments to decrease the occurrence of a behavior. Behavioral therapists work on changing unwanted and destructive behaviors through behavior modification techniques such as positive or negative reinforcement.

Cognitive Theory

In the 1960s, psychotherapist Aaron Beck developed cognitive theory. This counseling theory focuses on how people's thinking can change feelings and behaviors. Unlike psychodynamic theory, therapy based on cognitive theory is brief in nature and oriented toward problem solving. Cognitive therapists focus more on their client's present situation and distorted thinking than on their past. Cognitive and behavioral therapy are often combined as one form of theory practiced by counselors and therapists. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, has been found in research to help with a number of mental illnesses including anxiety, personality, eating, and substance abuse disorders.

Humanistic Approach

Humanistic therapists care most about the present and helping their clients achieve their highest potential. Instead of energy spent on the past or on negative behaviors, humanists believe in the goodness of all people and emphasize a person's self-growth and self-actualization.

Humanistic theories include client-centered, gestalt, and existential therapies. Carl Rogers developed client-centered therapy, which focuses on the belief that clients control their own destinies. He believed that all therapists need to do is show their genuine care and interest. Gestalt therapists' work focuses more on what's going on in the moment versus what is being said in therapy. Existential therapists help clients find meaning in their lives by focusing on free will, self-determination, and responsibility.

Holistic/Integrative Therapy

Holistic and integrative therapy involves integrating various elements of different theories to the practice. In addition to traditional talk therapy, holistic therapy may include nontraditional therapies such as hypnotherapy or guided imagery. The key is to use the techniques and psychotherapy tools best suited for a particular client and problem.

There are various therapies that counselors can choose to study, but the type of theory matters less than the success of the relationship between client and therapist. In the Counseling@Northwestern online Master of Arts in Counseling Program, students are prepared to become self-reflective practitioners and learn to examine the factors that influence the client-therapist relationship to become successful counselors.

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Psychotherapy theories provide a framework for therapists and counselors to interpret a client's behavior, thoughts, and feelings and help them navigate a client's journey from diagnosis to post-treatment. Theoretical approaches are an understandably integral part of the therapeutic process. But with so many different methods out there, how do you know which counseling approach works best for you?

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Gestalt Theory: What is it, characteristics, its laws and main applications

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Gestalt Theory: What is it, characteristics, its laws and main applications

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What is Gestalt Theory? Discover here one of the most important trends in psychology. We will tell you about their characteristics, main authors, contributions, and applications. Also a bonus on how these contribute in a personal level.

What is the Gestalt Theory?

Gestalt is a decisive trend in psychology history. It was born in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. It was Christian von Ehrenfels, an Austrian philosopher, who gave this movement its name in The Attributes of Form, his most important work. There is no perfect English translation of the term "gestalt". But we can interpret it as "totality","figure","structure","configuration" or "organized unity".

"The whole is more than the sum of its parts" is its maximum. The main authors of Gestalt proposed alternatives to the dominant psychological paradigms and made great contributions to cognitive psychology.

This particular focus was a breath of fresh air and allowed people who did not feel represented by the main currents of psychology to find an alternative.

Gestalt Theory: Characteristics

Its main predecessors of gestalt theory are philosophers: Thinkers such as Kant, Descartes or Husserl developed the theoretic basis on which this school developed. The psychologists belonging to this current were able to take their ideas to the laboratory and obtain amazing results.

We must treat people as a whole: We cannot explore the different dimensions that shape us in isolation. A holistic approach is needed when speaking about mental health. The complexity of the human mind cannot be reduced. Gestalt theory explores the dynamic relationships that connect the various elements of reality. Gestalt theory does not conceive separating processes such as learning from memory.

We are active in understanding reality: We do not all perceive reality, in the same way, we have our own vision. Each one structures the information they receive according to their previous experiences. Our mental representations do not correspond completely with those that exist in reality, we construct them ourselves. We are also able to adapt our mental processes and contents as new situations arise.

They opposed the predominant schools in their time: Gestalt theory psychologists did not agree with approaches such as behaviorism, which limits human behavior to associations between stigmas and responses. This perspective leaves mental processes aside and does not contemplate the potential of human intelligence. On the other hand, they did not adhere to psychoanalysts either, seeing people as passive agents without willpower.

Gestalt theory's main study area is perception: Gestalt theorist focused especially on seeking simple and natural explanations that could be adapted to our natural way of perceiving reality. Through perception, we are able to acquire knowledge of the world, interact with it and connect with others.

Our senses and mental processes interact to allow us to perform tasks as varied as removing the hand from a burning surface or notice that the person speaking to us is upset by their frowning. Gestalt theory focuses on visual perception. However, their ideas have been adapted to fields such as music.

Gestalt Theory: Main contributions

Gestalt psychologists are known for their contributions to the study of the learning process and problem-solving. However, their most relevant contribution, which was stated by Wertheimer, is the elaboration of some basic laws that govern our perception.

Gestalt Theory Laws

We can see a host of examples of these principles around us. In addition, they are fully applicable to our daily life.

1. Law of Prägnanz

Perception tends to organize the elements in the simplest possible way. Our brain prefers harmonious compositions. Mental processes are not infinite, we cannot dedicate time and resources to everything around us. Therefore, we simplify what we perceive and prefer simplicity. In this picture, we don't need any more data to know that we are looking at a cup.

2. Figure-ground law

We have all seen Rubin's glass at one time or another, it is the best-known example of this phenomenon. We will have realized that it is impossible to perceive the faces and the cup at the same time.

3. Law of proximity

The elements closest to each other tend to form a group as if they were one set. If you look at three piles of candy, you'll notice three groups instead of seeing all the candy separately. In this example, we perceive the objects in each box as a single block.

4. Law of similarity

Similar figures seem to have the same shape. Their similarity may be due to the fact that they have a similar color, shape or any other characteristic that allows us to draw a parallel between them. We know that each tree has its own characteristics; not all trees have exactly the same height and color. However, from this point of view, they seem to us to be practically the same because of their similarity.

5. Common Fate law

Elements that seem to move together towards a certain orientation are perceived as a whole. If we see some children running to an ice cream stand, we will look at them as a whole. However, we can also look at them one by one if we are interested. In this case, we perceive the group in a homogeneous way.

6: Law of Closure

We tend to mentally close the contours to simplify reality. If we see a slightly curved curve that is practically closed, we will notice a circumference. It is also possible to apply this law to verbal messages.

For example, advertisers release suggestive phrases for their audience to complete. This technique requires a little effort on the part of the public to be effective. However, it maintains its interest and can achieve greater involvement.

This photograph leads us to imagine a closed line that unites all people. We see that they are separate, but our brain reduces the information.

7. Law of Good Continuity

We prefer to ignore the abrupt changes in an image we are seeing. Generally speaking, we pay more attention to the characteristics of a stimulus that allow us to perceive a smooth continuity.

One example is that if we are walking around and notice on a poster an A covered in half by a street lamp, we will continue to know that the letter is A and read the text without difficulties. In this example, we can see the continuity of the branches.

Gestalt Theory: Applications

Basic research

The study of basic psychological processes such as attention or perception has been influenced by Gestalt theory. Their research is fundamental for other authors to apply their discoveries to practice.

For example, advances in the field of perception make it possible for us to carry out programmes to improve road signs and avoid accidents. Their ideas continue to be reviewed and modified by experts to help us better understand how we work.

Problem solving

Gestalt psychologists believed that the circumstances are composed of several components that interact with each other. If we want to solve a problem we have to reorganize its components to discover a new solution. This idea can be extrapolated to all areas of our life. What do we have to do every day to solve a problem?

Wertheimer proposed the difference between productive thinking, which consists in carrying out creative reorganizations of the elements of the problems in order to solve them, and reproductive thinking, which is limited to applying the previous knowledge in a mechanical way.

Gestalt theory insists on using productive thinking, which will help us to reach insight. This term refers to the eureka moment, which takes place when we suddenly realize what the answer to our difficulties is.

Education

Students should be more than just data recorders and learn to look for ways to solve their difficulties on their own. Practically all the contributions of the Gestalt can be integrated into the field of education. From their insights into mental processes to their ideas about therapy, they enable students to progress both academically and personally.

Communication

People linked to the world of communication and creativity, such as artists, designers or publicists, must know Gestalt Theory very well in order to attract the attention of their audience. Knowing how we interpret images is essential for them to be able to create works that allow them to transmit their messages and establish an effective dialogue with their audience.

When we see a poster saturated with visual elements and plagued with different typographies on a billboard, we are likely to ignore it directly. These laws allow us to understand that "less is more".

If we want to compose memorable images that come directly to our recipients, we must select what? is the most important part of our message. We have to put it as clearly as possible. All the attention must be focused on the essentials without irrelevant distractions.

Gestalt Theory: Therapy

This therapy is approached from a humanistic approach, which considers people active beings and independent. It analyzes the human mind from its most transcendental side, explores its functioning from a holistic point of view and focuses on the positive aspects of life.

Gestalt theory therapy adopts the Kantian idea that we cannot know how things are in reality, but if we experience them. Each person presents his/her own thoughts, experiences, desires and other complexities. Our variability involves that each individual is considered individually. This therapy also has similarities with Buddhism, as it focuses on developing attention and awareness.

Gestalt theory therapy began to be developed by Fritz Perls in the 1940's. For this author, each one of us has their own truth and he focused on the creative potential of each person. Perls emphasized that perception is the key to reality and we are responsible for changing it. He composed a sentence summarizing his thoughts:

I do what I do and you do what you do. I am not in this world to meet your expectations, nor are you in this world to meet my expectations. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we meet, it will be wonderful. If not, nothing can be done - Fritz Perls

Gestalt therapy wants us to live "here and now" without pretending to be something that we are not. The intention is for us to grow personally and have a clear identity. Therapist and patient collaborate in this process without establishing hierarchies, they are two people with a common objective.

What can Gestalt Theory give us?

We can apply everything we have read in this article to our daily life. The great advantages of Gestalt's theory are its application to everyday fields and the simplicity of its approaches.

Your ideas help us to better understand how we process and interpret reality. For example, they explain some optical illusions or our behavior when we go down the street and group the various elements together instead of paying attention to each one.

In addition, Gestalt can help us in daily challenges as common as problem-solving, encouraging us to be more creative and organized. On the other hand, we can follow some of the indications of Gestalt therapy to promote our personal growth.

Criticism of Gestalt Theory

Their ideas are still successful, but they are not spared from critics. Some experts consider their perceptual organizational approaches to be vague and ambiguous. In addition, other professionals claim that their experiments were not scientific enough.

On the other hand, Gestalt therapy is blamed for its individualism. They propose that each person finds his or her own path in isolation rather than deepening his or her social side. This can lead to selfish behavior. However, its followers claim that we need to discover ourselves first in order to connect with others afterward.
There are different approaches to psychology and we cannot determine who is right. Even so, it is possible to combine different perspectives in order to elaborate more complete and integrative explanations.
Gestalt Theory: Fundamental Authors

These psychologists were the most important representatives of Gestalt Theory. Their ideas continue to be revised and inspire new theories today.

1. Wolfgang Köhler

Founded this movement with Koffka and Wertheimer. His main contribution was learning by discovery and maintains that this process is active and dynamic.

He showed that chimpanzees try to solve problems by trial and error. After several failures in tasks such as reaching for food, the primates with whom he experimented seemed to reflect on the solution until they found it. In fact, they were then able to extrapolate it to similar new situations.

2. Max Wertheimer

The phenomena phi or apparent movement is its most revolutionary discovery. It consists in the perceiving movement from the succession of different fragmented images. For example, it happens when we perceive the succession of film frames as if it were a real movement.

3. Kurt Koffka

His contributions were elementary in several fields. He studied memory, learning, perception and also applied Gestalt to fields such as child psychology.

It emphasized the need to consider mental processes from a holistic point of view. He also helped Wertheimer in his research on the apparent movement by becoming involved as a subject.

4. Kurt Lewin

He was not one of the founders of Gestalt Theory. However, he was a prominent social psychologist who brought the ideas of Gestalt to this area. His study was more focused on motivation and psychosocial intervention using Gestalt.

These four psychologists were forced to emigrate to the United States after feeling threatened by Nazism.

Thank you so much for reading this article. We hope that the Gestalt Theory has been inspiring to you. If you have any questions or would like to make a contribution, please do not hesitate to comment.

This post is originally in Spanish written by Ainhoa Arranz, translated by Alejandra Salazar.

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Gestalt Theory: What is it, characteristics, its laws and main applications

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What is Gestalt Theory? Discover here one of the most important trends in psychology. We will tell you about their characteristics, main authors, contributions, and applications. Also a bonus on how these contribute in a personal level. Gestalt is a decisive trend in psychology history.

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Your constantly-updated definition of the Gestalt Principles and collection of videos and articles

What are the Gestalt Principles?

Gestalt Principles are principles/laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. Designers use the principles to organize content on websites and other interfaces so it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to understand.

In this video, designer and educator Mia Cinelli explains the importance of Gestalt principles in visual design and introduces a few principles, including figure/ground relationships, similarity, proximity and continuity.

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Gestalt Principles - a Background

"Gestalt" is German for "unified whole". German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler created the Gestalt Principles in the 1920s.

They wanted to understand how people make sense of the confusing things they see and hear. They identified a set of laws that address the natural compulsion to find order in disorder. According to this, the mind "informs" what the eye sees by perceiving a series of individual elements as a whole.

Graphic designers quickly embraced Gestalt Principles, using them to create eye-catching designs with well-placed elements.

The whole is other than the sum of the parts.

-Kurt Koffka

Gestaltism's philosophy is not the same as Aristotle's saying, "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts." In Gestaltism, the whole is different and may even be completely unrelated to its parts.

Gestalt Principles

Gestalt Principles are an essential part of visual design. There are more than ten overlapping principles. Here's a look at some of the more common ones.

1. Emergence

The principle of emergence is central to Gestalt thinking. We perceive the world without thinking too much about understanding every small thing around us. This ability to quickly make sense of our environment is essential for survival. Imagine if we spent hours analyzing our world to understand what was going on; wild animals would have devoured our ancestors in no time!

Unilever's logo is composed of several smaller shapes. But the letter "U" emerges from the combination of those smaller elements. Looking further, we see many smaller icons emerge from these abstract shapes.

2. Closure (Reification)

We prefer complete shapes, so we automatically fill the gaps between elements to perceive a complete image. That's how we can see the whole first. You can use closure creatively to gain users' trust and admiration. Users will appreciate it when they see pleasing "wholes" made from cleverly placed elements like lines, dots, or shapes.

3. Common Region

We perceive elements that are in the same closed region as one group. To apply this principle to your interfaces, group related objects together in a closed area to show they are separate from other groups.

4. Continuity or Continuation

The continuity principle of Gestalt states that we group elements that seem to follow a continuous path in a particular direction. The human eye follows the paths, lines, and curves of a design and prefers to see a continuous flow of visual elements rather than separated objects. The human eye continues to follow the path even if an obstacle hides it or its flow is "broken" by interlinking or bisecting visual elements.

Mia Cinelli explains how the principle of continuity applies to typography and highlights a widespread mistake designers make.

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5. Proximity

We group closer-together elements, separating them from those farther apart. When you group elements in your design, users will see it as one distinct entity on the screen.

In this video, Michal Malewicz, designer and co-founder of HYPE4.com, explains how we can use proximity to define hierarchies in our user interfaces.

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6. Multistability

When images are ambiguous and present two or more meaningful interpretations, we experience the sensation of switching between them. We cannot see the multiple versions simultaneously. This switching sensation is called multistability.

7. Figure/Ground

We dislike uncertainty, so we look for solid, stable items. Unless an image is ambiguous-like Rubin's Vase above-we see its foreground first. You can apply figure/ground in many ways, but chiefly to contrast elements: for example, light text (i.e., figure) from a dark background (i.e., ground). When you use figure/ground well, alongside other considerations such as color theory, you'll help guide users in their tasks and lessen their cognitive load.

Figure/ground and multistability are sometimes confused to be the same. However, there is a slight difference. In most cases, background and foreground are stable, but in some cases, such as the optical illusion of Rubin's vase, it can contribute to multistability.

When an interface's color theme changes from light to dark, the previously black text becomes white, and the white background becomes black. Even though the colors have reversed, we have no trouble recognizing the interface. We automatically interpret the foreground and background colors.

8. Invariance

The Gestalt principle of invariance explains how we perceive basic shapes as identical despite various transformations. These transformations include rotation, movement, size alteration, stretching, different lighting conditions, and variations in parts. This principle is crucial for recognizing faces, for example. Thanks to invariance, we can recognize our friends and family members from afar or different angles or even when they make funny faces.

9. Pragnanz

Pragnanz describes the human tendency to simplify complexity. Our environment constantly bombards our senses with stimuli, while we have limited attention and processing capacity to handle all the complexity. Pragnanz helps us see order and regularity in a world of visual competition.

10. Similarity

When items, objects or elements share superficial characteristics, we perceive them as grouped. We can see the similarity principle in branding and design system guidelines.

11. Symmetry and Order

Humans tend to see visual elements as grouped when they are arranged symmetrically. The natural world is filled with symmetry (or near symmetry), and our brains tend to favor symmetrical forms. Grid systems that evenly divide the space help designers implement symmetry and order in user interfaces.

12. Common Fate

This principle refers to the human tendency to perceive visual elements moving in the same direction or in unison as grouped. Visuals need not be moving to convey motion. Cues such as arrows and the rotation angle can indicate the direction in which the elements are perceived to move.

Gestalt Principles are in the Mind, Not the Eye

The Gestalt Principles are vital in user experience (UX) design. When you design interfaces, users must be able to understand what they see-and find what they want-at a glance. Below are examples of the Gestalt principles from the IxDF landing page.

In your designs, you should never confuse or delay users. Instead, guide them to their options so they can identify with organizations/brands rapidly.

Learn More about the Gestalt Principles

Learn all the principles of Gestalt and how designers employ Gestalt psychology by enrolling in our online course Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide.

UX Misfit's UI Design in Practice: Gestalt Principles provides several examples of how Gestalt principles are used in web and UI design.

For more on building relationships via Gestalt Principles, see Smashing Magazine's article, Improve Your Designs With The Principles Of Closure And Figure-Ground.

See UsabilityHub's Gestalt design principles for more examples.

See Usertesting.com's blog, 7 Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception: Psychology for UX, for tips and examples.

Content strategist Jerry Cao's piece on Gestalt Principles for Designers offers many helpful insights.

Questions related to the Gestalt Principles

Literature on the Gestalt Principles

Here's the entire UX literature on the Gestalt Principles by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Featured article

Gestalt is a German word that carries much importance, especially for us as designers. Let's have a close look at its principles so that we can see how much information this little word encompasses!

The central principle to the Gestalt theory was neatly summarized by the Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka: "The whole is other than the sum of the parts." The human eye and brain perceive a unified shape in a different way to the way they perceive the individual parts of those shapes. This global whole is a separate entity that is not necessarily formed by the sum of its parts.

When we fully understand Gestalt design principles, we can utilize them to create more interesting and engaging visual experiences for website and app users. You can take advantage of these laws to design more thoughtfully and effectively, knowing exactly how your work can impact your users.

What Are Gestalt Principles?
Author/Copyright holder: Impronta. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0
Gestalt principles or laws are rules that describe how the human eye perceives visual elements. These principles aim to show how complex scenes can be reduced to more simple shapes. They also aim to explain how the eyes perceive the shapes as a single, united form rather than the separate simpler elements involved.

"Gestalt" refers to "shape" or "form" in German; the principles - originally developed by Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), an Austro-Hungarian-born psychologist. - were improved later by Wolfgang Köhler (1929), Kurt Koffka (1935), and Wolfgang Metzger (1936).

Researchers have integrated all of these theories to show how people unconsciously connect and link design elements.

This article covers one of the Gestalt Principles (the Law of Similarity). The rest of the principles will be covered in upcoming articles:

Similarity (also known as Invariance): The human eye tends to build a relationship between similar elements within a design. Similarity can be achieved using basic elements such as shapes, colors, and size.

Continuation: The human eye follows the paths, lines, and curves of a design, and prefers to see a continuous flow of visual elements rather than separated objects.

Closure (also known as Reification): The human eye prefers to see complete shapes. If the visual elements are not complete, the user can perceive a complete shape by filling in missing visual information.

Proximity (also known as Emergence): Simple shapes arranged together can create a more complex image.

Figure/Ground (also known as Multi-stability): The human eye isolates shapes from backgrounds.

Symmetry and order: The design should be balanced and complete; otherwise, the user will spend time and effort trying to perceive an overall picture.

The Law of Similarity

The human eye tends to perceive similar elements in a design as a complete picture, shape, or group, even if those elements are separated. The brain seems to craft a link between elements of a similar nature. Then, we perceive them in a relationship with each other, separating them from other elements in a design. Human eyes are good at filling in "gaps" or connecting "dots". It happens naturally.

Similarity is influenced by the shape, size and color of the elements. When you mix objects with high degrees of similarity to each other with a group of dissimilar objects, the brain then devotes time and energy to creating a link between them so that it can try to understand their relationship with each other.

Let's try a quick experiment to check this out. If you've got a pencil and paper handy, draw about ten, rough circles on a page (spreading them across the page), leaving enough space between them to fit shapes of a similar size. Now, anywhere in those gaps, draw five or six triangles. Don't worry about geometric perfection: it doesn't matter in this simple illustration. Then, put about three dots anywhere between these shapes. Look away and stand back for a moment. Now, return to your sketch.

Do you notice anything? Your eye takes you right to the dots, doesn't it? This is because the dots are points, while the shapes are made up of lines.

Designing with Similarity in Mind

In web and interactive design, the similarity law can be used to contribute to building connections between linked elements. This relationship may be either physical or conceptual. You can make the most of this natural human inclination by helping your user's eye to discern parts of your design you want to accentuate.

Using this linkage might improve the user experience as follows:

Links

Links and navigation systems are essential to allow users to view website content and navigate between different pages.

While links are embedded inside the content, they must certainly be presented uniformly to allow users to identify linked text.

Thus, text links should be differentiated by color and usually shape as well. No matter how you do it, the important thing is that links should be clearly identifiable as such. Make them stand out. Many users will typically consider a link to be any text that is blue and underlined.

The use of the principle of similarity in menus and navigation helps users see the relationship between each group of navigation links. They will then perceive similar navigation items as being related or having a similar place in the site's data hierarchy.

Content

We can also use color, font size and type, highlighting, etc. to distinguish between and mark the types of content before a user reads them.

For example, quotes that appear in boxes, in a slightly bigger font, with an italic emphasis, are easily recognizable as such. The law of similarity carries our recognition of this standard from one website to another. Each site may use a variant on this theme, but, overall, the pattern is incredibly similar.

Breaking the law of similarity can also help draw a user's attention to a specific piece of content - such as a call to action. That's right; we can make use of both sides of the line or border the law makes. The user's eye is a remarkably easy tool to manipulate; you just need to figure out what parts of your design you want to bring out or tie together.

Headers

Website headers play another essential role in organizing and building well-structured content for search engine crawling and for the reader.

We normally place headers above content in a different font, color, size, etc. from the body of the content. They assist the reader in finding the relevant points in content and help control the overall flow of the work. They're great milestones and using them wisely (which isn't hard) will keep your users on your page.

Remember that a user's eye will activate the brain to work to interpret your design in a certain way. Nothing is more tiring than a solid block of text on a page, with no discernable features to draw the reader's eye. If you're near an old literary classic, why not open it and look at a spread of pages?

For example, let's try Victor Hugo's immortal Les Misérables on for size. Flicking forward six pages finally brought me to a new chapter heading, which my eye instantly noticed and read. None of the other text had stood out for me before I saw that.

The Take Away

Gestalt psychology is a theory of the mind which has been applied to a number of different aspects of human thought, action and perception. In particular, Gestalt theorists and researchers attempt to understand visual perception in terms of the way the underlying processes are organized to help us make sense of the world.

The organization of these cognitive processes is important to our understanding of how we interpret the constant stream of visual information entering our eyes into a cohesive, meaningful and usable representation of the world. Over the last twenty years, interaction designers and other professionals involved in the development of products for human users have adopted the work of Gestalt psychologists.

Realizing the potential for applying Gestalt thinking helps us create (literally!) eye-catching works. Suddenly, we have new insights and ways of approaching problems and challenges. This is a gift - we can tailor our work according to the "engineering" of the human eye and brain.

Starting with the Law of Similarity, we find that we can make use of the following to draw a user's attention and let his or her brain do the rest:

These three short articles will provide you with a first approach to these laws. However, if you want to cement in your own mind the many ways you can organize visual information and improve your designs for all users, we suggest that you take the course explained below!

Where to Learn More

Interested in delving into the Gestalt principles? Check our "Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide" course.

References:
Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Eumedemito. Copyright terms and licence: Public Domain.

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Learn more about the Gestalt Principles

Take a deep dive into Gestalt Principles with our course Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide .

One of the key ingredients to a successful product is the creation of effective, efficient and visually pleasing displays. In order to produce such high-quality displays, whether they are graphical (e.g., websites) or tangible (e.g., remote controls), an understanding of human vision is required, along with the knowledge of visual perception. By observing, researching, and identifying examples of our perceptual abilities, we can design products according to these unifying qualities. In order to spread such skills within the world of interaction design, we have developed "Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide."

Gestalt psychology is a theory of mind which has been applied to a number of different aspects of human thought, action, and perception. In particular, Gestalt theorists and researchers attempt to understand visual perception in terms of the way in which underlying processes are organized and how they help us make sense of the world. The organization of these cognitive processes is important to our understanding of how we interpret the constant stream of visual information entering our eyes and how it becomes a cohesive, meaningful and usable representation of the world. Over the last twenty years, the work of Gestalt psychologists has been adopted by interaction designers and other professionals involved in the development of products for human users.

Within this course, we have compiled and consolidated some of the best resources currently available on the subject of Gestalt psychology and visual perception. To help you appreciate how you can apply Gestalt psychology to web design, we have provided many different examples from existing designs. These draw attention to the exact qualities, quirks, and features of visual perception. Moreover, they discuss how these have been accommodated and, on a number of occasions, exploited so as to support either the user's intentions or those of the designer or client.

The application of Gestalt thinking to design provides us with insights and new ways of approaching problems and challenges. By cementing in our own minds the many ways we organize visual information, we can improve our designs for all users.

All open-source articles on the Gestalt Principles

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What are the Gestalt Principles? - updated 2023

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Gestalt Principles are laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images.

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10 Person-Centered Therapy Techniques Inspired by Carl Rogers 

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10 Person-Centered Therapy Techniques Inspired by Carl Rogers 

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"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened." - Lao Tzu

The idea of client-centered therapy might seem redundant - after all, when is therapy not centered on the client?

This term seems redundant now, but when it was first developed, it was a novel idea.

Before the humanistic therapies were introduced in the 1950s, the only real forms of therapy available were behavioral or psychodynamic (McLeod, 2015). These approaches focused on the subconscious or unconscious experience of clients rather than what is "on the surface."

Many of today's popular forms of therapy are more client-centered than the psychotherapy of the early 20th century, but there is still a specific form of therapy that is set apart from others due to its focus on the client and aversion to giving the client any type of direction.

So, how does the Lao Tzu quote apply to client-centered therapy? Read on to learn about how knowing one's self and others is key to the person-centered approach.
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What is Client-Centered Therapy? A Definition

Client Centered Therapy, also known as Client-Centered Counseling or Person-Centered Therapy, was developed in the 1940s and 50s as a response to the less personal, more "clinical" therapy that dominated the field.

It is a non-directive form of talk therapy, meaning it allows the client to lead the conversation and does not attempt to steer the client in any way. Its approach rests on one vital quality: unconditional positive regard. This means that the therapist refrains from judging the client for any reason, providing a source of complete acceptance and support (Cherry, 2017).

There are three key qualities that make for a good client-centered therapist:

1. Unconditional Positive Regard: as mentioned earlier, unconditional positive regard is an important practice for the client-centered therapist. The therapist needs to accept the client for who s/he is and provide support and care no matter what s/he is going through.

2. Genuineness: a client-centered therapist needs to feel comfortable sharing his or her feelings with the client. Not only will this contribute to a healthy and open relationship between the therapist and client, it provides the client with a model of good communication and shows the client that it's okay to be vulnerable.

3. Empathetic Understanding: the client-centered therapist must extend empathyto the client, both to form a positive therapeutic relationship and to act as a sort of mirror, reflecting the client's thoughts and feelings back to him or her; this will allow the client to better understand him- or herself.

Another notable characteristic of person- or client-centered therapy is the use of the term "client" rather than "patient." Therapists who practice this type of approach see the client and therapist as a team of equal partners rather than an expert and a patient (McLeod, 2015).

Carl Rogers: The Founder of Client-Centered Therapy

Carl Rogers is considered the founder of client-centered therapy, both the specific type mentioned above the generally more client-focused therapy that reigns today's clinical offerings.

These new-and-improved therapies are known as "humanistic" therapies, and while many psychologists contributed to the movement, Carl Rogers spearheaded the evolution of therapy with his unique approach.

If his approach were to be summed up in a quote, this quote would be a good choice:

"Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person's ideas, and none of my own ideas, are as authoritative as my experience. It is to experience that I must return again and again, to discover a closer approximation to truth as it is in the process of becoming in me." - Carl Rogers

The individual experience of the client is paramount in client-centered therapy.

The Rogerian Approach to Psychotherapy

Rogers' approach to therapy was a simpler one than the earlier approaches in some ways. Instead of requiring a therapist to dig deep into her patients' unconscious mind, an inherently subjective process littered with room for error, he based his approach on the idea that perhaps the client's conscious mind was a better focus.

In Rogers' own words:

"It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried. It began to occur to me that unless I had a need to demonstrate my own cleverness and learning, I would do better to rely upon the client for the direction of movement in the process." - Carl Rogers

This approach marked a significant shift from the distant, hierarchical relationship between psychiatrist and patient of psychoanalysis and other early forms of therapy. No longer was the standard model of therapy one expert and one layman - now, the model included one expert in the theories and techniques of therapy, and one expert in the experience of the client (the client him- or herself!).

Rogers believed that every individual was unique and that a one-size-fits-all process would not, in fact, fit all. Instead of considering the client's own thoughts, wishes, and beliefs as secondary to the therapeutic process, Rogers saw the client's own experience as the most vital factor in the process.

Most of our current forms of therapy are based on this idea that we take for granted today: the client is a partner in the therapeutic relationship rather than a helpless patient, and their experiences hold the key to personal growth and development as a unique individual.

In addition to this client-focused approach, Rogerian psychotherapy is also distinct from some other therapies in its assumption that every person can benefit from client-centered therapy and transform from a "potentially competent individual" to a fully competent one (McLeod, 2015). Rogers' approach views people as fully autonomous individuals who are capable of putting in the effort required to realize their full potential and bring about positive changes in their lives.

Goals of Client-Centered Therapy

"In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?" - Carl Rogers

Like many current forms of therapy (like narrative therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy, for example), the goals of client-centered therapy depend on the client. Depending on who you ask, who the therapist is, and who the client is, you will likely get a range of different answers - and none of them are wrong!

However, there are a few overarching goals that the humanistic therapies focus on, in general.

These general goals are:

Facilitate personal growth and development

Eliminate or mitigate feelings of distress

Increase self-esteem and openness to experience

Enhance the client's understanding of him- or herself

As it is, these goals span an extremely broad range of sub-goals or objectives, but it is also common for the client to come up with his or her own goals for therapy. Client-centered therapy posits that the therapist cannot set effective goals for the client, due to his or her lack of knowledge of the client. Only the client has enough knowledge of him- or herself to set effective and desirable goals for therapy.

Other commonly gained benefits include:

Greater agreement between the client's idea and actual selves

Better understanding and awareness

Decreased defensiveness, insecurity, and guilt

Greater trust in oneself

Healthier relationships

Improvement in self-expression

Improved mental health overall (Person-centered therapy, n.d.)

How Does It Work? The Person-Centered Perspective

"When functioning best, the therapist is so much inside the private world of the other that he or she can clarify not only the meanings of which the client is aware but even those just below the level of awareness." - Carl Rogers

The quote from Carl Rogers above highlights an important point: the success of this form of therapy rests on the extremely important connection between the client and therapist. If this relationship is not marked by trust, authenticity, and mutual positive feelings, it is unlikely to produce any benefits for either party.

Rogers identified six conditions that are required for success in client-centered therapy:

1. There is psychological contact (a relationship) between the client and the counselor.

2. The client is emotionally upset, in a state of incongruence.

3. The counselor is genuine and aware of their own feelings.

4. The counselor has unconditional positive regard for the client.

5. The counselor has an empathic understanding of the client and his or her internal frame of reference and looks to communicate this experience with the client.

6. The client recognizes that the counselor has unconditional positive regard for him or her and an understanding of the difficulties s/he is facing (Person-centered therapy, n.d.).

When these six conditions are met, there is great potential for positive change.

The way client-centered therapy works is a natural extension of these conditions: the therapist and client discuss the client's current problems and issues, the therapist practices active listening and empathizes with the client, and the client decides for him- or herself what is wrong and what can be done to correct it (McLeod, 2015).

This approach can be summed up with another quote from Rogers:

"It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried. It began to occur to me that unless I had a need to demonstrate my own cleverness and learning, I would do better to rely upon the client for the direction of movement in the process."

It is clear from Rogers' works that he placed a great deal of value on the firsthand experience of the client, and much less in the "cleverness and learning" or technical expertise of therapists - including himself!

Client Centered Therapy Method and Techniques

"We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet [active] listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know." - Carl Rogers

The only technique recognized as effective and applied in client-centered therapy is to listen nonjudgmentally. That's it!

In fact, many client-centered therapists and psychologists view a therapist's reliance on "techniques" as a barrier to effective therapy rather than a boon. The Rogerian standpoint is that the use of techniques can have a depersonalizing effect on the therapeutic relationship (McLeod, 2015).

In the words of Carl Rogers:

"When you are in psychological distress and someone really hears you without passing judgement on you, without trying to take responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good!"

While active listening is one of the only and most vital practices in client-centered therapy, there are many tips and suggestions for client-centered therapists to facilitate successful therapy sessions. In context, these tips and suggestions can be considered client-centered therapy's "techniques."
1) Set clear boundaries
Saul McLeod (2015) outlines 10 of these "techniques" for Simply Psychology:
2) Remember - the client knows best
Boundaries are vital for any relationship, but they are especially important for therapeutic relationships. Both the therapist and the client need healthy boundaries to avoid the relationship becoming inappropriate or ineffective, such as ruling out certain topics of discussion. There are also more practical boundaries that must be set, such as how long the session will last.
3) Act as a sounding board
As mentioned earlier, this therapy is founded on the idea that clients know themselves, and are the best sources of knowledge and insight about their problems and potential solutions. Do not lead the client or tell them what is wrong, instead let them tell you what is wrong.
4) Don't be judgmental
Active listening is key, but it's also useful to reflect what the client is saying back to them. Try to put what they are telling you into your own words. This can help the client clarify their own thoughts and understand their feelings better.
5) Don't make decisions for your clients
Another vital component of client-centered therapy is to refrain from judging. Clients are often already struggling with feelings of guilt, low self-worth, and believing they are simply not good enough. Don't validate these beliefs; instead, let them know you accept them for who they are and that you will not reject them.
6) Concentrate on what they are really saying
Giving advice can be useful, but it can also be risky. In client-centered therapy, it is not seen as helpful or proper to give advice to clients. Only the client should be able to make decisions for him- or herself, and they have full responsibility in that respect. The therapist's job is to help clients explore the consequences of their decisions rather than guide them to any particular decisions.
7) Be genuine
This is where active listening can be put to use. Sometimes a client will feel uncomfortable opening up at first, or they will have trouble seeing something just below the surface. In these situations, be sure to listen carefully and keep an open mind - the problem they come in with may not be the real problem.
8) Accept negative emotions
As mentioned earlier, the client-centered therapy must be genuine. If the client does not feel their therapist is authentic and genuine, the client will not trust you. In order for the client to share personal details about their own thoughts and feelings, they must feel safe and comfortable with you. Present yourself as you really are, and share both facts and feelings with the client. Of course, you don't have to share anything you don't feel comfortable with sharing, but appropriate sharing can help build a healthy therapeutic relationship.
9) How you speak can be more important than what you say
This is an important technique for any therapist. To help the client work through their issues and heal, it is vital to let them express their emotions - whether positive or negative. The client may even express anger, disappointment, or irritation with you at one point or another. Learn to accept their negative emotions and practice not taking it personally. They may need to wrestle with some difficult emotions, and as long as they are not abusing you, it is beneficial to just help them through it.
10) I may not be the best person to help
Your tone of voice can have a huge impact on what the client hears, understands, and applies. Make sure your tone is measured, and make sure it matches your non-judgmental and empathetic approach. You can also use your voice to highlight opportunities for clients to think, reflect, and improve their understanding; for example, you can use your tone to slow down the conversation at key points, allowing the client to think about where the discussion has led and where s/he would like it to go next.

It is vital that you know yourself as a therapist and are able to recognize your own limits. No therapist is perfect, and no mental health professional can give every single client exactly what s/he needs. Remember, there is no shame in recognizing that the scope of a specific problem or the type of personality you are working with is out of your wheelhouse. In those cases, don't beat yourself up about it - just be honest and provide any resources you can to help further the client's healing and development.

This PDF from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors also lists some useful techniques for client-centered therapy. Some of them overlap with previously mentioned techniques, but all are helpful!

These techniques include:

Congruence: this technique involves therapists being genuine and authentic, and ensuring that their facial expressions and body language match their words.

Unconditional Positive Regard: as described earlier in this piece, unconditional positive regard (UPR) is practice by accepting, respecting, and caring about one's clients; the therapist should operate from the perspective that clients are doing the best they can in their circumstances and with the skills and knowledge available to them.

Empathy: it is vital for the therapist to show clients that s/he understands their emotions rather than just feeling sympathy for them.

Nondirectiveness: a cornerstone of client-centered therapy, non-directiveness refers to the method of allowing the client to drive the therapy session; therapists should refrain from giving advice or planning activities for their sessions.

Reflection of Feelings: repeating what the client has shared about his or her feelings; this lets the client know the therapist is listening actively and understanding what the client is saying, as well as giving them an opportunity to further explore their feelings.

Open Questions: this technique refers to the quintessential "therapist" question - "How does that make you feel?" Of course, that is not the only open question that can be used in client-centered therapy, but it is a good open question that can encourage clients to share and be vulnerable.

Paraphrasing: therapists can let clients know that they understand what the clients have told them by repeating what they have said back to them in the therapist's own words; this can also help the client to clarify their feelings or the nature of their problems.

Encouragers: these words or phrases, like "uh-huh," "go on," and "what else?" are excellent at encouraging the client to continue; these can be especially useful for a client who is shy, introverted, or afraid of opening up and being vulnerable (J & S Garrett, 2013).

A Take Home Message

As with all of our pieces, I hope you walk away with a better understanding of the topic at hand.

In addition, I hope this information will encourage you to think of yourself as the master of your own experience and the expert in "you." You are the only one who understands your problems, your issues, your needs and goals, and desires, and it is to you that you must turn to solve these problems and reach these goals.

It is an added responsibility when you understand that you are responsible for how your life unfolds, but it can also be extremely liberating.

I encourage all of you to work on building the trust in yourself and in your knowledge and skills that can take your life from "going through the motions" to living a life that is authentic.

Thank you for reading, and as always please let us know your thoughts in the comments! Have you ever tried client-centered therapy, as either a client or a therapist? What did you think of it? We want to hear from you!

References

Cherry, K. (2017, June 20). What is client centered therapy? A closer look at Carl Rogers' person-centered therapy. Very Well. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/client centered-therapy-2795999

J & S Garrett. (2013). Person-centered therapy: A guide to counselling therapies. Counselling Connection. Retrieved from http://www.counsellingconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Person-Centred-Therapy.pdf

McLeod, S. (2015). Person centered therapy. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html Person-centered therapy. (n.d.).

Counselling Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/person-centred-therapy.html

Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian Therapy). (2017, April 11).

Good Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/person-centered

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10 Person-Centered Therapy Techniques Inspired by Carl Rogers [+PDF]

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Last Updated on Sharing is caring. "He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened." - Lao Tzu The idea of client-centered therapy might seem redundant - after all, when is therapy not centered on the client? This term seems redundant now, but when it was first developed, it was a novel idea.

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Choice Theory, which was formulated by psychiatrist Dr. William Glasser, posits that all humans have 5 basic needs (survival, freedom, fun, power, and love/belonging) that we attempt to satisfy through our behavioral choices. According to choice theory, almost all behavior is chosen, and we can only control our own behavior. Although everyone has all 5 of these needs, the drive for love and belongingness tends to be the most important. According to choice theory, it is through the development of close, caring relationships that we can most effectively fulfill our other needs and achieve happiness. Unfortunately, people frequently use external control (i.e., various types of coercive force such as criticizing, threatening, and nagging) to attempt to get others to do what they would like them to do with the misguided belief that this will help others to best satisfy their needs. However, using external control on others tends to result in conflict, frustration, and disconnected relationships. In turn, disconnected relationships ultimately produce unhappy people that may manifest mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Reality therapy is Dr. Glasser's counseling approach using choice theory. Within reality therapy, there is much emphasis on a person learning to develop a strong internal locus of control (i.e., belief that one can attain desired results through one's choices) and a strong sense of responsibility for one's behavior. Like CBT, reality therapy tends to be focused on the present, problem and solution oriented, and time limited. Importantly, like CBT, a main goal in reality therapy is to aid clients in gaining new perspectives and techniques that will help them to manage challenges on their own.

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Choice Theory, which was formulated by psychiatrist Dr. William Glasser, posits that all humans have 5 basic needs (survival, freedom, fun, power, and love/belonging) that we attempt to satisfy through our behavioral choices. According to choice theory, almost all behavior is chosen, and we can only control our own behavior.

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Cognitive behavioral therapy can be thought of as a combination of psychotherapy and behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy emphasizes the importance of the personal meaning we place on things and how thinking patterns begin in childhood. Behavioral therapy pays close attention to the relationship between our problems, our behavior and our thoughts. Most psychotherapists who practice CBT personalize and customize the therapy to the specific needs and personality of each patient.

The History of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy was invented by a psychiatrist, Aaron Beck, in the 1960s. He was doing psychoanalysis at the time and observed that during his analytical sessions, his patients tended to have an internal dialogue going on in their minds - almost as if they were talking to themselves. But they would only report a fraction of this kind of thinking to him.

For example, in a therapy session the client might be thinking to herself: "He (the therapist) hasn't said much today. I wonder if he's annoyed with me?" These thoughts might make the client feel slightly anxious or perhaps annoyed. He or she could then respond to this thought with a further thought: "He's probably tired, or perhaps I haven't been talking about the most important things." The second thought might change how the client was feeling.

Beck realized that the link between thoughts and feelings was very important. He invented the term automatic thoughts to describe emotion-filled thoughts that might pop up in the mind. Beck found that people weren't always fully aware of such thoughts, but could learn to identify and report them. If a person was feeling upset in some way, the thoughts were usually negative and neither realistic nor helpful. Beck found that identifying these thoughts was the key to the client understanding and overcoming his or her difficulties.

Beck called it cognitive therapy because of the importance it places on thinking. It's now known as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) because the therapy employs behavioral techniques as well. The balance between the cognitive and the behavioral elements varies among the different therapies of this type, but all come under the umbrella term cognitive behavior therapy. CBT has since undergone successful scientific trials in many places by different teams, and has been applied to a wide variety of problems.

The Importance of Negative Thoughts

CBT is based on a model or theory that it's not events themselves that upset us, but the meanings we give them. If our thoughts are too negative, it can block us seeing things or doing things that don't fit - that disconfirm - what we believe is true. In other words, we continue to hold on to the same old thoughts and fail to learn anything new.

For example, a depressed woman may think, "I can't face going into work today: I can't do it. Nothing will go right. I'll feel awful." As a result of having these thoughts - and of believing them - she may well ring in sick. By behaving like this, she won't have the chance to find out that her prediction was wrong. She might have found some things she could do, and at least some things that were okay. But, instead, she stays at home, brooding about her failure to go in and ends up thinking: "I've let everyone down. They will be angry with me. Why can't I do what everyone else does? I'm so weak and useless." That woman probably ends up feeling worse, and has even more difficulty going in to work the next day. Thinking, behaving and feeling like this may start a downward spiral. This vicious circle can apply to many different kinds of problems.

Where Do These Negative Thoughts Come From?

Beck suggested that these thinking patterns are set up in childhood, and become automatic and relatively fixed. So, a child who didn't get much open affection from their parents but was praised for school work, might come to think, "I have to do well all the time. If I don't, people will reject me." Such a rule for living (known as a dysfunctional assumption) may do well for the person a lot of the time and help them to work hard.

But if something happens that's beyond their control and they experience failure, then the dysfunctional thought pattern may be triggered. The person may then begin to have automatic thoughts like, "I've completely failed. No one will like me. I can't face them."

Cognitive-behavioral therapy acts to help the person understand that this is what's going on. It helps him or her to step outside their automatic thoughts and test them out. CBT would encourage the depressed woman mentioned earlier to examine real-life experiences to see what happens to her, or to others, in similar situations. Then, in the light of a more realistic perspective, she may be able to take the chance of testing out what other people think, by revealing something of her difficulties to friends.

Clearly, negative things can and do happen. But when we are in a disturbed state of mind, we may be basing our predictions and interpretations on a biased view of the situation, making the difficulty that we face seem much worse. CBT helps people to correct these misinterpretations.

Learn more about other: Depression Treatments

What Does CBT Treatment Look Like?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy differs from many other types of psychotherapies because sessions have a structure, rather than the person talking freely about whatever comes to mind. At the beginning of the therapy, the client meets the therapist to describe specific problems and to set goals they want to work towards. The problems may be troublesome symptoms, such as sleeping badly, not being able to socialize with friends, or difficulty concentrating on reading or work. Or they could be life problems, such as being unhappy at work, having trouble dealing with an adolescent child, or being in an unhappy marriage.

These problems and goals then become the basis for planning the content of sessions and discussing how to deal with them. Typically, at the beginning of a session, the client and therapist will jointly decide on the main topics they want to work on this week. They will also allow time for discussing the conclusions from the previous session. And they will look at the progress made with the homework the client set for him- or herself last time. At the end of the session, they will plan another assignment to do outside the sessions.

Doing Homework

Working on homework assignments between sessions, in this way, is a vital part of the process. What this may involve will vary. For example, at the start of the therapy, the therapist might ask the client to keep a diary of any incidents that provoke feelings of anxiety or depression, so that they can examine thoughts surrounding the incident. Later on in the therapy, another assignment might consist of exercises to cope with problem situations of a particular kind.

The importance of structure

The reason for having this structure is that it helps to use the therapeutic time most efficiently. It also makes sure that important information isn't missed out (the results of the homework, for instance) and that both therapist and client think about new assignments that naturally follow on from the session.

The therapist takes an active part in structuring the sessions to begin with. As progress is made, and clients grasp the principles they find helpful, they take more and more responsibility for the content of sessions. So by the end, the client feels empowered to continue working independently.

Group sessions

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is usually a one-to-one therapy. But it's also well suited to working in groups, or families, particularly at the beginning of therapy. Many people find great benefit from sharing their difficulties with others who may have similar problems, even though this may seem daunting at first. The group can also be a source of especially valuable support and advice, because it comes from people with personal experience of a problem. Also, by seeing several people at once, service-providers can offer help to more people at the same time, so people get help sooner.

How else does it differ from other therapies?

Cognitive behavioral therapy also differs from other therapies in the nature of the relationship that the therapist will try to establish. Some therapies encourage the client to be dependent on the therapist, as part of the treatment process. The client can then easily come to see the therapist as all-knowing and all-powerful. The relationship is different with CBT.

CBT favors a more equal relationship that is, perhaps, more business-like, being problem-focused and practical. The therapist will frequently ask the client for feedback and for their views about what is going on in therapy. Beck coined the term 'collaborative empiricism', which emphasizes the importance of client and therapist working together to test out how the ideas behind CBT might apply to the client's individual situation and problems.

Who Benefits from Trying CBT?

People who describe having particular problems are often the most suitable for CBT, because it works through having a specific focus and goals. It may be less suitable for someone who feels vaguely unhappy or unfulfilled, but who doesn't have troubling symptoms or a particular aspect of their life they want to work on.

It's likely to be more helpful for anyone who can relate to CBT's ideas, its problem-solving approach and the need for practical self-assignments. People tend to prefer CBT if they want a more practical treatment, where gaining insight isn't the main aim.

CBT can be an effective therapy for the following problems:

anger management

anxiety and panic attacks

child and adolescent problems

chronic fatigue syndrome

chronic pain

depression

drug or alcohol problems

eating problems

general health problems

habits, such as facial tics

mood swings

obsessive-compulsive disorder

phobias

post-traumatic stress disorder

sexual and relationship problems

sleep problems

There is a new and rapidly growing interest in using CBT (together with medication) with people who suffer from hallucinations and delusions, and those with long-term problems in relating to others.

It's less easy to solve problems that are more severely disabling and more long-standing through short-term therapy. But people can often learn principles that improve their quality of life and increase their chances of making further progress. There is also a wide variety of self-help literature. It provides information about treatments for particular problems and ideas about what people can do on their own or with friends and family (see further down).

In-Depth: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

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Cognitive behavioral therapy can be thought of as a combination of psychotherapy and behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy emphasizes the importance of the personal meaning we place on things and how thinking patterns begin in childhood. Behavioral therapy pays close attention to the relationship between our problems, our behavior and our thoughts.

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Learn how Holland's Theory helps you choose a career, career pathway or college major that best fits you. Make a confident career choice.

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Individual therapy, or Adlerian therapy, is an approach in which a therapist works with a client to identify obstacles and create effective strategies for working towards their goals. Adlerians believe that, by gaining insight into challenges, people can overcome feelings of inferiority. Moreover, Adlerians believe that people are most fulfilled when they are working towards the social interest; that is, when they are doing things that are beneficial for society as a whole.

Key Takeaways: Adlerian Therapy

Adlerian therapy, also known as individual therapy, emphasizes the individual's ability to bring about positive change in his or her own life.

Adlerian therapy consists of four stages: engagement, assessment, insight, and reorientation.

In Adler's theory, individuals work to overcome feelings of inferiority and to act in ways that benefit the social interest.

Four Stages of Adlerian Therapy

In Adler's approach to therapy, termed individual psychology or Adlerian psychology, therapy progresses through a series of four stages:

1. Engagement. The client and therapist begin to establish the therapeutic relationship. The relationship should consist of collaboration towards addressing the client's problems. The therapist should offer support and encouragement.

2. Assessment. The therapist works to learn more about the client's background, including early memories and family dynamics. In this part of therapy, the therapist attempts to understand how the client may have developed certain styles of thinking that are no longer helpful or adaptive for them.

3. Insight. The therapist offers an interpretationof the client's situation. The therapist suggests theories about how past experiences may have contributed to issues the client is currently experiencing; importantly, the therapist leaves it up to the client to decide whether these theories are accurate and useful.

4. Reorientation. The therapist helps the client to develop new strategies that the client can use in daily life.

Feelings of Inferiority

One of Adler's most well known ideas is that everyone experiences feelings of inferiority (i.e. worries that one is not achieving enough). Among psychologically healthy individuals, these feelings of inferiority encourage the pursuit of goals, providing motivation to strive towards self-improvement. In other words, by developing positive ways of coping with feelings of inferiority, individuals can end up achieving great things and making a positive contribution to society as a whole.

However, some individuals have difficulty coping with feelings of inferiority, which leads them to feel discouraged. Other individuals may cope with feelings of inferiority in unproductive ways, like behaving selfishly in order to feel superior to others. In Adlerian therapy, the therapist works to provide the client the support and encouragement they need in order to cope more effectively with feelings of inferiority and to develop healthy ways of overcoming these feelings.

Social Interest

One of Adler's other key ideas was the concept of the social interest. According to this idea, people are at their best-their psychologically healthiest and most fulfilled-when they act in ways that benefit society. For example, a person high in social interest might go out of their way to help others, while a person with lower levels of social interest may bully others or act in antisocial ways. Importantly, levels of social interest can change over time. A therapist can help their client increase his or her levels of social interest.

Alfred Adler's Life and Legacy

Alfred Adler was born in the suburbs outside of Vienna, Austria in 1870. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna, graduating in 1895. After medical school, Adler first worked as an ophthalmologist, but later decided to study psychiatry. He was initially a colleague of Sigmund Freud, with whom he cofounded the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. However, he later split with Freud and went on to develop his own ideas about psychiatry. Adler developed the approach to therapy known as individual psychology, and in 1912, he founded the Society of Individual Psychology.

Today, Adler's influence can be found in numerous areas of psychology. Many his ideas have found support in the burgeoning field of positive psychology, and his emphasis on the individual's social context (e.g. family setting and larger culture) is supported in many branches of contemporary psychology.

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How Adlerian Therapy Helps Patients Cope with Feelings of Inferiority

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Individual therapy, or Adlerian therapy, is an approach in which a therapist works with a client to identify obstacles and create effective strategies for working towards their goals. Adlerians believe that, by gaining insight into challenges, people can overcome feelings of inferiority.

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Psychoanalytic therapy is one of the most well-known treatment modalities, but it is also frequently misunderstood by mental health consumers. The goal of this therapy is to help patients better understand the unconscious forces that can play a role in their current behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. This type of therapy is based upon the theories of Sigmund Freud, who founded the school of thought known as psychoanalysis.

Freud described the unconscious as the reservoir of desires, thoughts, and memories that are below the surface of conscious awareness. He believed that these unconscious influences could often lead to psychological distress and disturbances.

The History of Psychoanalytic Therapy

Freud began developing his therapeutic techniques in the late 1800s. In 1885, he began to study and work with Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière in Paris. Charcot used hypnosis to treat women suffering from what was then known as hysteria. Symptoms of the illness included partial paralysis, hallucinations, and nervousness.

Freud continued to research hypnotism in treatment, but his work and friendship with colleague Josef Breuer led to the development of his most famous therapeutic technique. Breuer described his treatment of a young woman, known in the case history as Anna O., whose symptoms of hysteria were relieved by talking about her traumatic experiences.

Freud and Breuer collaborated on a book called Studies on Hysteria and Freud continued to develop his use of this " talk therapy." This approach proposed that simply talking about problems could help relieve psychological distress.

How Does Psychoanalytic Therapy Work?

Psychoanalytic therapists generally spend time listening to patients talk about their lives, which is why this method is often referred to as "the talking cure." The therapy provider will look for patterns or significant events that may play a role in the client's current difficulties. Psychoanalysts believe that childhood events and unconscious feelings, thoughts, and motivations play a role in mental illness and maladaptive behaviors.

Techniques Used in Psychoanalytic Therapy

Psychoanalytic therapy also makes use of other techniques including free association, exploration of transference, observing defenses and feelings patients may not be aware of, as well as dream interpretation.

The Psychoanalytic Process

People undergoing psychoanalytic therapy often meet with their therapist at least once a week and may remain in therapy for a number of weeks, months, or even years. Through this process, the hope is that people will be able to gain insight and awareness of the unconscious forces that contribute to their current mental state.

Intensive Treatment

Patients may sometimes find that psychoanalysis can be quite intense and personal. It involves talking a great deal about past experiences, relationships, and feelings. This can also lead to feelings of discomfort as unconscious forces are brought to light. While the process can sometimes result in uneasiness, it can also be a great way to gain insight and deal with feelings that are difficult to put into words.﻿﻿

Dealing With Unconscious Forces

This approach to therapy often involves provoking emotional responses and overcoming defense mechanisms. Success often hinges on the ability to confront potentially stressful or triggering past experiences. Gaining insight into your feelings, behaviors, and experiences can help you better understand the unconscious forces that continue to exert an influence on your actions, your relationships, and your sense of self.

Benefits of Psychoanalytic Therapy

As with any approach to mental health treatment, psychoanalytic therapy can have its pluses and minuses. The degree to which these potential benefits and pitfalls influence the choice to use this approach depends on a variety of factors, including the individual's preferences and severity of symptoms.

In the last few decades, there has been significant research validating this approach's benefits. The therapist offers an empathetic and nonjudgmental environment where the client can feel safe in revealing feelings or actions that have led to stress and difficulties in his or her life.

Often, simply sharing these burdens in the context of a therapeutic relationship can be beneficial. Furthermore, it has been shown that this type of self-examination can lead to continued emotional growth over time.

Downsides to Psychoanalytic Therapy

As with all treatment methods, there are also potential downsides that should be considered. The financial costs associated with this treatment modality can be very high. Costs are often cited as the biggest downside of psychoanalytic therapy.

This type of therapy has critics who claim that psychoanalytic therapy is too time-consuming, expensive, and generally ineffective. Some, such as Noam Chomsky and Karl Popper, have suggested that psychoanalysis lacked scientific basis. Misconceptions of this type of treatment are often connected to some of the earlier, more classical Freudian applications of psychoanalytic treatment.

Conditions Treated by Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis may be used to treat a number of different psychological conditions, including:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Depression

Psychosomatic disorders

Phobias

Anxiety

Identity problems

Emotion struggles or trauma

Self-destructive behavior

Relationship issues

Sexual problems

People who are likely to benefit from this form of therapy are often those who have been experiencing symptoms for some time. People might choose psychoanalytic therapy when they have long-term symptoms of anxiety, depressed mood, and behaviors that have a negative impact on functioning and enjoyment of life.

Psychoanalysis Success Rates

While some critics have derided the success rates of psychoanalytic therapy, recent research suggests that this treatment modality can be an effective treatment for a range of issues.﻿﻿

Effective for Symptom Reduction

One review of the effectiveness of long-term psychoanalytic therapies found moderate to large success rates for reducing symptoms of a variety of psychopathologies.﻿﻿

Another large-scale study found that short-term psychoanalytic therapy was effective for general symptom improvement. In addition to these general improvements, the review also found that psychoanalytic treatment led to lasting improvements in somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms.

Leads to Lasting Improvements

Patients who receive psychoanalytic treatment retain these gains and may continue to improve even after treatment ends.

How Psychoanalysis Differs From Other Treatments

What makes psychoanalytic therapy different from other forms of treatment? A review of the research comparing psychodynamic approaches to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) identified seven features that set the psychoanalytic approach apart.﻿﻿

1. The focus on emotions and how they are expressed. Where CBT is centered on cognitions and behaviors, psychoanalytic therapy explores the full range of emotions that a patient is experiencing.

2. The exploration of avoidance.People often avoid certain feelings, thoughts, and situations that they finddistressing. Understanding what patients are avoiding can help the therapist and client better explore why such avoidance comes into play.

3. The identification of recurring patterns and themes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.In some cases, people are aware of such repetitious actions but may be unable to break out of unhealthy or destructive patterns. At other times, patients are not aware of how such patterns influence their behaviors.

4. The emphasis on talking about past experiences. Other therapies often focus more on the here-and-now, or how current thoughts and behaviors influence how a patient functions. The psychoanalytic approach helps the patient explore their past and understand how it affects both the present and future.

5. The exploration of interpersonal relationships.Through the therapy process, patients are able to explore their relations with others, both current and past.

6. The focus on the therapy relationship itself. Because psychoanalytic therapy is so personal, the relationship between the therapist and the patient is an important part of the treatment process.

7. Exploring the patient's fantasy life. Where other therapies are often highly structured and goal-oriented, psychoanalytic therapy allows the patient to explore freely. Patients are free to give voice to fears, desires, dreams, and other urges that they have never spoken of before.

How to Find a Psychoanalytic Therapist

If psychoanalytic therapy sounds like it might be right for you, the first step is to begin looking for a therapist who specializes in this form of treatment. To find a qualified psychoanalytic therapist, start by asking your primary care physician for recommendations. Your doctor can also put you in touch with a referral service if needed.

Friends who have had a good experience with psychoanalytic treatment can also be another good source of recommendations. If you do not have a good referral from someone you know, there are a number of online therapist networks and directories that can point you in the right direction.

Once you have identified a potential therapist, make a call to set up an initial consultation. During this consultation, you can further explore if psychoanalytic therapy is the right approach for you.

A Word From Verywell

Psychoanalytic therapy is just one mental health treatment approach that you may want to consider. This approach may provide benefits that might be well suited to your particular situation, but always talk to your doctor or therapist to determine which psychotherapy method might be the most effective for your individual needs.

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Psychoanalytic therapy is one of the most well-known treatment modalities, but it is also frequently misunderstood by mental health consumers. The goal of this therapy is to help patients better understand the unconscious forces that can play a role in their current behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.

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Sigmund Freud, (born May 6, 1856, Freiberg, Moravia, Austrian Empire [now Příbor, Czech Republic]-died September 23, 1939, London, England), Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis.
(Read Sigmund Freud's 1926 Britannica essay on psychoanalysis.)
Freud may justly be called the most influential intellectual legislator of his age. His creation of psychoanalysis was at once a theory of the human psyche, a therapy for the relief of its ills, and an optic for the interpretation of culture and society. Despite repeated criticisms, attempted refutations, and qualifications of Freud's work, its spell remained powerful well after his death and in fields far removed from psychology as it is narrowly defined. If, as the American sociologist Philip Rieff once contended, "psychological man" replaced such earlier notions as political, religious, or economic man as the 20th century's dominant self-image, it is in no small measure due to the power of Freud's vision and the seeming inexhaustibility of the intellectual legacy he left behind.

Early life and training

Freud's father, Jakob, was a Jewish wool merchant who had been married once before he wed the boy's mother, Amalie Nathansohn. The father, 40 years old at Freud's birth, seems to have been a relatively remote and authoritarian figure, while his mother appears to have been more nurturant and emotionally available. Although Freud had two older half-brothers, his strongest if also most ambivalent attachment seems to have been to a nephew, John, one year his senior, who provided the model of intimate friend and hated rival that Freud reproduced often at later stages of his life.

In 1859 the Freud family was compelled for economic reasons to move to Leipzig and then a year after to Vienna, where Freud remained until the Nazi annexation of Austria 78 years later. Despite Freud's dislike of the imperial city, in part because of its citizens' frequent anti-Semitism, psychoanalysis reflected in significant ways the cultural and political context out of which it emerged. For example, Freud's sensitivity to the vulnerability of paternal authority within the psyche may well have been stimulated by the decline in power suffered by his father's generation, often liberal rationalists, in the Habsburg empire. So too his interest in the theme of the seduction of daughters was rooted in complicated ways in the context of Viennese attitudes toward female sexuality.

In 1873 Freud was graduated from the Sperl Gymnasium and, apparently inspired by a public reading of an essay by Goethe on nature, turned to medicine as a career. At the University of Vienna he worked with one of the leading physiologists of his day, Ernst von Brücke, an exponent of the materialist, antivitalist science of Hermann von Helmholtz. In 1882 he entered the General Hospital in Vienna as a clinical assistant to train with the psychiatrist Theodor Meynert and the professor of internal medicine Hermann Nothnagel. In 1885 Freud was appointed lecturer in neuropathology, having concluded important research on the brain's medulla. At this time he also developed an interest in the pharmaceutical benefits of cocaine, which he pursued for several years. Although some beneficial results were found in eye surgery, which have been credited to Freud's friend Carl Koller, the general outcome was disastrous. Not only did Freud's advocacy lead to a mortal addiction in another close friend, Ernst Fleischl von Marxow, but it also tarnished his medical reputation for a time. Whether or not one interprets this episode in terms that call into question Freud's prudence as a scientist, it was of a piece with his lifelong willingness to attempt bold solutions to relieve human suffering.

Freud's scientific training remained of cardinal importance in his work, or at least in his own conception of it. In such writings as his "Entwurf einer Psychologie" (written 1895, published 1950; "Project for a Scientific Psychology") he affirmed his intention to find a physiological and materialist basis for his theories of the psyche. Here a mechanistic neurophysiological model vied with a more organismic, phylogenetic one in ways that demonstrate Freud's complicated debt to the science of his day.

In late 1885 Freud left Vienna to continue his studies of neuropathology at the Salpêtrière clinic in Paris, where he worked under the guidance of Jean-Martin Charcot. His 19 weeks in the French capital proved a turning point in his career, for Charcot's work with patients classified as " hysterics" introduced Freud to the possibility that psychological disorders might have their source in the mind rather than the brain. Charcot's demonstration of a link between hysterical symptoms, such as paralysis of a limb, and hypnotic suggestion implied the power of mental states rather than nerves in the etiology of disease. Although Freud was soon to abandon his faith in hypnosis, he returned to Vienna in February 1886 with the seed of his revolutionary psychological method implanted.

Several months after his return Freud married Martha Bernays, the daughter of a prominent Jewish family whose ancestors included a chief rabbi of Hamburg and Heinrich Heine. She was to bear six children, one of whom, Anna Freud, was to become a distinguished psychoanalyst in her own right. Although the glowing picture of their marriage painted by Ernest Jones in his study The Life and Works of Sigmund Freud (1953-57) has been nuanced by later scholars, it is clear that Martha Bernays Freud was a deeply sustaining presence during her husband's tumultuous career.

Shortly after getting married Freud began his closest friendship, with the Berlin physician Wilhelm Fliess, whose role in the development of psychoanalysis has occasioned widespread debate. Throughout the 15 years of their intimacy Fliess provided Freud an invaluable interlocutor for his most daring ideas. Freud's belief in human bisexuality, his idea of erotogenic zones on the body, and perhaps even his imputation of sexuality to infants may well have been stimulated by their friendship.

A somewhat less controversial influence arose from the partnership Freud began with the physician Josef Breuer after his return from Paris. Freud turned to a clinical practice in neuropsychology, and the office he established at Berggasse 19 was to remain his consulting room for almost half a century. Before their collaboration began, during the early 1880s, Breuer had treated a patient named Bertha Pappenheim-or "Anna O.," as she became known in the literature-who was suffering from a variety of hysterical symptoms. Rather than using hypnotic suggestion, as had Charcot, Breuer allowed her to lapse into a state resembling autohypnosis, in which she would talk about the initial manifestations of her symptoms. To Breuer's surprise, the very act of verbalization seemed to provide some relief from their hold over her (although later scholarship has cast doubt on its permanence). "The talking cure" or "chimney sweeping," as Breuer and Anna O., respectively, called it, seemed to act cathartically to produce an abreaction, or discharge, of the pent-up emotional blockage at the root of the pathological behaviour.

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Sigmund Freud | Biography, Theories, Psychology, Books, Works, & Facts

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Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis. Despite repeated criticisms, attempted refutations, and qualifications of Freud's work, its spell remained powerful well after his death and in fields far removed from psychology as it is narrowly defined.

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Develop Your Personal Philosophy in Four Steps

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Develop Your Personal Philosophy in Four Steps

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We all operate from a personal philosophy, whether we are aware of it or not. When our career is in the helping professions, it is important that we take time to explore this notion of personal philosophy as it relates to our work; and further, as it relates to vocation as an opportunity for self-expression.
Step One - Examine your Personal Lens
Spend some time considering the make-up of your personal lens

1. Identify values, attitudes, belief systems, personal experiences and assumptions - if you completed the self-reflective exercise in the previous blog, draw on your responses for this part

2. What theoretical frameworks, ethical guidelines, and best practices form the foundation of your particular profession?

3. What is the essence of the experience you hope to create for yourself?

4. How can you engage in meaningful contribution

5. Think about your personal style - your approach - how you do what you do in your unique and creative way.

Step Two - What Motivates You?
What are your personal motivations for working in the helping professions? What is your Inspired Intention? Here are some questions to guide your process:

1. Did you experience a sense of calling, so often common amongst those who enter into a service vocation? If so, do you still feel called?

2. Can you differentiate between an intrinsic (internal) motivating force and an extrinsic (external) one? For example, curiosity about others might be considered intrinsic in nature, while collecting the pay cheque would be an extrinsic motivator.

3. What aspects of your work make you feel like jumping out of bed in the morning ready to dive right in?

4. What motivators are most powerful for you right now? What motivators will likely be most powerful for you over the long haul?

Resist the urge to judge any motivating factor as right or wrong, good or bad. Embrace all the elements of motivation as a valid component of your experience. Some motivators will hold more power for you than others and will provide a wonderful source of information and learning for you as you reflect upon them.
Step Three - Draft Your Statement
Take all the information you have gathered in the exercises above and draft your personal philosophy statement. This is a living statement - you aren't carving anything in stone! Here are some tips to help you with the process:

1. Write your statement in present tense. For example, instead of saying, "I want to find opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways," try "I have many opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways everyday." Write and say it like it already exists.

2. Use "I am." These two words are very powerful so be sure to follow them with the purest intentions of what you wish to create in your life. Again, no "trying" or "wanting." Focus on "being" and then "doing."

3. Ensure that you most deeply held values and beliefs at this time are reflected in your statement. This creates alignment and is very powerful.

4. Focus on essence and experience as opposed to thinking in terms of a particular relationship, job position or employer, for example. Consider those elements that will make your experiences meaningful for you on a personal level.

5. Seek congruence in your statement between your personal and professional life. Your personal philosophy statement is something that can guide you in all aspects of living.

Step Four - Live it Out Loud!
Bring your statement to life - live your mission in a conscious manner.

1. Reflect daily on your statement and consider the ways in which you are living your philosophy and the ways in which you are challenged to do so.

2. Refine your statement as you see fit and use it as a means for maintaining personal integrity in all aspects of your life.

Let's get started!

Declare your Personal Philosophy Statements out loud right here!

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Develop Your Personal Philosophy in Four Steps

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We all operate from a personal philosophy, whether we are aware of it or not. When our career is in the helping professions, it is important that we take time to explore this notion of personal philosophy as it relates to our work; and further, as it...

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Develop a Personal Philosophy – 6 Questions to Answer 

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Develop a Personal Philosophy – 6 Questions to Answer 

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As summarized in About Thin Difference,
"The purpose of Thin Difference is to explore life choices and directions while discovering ways to widen the edge and lead an inspired life." How can we "widen the edge?"
One way is to develop a personal philosophy. Have you ever thought about what your life's philosophy is? Do you have one defined?

Let's start with the basics. Philosophy is defined as:

the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group.

My focus is on personal philosophy, and the essential philosophical elements are centered on beliefs, concepts or ideas, and attitudes. Simply asked, what is your approach to living your life?

Putting your approach into philosophical terms may seem unnecessary, too elementary or just an academic exercise. Yet, I believe it is an indispensable way to make better choices and lead a more inspired life.

To define your personal philosophy, answer six key questions:

1. What do you get up each and every morning wanting to do?

2. What directs your actions and decisions, especially the impulsive ones?

3. What gives you a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day?

4. What feeling is in the core of your soul that you know to be self-evident? Sounds constitutional, and maybe that is good.

5. Why are your beliefs important to you?

6. How does your philosophy measure up to higher standards or ideals?

Thinking through these questions, I believe, will enable you to define your personal philosophy.

Don't make it complex. Keep it simple (plain statements). Make it memorable.

Most importantly, live it each day. Our lives are filled with a constant stream of choices, so let's make the best ones possible.

Join the conversation. What helps you define your life philosophy?

Other related posts which you may be interested in reading:

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Develop a Personal Philosophy - 6 Questions to Answer

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As summarized in About Thin Difference, "The purpose of Thin Difference is to explore life choices and directions while discovering ways to widen the edge and lead an inspired life." How can we "widen the edge?" One way is to develop a personal philosophy. Have you ever thought about what your life's philosophy is?

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5 Tested Tips to Battle Burnout with Better Self-Care

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5 Tested Tips to Battle Burnout with Better Self-Care

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Katie Shives is a PhD candidate in Microbiology at the University of Colorado. Her writing can be found on her portfolio site, kdshives.com.
Every grad student knows that getting an advanced degree can be extremely challenging and that, unfortunately, taking care of yourself often falls off the list of priorities. The long hours in the lab, teaching, and coursework requirements can become a grueling recipe for burnout. Burnout is a different monster than just being tired or overworked for a short period of time. It's a chronic state of distress resulting from too many constant demands (sounds like grad school!).

I had to learn how to take better care of myself to manage burnout after months of struggling with experiments that did not work. Here's what I learned: getting out of a burned-out funk takes effort.

With PhD completion rates around 50%, knowing how to deal with and push through burnout is an essential professional skill in an environment that demands so much from students.

Are you experiencing burnout? Some of the common symptoms are:

chronic physical exhaustion that does not go away with rest

depression and/or anxiety

cynicism

loss of motivation or interest in your work

forgetfulness and/or impaired concentration

detachment from those around you

increased irritability

lack of productivity/poor performance

If you thought these feelings were just a normal part of graduate school, I have great news for you: You don't need to feel this way in order to get a degree.

So how can you combat burnout in graduate school when there are so many demands on your time? The key to managing this conflict is to be very proactive about self-care. The best way to combat burnout is to take the time to take care of yourself. These changes don't have to disrupt your whole life, but taking the time to reassess your habits and alter your behaviour to better care for yourself will have a positive impact on your work and is worth the effort.

Don't feel like you have to suddenly change your life to beat burnout; it's not fair to expect that of yourself when you are burned out and it's a recipe for failure. Instead, focus on making small, consistent changes to take better care of yourself and see if that impacts how you feel.

Here are my five personally tested tips for dealing with burnout while in graduate school.
Get Enough Sleep
In grad school sleep is one of the first things to go; some students even brag about how little they've slept like it's a badge of pride. Yes, it can feel good to crank out a major experiment overnight or finally finish writing that article in the wee hours of the morning; but long-term sleep deprivation is incredibly bad for cognitive functioning.

There are two parts to this: getting more sleep and getting better sleep.

Getting more sleep is straightforward. Go to bed earlier or find a way to get up later. Turn off the autoplay on whatever video streaming service you use so you are forced to make the decision to watch more TV late into the night. Or try setting a "bedtime" alarm so you will be mindful about getting to bed at an earlier hour.

Getting better sleep is just as important as getting enough, nobody wants to sleep for 10 hours and still feel tired. To get better sleep try setting a "no screen" time for later in the evening. The light of computer monitors, cell phones, and television screens are known to disrupt your ability to sleep. Aim to shut down tech for the last 30 minutes of your day so you are not exposed to the bright lights that disrupt restful sleep.
Exercise
Get regular exercise in your life, however you can. It doesn't have to be a huge undertaking, even little bits through the day will help to improve mood. Taking the time to incorporate physical activity into your routine will help combat the physical symptoms of burnout and can produce mood-stabilizing endorphins that will help you to feel better in the long run.

Do you live close enough to campus to ride a bike?

Can you walk on your lunch break and get some extra sun to help your mood?

Examine your schedule and start by adding in little activities that you enjoy. You can always add more exercise later, the important part is to just start.
Eat Better Food
Eat real food! Even if it's basic, it's better than a vending machine, which is usually filled with empty carbs or salty/fatty chips. These foods aren't doing your brain any favors even if they do feel better on your wallet. Eating better doesn't have to break the bank.

Eating better is not complicated or unaffordable, no matter what all those diet plans are trying to sell and tell you. Don't worry about gluten-free, low-fat, paleo, vegan, or the fad-of-the-year diet plan. Focus on eating basic, nutritious foods consistently so your brain actually has enough fuel to function. For me it means throwing a little tuna salad on a bunch of spinach before I run out the door, it's really basic, takes less than 5 minutes, and provides enough energy so I don't come home from lab like an over-caffeinated zombie. Embrace whatever works for you.

Even if you absolutely love Ramen noodles (which I do, I embrace the love of ramen I developed in undergrad) at least throw some frozen vegetables in there at the end so you're not just eating empty carbs and salt. It's not about major changes, but making the little improvements where you can, when you can.

Take some time to learn to cook. It doesn't have to be a complicated undertaking. Making a bunch of stew on a Sunday is pretty easy, and if you make enough to freeze you won't need to cook lunch for the rest of the week (which is a HUGE time-saver as well!). Play around with a Crock-Pot. Have some fun with it! Learn to cook real food that you like and nourish your body.
Ask for Help
One of the major drivers of burnout is trying to cope with an overbooked schedule and too many necessary tasks. Try to take a step back and see if there is anything you can ask for help with in order to lighten your workload and give you room to recover from burnout. Do you have a spouse, significant other, family, or friends who can help ease the burden for a little bit by taking on some smaller tasks (like cooking dinner when you usually cook)?

Your personal life isn't the only place where you can ask for help. If graduate work is completely overwhelming then take a hard look at all of your professional responsibilities and see if there is anything that you can step back from. This may mean having to speak with your advisor to determine what is working for you and what is not. Sometimes you might just need to be reminded that projects don't always work and to be kinder to yourself, other times it may be time to address the project and drop aspects that are not working.

The important part is don't be afraid to ask for what you need.

Learn to say NO.

When trying to get back from burnout you have to accept that you can't do all the things. The temptation to add lines to your CV is always there, but it's important to know when to say no to unnecessary activities, events, and even people. Protect your time and cut out whatever is not helping you achieve your goals or take care of yourself. Learn to say no to activities and people that are not contributing to your progress. Be ruthless!

Once you have a set of self-care habits to protect against the worst of burnout, then, and only then, can you start taking on new activities. Wait until you've made it through the burnout and can actually handle the increased workload, otherwise you may end up right back where you started.
Final Thoughts
While other articles may suggest the power of positive thinking in combating burnout, I think this is a bad way to deal with this particular problem. Positive thinking can result in an inability to actually deal with the issues that caused your burnout in the first place. It's better to accept the negatives for what they are (heavy teaching loads, long hours, failed experiments) and work with what you have then imagine a false alternative for yourself.

Take baby steps to take care of yourself and stay consistent. Small, regular changes go a long way toward helping to break through burnout.

These tips don't take much to implement, so try what fits for you. Always remember that you are worth taking care of.
Have you dealt with burnout during your graduate degree? What helped? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

[Image from Flickr user emiliokuffer, used under Creative Commons license]

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5 Tested Tips to Battle Burnout with Better Self-Care | GradHacker

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Katie Shives is a PhD candidate in Microbiology at the University of Colorado. Her writing can be found on her portfolio site, kdshives.com. Every grad student knows that getting an advanced degree can be extremely challenging and that, unfortunately, taking care of yourself often falls off the list of priorities.

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Self care is active participation in enhancing the quality of your health. Some people may think that nurturing the self is only for the fragile, the weak-willed, or the slacker-it certainly couldn't be for strong, ambitious college men and women. However, it is a vital part of maintaining good health and a vibrant life. It's not just an occasional manicure, "chilling out" or a six-pack. Building up a repertoire of reliable self care habits now can affect your quality of life both now and in the future.

If self care is not a manicure, then what is it? Self care is an approach to living that incorporates behaviors that refresh you, replenish your personal motivation, and help you grow as a person. It's the equivalent of keeping your car filled with gas so that you are ready to motor any time. When adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it. Relaxation techniques provide a wonderfully calming feeling that lasts. Both your energy level and your ability to cope with the external world are renewed when you balance productive time and restorative time. Healthy sleep patterns improve retention of the material you study and enhance your overall mental and physical health. Healthy eating helps maintain a healthy body weight as well as improve energy, concentration, and academic success.

Three Components of Self Care

Physical

Self care involves moving your body, whether you play sports, exercise, dance, stretch, or walk over to the park to feed the ducks. Feed yourself something good to eat (something that doesn't come from the drive through. Get a massage or treat yourself to a new outfit with great texture and color. Go to the doctor when you are sick.

Mental/Emotional

How would you treat a good friend who needed some TLC? Treat yourself the same way. Accept yourself and forgive yourself easily. Take every 3rd "I should" out of your vocabulary and say "no" at least once a week! Set reasonable expectations for yourself, but don't stop working hard. The point is to challenge yourself, not break yourself. Set limits if you need them-overindulgence is not nurturing either. Develop a support system of people that you can laugh with or share a pizza with, but whom you can talk to seriously when problems arise. Choose friends who respect you and don't expect you to do all the work to maintain your relationship. Choose a variety of things you can do for fun, whether you're with others or alone. If you have trouble coming up with ideas, remember things you enjoyed as a child. Paint, draw, or construct something.

Spiritual

Develop a practice that exercises your mind and soul. Whether your routine involves prayer, meditation, or attending services, these activities build up your spirit and faith and allow you to explore yourself and identify your values and priorities. Read wisdom literature and discuss it with like-minded others in order to know yourself and the universe better. Find a way to contribute to the well being of others.

Dirty Rumors About Self Care

Isn't it selfish to put myself first?

Some others may consider self care the territory of the self-involved. However, taking care of your needs lays in a balanced, steady place on the middle of a continuum, with intense selfishness on one end, and extreme sacrificing what you need or want for others' sake on the other end. In fact, nurturing oneself is a key factor in being able to keep up strength, resolve, motivation and inner resources to continue to give to others, whether that be your immediate partner, family and other important people in your inner circle, or the larger community around you. You might consider that doing too much for others could deprive them of the opportunity to learn how to provide their own self care.

What if I don't have time to take care of myself?

If you audit your time, you will likely find that some of your time could be better spent recharging your own battery. Studies show that mental acuity decreases after a short period of concentrated study. You likely need more true, breaks, that you spend relaxing recreating. Many the time management and life goal experts recommend scheduling your self care just as you would a class or job shift. How many times do you have to hear, "make a commitment to yourself" before you believe it?

My self care comes on TV at 11:30 every night accompanied by a large pepperoni. Isn't that enough?

That may be just the ticket for some nights, but do you have enough nurturing choices for the other nights of the week? While not discounting the value of building up your knowledge of 1950's television trivia, the consequences of making this a nightly habit might include indigestion, sleep loss, weight gain, oversleeping in the morning, a feeling of grogginess and little energy lingering the next day. Maybe you could use something alternatives? Perhaps you could use the comfort of a cozy chat with a special person, or some quiet time with your mind engaged.

Do I have to do it alone?

No, although the best balance is achieved through a combination of time shared with others, as well as some time alone. If you're still skeptical, experiment! Try out some self-care techniques for 30 days and compare how you felt before with how you feel after.

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Self care is active participation in enhancing the quality of your health. Some people may think that nurturing the self is only for the fragile, the weak-willed, or the slacker-it certainly couldn't be for strong, ambitious college men and women. However, it is a vital part of maintaining good health and a vibrant life.

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45 Simple Self-Care Practices for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Soul 

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45 Simple Self-Care Practices for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Soul 

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HOW TO NAVIGATE CONFLICT - HIGHER EDUCATION - STORY 

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HOW TO NAVIGATE CONFLICT - HIGHER EDUCATION - STORY 

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How many of us wake up in the morning ready to confront conflict? My guess is not many. Unfortunately, we live in a world where conflict surrounds us on a daily basis. And if we are choosing to lead in higher education, we can count on conflict from various directions.

Take, for instance, Mary Robinson, a tenured chemistry professor at a large research institution. Mary is known as amicable, collaborative and helpful. Her students and institution regard her highly. Last month, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences asked her to chair the promotions and tenure committee. Although Mary might have limited time due to her research and teaching, she realizes this is an important service for the college and an opportunity for her future.

Since the announcement, Mary has felt some level of isolation from her colleagues during department staff meetings and other gatherings. Several side conversations and political discussions regarding the department have taken place without her participation -- which never occurred before her appointment as the P&T committee chair. After further analysis of the situation, a colleague confirms that several senior faculty members are unhappy with Mary's appointment and thus do not feel comfortable involving her in their department conversations.

Whatever the reason or the academic season, Mary should take action. Taking an active leadership role should not come at the expense of connections in her department. How should she begin to deal with her peers who act out their discomfort by excluding her from key discussions? Complicating the situation further, the conversations she has been involved in have not been antagonistic.

Many times, conflicts like the one described are more difficult to address than those that are more overtly hostile. Why? The answer is simple: most people can survive them.

As an alternative dispute resolution professional, I have seen firsthand how people prefer to avoid conflict rather than address it, especially when they are dealing with a nonconfrontational situation. Many times such conflicts come with a large dose of passive-aggressiveness. Additionally, when people like Mary and her peers engage in a conflict resolution discussion, they opt to do it without any preparation or real understanding of what to expect. Conflict resolution is a key leadership skill. Therefore, leaders who find themselves in conflict, no matter the type, should consider a quick three-step approach: 1) Prepare, 2) Practice and 3) Communicate.

Prepare. Preparation is the most important step when getting ready to deal with conflict. Without proper planning, any person runs the risk of sabotaging the resolution process. At this stage, we normally are only focused on our own perspective and rarely take the time to figure out the needs and wants of the others involved. This practice, however, is key to understanding the conflict.

In a nonconfrontational environment like Mary's, the opposing person, or group of people, may not admit to any difficulties if asked. Therefore, what can she do, and what might you do in a similar situation, to avoid this type of roadblock?

You can simply change perspective by arguing and defending the other side. Imagine acting as their defense attorney in order to figure out their needs and wants. That will give you a better understanding of how your behavior and actions might be fueling their potential hostility and dislike toward your performance and accomplishments.

Some questions to ask to assist in this task might include the following:

Why is the other party not addressing me voluntarily?

What are the responses I'm receiving from my peers when I inquire about their projects or ask for assistance with the P&T committee?

Are the responses limited and different from the ones I would receive before the conflict emerged?

If Mary were having any difficulties answering these types of questions, I would encourage her to seek input from trusted people in her department. She should also seek advice from mentors on and off the campus. They can provide an objective perspective of the situation.

As the preparation continues to evolve, I would encourage Mary to establish a road map, which outlines how the discussion could potentially flow between the parties. She should then consider how she might help address the needs identified by her colleague. That calls for identifying compromising items, while embracing some uncomfortable thinking. Although Mary might feel like the victim in the situation, in reality all parties are victimized during a conflict. That might be hard to accept, but others' reactions are fully correlated to one's own behavior.

Another important consideration for the preparation-stage road map is managing the passive-aggressive behavior that is often present in nonconfrontational conflicts. First and foremost, it is not Mary's job to change her co-workers' behavior. Instead, she should focus her efforts on understanding why such behavior is present. Could it be jealousy? Or simply a co-worker feeling powerless or less valued due to the other party's recognition?

The answer for Mary on both questions is a firm yes. Therefore, when you are on the receiving end of passive-aggressive behavior, you must avoid communicating in ways that may trigger such behavior even further. In Mary's situation, she could begin a dialogue with her co-worker in a private setting with the following:

"Recently, I have noticed a difference in how we have been providing feedback to each other. I would like to talk with you and learn how we can both better communicate with each other. What could I start doing to help with improving our communication?"

Practice. At this point, you have taken the time to really understand the situation at hand in the preparation stage. You think you are ready to make the first move in the conflict resolution process. However, before you take this next step, practice is key. By practicing, you will be able to work through any discomforts you might have about the topic. You will also become more at ease with uttering the words needed to reach a compromise and work toward resolution.

During the practice stage, Mary should seek help from a mentor, adviser or close friend to fully role-play the pending conversation. Through role-playing, she will be able to practice active listening as well as feel more comfortable with having the uncomfortable discussion. In addition, it will help her react more favorably to potential surprises during the real exchange, since she will have had the opportunity to practice answering questions and comments modeled by her role-play partner.

When passive-aggressiveness is at its peak, it takes time to fully understand how to best deal with the situation. Therefore, it is imperative for Mary to practice multiple times with a variety of people to gain a realistic perspective of how the actual conversation might evolve.

Communicate. It's showtime! You are face-to-face with the other person. The conversation has started, and the discussion begins to heat up. Now what? Take a deep breath. Remember what you practiced. You got this! Now, consider these steps:

Acknowledge: Do not blame. Instead, acknowledge the other person's frustrations and complaints. You hope that individual will do the same for you. However, assume she won't. Therefore, it is important that you also communicate the importance of acknowledging each other's feelings and emotions during the difficult discussions.

Make eye contact: When you are communicating your point, as well as listening to her point of view, establish direct eye contact. That tactic puts you on equal ground with her. You are demonstrating your full engagement and interest. Keep in mind that this tactic is very effective in American culture, which is more individually focused. But be careful of how you use it when dealing with individuals who are part of a collective culture, as it might not be a good idea to seek direct eye contact. Instead, research what the best approaches are to establishing an equal playing field for that specific culture.

Provide information and inquire: In a calm and serene voice, explain your point of view, ask for theirs, compare and contrast. When explaining your point, never come across as indignant or annoyed with the other person's viewpoint. As you did in the preparation step, take the time to actively listen and work toward identifying options and ways to compromise. Remember, you have already practiced multiple scenarios before this discussion. Try to relax and fully engage in the conversation without illustrating negative feelings.

Reassure: After each solution is agreed upon, reassure the other party by confirming you are both expecting the same change of behavior or outcome. It is best if you start working on the easier issues before tackling the most difficult ones. That way when you face a crossroad in the discussion, you can remind the other person of how many things you have agreed upon and how it would be a shame if she quit now and basically dismissed the collective hard work of negotiating.

Genuine communication can immediately de-escalate a conflict. Although Mary's example might not be your reality, you can use the process I've outlined in any type of argument as it provides a strong foundation to help work toward an agreement. True leadership clearly requires managing conflict. You may as well learn to wake up ready to address it effectively!

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How to navigate conflict as a higher education leader (essay)

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How many of us wake up in the morning ready to confront conflict? My guess is not many. Unfortunately, we live in a world where conflict surrounds us on a daily basis. And if we are choosing to lead in higher education, we can count on conflict from various directions.

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Conflict Resolution Skills - HelpGuide.org

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When handled in a respectful and positive way, conflict provides an opportunity for growth. Learn the skills that will help.

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Often parentally micromanaged, pressured by high expectations, grappling with depression and anxiety, a bit socially awkward or just a little bit lost in a strange new world, today's college students are seeking counseling in greater numbers than did previous generations, according to college counselors and other experts.

Those who counsel students point to various factors for this surge in clients, including greater overall awareness of mental health issues, higher rates of depression and stress, and a huge increase in the overall student population at colleges and universities. According to the Institute of Education Sciences, the research and statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Education, between 1992 and 2012 (the latest year for which statistics are available), the number of students enrolled in degree-granting institutions has grown by 39 percent.

National surveys conducted by the American College Counseling Association (ACCA), a division of the American Counseling Association, indicate that the percentage of students struggling with serious mental health issues has also increased. In addition, 42.4 percent of the almost 75,000 undergraduate students who completed the 2015 annual American College Health Association National College Health Assessment reported experiencing greater than average stress within the past 12 months, and 10.3 percent reported feeling tremendous stress. When asked about depression and anxiety during the previous 12 months, 35.3 percent of survey respondents reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult for them to function; 57.7 percent indicated feeling overwhelming anxiety.

At the same time, staff growth at college and university counseling centers has typically failed to keep pace with this increased burden. As a result, these counseling centers are often scrambling to stay on top of their caseloads, and college counselors are using a variety of campus resources and outreach methods to meet the needs of today's students.
Welcome to the new world
One of the defining features of the traditional college experience is leaving the nest. But many students in the current generation are having trouble finding their wings, according to college counselors. That's in part because, generally, today's young adults are used to their parents managing many aspects of their lives, says Suzanne Degges-White, who supervises student counselors as part of her role as a professor and chair of the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education at Northern Illinois University.

"We're dealing with helicopter parents," she says. "They've done so much [for their children]. And then when you get to college, your teachers don't care if you do your homework, and your parents aren't there to remind you."

"There's this idea that kids need protecting, so when they get to college, suddenly if they don't like a class or their roommate, this may bring them in to the counseling center," adds Degges-White, the ACA Governing Council representative for the Association for Adult Development and Aging.

ACCA President Amy Lenhart agrees, saying that the students she sees often seem ill equipped to handle many of the demands they face, such as managing their academic workloads, interacting with instructors and other students, and even getting to class on time. Both Lenhart and Degges-White say they regularly encounter students who have trouble making any kind of significant decision on their own. In some cases, parents are still trying to make all the decisions for their college-age children, says Lenhart, who works with students on general counseling issues and career concerns at the counseling center at the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin College in Frisco, Texas.

"I can tell you that even in counseling, parents want to make appointments [for their son or daughter]," she says. She has also encountered parents who want to sit in on their son's or daughter's career counseling sessions. In such cases, it is important for counselors to set boundaries and let parents and students know that it is time for these young adults to make certain decisions on their own, Lenhart says.

The consequences for students who struggle to make decisions and manage their lives can be severe, Degges-White says. Not studying, skipping classes and failing tests can quickly lead to academic probation, she points out. Although it is easy to dismiss such behavior as laziness or a lack of interest, Degges-White contends that would be a mistake. Instead, counselors need to ask students about their classes, including why they're not going or why they think they're failing a particular subject, she says. The answer may be related to poor time management, and many colleges have workshops to which counselors can refer students.

Of course, there may be other underlying reasons. "Sometimes students don't go to classes because they are not interested in them," Degges-White says. "Maybe they aren't suited to the subject or even need a different major."

However, if the behavior is due to a lack of accountability, counselors should work with students on making decisions and then accepting the consequences, Degges-White says. She likes to use choice theory to help students explore the options available to them. "How are the choices you are making now going to get you to your goals?" she asks. "If they're not, what other choices can you make?"

ACA member Nick Patras, a licensed professional counselor and assistant director of the counseling center at Texas A&M University-Commerce, dissects the time management process with his clients. Sometimes students come to the counseling center after their first semester having failed several classes and hoping for an easy and instant answer, he says.

Instead, Patras delivers a dose of reality, but he also tries to provide helpful strategies to get the students back on track. "Do you have goals? Do you have projects? Do you have them broken down into stages, or do you wait until the last minute?" he asks these students. "I educate them on how to plan and manage projects by breaking them down into little bites."
Knowing your students
Josh Gunn, the director of counseling and psychological services at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, urges college counselors to be aware of their campus culture and who their students are. For instance, Kennesaw State's student body features a significant percentage of first-generation college students, he notes.

Parents who have been to college generally impart at least a minimal amount of knowledge to their children about how college works, but first-generation students don't have that advantage, says Gunn, a member of ACCA. Not knowing anything about college life can pile on an additional layer of uncertainty and stress, he points out.

First-generation students are also more likely to be putting themselves through school, which may mean working a job in addition to attending classes, Gunn says. For these students, academic struggles may be at least partially tied to general financial stress or simply not having as much time to focus on their studies, he explains. Counselors should consider how putting students in touch with other resources such as the financial aid office or an academic adviser might relieve certain stressors for students, he says.

It's also important for counselors to keep in mind that not all college students are young adults fresh out of high school. Some students, especially on today's campuses, are individuals who are beginning or returning to college later in life, Degges-White points out. These students are confronting many of the same stressors as their younger peers, but they will be juggling those stressors with work and family concerns, she says.

Lenhart's institution is a community college, which means that its students don't have to meet the enrollment requirements that applicants at four-year colleges and universities do. Because of this, she explains, some of those who enroll - for example, a 50-year-old student who hasn't taken classes since high school - might not be ready for the courses he or she is taking. It's important for counselors to consider factors such as these when students come in with academic problems, Lenhart says. What seems like (or may in part be) a time management problem could actually involve a skills deficit for which counselors should refer students to the tutoring center and their academic advisers, she says.

When academic performance is a predominant concern for students, it affects every area of their lives, including their mental health, Gunn says. Therefore, when students come to the counseling center and present with depression, anxiety or stress, it is important for counselors to ask how their courses are going, because academic concerns may be exacerbating whatever other issues they are concerned about, he says.

Counselors should also keep in mind that if a student is struggling with academics, that issue doesn't necessarily go away just because the mental health problem has been addressed."If you've cured someone's depression but they flunk out, you've failed," Gunn says.
Making new connections
Joel Lane, who studies the theory of emerging adulthood and is the coordinator of the clinical mental health counseling program at Portland State University in Oregon, says that, traditionally, a person's late teens and early 20s were when attachment relationships shifted from one's parents to peers and romantic partners. Possessing the ability to form and maintain these healthy attachments is especially important in times of transition and can affect not just an individual's personal life but his or her professional life as well, he says.

However, for members of the millennial generation, that process has become more complex for several reasons, according to Lane. One is that young adults (ages 18-25) are "younger" psychosocially than previous generations have been. Millennials' identity exploration is taking place at a later age when they are no longer adolescents but when they do not consider themselves adults yet either, he says. Also, because their parents often continue to manage their lives, these young adults may be less likely to seek other sources of emotional support, at least in the "real" world, Lane continues. Where today's young adults tend to turn to seek support and interact with others is social media, he explains. And although social media may be good for those purposes, it does not generally prepare young adults for making connections and conversing in their classes, in social situations or on the job, Lane contends.

Unfortunately, many college counselors report that social anxiety - which negatively influences a person's ability to form new attachments - appears to be much more prevalent among today's students than in prior generations and is a factor in a significant number of their clients' cases. Patras says that about half of his cases involve social anxiety as either the presenting concern or an aggravating factor. Often, he says, the students he sees simply do not understand how to interact with others.

"They don't know how to talk to people, how to carry on a conversation or how to ask someone out," Patras says. "It's partly socioeconomic" - the university where Patras works is located in a rural, impoverished area - "but [it's] mostly because they are interacting on social media and not in real life."

Lenhart and Degges-White have observed this as well. Although none of the three counselors believes that social media is inherently bad, they do think it has caused a significant shift in how young adults interact with one another. "They say they are 'dating,' but they might just be interacting on Facebook or through texting," Patras notes.

Although it's true that adolescents and young adults are establishing social networks online, they typically do this in solitude at their computers or on tablets instead of learning face-to-face communication and interaction skills, Degges-White says. She adds that many of today's college students spend their social time video chatting with friends from home rather than going out and making new friends.

Technology does provide its own kind of connection and access to a wide array of helpful resources, Lenhart acknowledges, but it is also easy to hide behind, particularly for those with social anxiety. "We want them to actually be out in the world," she emphasizes.

Which is why some college counselors are gently but firmly pushing students out of their comfort zones.

For instance, Patras holds workshops on social skills. He teaches students how to integrate into an unfamiliar group by first finding one person within the group to talk to. When participants ask how to start a conversation with someone they don't know, he tells them to ask the other person about himself or herself. "Everyone likes to talk about themselves," he says. In the workshops and in individual counseling, Patras also teaches students relaxation and emotional regulation skills such as mindfulness meditation and deep breathing to help ease their anxiety.

Lenhart asks students to try attending social events such as campus group meetings or parties. "Just challenge yourself," she urges students. "Make sure you have a way you can leave if you get uncomfortable, and just stay, even if it's only for 10 minutes."

Degges-White believes a combination of cognitive behavior therapy and a bit of desensitization therapy is effective in helping students overcome social anxiety. Her counseling center also refers students to small group sessions in which students can practice talking to one another. Degges-White has also found that giving "homework" assignments to students, such as having them talk to at least one person in one of their classes each week, encourages greater social engagement. Because a lack of social skills is becoming more common in young people, even high schools are beginning to offer groups that focus on these skills, she says.
Managing mental health needs
College counseling centers don't just deal with students' issues related to time management, academic adjustment, social skills, being away from home for the first time, getting used to living with other people and, as time goes by, choosing a major and career path. The age range when most people go to college - late teens to early 20s - is also the age at which serious mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia often appear. College is also a time when many people choose to begin experimenting with drugs and alcohol, which can lead to substance abuse problems.

Unfortunately, the level and length of care that college counselors can provide to students experiencing serious mental health issues varies greatly. Patras says that his counseling center currently has the resources to work with students for as long as they need it and are willing to do the work. According to Patras, the small city of Commerce has only two mental health professionals, and many of the university's students don't have private insurance, so the school's counseling center is a particularly essential resource.

Other institutions are forced to limit the number of sessions that each student is entitled to or else maintain long waiting lists because demand is so high, Lenhart says. Because of these limitations, many college counseling centers focus on triage. This involves getting the most severe cases in or, if necessary, referred out for hospitalization or psychiatric care immediately, and using brief interventions such as solution-focused therapy for less severe cases, she says.

Some colleges are relying more frequently on group therapy, which doesn't count against students' allotted center visits and has the added benefit of helping students interact with others, Lenhart says. This is especially important in cases in which students are dealing with depression or social anxiety, she adds. Groups can also be particularly beneficial for students dealing with grief, working through issues related to their sexual or gender identity and a wide range of other challenges.

Gunn says some of the counselors in his center are taking on the role of case managers in the more complex cases. These counselors get students who just got out of the hospital or have special needs set up with a psychiatrist or an on-campus counseling group.

College counselors are also reaching out to students to raise their awareness of the many services that counselors can provide; distributing psychoeducational materials and doing public screenings; and educating faculty and staff on spotting the signs of behavioral problems.

Gunn's counseling center gives regular workshops on everything from decision-making to general wellness to sexual assault awareness. He believes that college counseling needs to become more proactive; not just to let students know where the center is located and say, "Come see us when you're ready," but to actively look for potential problems in hopes of preventing bigger ones. His staff regularly provides information about identifying behavioral problems to the resident life program, department heads and other faculty and staff. In addition to encouraging prevention, he hopes that counselors can help create campus cultures in which the belief becomes that safety is everyone's responsibility.

Lenhart bemoans the lack of residence halls on the community college campus where she works because she believes that hall staff - due to their more frequent contact with students - serve as a sort of first line of defense for identifying students who may be struggling and in need of counseling. That doesn't mean the college's faculty and staff aren't vigilant. In fact, she says, faculty and staff often bring students to the counseling staff's attention and even walk those in need of help to the center if need be.

"We train them [faculty and staff] for what to look for," she says. "Dropping grades; changes in appearance, such as becoming disheveled, not bathing; maybe acting out in class; maybe being angry - any kind of change in behavior that is unusual for that student."

"We have to work harder at promoting counseling to students because of the come-and-go nature of our [community college] program," Lenhart says. "I think, sadly, the assumption is that counselors at community college campuses are like guidance counselors."

So, Lenhart and her counselor colleagues educate, educate, educate, conducting psychoeducational sessions and distributing informational fliers for national events such as Depression Awareness Day. Professors also have the counseling center staff visit classes and give presentations on stress and anxiety, she adds. She believes that classroom sessions not only help demystify what college counselors do but also get students more comfortable with the idea of coming to the counseling center.

Many colleges now have a kind of "college 101" class for incoming freshmen. The counselors interviewed for this article said it is important for college counseling centers to be involved with these efforts, either by providing educational materials or giving presentations.

Patras' counseling center maintains liaisons within all of the university's major academic departments and also works closely with campus police, who refer students to counseling if they have had trouble related to alcohol or drug use. The counseling center also educates other faculty and staff about possible indicators that students may need help, such as unusual acting-out behaviors (for example, outbursts in class), slipping grades or a previously responsible student who is now missing classes or not completing assignments.

Behavioral intervention teams are also becoming common on college campuses. The problem-solving teams typically include counselors and representatives from campus departments such as student affairs, campus police or security, student conduct and resident life, explains Brian Van Brunt, a past president of ACCA and author of Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness, published by ACA. These teams meet regularly - typically once a week - to exchange information. The goal is to identify incidents or patterns that might indicate a possible problem - such as increased substance abuse arrests or a rash of suicide attempts - and to formulate a course of action with the goal of preventing larger problems.

Events such as the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech provided the impetus for the creation of behavioral intervention teams, Gunn says. Even so, he cautions college counselors not to focus exclusively on such large-scale events. "Don't waste all your time preparing for a mass shooting that may never happen," he says.

Events such as a student's suicide are more common, he explains, and likely to have a significant effect on campus mental health. To reach as many students as possible, counselors need to encourage an environment of multidepartmental sharing, he adds.

In many ways, counselors interviewed for this article say, college counseling has become a campuswide effort.

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Additional resources
For those who would like to learn more about the topics addressed in this article, the American Counseling Association offers the following resources.
Books (counseling.org/bookstore)

Group Work and Outreach Plans for College Counselors edited by Trey Fitch and Jennifer L. Marshall

Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness by Brian Van Brunt

Eating Disorders and Obesity by Laura H. Choate

A Contemporary Approach to Substance Use Disorders and Addiction Counseling, second edition, by Ford Brooks and Bill McHenry

Treatment Strategies for Substance and Process Addictions by Robert L. Smith

Webinars (counseling.org/continuing-education/webinars) VISTAS Online articles (counseling.org/knowledge-center/vistas)

"Counseling International Students" by Julia F. Kronholz

"Distressed College Students Following Traumatic Events" by Simone F. Lambert, Joyce C. Lambert and Samuel J. Lambert III

"Helping College Students Develop Mental Wellness Skills Through Journaling Techniques" by Julia Y. Porter

"Needs Assessment for Counseling GLBT Clients" by Rebecca Gardner, Joshua Adkins, Whitney Gillespie and Cristen Wathen

"Passport to Wholeness: The Effects of a Campus Mental Health Fair on Help-Seeking Attitudes" by Lucinda C. West and Anita Knight

"Recovering College Students: Practical Considerations for College Counselors" by Mark S. Woodford

"The Effects of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Self-Compassion Among Undergraduate College Students" by Danielle Richards and William E. Martin Jr.

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The American College Counseling Association, a division of ACA, focuses on fostering student development in colleges, universities and community colleges. Visit collegecounseling.org to learn more about the division and to access its array of resources.

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To contact the people interviewed for this article, email:

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Laurie Meyers is the senior writer for Counseling Today. Contact her at lmeyers@counseling.org.

Letters to the editor: ct@counseling.org

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Often parentally micromanaged, pressured by high expectations, grappling with depression and anxiety, a bit socially awkward or just a little bit lost in a strange new world, today's college students are seeking counseling in greater numbers than did previous generations, according to college counselors and other experts.

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Critical Mental Health Resources for College Students

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Critical Mental Health Resources for College Students

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With the pressures facing most people today, it is essential to take your mental health seriously. This is especially true for college students and young people, whose lack of experience in the real world could lead to major mental health issues resulting from stress, overwork, fatigue, or even the onset of a more serious mental illness. In fact, up to 75 percent of college students with possible mental health issues do not seek help for what ails them.

While this resource is meant to provide college students and young people with quality information on maintaining good mental health and identifying mental health issues, it is not meant to take the place of professional advice from a qualified mental health specialist. Anyone who wishes to learn more keeping tabs on their mental health should consider taking this mental health assessment before diving into the resource.

For college students and young people who do not struggle with significant mental health issues, there are still actionable steps to take in order to relieve stress and anxiety. Here are some suggestions to take into consideration:

Physical Activity: Physical activity releases "happy chemicals" in our brain known as endorphins that can have an almost immediate impact in balancing our mind and body's negative reaction toward stress and anxiety. Physical activity can also boost self-confidence and increase our ability to think clearly, focus, and inspire others to do the same.

Sleep and Diet Changes: Major changes in diet or sleep habits can also lead to elevated levels of stress or anxiety in a college student. Consistently staying up late to study for exams or finish assignments can mean some degree of sleep deprivation, which could lead to poor academic performance or more serious mental health issues. What's worse is that sleep deprivation and poor diet often go hand in hand. Dramatic shifts in diet will also impact a student's academic performance and mental health.

Psychiatric Care: If a student finds that the amount of stress they face is becoming too much to handle on their own, obtaining psychiatric care should be given serious consideration. Inpatient or outpatient care may be pursued depending on the severity of the mental health issues faced by the individual in need of care. Mental health specialists are there to help us overcome stress, anxiety, and many other issues impacting mental health. Remember that seeking psychiatric care should never be thought of as unreasonable.

Relaxation Exercises: No matter how stressed or anxious students become, there should always be something to count on as a source of positive relaxation. That said, many young people may not be able to find the opportunity to relax in the way that they prefer. Nonetheless, there are several quick and easy relaxation exercises to explore. Taking a few breaks each day to stretch, meditate, or even pick out a comfortable set of clothing can work to significantly reduce anxiety throughout the day.

Therapy and Counseling: Even if a young person feels that the stress in their life is not affecting their mental health, seeking therapy and counseling to understand how to better manage anxiety can still be helpful. Students may feel they have an exceptionally high tolerance for stress and anxiety, but that failing to learn new and better ways to manage their stress could rapidly lead to more serious mental health issues. Seeking therapy and counseling is often the safest and most effective way to get personalized advice before stress becomes a much more serious problem.

Your Right to Mental Health: Understanding Confidentiality and Insurance

As the public's awareness about the importance of mental health grows, more attention is being directed toward insurance and confidentiality solutions for people struggling with mental health issues. The stigma of mental health as being less important than maintaining good physical health has led to a crisis of mental health, which can only be corrected as more and more citizens recognize the power of quality mental health treatment.

A major trend bringing attention to the mental health of college students is the fact that more student than ever before are seeking mental health care. As with any rising demand for an important health service, institutions that work closely with students - Â like their colleges and universities - are incorporating mental care into the health care offered to students. Moreover, people who are 26 years old or younger are now able to be covered by their parent's health insurance policy as a result of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare").

On top of providing young people with more health insurance options, the Affordable Care Act has also introduced some great provisions regarding mental health care. Supporters of the health law recognize mental health care as an important part of physical health care. As such, the ACA makes it easier for young people to afford health insurance and expands Medicaid to help more people that struggle daily with mental health issues. The law also ensures that certain mental health services and treatments that may have traditionally been declined by private insurance companies or Medicaid must now be covered.

Confidentiality is also a major roadblock discouraging people from seeking out the mental health treatment they need. Even though mental disorders are becoming more understood and accepted by the public-at-large, students may still feel embarrassed of their own mental health issues. Everyone should understand that the professional mental health community employs many safeguards to help keep information about your mental health confidential and only shared when coordinating a patient's care.

While the Affordable Care Act should ensure that all young Americans have access to affordable, high quality health care, there are still many young people today that remain uninsured. Young people who find themselves uninsured, however, should remain vigilant about obtaining mental health care the minute they need it. To help uninsured people find proper mental health treatment, Mental Health America has compiled an extensive list of options that should be kept handy in the event of a mental health crisis.

As the inclusion of mental health treatment becomes the rule and not the exception for health plans across the nation, college students will finally have the resources and support needed to help maintain both their physical and mental well-being while on-campus.

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Mental Health Guide for College Students

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With the pressures facing most people today, it is essential to take your mental health seriously. This is especially true for college students and young people, whose lack of experience in the real world could lead to major mental health issues resulting from stress, overwork, fatigue, or even the onset of a more serious mental illness.

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Empathy in Higher Education Not Just for Counselors Anymore By Kathryn Miller

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TOP 5 MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES FACING COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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TOP 5 MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES FACING COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential, and anyone can use this service.

Many college students experience symptoms of a serious mental health condition.

Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions among students.

Resources are available to help students improve their mental health.

Mental health experts and researchers often use terms like "epidemic" and "crisis" to describe the mental health challenges many U.S. college students face these days.

In the Fall 2021 National College Health Assessment, about 30% of student respondents said anxiety negatively affected their academic performance. Furthermore, just over 1 in 5 students reported having been diagnosed with depression by a healthcare professional.

Mood disturbances represent just some of the mental health conditions many college students have. Other common challenges include suicide and suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and substance misuse.

This guide introduces the top five mental health challenges facing college students today, with advice on how to identify potential conditions and get support.

1. Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that involves persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities.

People going through a depressive episode may experience mood swings, sleep disturbances, appetite changes, and headaches and/or body pains with no apparent physical cause.

In the 2021 Healthy Minds Study, 22% of college students screened positive for major depression, and 41% screened positive for depression overall. This makes depression one of the most common mental health conditions among U.S. college students.

Symptoms of Depression

Symptoms of depression can vary depending on the person. The way one person exhibits signs of depression is not necessarily the same way symptoms may emerge in someone else.

According to the American Psychological Association, symptoms of depression can include:

Displaying some of these symptoms does not necessarily mean you're depressed. However, if you begin to experience these symptoms with some regularity, you should consider seeking professional help.

Signs That Someone May Have Depression

Everyone has off days when they feel overwhelmed or down about life. But when these days become weeks and simply getting out of bed becomes a struggle, such symptoms become cause for concern.

Here are some signs of depression to look for in peers, friends, and loved ones:

They're not enjoying activities they once loved

They no longer attend classes or social outings

They're experiencing extreme anger or sadness over a relationship in their life

They react negatively or with apathy to most things

They often talk about death or suicide

Words of encouragement can show that person you're a source of support. However, avoid telling someone to "cheer up" or "snap out of it." Many people experiencing depression are aware of their condition, and telling them to get over it is not helpful.

If you believe someone you know is at risk, gently encourage them to seek help and offer to accompany them to a student health center or doctor's appointment. Although talking through their challenges with you may be helpful, understand that this is not a substitute for professional treatment.

Signs That You May Have Depression

If you think you may have depression, ask yourself the following questions:

Have you experienced extreme sadness or hopelessness?

Does your family have a history of depression?

Have you turned to heavy drinking or drug use to relieve feelings of hopelessness?

Have you experienced invasive thoughts of death or suicide?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, consider making an appointment with your primary healthcare provider or with someone at your student health center for a mental health assessment.

Resources for Depression

The following organizations are dedicated to providing resources and assistance to those living with depression:

2. Anxiety

Most college students experience anxiety from time to time. However, mounting or ongoing feelings of worry, tension, and panic can interfere with day-to-day life. When your daily life is disrupted, anxiety becomes a medical condition that needs treatment.

In a 2016 Pennsylvania State University study, 61% of survey respondents identified anxiety as a leading student mental health condition. And in the aforementioned Healthy Minds Study, 1 in 3 students screened positive for an anxiety disorder.

Below are some of the most common types of anxiety disorders:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): This condition involves constant, severe anxiety that interferes with day-to-day activities.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): People with OCD experience intrusive and unreasonable thoughts, fears, and obsessions that lead to repetitive behaviors and compulsions.

Panic Disorder: This condition is characterized by constant fearfulness and frequent, sudden attacks of terror and panic.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD usually develops after someone experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. However, individuals can also have trauma without suffering a major catastrophic event.

Social Anxiety Disorder: This mental health condition manifests as irrational anxiety, fear, self-consciousness, and embarrassment in everyday social interactions.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Symptoms of an anxiety disorder are often mistaken for everyday stress or written off as worrying too much.

Depending on how your body responds to increased levels of certain chemicals, panic attacks may be mistaken for a physical ailment, such as a heart attack or tension headache.

Common symptoms of anxiety can include:

Feelings of stress, restlessness, apprehension, or fearfulness

Irritability

Trouble concentrating

Excessive sweating and dizziness

Shortness of breath

Muscle pain and tension

Headaches

Frequent upset stomach or diarrhea

The exact causes of anxiety aren't fully understood but may include a combination of genetics, naturally occurring brain chemicals, life experiences, and stress.

Signs That Someone May Have Anxiety

Brief, occasional feelings of anxiety or anxiety-driven behaviors do not automatically indicate a mental health condition. If, however, anxious feelings persist, interfere with your daily life or functioning, or begin to manifest as obsessive behaviors with an overwhelming sense of fear, it may be time to seek help.

Someone you know may have an anxiety disorder if they display one or more of the following behaviors:

Refrain from criticizing or belittling the severity of someone's symptoms and encourage them to try coping strategies that avoid causing further anxiety. You might also encourage your friend or peer to visit campus mental health services so they can talk with a professional.

Signs That You May Have Anxiety

If you suspect you may have an anxiety disorder, here are some questions to ask yourself:

Are you experiencing anxious or worrisome thoughts on a daily basis?

Are you plagued by fears others may find unfounded or irrational?

Do you avoid everyday social activities because they cause you anxiety?

Do you experience sudden, heart-pounding panic attacks?

Is your anxiety interfering with your school work, job, and/or relationships?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, consider visiting your primary healthcare provider or someone at your student health center for a mental health assessment.

Resources for Anxiety

The following organizations are excellent resources for students with anxiety disorders:

3. Suicidal Ideation and Intent

Suicidal ideation is defined as a pattern of thinking about or planning one's own death by one's own hand. Generally, mental health professionals consider overwhelming or highly detailed suicidal thoughts a mental health emergency.

A 2018 study by Harvard Medical School researchers found that 1 in 5 U.S. college students experienced thoughts of suicide. More recently, the 2021 Healthy Minds Study reported that 5% of student respondents had planned to commit suicide (without making an attempt) in the past year.

Signs of Suicidal Ideation in Others

Many students experience stress, frustration, and doubt, but sometimes those thoughts gain an intense momentum that brings students to a place where they may seriously consider ending their lives.

Signs of suicidal ideation differ from person to person. According to ADAA, common warning signs can appear in a person's speech, mood, and/or behavior. These include:

Speech: People considering suicide may talk about feeling trapped, feeling as if they're a burden to others, feeling as if they have no reason to go on, and/or wanting to end their lives.

Mood: Signs of suicidal ideation and intent in someone can manifest in a variety of moods, including anxiety, irritability, loss of interest in activities they enjoyed previously, humiliation, rage, and depression.

Behavior: Those considering suicide may exhibit specific behaviors, including giving away prized possessions, withdrawing from friends and family, inexplicably visiting people to tell them goodbye, and searching online for information about how to commit suicide. They may also sleep poorly or too often, behave recklessly, act aggressively, and/or increase their use of drugs and alcohol.

If you notice any of the behaviors listed above in a classmate, friend, or family member, it's important to talk to them about your concerns as soon as possible. They could be in a fragile state, so make sure to approach them with patience and kindness.

In addition to encouraging them to see a mental health professional, you can and should give them the tools to help themselves. Advise them to save the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number - 988 or 1-800-273-8255 - in their phone. (And save this in your phone, as well.)

If you're unsure how to approach someone who may be experiencing suicidal ideation, you can consult online suicide prevention programs, like Crisis Connections, for advice.

Signs of Suicidal Ideation in Yourself

Suicidal thoughts often stem from a preexisting mental health condition. Depression, which can cause distorted thinking, sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts. Feeling utterly overwhelmed and helpless due to anxiety can also result in suicidal thoughts.

If you're thinking about ending your life, tell a friend or loved one. You should also contact your mental health center as soon as possible.

Remember that crisis services are available. Don't hesitate to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255 if you're experiencing peristent thoughts of suicide.

Suicide is a preventable tragedy. There are people out there who care and want to help you.

Suicide Prevention Resources

Many suicide prevention resources are available online and at campus health centers. Here are some organizations that specialize in mental health and suicide prevention:

Learn More

4. Eating Disorders

Eating disorders cover a variety of conditions marked by major irregularities in eating habits and an intense preoccupation with one's body image or shape. These disorders can involve both food deprivation and binge eating, which may be followed by purging.

Data shows that around 11-17% of female college students and 4% of male college students in the U.S. screen positive for clinical eating disorder symptoms.

Here are some examples of common eating disorders:

Anorexia Nervosa: Characterized by an unhealthy fixation on thinness, a distorted body image, and fears of gaining weight, this disorder commonly results in emaciation and has one of the highest mortality rates among mental health conditions.

Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia nervosa involves recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food, followed by behavior that compensates for binging, like purging, fasting, or overexercising.

Binge Eating Disorder: Binge eating disorder is characterized by constant cravings that occur any time of day and result in overeating. This disorder is often associated with poor body image and low self-esteem.

Symptoms of an Eating Disorder

The signs and symptoms of eating disorders can vary significantly. Many depend on the mental state of the individual with the disorder.

However, there are several red flags that are common factors for anorexia, bulimia, and binging, such as the following:

Distorted or poor body image

Excessive exercise

Irregular heartbeat

Dehydration

Feeling like your eating is out of control

Fear of eating in public

Constantly making excuses for eating habits

Eating disorders can be life-threatening and contribute to serious health issues if not treated properly, such as kidney failure, heart problems, stunted growth, loss of menstruation, and failure of the reproductive system.

Signs That Someone May Have an Eating Disorder

We all have days when our self-image isn't at its best. Remember that experiencing a few negative episodes doesn't necessarily mean you or someone has an eating disorder.

Nevertheless, when random complaints about weight become all a friend or loved one can focus on, or if you notice they've started skipping meals or binging on junk food and then feeling guilty afterward, it may be time to act.

Here are some signs to look for when you suspect someone you know has an eating disorder:

Are they skipping meals or only eating small portions of food?

Are they suddenly uninterested in foods they once loved?

Are they limiting their meals to foods very low in calories?

Are they taking diet pills excessively or medication that suppresses hunger, such as Adderall or Ritalin?

Do they disappear suddenly to the restroom after meals?

Do their teeth appear noticeably stained?

Are they using mints after trips to the bathroom or perfume to mask the smell of vomit?

Do they appear preoccupied with their body, appearance, and/or weight?

Do they exercise excessively or have trouble taking rest days from exercise?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your peer, friend, or loved one could have an eating disorder. If you need help approaching them about your concerns, consult the National Eating Disorders Association for advice.

Signs That You May Have an Eating Disorder

Worried you may have or be developing an eating disorder? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do you refuse to eat food or skip meals?

Do you fear eating out in public with others?

Do you count calories out of a need for control?

Do you follow strict eating habits that you feel guilty and ashamed for breaking?

Are you obsessed or dissatisfied with your weight or body shape?

Do you find yourself eating large amounts of food and then purging, making yourself vomit, or feeling like you have to do something (e.g., exercise) to compensate for the food you just ate?

Have you noticed excessive hair growth on your arms and face or the loss of your period?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, seek treatment. Eating disorders can become life-threatening, and it's important you receive help as soon as possible.

Eating Disorder Resources

If you need guidance to help a friend or yourself through an eating disorder, or if you want to understand more about eating disorders in general, these resources are a good place to start:

5. Substance Misuse

College students frequently use alcohol and recreational drugs, which can become problematic.

Substance misuse describes a tangible pattern of physical and/or psychological dependence on one or more substances. This condition typically entails strong cravings and indulgence in substance misuse, despite knowing the risks and harms of this behavior.

According to Addiction Center, about one-third of U.S. college students report symptoms of alcohol misuse. What's more, a 2018 survey from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 15% of male college students and 9% of female college students misused Adderall, a drug commonly used to treat ADHD.

College students have also been found to misuse drugs like marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and prescription painkillers at high rates.

Symptoms of Substance Misuse

Many students who use alcohol and drugs in college do not develop an addiction. However, they can still feel the side effects of withdrawal or prolonged use of these substances.

Here are some of the most common symptoms of substance misuse:

Slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, or impaired coordination

Fear, anxiety, or paranoia for no apparent reason

Prone to suspicious behaviors (e.g., frequently getting into fights or getting into trouble with the law)

A sudden need for money or a financial crisis

High tolerance for alcohol and/or drug use (in other words, the person may need to use more and more of a substance to obtain the same effects)

Deterioration of physical appearance, such as weight loss or gain, and changes in personal grooming habits

A sudden change in friends, activities, or hobbies

If you're experiencing one or more of these symptoms, you may be at risk of developing a substance use disorder. Genetics can contribute to your likelihood of developing an addiction, especially if your family has a history of alcohol or drug misuse.

Signs That Someone May Have a Substance Use Disorder

It's not always clear when alcohol or drug use has turned from recreational to habitual. Friends and loved ones who don't want to admit they have a problem may use tactics that evade and undermine your concerns.

If you suspect someone may have a substance use disorder, ask yourself the following questions:

Those who misuse drugs or alcohol often conceal their symptoms or downplay their addiction. As such, it's important that you express your concerns as soon as you notice the warning signs.

When the person is sober, tell them you've noticed their excessive drug or alcohol use. Emphasize the positive sober behaviors you admire and the destructive behaviors they display when drunk or high that concern you.

Refrain from being accusatory or judgmental, as this might cause them to withdraw and further ignore their issues. Offer to go with them to seek treatment at your student health center and help them find resources to support them.

Signs That You May Have a Substance Use Disorder

Ask yourself the following questions if you think you may be exhibiting signs of substance misuse:

If you answered yes to any of these questions, make an appointment to see your healthcare provider right away. Substance misuse should be taken seriously and treated under the guidance of a professional.

Substance Misuse Resources

The following resources can teach you more about the signs and causes of substance misuse, as well as how to get help for yourself or someone you know:
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Readers of this website should consult with their physician to obtain advice with respect to any medical condition or treatment.

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Top 5 Mental Health Challenges Facing Students | BestColleges

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Learn the signs and symptoms of the most common mental health conditions among college students, and find resources for support.

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101 HEALTH AND WELLNESS TIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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101 HEALTH AND WELLNESS TIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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Welcome to our College Wellness Center, a compassionate haven committed to fostering the holistic well-being of our students. We understand that the college journey is not just an academic pursuit but a transformative life experience. Our dedicated team of professionals is here to provide comprehensive medical and mental health support, ensuring that students thrive both inside and outside the classroom. At the heart of our mission is the belief that a healthy mind and body are essential foundations for academic success. Whether you're seeking medical care, counseling, or resources for maintaining a balanced lifestyle, the College Wellness Center is your partner on the path to wellness. We prioritize creating a supportive and inclusive environment where students can openly discuss their concerns and access the care they need. Additionally, our Food Pantry is here to support students by providing free access to nutritious food, recognizing that well-being extends to basic needs. Your health and happiness are our priorities, and we're here to empower you on your journey to success and fulfillment.

Announcements

Appointments

Appointment options for healthcare & counseling services.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency dial 911 or call RUPD at 856-225-6111

Upcoming Events

Emergency 911

Rutgers Police: 6111

Uwill Crisis Line: 1-833-646-1526

Crisis/Suicide Text or Call 988

Text TALK to 741741

Camden County Crisis Screening and Stabilization

1-856-428- HELP(4357)

Nurse on Call- after hours: 1-800-424-5090

Uwill

Uwill offers students free immediate access to teletherapy through its easy-to-use online platform. Uwill is a secure and convenient path to clinical services beyond CAPS's office hours, including evenings and weekends.

Togetherall

TogetherAll, is a free peer-to-peer online community which offers 24/7 support dedicated to mental health and well-being. Licensed and registered mental health practitioners monitor the community to ensure the safety and anonymity of all members.

HEALTH E LIVIN

Health E Livin desires to increase education and eliminate barriers to accessing mental healthcare. As a Rutgers Student, you can avail these services for free. You can also download their App on Android and iPhone. Access HealthELivin app now.
Wednesday:

Hours of operation
Tuesdays and Wednesday:
8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Tuesday:

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Extended Evening Hours:

8:30 am - 6:00 pm

Our Location

The Rutgers Wellness Center is located at the 326 Penn Street, on the Second Floor of the Campus Center.

Our Phone Number is : 856-225-6005

RU-Camden Scarlet Raptor's Nest

Raptor Pantry is a food pantry available to students at RU-Camden who are food insecure.

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10 TIPS COLLEGE COUNSELORS GIVE TO COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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10 TIPS COLLEGE COUNSELORS GIVE TO COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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Here's a tip: when it comes to surviving and thriving in college, counselors know what's what. They are an invaluable resource for students and provide many services - academic advising, career searching, mock interviews, transitional help, and more. They're also a primary source for college life advice.

We've compiled a list of ten common (but helpful!) pieces of advice given by college counselors.
1. Get Organized
We're not just talking about your room, here. College offers a lot of freedom, but sometimes that freedom can feel a little overwhelming. By keeping track of due dates, meetings, events, and deadlines, things can feel a little bit more structured. Counselors suggest utilizing a calendar or planner. The syllabus, usually given out in the first class, is another great way to track assignments and projects - since they outline what 's due when for the whole semester, deadlines won't sneak up on you.

But "get organized" goes beyond just due dates. Counselors suggest students keep resumes up to date, save exceptional essays or other work samples, write down job/internship details like start-date and job responsibilities, and keep a log of professional contacts you've made - you never know when all that will come in handy.
2. Don't Procrastinate
The temptation to push things off until tomorrow can be eased a little by following the previous tip, but even so the moment will come when you have to decide between starting your eight page research paper or blowing it off for another round of Netflix. Resist that urge. Stress levels will be a lot lower if you regularly do your assignments on time - or even better, get a head start on them.

Counselors suggest creating a schedule for working on assignments or projects. Treat it like you would a class - create a time each week, every day, or every other day, dedicated to class work, and follow it! If it's highlighted on a calendar or has a notification on your phone, you're more likely to maintain that schedule.
3. Go. To. Class.
This may seem like an obvious one, but like procrastinating, the temptation to stay in bed rather than trek out to your classes can be hard to resist. But you're at college for a reason - to further your education. You worked hard to get in, you're paying for it, and success (or failure) can determine your future, so go to class!

Many professors offer two or three days you can miss without penalty, but as tantalizing as those are, it's best to save them for the right opportunities, like being sick or swamped with projects. Losing even one day of class can have a huge impact on your understanding of the material, so it's always best to make the effort and go. There's also a growing trend of professor's adding "attendance points" on your grade, so repetitive skipping can hurt you in more ways than one.
4. Network
College is a time to meet tons of new people from all walks of life. It's also the perfect place to start forging relationships. There's no doubt that writing research essays and studying for finals can be stressful, so having good friends to rely on and have fun with will make college all the more enjoyable. Meet as many different people as you can by joining clubs, participating in sports or activities, going to events, or even just hanging out with fellow classmates.

Networking includes more than just making friends with peers, however. Counselors encourage students to forge good relationships with professors, bosses, co-workers, academic advisors, and other mentors; down the road you may need their help. Professors and former bosses can write recommendation letters, a co-worker might know a guy who knows a guy that needs an intern with your qualifications, and the better your advisor knows you the more they can help guide you towards your future goals. Build a strong and diverse network while at school.
5. Study Well
Many like to point out that the word "studying" is "student + dying" but that's probably because they're practicing poor study habits. Not to say that studying is the most exciting thing in the world, but it can be made less miserable (and more effective) by doing it well. Counselors are chock full of helpful study tips.

Don't cram: frantically reading several chapters the night before is not going to work; you'll just tire and stress yourself out - instead, study a little each night the week before and regularly quiz yourself. Be distraction free: the lure of the internet is powerful, so unplug or block your favorite social sites and put your nose to the grindstone. Find the perfect spot: whether it's in the library, outside on the quad, or tucked away in a coffee shop, find the place that's right for you where you can properly concentrate. Noise: every student learns differently, for some total quiet is needed, others need the lull of nearby conversations or even music (though if you study with music, it's recommended to stick to soundtrack instrumentals or classical pieces, lyrics are distracting). Take breaks: hunkering down and going at it hard for long periods of time can actually be counterproductive; instead, after every thirty minutes or so, reward yourself with a break - stress levels will be lower and your brain can start up again fresh and relaxed, thus retaining the information better.
6. Take Advantage of Resources
There are enough helpful resources on campus to make your head spin. Computer labs, writing centers, libraries, academic advisors, scholarships, social awareness groups, student health centers, and tutors just to name a few. Counselors suggest using each one to your advantage - resources are available, so why not use them?

Many universities have gyms as part of the tuition package, so hit it up to stay in shape and avoid that "Freshman 15." Having computer troubles? Lots of colleges have an IT center for quick fixes. Libraries have much more than just books; you'll do plenty of papers and the library a prime resource for research materials, not to mention it's a great place to study or collaborate on group projects. College is a huge transition, so if you're feeling unsure of what path you want to take or what to do to chase down your interests, visit your academic/career advisor regularly for more information and suggestions. Not quite sure your essay is up to par? Have someone at the writing center peer review it before you submit it for a grade. All of theses resources (and more) are there to help you, so use them!
7. Meet Your Professors
This is one of the most often told pieces of advice to college students: get to know your professors. There are numerous advantages to building a relationship rather than just sitting in the back of the classroom and never speaking to them. Not only can it make asking them for help (with recommendation letters, advice for writing a paper, extra help understanding material, etc.) easier, it can also make class more enjoyable.

Even if you're in a lecture of 600 students, it's worth introducing yourself. Make an impression. Visiting professors during their office hours shows initiative, not to mention one-on-one time can be used to ask questions and clarify topics or double-check on project requirements. Some professors might be willing to preview your essay and offer suggestions, others might give you a little bit of wiggle room with deadlines if something comes up. Even if you get stuck with a professor you don't like or doesn't particularly teach well, it's worth the effort to get to know them.
8. Apply for Financial Aid
Whether you're paying with scholarships and working two jobs or your parents are footing the bill, fill out your FAFSA and apply for scholarships. Receiving extra funds can only help, and lowering the amount of student loans you need to take out will reduce debt and stress. You might find that you qualify for aid you didn't know about.

There are more scholarship and grant opportunities that you'll know what to do with - so apply to as many as you qualify for, and double check that you've met all the requirements for each one. A common misconception is that only incoming freshman receive aid - not true! Each and every year you can fill out your FAFSA and capitalize on other aid opportunities.
9. Cultivate Experiences
They say that college is a time to make memories that will last forever, well whoever "they" are, they're right. Colleges offer unique events, activities, social groups, and opportunities that are just ripe for the picking. On the entertainment side, universities can host things like concerts, festivals, campus-wide games, and movie marathons. Socially, campuses are a hot spot for activism, fundraisers, and awareness campaigns, and they are filled to the brim with all sorts of student organizations. Whatever interests you, get out there and make some memories!

College is also prime time to earn career-oriented experience. Few employers take into account high school activities or achievements, so it's important to gather impressive resume items and connections. Potential employers like to see students who are involved both with their academics and their community. Leadership opportunities and volunteer work will earn you brownie points, not to mention you'll be making positive impacts too. Part-time jobs and relevant internships are also highly recommended by counselors. A great place to get started is at career fairs.
10. Take Care of Yourself
We'll let you in on a not so well kept secret: college is stressful. With so many big changes - moving away from home, being in charge of your own schedule, demanding course loads, projects stacking up, finance problems, friend drama, and dreaded finals - anyone can feel overwhelmed at some point or another. When tensions are high, it's easy to forget that taking care of yourself is just as important as getting good grades.

Ramen and Easy Mac are cheap, quick meals, but they aren't exactly the most nutritious; make sure to maintain a healthy diet, you'd be surprised how much better you'll feel. Additionally, beat that mythical Freshman 15 by hitting up the gym, walking instead of riding the bus, or joining a Zumba class. Lots of students can feel homesick the first year, luckily in today's age there are numerous ways to keep in contact with people back home - set up Skype dates or email regularly, even good old fashioned snail mail can alleviate some of the yearning. If the stress is starting to hit you really hard, talk to campus therapists or spend time with some therapy dogs. And be sure you get plenty of sleep. When you're feeling your best, you do your best work - so remember to take care of yourself.

If you take these pieces of advice to heart, and learn even more from your counselor, you'll be in for smoother sailing and a more rewarding college experience. Remember that every student is different, so experiment and see which methods work best for you.

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10 Tips College Counselors Give to Students - College Raptor Blog

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Here's a tip: when it comes to surviving and thriving in college, counselors know what's what. They are an invaluable resource for students and provide many services - academic advising, career searching, mock interviews, transitional help, and more. They're also a primary source for college life advice.

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CHALLENGES IN COLLEGE - STUDENT AFFAIRS 

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CHALLENGES IN COLLEGE - STUDENT AFFAIRS 

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There are many "issues" commonly experienced by students in college that can sometimes pose major challenges to study, play, socializing, and living. In the following, some of these challenges are identified and described, and suggestions are provided for further exploring or managing them.

Beginning life at college naturally generates both excitement and anxiety for many reasons including the move, academic responsibilities, and meeting new people. For some, this apprehension is quickly overcome as they adapt to a new environment; for others the transition takes longer and sometimes emerges as homesickness where there is a preoccupation with home-focused thoughts. Those who experience homesickness might notice an increase in depressed feelings, anxiety, obsessive thoughts and minor physical ailments. Some students will start by being mildly depressed and anxious several weeks before leaving home, in anticipation of the impending change. Others will be fine initially, and then to their surprise find themselves feeling homesick later in the academic year, perhaps after the Thanksgiving or semester break, or even at the start of their second academic year.

If you are homesick, you might notice an increase in:

Low energy or motivation.

Trouble sleeping.

Increases/decreases in appetite.

Having difficulty with school.

Increased use of drugs or alcohol.

Obsessively missing family/friends.

Pervasive unhappiness or displeasure.

Feeling like you "need" to go home.

Lack of interest or involvement in new surroundings.

The distance from home - the farther you go, the worse it may be.

A sense of anticlimax - you have finally arrived at college after working toward it for so long.

Unhappiness when things are different from your expectations of student life.

A heavy workload.

Students who are homesick often feel they have no control over their environment

Keep in good contact with the people you have left behind, but also give yourself time within the university to begin to get involved here.

Remember that many other students will be experiencing similar feelings

You are allowed to feel sad and homesick!

Be realistic about what to expect from student life and from yourself. Establish a balance between work and leisure

If work is proving too difficult, you may need to improve your study skills or your organization of time.

Remember to get enough food and sleep! These affect you emotionally as well as physically.

Make contacts and friends through shared activities such as sport or other interests.

Give yourself time to adjust - you don't have to get everything right straight away.

Most people come through times of homesickness and go on to do well and enjoy their time at university. But for some, the best choice may be to head in another direction.

If you stop being able to do normal social and academic things, seek professional help either from your advisor or dean or the counseling service.

* Special thanks to University of Cambridge, University of Montana, and YouthNet UK.
Because very few college students regularly get the eight hours of sleep they need daily, or frequently put together their sleep hours in haphazard fashion, difficulties due to sleep pose one of the biggest challenges in living for many college students. There is no easy cure for this other than to try to get adequate sleep and to figure out ways to fall asleep when the opportunity presents.

Tips for a better night's sleep

Keep a consistent sleep routine.

Attend to the sleep environment. Is the amount of light, level of noise, and temperature appropriate for sleep?

Just as decreasing light helps you sleep, increasing light helps you wake (especially direct sunlight).

Exercise moderately.

Avoid naps; they mess up your body's natural sleep clock.

Go through the same routine every night that helps you relax and prepare for rest.

If your thoughts are racing, write down your thoughts or "to dos" on a piece of paper for the next day.

Use a relaxation exercise before going to sleep (see below for examples of relaxation exercises).

Don't eat or drink too much before going to sleep.

Avoid caffeine after 5pm.

For a consultation with a counselor regarding sleep difficulties, contact us.
* Special thanks to the Kansas State University Counseling Services
Anxiety is a natural consequence of everyday stressful events. Many students experience some anxiety throughout their day; in some respects it can help them navigate difficult situations. However, anxiety can also become severe, persistent and counterproductive. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has more information on these anxiety disorders.

Some students may experience severe anxiety while taking exams. They may feel nervous and notice themselves sweating, hyper-ventilating, and having difficulty concentrating. However, since test anxiety is a learned response, it can also be unlearned.

What can I do to reduce test anxiety?

Eat a performance meal (high protein, low carbohydrate) while studying and before the exam to provide optimal mental energy.

Get enough sleep.

Exercise (physical energy = mental energy).

Minimize your alcohol and caffeine use.

Use a relaxation exercise (see below for samples).

Study ahead of time and create practice tests similar to the format of the exam

Stop negative thoughts ("I don't know enough to pass") about the test and increase positive thoughts ("I know a lot of this information; I'll start with the questions I know").

Expectations often impact actual performance.

* Special thanks to Texas Women's University Counseling Center
Stress (also called anxiety) is a reaction to everyday demands on our energy. There are various ways you may experience stress including increased adrenaline, muscle tension, hyper-ventilation ...anything that makes your body and mind work faster. Sometimes, our stress spills over into an unproductive feeling or mindset.

Eliminate unnecessary demands.

Take an assessment of your ability to cope with stress:

1. Do I have enough physical, mental, and emotional energy?

2. For more physical energy, attend to your eating, sleep, exercise, and use of substances like alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.

3. For more mental energy, consider changes in your study habits and organization strategies.

4. For more emotional energy, find ways to vent and increase your social support through friends, family, and/or your romantic partner.

Engage in a relaxation/meditation exercise (see below for samples)

Take strategic study breaks and set up "rewards" for accomplishing successful work.

Strategies that don't work:
* Special thanks to Texas Women's University Counseling Center
The social scene at college can be anxiety-provoking at times, especially during your first year. While some students are naturally outgoing, most have to work to make social connections. Some students may find that they tend to isolate themselves or remove themselves from participating in activities for fear of embarrassment, being judged, or fear of rejection. Some label themselves as shy and fail to think of themselves as capable of joining with others.

Tips for making social connections:
* Special thanks to the University of Texas at Dallas Student Counseling Center
Samples of Relaxation Exercises
* Special thanks to Hobart and William Smith Colleges Counseling Center
Self-Evaluation for Anxiety - Follow links to "Generalized Anxiety" section

There are various ways our mood may change throughout the week. At times, we may feel especially "down" or "tired". If this "down" feeling also includes unexpected crying, changes in eating/sleeping, or even suicidal thoughts - - and seems to last for a few weeks, you may be experiencing symptoms of depression.

How will I know if I'm depressed?

If you've been feeling sad, pessimistic, hopeless and down more often than not over the past two weeks or more, and you've stopped enjoying things that used to be fun, you might be depressed. Check the symptoms below - if you have experienced three or more it is likely you are experiencing a bout of depression.

Finding it hard to get motivated and feel interested in things because of lacking energy and feeling sluggish.

Wanting to avoid friends and everyday activities.

Difficulty concentrating or making decisions.

Losing interest in eating, or overeating.

Sleeping difficulties or feeling fatigued nearly every day.

Thinking about death, or planning suicide.

Having unpleasant, negative thoughts (like feeling guilty or that you are a bad or unworthy person).

Getting pains in your body or headaches that don't seem to have any physical cause.

Ongoing stress like coping with injuries, doing poorly academically and failing tests, or feeling lonely and isolated can lead to depression. Sometimes people get depressed for no obvious reason; the heavy feelings just seem to come out of the blue. This sometimes happens when people come from families who seem more vulnerable to becoming depressed after relatively mild stress. No matter how you became depressed, the effects are debilitating and will affect your academic performance, play, and relationships if left untreated.

Ok, so I'm depressed - what now?

Depression is more common than people think, but it can be treated. It's important to treat it like any other illness and seek help. Depression involves changes in brain chemistry and can influence the way you respond to the world around you. Options for dealing with depression include:

Talking with a Counselor or Psychologist who will:

Help you learn skills for solving problems, planning ahead and improving interactions with others

Help you see the positive side of yourself, others, and your circumstances

Assist your relationships with others

Often counseling, together with lifestyle changes, is useful for alleviating depression. In some cases medication may be necessary to help resolve a severe or long-standing bout of depression.
* Special thanks to Massey University and UNC Chapel Hill Campus Health Services.
One of the most severe symptoms of depression is suicide. While many people at some time in their lives contemplate the question, "is life worth living?", students who are depressed tend to answer that question in more pessimistic and hopeless ways and become at risk for hurting or killing themselves. What can you do if your friend says she or he is having serious thoughts about suicide?

1. Those who talk about it don't do it. Three out of four victims talked about suicide before they died. Verbal cues such as "Sometimes I wish I could just sleep and never wake up..." are warnings of suicide and should be recognized as a plea for help.

2. Those who attempt suicide and fail won't try again. If a person's feelings about life don't change and new coping skills were not learned and practiced, a person is likely to rely on suicide to cope with future depression and loss of hope.

3. College students have no reason to commit suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students and, 7.5 of every 100,000 college students take their own lives. The fact that their "whole lives are ahead of them" may be more of a threat than a comfort to some.

4. Talking about suicide will cause someone to do it. If someone is so upset that he/she might be considering suicide, you won't be putting ideas into his/her head by bringing it up. Be direct and ask, "Do you want to die?" Talking about it openly could prevent a person from acting.

If you are in crisis or you are feeling suicidal, we have resources and people you can talk to, or visit ULifeLine, a site dedicated to providing suicide information and resources.

The Jed Foundation web site also has information about suicide awareness for college students.

Self-Evaluation for Depression (Follow links to "Depression" or "Bipolar" section)

Trauma can occur when a stressful event (often unexpected) causes significant psychological distress. When psychological trauma persists and is re-experienced by the victim through flashbacks, nightmares, and/or unexpected triggers, the person may be experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What are some natural responses to a traumatic event?

Fear

Nausea

Depressed mood

Changes in appetite and sleep

Avoidance of certain triggers that remind you of the traumatic event

What can I do to cope with a traumatic event?

Remind yourself that it is normal to experience psychological distress after a traumatic event

Remain consistent with your routines (eating, sleeping, exercising, social activities), even if they don't feel as productive or enjoyable.

Spend some extra time relaxing or talking to friends, family, or other sources of support.

When should I seek professional help?

It may be helpful to speak with a counselor right after a traumatic event, but responses to trauma often go away within a couple weeks. If you find yourself experiencing symptoms after three or four weeks, you should consider talking to a counselor or other mental health professional.
* Special thanks to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
More Information and Resources Related to Traumatic Events
Hate/Bias Incident Relationship Violence, Stalking, & Sexual Assault

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There are many "issues" commonly experienced by students in college that can sometimes pose major challenges to study, play, socializing, and living. In the following, some of these challenges are identified and described, and suggestions are provided for further exploring or managing them.

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Positive self-regard, also known as positive self-esteem, is when an individual is able to maintain a positive self-view. As we grow and change we begin to learn more about who we are as a person, our strengths and weaknesses, personalities and identities, and with that knowledge we gain a greater awareness of how we feel about who we are. Sometimes we feel good about ourselves; we're proud of who we are and what we can accomplish, but sometimes we are very self-critical, don't feel good enough and wish we were someone different. This is negative self-esteem. How we view ourselves is critical to our mental health; increased levels of self-esteem can reduce anxiety and motivate us to accomplish our goals and be confident and happy individuals.
What you can do about it:
When the pressure is on and you're not feeling very good about yourself there are things you can do to help cope with the sadness, disappointment and anxiety you are currently experiencing.

Accept yourself for who you are. Be proud of the strengths that you have and don't beat yourself up over your weaknesses.

Break things down into achievable goals.

Don't compare yourself to others. Realize we all have weaknesses.

Don't withdraw. While it may be easier to avoid engaging in social situations, healthy and supportive relationships with your peers are instrumental in establishing a positive self-regard and provide you with an outlet for your stress.

Do something you enjoy. Whether it's art, dance, music or exercise, doing something you like will help get your mind off of your anxiety, relax you and help develop a more positive sense of self.

Participate in extracurricular activities. Being part of a team, volunteering or having a job will provide you with an outlet for your worries and encourage a sense of self worth. Studies show that engaging in team sports makes teens feel more satisfied with their life and feel healthier (Zullig & White, 2010).

Try to relax. Muscle relaxation and deep breathing exercises can help relieve the mind of anxiety and help wash away stress.

Decrease negative self-talk. Try not to put yourself down; it will only make you feel worse. Find positive ways to build yourself up, like positive affirmations. Challenging your negative beliefs will help change the way you think and make you feel better while encouraging a positive sense of self worth.

When in doubt, find help. Talking to a parent or a professional is a good way to learn better coping and stress management skills, to reduce anxiety and build self-esteem.

Parents, you too can help. Adolescents can benefit from positive, supportive parenting when you show acceptance, approval and encouragement of self-expression. Because parents are such a central figure in a teen's life, they still are important contributors to their child's self image. Showing an unconditional positive regard for your child and accepting and loving your child for who they are is fundamental in forming the foundation for their own positive self regard. Make sure to listen to your child and talk about any issues they may be experiencing.
For more information: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ http://www.aacap.org/ http://www.dartmouthcoopproject.org/TeenMental/using_relaxation_PT.html Keith J. Zullig, Rebecca J. White. Physical Activity, Life Satisfaction, and Self-Rated Health of Middle School Students. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2010; DOI: 10.1007/s11482-010-9129-z

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Positive self-regard, also known as positive self-esteem, is when an individual is able to maintain a positive self-view. As we grow and change we begin to learn more about who we are as a person, our strengths and weaknesses, personalities and identities, and with that knowledge we gain a greater awareness of how we feel about who we are.

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How we move, which is often referred to as "body language", is called Kinesics by social scientists. As we have indicated earlier, the interpretation of these body movements is subject to change based on culture and gender. Researchers Ekman and Friesen established five basic purposes that these kind of movement serve, Emblems, Illustrators, Affect Displays, Regulators and Adaptors.

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One aspect of proxemics has to do with how close we stand to others. The distance may vary based on cultural norms and the type of relationship existing between the parties.

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ACTIVE LISTENING ACTIVITIES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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ACTIVE LISTENING ACTIVITIES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

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Listening and hearing are not the same thing. While hearing suggests that you receive the sounds made by someone talking, listening requires that you mentally process these sounds so that they have meaning. Consequently, the listener must be actively involved in the communication process. With activities, you can teach college students how to develop and improve their listening skills.

Make a Scene

Divide the class into two groups. Have one group stand out in the hall. The group in the classroom must create a two-minute scene in which there is no talking and every person in the group has a function, such as in a group of people attending a basketball game. The scene must have a beginning, middle and end and tell some type of story. Give the performance group some time to work out what they will do, then call the first member of the group in the hall into the room and have him watch the scene. He must then tell the next member of his group what he saw and that person must tell the next person in the group what the first person told her, and so on, until everyone in the group has relayed the story. Then have the performance group do the scene again for everyone in the talking group to see how the story changed as it was told.

Build a Structure

Divide the class into teams of two. The team members must sit back-to-back around the room. One person can talk; the other person cannot. The person who can talk must construct something in front of her with a collection of building blocks provided by you. Then that person must instruct her partner how to build the exact same structure with the building blocks that he has. Limit the building time, then discuss with students why some teams were capable of accomplishing the task and others were not, focusing on listening skills.

Interview and Learn

With each student in the class paired with a partner, have the partners interview one another and report on what they have learned to the class. This activity requires that students be paired with other students whom they do not know well so that they can learn interesting facts about the other person. When the student reporting his findings to the class is finished, the student who was interviewed must point out any information that was left out or misinterpreted.

Stories

Write a list of words on the chalkboard. Have the students write a one-page story that incorporates all of the words on the chalkboard. You may want to use a theme for the words or focus the words on a holiday, for example. Erase the words on the chalkboard, but keep a copy of the list for yourself. Then call on one student to get up in front of the class and begin reading his story. The students in the class should shout "Stop!" when the reader says one of the words from the chalkboard. Use your list to make sure that the students have recalled the words correctly. The person who identifies the word then gets up and begins reading her story, with the other students stopping her when they hear a word from the chalkboard. The students should note on their paper where they left off reading and, if given the opportunity to get up and read again, pick up with their story where they left off. Make the listening activity a game by offering a prize to the first student who gets to complete his or her story.

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Listening Activities for College Students | Synonym

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Listening and hearing are not the same thing. While hearing suggests that you receive the sounds made by someone talking, listening requires that you mentally process these sounds so that they have meaning. Consequently, the listener must be actively involved in the communication process.

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Good Communication Skills: Open Ended Questions

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Good Communication Skills: Open Ended Questions

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Good communication skills will help you handle difficult conversations with employees. So, how do you go about preventing conflict and positively motivating people?

Video Created by Video Victory

As a Servant Leader and Leadership Trainer/Executive Coach, I've learned how to effectively handle the most sensitive conversations. My first lesson, to avoid "going up creek without a paddle", is to "use your O.A.R.S".

Using your OARS with your employees helps you navigate through rapids of resistance and steer you into calmer waters of change.

It can be especially helpful early on in the working relationship when first building trust and rapport. But, it can also be useful later on, throughout the relationship.

OARS Acronym

Open-ended questions

Affirmations

Reflective listening

Summaries

Good Communication Skills

Asking open versus closed-ended questions help the employee get started talking.

An open question is one that doesn't invite one-word responses but rather encourages the person to take control of the direction of conversation, which can help that her feel safer and able to express herself.

These elaboration questions invite a more open conversation compared to asking only yes/no response questions.

When you begin with several closed-ended questions, it is likely to cause the person to answer in short phrases and fall into a passive role waiting for you to ask for information.

Instead, with open-ended questions, you set an interested, open, collaborative tone. The employee is then likely to open up.

Examples of Open-ended Questions

What would you like to talk about?

What would change if you quit/stopped _____?

Tell me what's bothering you?

So, what's going on?

What's been happening since we last met?

What makes you think it may be time for a change?

What happens when you say/do that?

How were you able to do that?

What's different this time?

What else?

Such as?

What was that like?

What would you like?

Tell me about a time when you were successful

Inappropriate Closed-Ended Examples

Do you think others have been hurt by your ____ (negative, unproductive behavior)? * Do people get angry when you do that?

Are you concerned about ____?

Do you ____ (negative, undesired behavior)?

Does this affect others?

Others say you ____ (negative, undesired behavior). Do you ____?

Often open-ended questions begin with "What," "How," "In what way," and "Tell me ..." or "Describe..."

Use these to open conversation about the person's view of his/her problems and commitment to change.

Make your open-ended questions relevant to the conversation so they encourage the person to explore and recognize problem areas and motivation for change.

Avoid being judgmental or leading. Pause after each question to give the person time to respond. And avoid asking several questions at a time or the person will feel like he/she is being interrogated.

Don't lead or steer the person or use a judgmental or sarcastic tone.

Affirmations

Affirmations are genuine, direct statements of support during a discussion that are usually directed at something specific, some change that the employee has made.

These statements demonstrate that you understand and appreciate at least part of what the person is dealing with and supports them as a person.

Affirmations verbally reinforce the employee's strengths, abilities, or efforts to change their behavior.

You help develop the person's confidence by praising small steps taken in the direction of change or expressing appreciation of his personal qualities that might facilitate successful efforts to change.

This skill focuses on your expressions of confidence in the employee's ability to achieve their goals.

You may affirm them by:
Using compliments or praise... Acknowledging the individual's personal traits, competencies or abilities that might promote change... Positively reinforcing the employee (e.g., note how multiple attempts at trying to deal with their problems and not giving up show persistence/strength)... Fostering the employee's belief that there is hope for success and he/she can change...
Examples

I appreciate your honesty ( if you know she is being honest)

I can see that ______ is important to you

It really shows commitment that you _____.

You have some really good ideas.

It sounds as if you have really thought a lot about this and have some good ideas about how you might want to change. You are really on your way!

That must have been really hard for you. You are really trying hard to work on yourself

You showed a lot of strength/determination/courage by doing that

It seems like you're really trying to...

You held up under enormous pressure

Looking at all the obstacles you've overcome, it's impressive that you've been able to...

It must've taken a lot of work to...

Thank you for coming today

The point of affirmations is to notice and acknowledge the person's efforts and strengths. Verbally reinforce the person's abilities, skills, or efforts to change his/her behavior.

Reflections

Listening is about being quiet and actively listening to the person, and then responding with a statement that reflects the essence of what the person said, or what you think they meant.

It involves close listening that allows you to understand what the person is trying to say. The employee feels empathy when you listen actively/reflectively.

The first step in using reflective listening is to listen carefully and think in terms of possible meanings/hypotheses. In other words, you form a guess about what the person means.

The second step is to prove/disprove your guess by reflecting back what you think you heard.

It's like asking, "Do you mean...?" without putting your words in question form.

Levels of reflections:

Examples

1. Simple Reflection

"She is driving me crazy with all this work."

You respond: "All the work is really bothering you."

2. Amplified Reflection

"I don't know why everybody is making such a big deal about my yelling. I don't do it that much. And, besides... no one listens unless I do it."

You respond: "So there's no reason for any concern." Or, "Well, maybe I did take it a little too far." (So the person starts thinking in the opposite direction)

3. Double-sided Reflection

(capturing both sides of a person's ambivalence; reflecting both the pros and cons of something, what was said but also what was implied or hinted; demonstrating that you heard the person's ambivalence)

"I'd hate to fail because I don't understand the material. It's just that I don't want to ask for help from others. I feel really dumb asking."

You respond: "On one hand, you're worried about failing and frustrated trying to learn the material. On the other hand, you don't like to ask for help because you think it means you're not smart."

Summaries

Communicate that you have followed what the person said and that you have an understanding of the big picture.

Help structure a discussion so that neither you nor the speaker gets too far away from important issues and can help you link what a person just said to something he/she stated earlier.

Provide an opportunity to emphasize certain elements of what the person has said. After several minutes of using OARS, a summary could check to see if you are "getting" what the person is trying to relay.
For example: "So Sally, let me make sure I've got this right. You care about your friends very much, and you don't want to risk losing any of them. You think you might have to talk to them about the rumors they're spreading, but aren't sure how to do that. Is that it?" Another possible ending may be: "What else would you add?" The person will correct you if you are wrong and then you could reflect back to affirm you are listening, and you got it.

Build rapport, communicate your interest in the employee and shift focus and attention.

Invite the employee to correct anything you missed or heard wrong or invite more exploration of material or to transition to another topic.

Examples
Let me see if I understand what you've told me so far... Here is what I've heard you say so far...
To Summarize

Good communication skills are critical to your success as a leader. In fact, when you use your O.A.R.S., your employees are more likely to feel heard and understood. As a result, they become engaged and motivated.

But don't be fooled by the deceptive simplicity of these skills. They are much more difficult to employ than they appear.

At my "Master of Motivation & Influence" workshops, attendees are always surprised at how difficult the role play practice exercises prove to be.

Nevertheless, once they've practiced them, received feedback, and made improvements based on that feedback, they find open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summarizations easier and easier.

How Do You Practice Good Communication Skills?P
If you have ideas you feel like sharing that might be helpful to readers, share them in the comments section below. Thanks!

Would you like to contribute a post?

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Good Communication Skills: Open Ended Questions

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Good communication skills will help you handle difficult conversations with employees. So, how do you go about preventing conflict and positively motivating people? Video Created by Video Victory As a Servant Leader and Leadership Trainer/Executive Coach, I've learned how to effectively handle the most sensitive conversations.

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8 Methods for Effectively Improving Student Communication Skills

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8 Methods for Effectively Improving Student Communication Skills

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Counseling Skills - Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Reflecting

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Counseling Skills - Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Reflecting

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Ensuring that you understand your clients, and that your clients feel understood by you is foundational to the counseling relationship. The skills on this page are particularly useful for building the counseling relationship by helping your clients to know that you are hearing and understanding what they are saying.

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Reflecting

Summarizing, paraphrasing, and reflecting are probably the three most important & most commonly used microskills. These skills can be used by counselors to demonstrate their empathy to clients, make the counseling session go "deeper", & increase clients' awareness of their emotions, cognitions, & behaviors. All three methods involve repeating back, in your own words, what the client has said. Counselors often go beyond simple repetition and include their own interpretations of the client's emotions or existential meaning to increase the "depth" of the session. These techniques can often be used in place of questions, as, like questions, they prompt the client to reflect or talk more. However, these techniques often have additional benefits of questions as they also demonstrate that the counselor empathizes with and understands each client. Summaries, paraphrases, and reflections can be described as:

Summarizing

Broadest of the three methods for repeating information.

Useful at the end or beginning of session. For example, summarizing the session to the client or reorienting the client to the previous session.

Summaries can include condensed paraphrases & reflections.

Paraphrasing

Not as broad as a summary, yet more broad than a reflection.

Useful for pacing counseling sessions and for demonstrating empathy to clients.

Paraphrases can contain condensed reflections.

Reflecting

There are three broad types of reflection: Reflections of content, reflections of feeling, & reflections of meaning.

Counselors can strengthen their reflections by constructing a reflection that integrates content, process, affect, and meaning. For example, "While talking about the loss of your dog (content) I experience you as alternating between anger and sadness (affect). That makes a lot of sense to me (self-disclosure), since you told me that seeing your dog at the end of a stressful day kept you grounded (meaning)".

Types of Reflections

Counselors can reflect a wide range of information, but reflections typically include one or more of the following:

1. Content
Reflecting content involves repeating back to clients a version of what they just told you. Reflecting content shows the client you understand and are listening to them. Typically, reflecting content alone is not as powerful as reflecting content with emotions and/or meaning.

2. Emotions
Reflecting a client's emotions is often useful for heightening the client's awareness of and ability to label their own emotions. It is important that counselors have a wide emotional vocabulary, so they can tailor their word choice to match a level of emotional intensity that is congruent with a client's experience. Feeling word charts are useful for reviewing a wide range of feeling words.

3. Meaning
As existential theorists observe, humans are meaning making creatures. Reflecting a client's meaning can increase the client's self-awareness while encouraging emotional depth in the session.

Emotional Heightening

Counselors can intentionally use language to increase or decrease the emotional intensity of their reflections, thereby altering a client's emotional arousal. Using evocative language and metaphors (e.g., "walking on eggshells") encourages clients to go deeper into a particular experience or emotion, which can heighten awareness and understanding. Conversely, a counselor might support a client in containing their emotions toward the end of the session, so the client is prepared to leave the session.

It is important that counselors attempt to match their reflections to the emotional intensity of the client's experience. Thus, intentionality is important when counselors reflect more or less emotion than the client expresses, as doing so can result in the client feeling misunderstood and not listened to.

An example of emotional heightening is:

Client: "My wife and I can't stop fighting with each other, and things are really escalating."

Counselor: "Your fights are becoming more explosive and hostile."

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Ensuring that you understand your clients, and that your clients feel understood by you is foundational to the counseling relationship. The skills on this page are particularly useful for building the counseling relationship by helping your clients to know that you are hearing and understanding what they are saying.

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The age of information has made a lot of things easier, but in many ways, it's made college quite a bit harder. With websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit taking their toll on our concentration, it's harder than ever to stay focused.

Good study habits are essential if you want to succeed in college. Whether you're just beginning college or you're looking for that crucial senior year productivity boost, these study tips for college students will help you max out your GPA and get on that honor roll.

1. Good Notes = Good Grades

The correlation between good notes and good study habits is undeniable. However, taking good notes doesn't come naturally to everyone. The trick is to record the key points of the lecture or textbook without writing down too much extraneous info. If you're worried you're missing important details, feel free to ask your professor during office hours. Many students also record lectures so they can listen to them later to verify their notes; just make sure you get permission from your professor first!

2. Stay Organized

Keep a detailed calendar with all your commitments, including classwork, social events and extracurricular activities. This way, you can block out time each day to study.

Organizing your class materials is also one of the most important study tips for college students. Use sticky notes to remember important textbook pages, keep your returned assignments, and make flashcards for key terms. You'll thank yourself come exam time!

3. Unplug and Reconnect

This can be tricky, since most students use their computers for virtually all their homework. Still, the Internet is the worst distraction there is, and limiting time on it is one of the best study tips for college students. Try to set boundaries for yourself: for example, no Facebook during class or study time.

4. Don't Cram

It's definitely tempting to put off your studying until the last minute, but you're much less likely to retain information this way. Good study habits come from pacing yourself. Try to study a little bit each day, rather than saving it all for the week before the exam. This will help you ward off exhaustion and remember what you learned.

5. Don't Over-Study

For most students, "over-studying" seems (and probably is) impossible. But if you're the sort of person who camps out in the library, you might be doing more work than you need to.

Among study tips for college students, time management is one of the most essential. Make sure you're studying the key ideas of each lecture or textbook chapter, and avoid absorbing useless information. If you're not sure, meet with your professor to make sure you're practicing good study habits.

6. Find Your Zone

Everyone has their perfect study environment. For some, it's a quiet reading room, while others prefer the bustle of a coffee shop. Some like to listen to music while they study, and some need complete silence. Try a few different kinds of environments and see what works for you.

7. Take a Break!

No, really, you've earned it! Take a ten-minute break every hour or so, and try to take a day or two off per week if you can. It'll help you stay energized and at peak mental condition. Given how easy it is to become overwhelmed in college, this is probably the most important of our study tips for college students.

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The age of information has made a lot of things easier, but in many ways, it's made college quite a bit harder. With websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit taking their toll on our concentration, it's harder than ever to stay focused. Good study habits are essential if you want to succeed in college.

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Factors in Student Motivation
Educators across the country are frustrated with the challenge of how to motivate the ever increasing number of freshmen students entering college who are psychologically, socially, and academically unprepared for the demands of college life. Such students often exhibit maladaptive behavior such as tardiness, hostility towards authority, and unrealistic aspirations.

The standard approach is to address the problem as an academic issue through remedial or developmental instruction. Developmental education programs however do not address the whole problem. Lack of motivation is not limited to the academically weak student. Successful remedial and study strategies courses aimed at the underprepared student have demonstrated that students who really want to improve their skills can do so when motivated. However, even the best remedial instruction programs have failed to positively impact the student who is both underprepared academically and unmotivated. When students have both a lack of academic skills and lack motivation, the greater problem is motivation (Kelly, 1988). Faculty often have neither the time or inclination to address difficult motivational issues in the classroom, consequently, the task of trying to effectively motivate such students often falls to academic advisors.

Opinions about the role of motivation in academic achievement and what can be done about it vary widely among college faculty, administrators, and student services professionals. Consideration about unmotivated students opens a Pandora's box of questions: Can anything be done about these students? Can motivation be taught? What kind of strategies can be used to influence motivation? Is this time wasted that might better be used on those students who are already motivated?

The problem of devising effective strategies that influence motivation relies initially on the identification of specific motivational factors. The histories of psychology and education are abundant with research on motivation and its effect on behavior. The study of motivation in education has undergone many changes over the years, moving away from reinforcement contingencies to the more current social-cognitive perspective emphasizing learners' constructive interpretations of events and the role that their beliefs, cognitions, affects, and values play in achievement (Pintrich and Schunk, 1996).

Factors, definitions, and theory
Several specific motivational factors have come to light in recent educational research from the social cognitive approach including: Intrinsic Goal Orientation, Extrinsic Goal Orientation, Task Value, Control of Learning Beliefs, and Self-Efficacy for Learning and Performance. These factors are defined as:

Intrinsic Goal Orientation is having a goal orientation toward an academic task that indicates the students' participation in the task is an end all to itself rather than participation being a means to an end. Also included here is the degree to which students perceive themselves to be participating in a task for reasons such as challenge, curiosity, and mastery (Garcia, McKeachie, Pintrich, & Smith, 1991).

Extrinsic Goal Orientation concerns the degree to which students perceive themselves to be participating in a task for reasons such as grades, rewards, performance evaluation of others and competition. Students with high in extrinsic goal orientation engage in learning tasks as the means to an end. The main concern here is the students with high Extrinsic Goal Orientation relate to issues rather than those directly related to participating in the task itself (Garcia et al., 1991).

Task Value refers to students' evaluation of how interesting, how important, and how useful the task is. High task should lead to more involvement in learning. Task value refers to the students' perceptions of the course material in terms of interest, importance, and utility (Garcia et al., 1991)

Self-Efficacy for Learning and Performance comprises two aspects of expectancy: expectancy for success and self-efficacy. Expectancy for success refers to performance expectations, and relates specifically to task performance. Self-efficacy is a self appraisal of one's ability to accomplish a task and one's confidence in possessing the skills needed to perform that task (Garcia et al., 1991).

Test Anxiety has been found to be negatively related to expectancies as well as to academic performance. Test anxiety is thought to have two components: a worry, or cognitive component, and an emotional component. The worry component refers to students' negative thoughts that disrupt performance, whereas the emotionality component refers to affective and physiological arousal aspects of anxiety. Cognitive component and preoccupation with performance have been found to be the greatest sources of performance decrement. Training in the use of effective learning strategies and test-taking skills should help reduce the degree of anxiety (Garcia et al., 1991).

These factors identified in the social-cognitive model of motivation can be narrowed to three motivational constructs: expectancy, value, and affect. The expectancy construct assesses perceptions of self-efficacy and control beliefs of learning. The self-efficacy construct postulated by Bandura in his social learning theory has guided extensive motivational research. The second construct of expectancy is a refined construct based on Rotter's locus of control. Rotter's locus of control construct, first presented in 1966, is perhaps one of the most highly researched concepts in modern psychological study.

The value construct includes intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation as well as task value beliefs. Ryan, Connell, and Deci (1985) who researched the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their "Cognitive Evaluation Theory" argue that perceptions of autonomy and competence are fundamental to intrinsic motivation. Commitment to educational attainment and learning are necessary to sustain motivation. Commitment to learning is a syndrome of variables such as belief in the value of learning.

The third motivational construct is affect and can be measured in terms of test-anxiety. A meta-analysis of 562 studies that related test anxiety and academic achievement found that test anxiety does cause poor performance, is negatively related to self-esteem, and is directly related to students' fear of negative evaluation (Hembree, 1988).

Using theory in successful institutional practice
How then can educational institutions use these identified motivational constructs to help students be more successful? Colleges must move beyond developmental instruction alone and address motivation issues in a more comprehensive manner. One important consideration is early identification of and attention to at-risk student problems. It is well documented that addressing retention issues early in the student's first year of college is critical. Historically, at least half of all students who drop out of college do so during their freshmen year (Noel, 1985; Terenzini, 1986). Many of these students leave during the first six to eight weeks of their initial semester according to Blanc, Debuhr, and Martin (1983). These statistics have remained relatively unchanged in recent years.

Colleges nationwide do a good job identifying new freshmen students who are academically at-risk. Institutions use a number of academic assessment instruments e.g., ACT, ASSET, COMPASS, SAT, and ACCUPLACER. Since assessing motivation is less standardized and less common at educational institutions, another option may be to consider already identified motivational differences between academically prepared and unprepared students. Use of informal observations or tools such as the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) can help identify these students. (Find more information regarding the MSLQ see http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Learner_autonomy. Additionally, a portion of the MSLQ can be seen via Indiana University http://www.indiana.edu/~p540alex/MSLQ.pdf .

In a study of academically prepared and underprepared freshmen orientation students, Howey (1999) found clear motivational differences between academically prepared and underprepared community college freshmen orientation students. Specifically, underprepared students are more extrinsically motivated, see more value in study strategies offered in the course, have low self-efficacy beliefs, and suffer more from test anxiety. Academically prepared students, on the other hand, have more internalized locus of control beliefs, greater self-efficacy, and are less affected by test anxiety. Academically prepared students may be better served by emphasizing goal orientation (major selection) and related career information, critical thinking, leadership training, or service learning opportunities. Implications are that due to identified differences in the motivational constructs of expectancy, value, and affect, college administrators may want to consider more homogeneous grouping, based on academic readiness, of freshmen orientation students in order to better address individual motivational differences.

As discussed previously, early intervention is critical to improving the success rate and retention of at-risk students. In addition to providing an opportunity for timely intervention, freshmen orientation course material and textbooks are typically designed specifically to address motivation and study strategies. Clearly one venue with high potential to positively impact student motivation to succeed in college is through a customized and targeted freshman seminar course.

What advisors can do
In addition to a systematic approach through a freshmen seminar course there are also strategies advisors can use to influence motivational changes when meeting with their advisees individually. The mere act of meeting with advisees on a regular basis and expressing interest and concern beyond just their class schedule and program requirements is critical in itself. Carl Roger's Person Centered Therapy, including the concepts of unconditional positive regard and reflection, influenced those of us in graduate counseling programs in the 70s and is still relevant to our understanding of how important relational issues are to advisees. Habley (2003) states "Advising is the only opportunity on campus in which students have the opportunity for on-going, one on one interaction with a concerned representative of the institution."

Warm and fuzzy relations, however, may not be enough to create significant changes of behavior in the unmotivated student. Unfortunately, a detailed explanation of specific techniques for changing behavior is an article or perhaps a course all by itself. We know that major and career exploration is helpful for students who lack goal orientation.

There is another approach that may be helpful in working with students with other motivational factors; a technique relevant to self-regulated learning and as a problem solving approach. This technique specifically is to get the advisee more involved in the process of coming up with their own strategies for addressing a problem. For example, rather than focusing on how unfair or boring a particular instructor may be, students should be asked to generate their own ideas on what they could do to improve the situation. If students can't come up with any ideas on their own, advisors can ask them to pick what might work best from a list of suggestions generated by the advisor. Follow-up meetings to refine strategies will be needed.

Conclusion
In summary, advisors may find it helpful when working with unmotivated students to approach the problem from a motivational constructs framework. The identification of motivational issues based on the constructs of expectancy (self-efficacy and locus of control beliefs), value (goal orientation or task value concerns), or affect (test anxiety), may be helpful in developing specific strategies toward greater success in college.

Authored by:
Steven C. Howey
Coordinator of Advising, Counseling, and Career Development (Retired)
Hutchinson Community College (KS)
References
Blanc, R. A., Debuhr, L. E., & Martin, D. C. (1983). Breaking the attrition cycle: the effects of supplemental instruction on undergraduate performance and attrition. Journal of Higher Education, 54 (1), 80-90.

Garcia, T., McKeachie, W. J., Pintrich, P. R., & Smith, D. A. (1991). A manual for the use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Tech. Rep. No. 91-B-004). Ann Arbor, MI : The University of Michigan, School of Education.

Habley, Wes. (2003). NACADA Summer Institute, quoting 'Academic Advising: Critical Link in Student Retention.' (1981). NASPA Journal, 28(4): 45-50.

Hembree, R. (1988). Correlates, causes, effects, and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 58, 47-77.

Howey, S. C. (1999). The relationship between motivation and academic success of community college freshmen orientation students. Doctoral Dissertation. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 465391).

Kelly, D.K. (1988). Motivating the underprepared unmotivated community college student. Viewpoints (120) - Information analyes (070). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 299 009)

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Pintrich, P.R. (1988a). A process-oriented view of student motivation and cognition. In J. Stark and L. Mets (Eds.), Improving teaching and learning through research: New directions for institutional research (Vol. 57, pp. 65-79).

Pintrich, P.R. (1988b). Student learning and college teaching. In R. E. Young and K. E. Eble (Eds), College teaching and learning: Preparing for new commitments. New directions for teaching and learning ( Vol. 33, pp. 71-86). San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Pintrich, P. R. (1989). The dynamic interplay of student motivation and cognition in the college classroom. In C. Ames and M. Maehr (Eds.) Advances in motivation and achievement: Motivation enhancing environments (Vol. 6, pp. 117-160).Greenwich , CT : JAI Press.

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Cite using APA style as:
Howey, S.C. (2008). Factors in student motivation. Retrieved from the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources Web site:
http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Motivation.aspx
Additional Resources

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Factors in Student Motivation Educators across the country are frustrated with the challenge of how to motivate the ever increasing number of freshmen students entering college who are psychologically, socially, and academically unprepared for the demands of college life. Such students often exhibit maladaptive behavior such as tardiness, hostility towards authority, and unrealistic aspirations.

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6 Critical Skills Every Counselor Should Cultivate 

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6 Critical Skills Every Counselor Should Cultivate 

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3. Ability to Listen - On Multiple Levels

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but effective listening as a counselor is a nuanced skill.

A counselor needs not only to listen to what is being said, but how it's said, why it's being said, and what it means in the context of that particular client. Think content, delivery, and context.

A counselor also needs to be able to listen "between the lines," so to speak, for those things that aren't being said. What a client omits from a session can speak just as clearly as what is communicated out loud.

Perhaps most importantly, a counselor should know how to listen without judgment or evaluation. Clients are going to come to you with difficult and complicated issues, and they'll need to feel as though they have the space to say everything they feel they need to, without fear of shame or feeling as though their counselor has jumped to a conclusion.

As a counselor, cultivating a non-reactive stance and learning the difference between observation and evaluation will help in making accurate assessments, and developing a relational connection with the client.

4. Accessibility & Authenticity

A counselor must be accessible to clients in order to gain their trust, but perhaps more importantly, a counselor needs to be genuine and empathetic-in his or her communication, listening, and professional persona.

Developing an empathetic connection with each client is key to moving forward in the therapeutic process, and is the core of an effective counselor-client relationship.

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6 Critical Skills Every Counselor Should Cultivate

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Honing a solid set of essential skills makes for an effective, successful mental health practitioner.

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The Career Centaur is an online career hub for new and aspiring student affairs professionals. 

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The Career Centaur is an online career hub for new and aspiring student affairs professionals. 

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The Career Centaur is an online career hub for new and aspiring student affairs professionals. We offer practical tips and career resources to help you explore career paths in student affairs, choose the right graduate school program for you, organize your job search, navigate your first full-time role, and more.

Hi, I'm Kristen! I'm a career advisor and the human behind The Career Centaur. When I went first started out in student affairs, I was surprised by how difficult it was to find career guidance specific to our profession.

So, in fall 2017, I decided to launch The Career Centaur as a virtual career center for new and aspiring student affairs professionals. My goal is to create useful resources that fill the knowledge gap, like interview questions and sample resumes tailored to specific functional areas.

A little bit about me: I currently work as a career coach for graduate students at the University of California San Diego (I love it). My career in student affairs has spanned three different campuses and a variety of functional areas, including career services, student activities, and early outreach programs. I've also worked in K-12 education and the nonprofit sector.

I earned my master's degree in Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Student Affairs from San Diego State University in 2015. Five years earlier, I graduated with a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio-go Bucks!
Connect with me:

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The Career Centaur - Career Advice for Student Affairs Professionals

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The Career Centaur is an online career hub for new and aspiring student affairs professionals. We offer practical tips and career resources to help you explore career paths in student affairs, choose the right graduate school program for you, organize your job search, navigate your first full-time role, and more.

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Tips for Transitioning from Graduate Student to New Professional

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Tips for Transitioning from Graduate Student to New Professional

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Tips for Transitioning from Graduate Student to New Professional - New Professionals and Graduate Students Post

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As this is the season for newly graduated students to get ready and assume their first full-time position, several people are probably wondering, “how should I prepare for this transition?” Below are 10 tips that are a combination of advice from my mentors, things I have heard/read over the years, and things I personally learned along the way about the transition from graduate student to new professional.

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Time-Saving Productivity Tips for Student Affairs Professionals 

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Time-Saving Productivity Tips for Student Affairs Professionals 

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Anyone that plays video games knows the concept of a multiplier. A long-time favorite game among my friends has been Rock Band. By accurately playing a series of notes in the game, you increase chances of activating the multiplier, known in the game as overdrive. If you forget to activate overdrive, then you miss the opportunity to double, quadruple, or even octuple your score for a short period of time-leaving you with a much lower score than your bandmates and lessening your contribution to the overall band score.

We have multipliers in our everyday lives. Instead of scoring big while jamming to our favorite tracks, these multipliers are time-savers. They involve making an investment of time up front to save us multiples of time in the long term.

Modern technology is overwhelming us with opportunities to add efficiency to our personal and professional lives. Automation tools are now everywhere in the technology we use in student affairs work. Sometimes they're obvious and simple. Other times they're hidden or a bit more challenging to figure out.

Following is a quick rundown of a few simple tips for student affairs pros as we try to multiply the time available to have a positive impact on students.

Tip #1: Review Options and Settings

Your first strategy in saving time should be to review the options and settings of every piece of software and every app used regularly in your work. The best developers always have good reason for adding a feature. If you're not aware that something is available to you, then you might miss the chance to activate that time multiplier when you really need it!

Not sure how to use a setting or option? Use your favorite search engine to look for instructions, or check YouTube. In doing so, take time to find something that matches your learning style and comfort level with the tool. Don't give up because the first few search returns make it sound too complicated.

As an example, check out this YouTube video on Outlook calendar options. Being aware of these options may save you tons of time in coordinating your schedule.

Tip #2: Setup Email Categories, Filters and Rules

All modern office email tools provide ways to organize the deluge into folders or categories. Categories are ideal. A message can only live in one folder, but you can tag an email with multiple categories--making it easier to find when you need it. Both Gmail and Outlook offer this feature, and both provide ways to have categories automatically assigned as messages arrive in your inbox.

Tip #3: Track Tasks Electronically

Being productive and organized in today's student affairs work requires that you move your task list from paper to digital. And this means doing more than using your email inbox as a to-do list! Most office productivity tools provide a way to track and manage tasks electronically. There are also several free web and mobile device apps available.

Typically, task management tools will provide fields for task items that include start date, due date, and status. In addition, you may be able to setup reminders, assign tasks to others and receive updates on status changes.

A digital approach to task tracking means no more drafting and re-drafting your daily to-do list on paper. It also means no more losing your to-do list or forgetting it at home. You'll always be on top of things because you can access your list from anywhere you have an internet connection.

Part two will focus on advanced tools for automating your work and achieving those really high-scoring multipliers!

http://www.rockband.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Wcj6v_suw
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/3055016?hl=en
https://support.office.com/en-in/article/Assign-a-color-category-to-an-e-mail-message-dd8132fb-0170-4e4c-bfeb-4dde5f3a7450
https://hbr.org/2014/03/stop-using-your-inbox-as-a-to-do-list

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Kelly Leonard is the systems analyst for the Office of the Dean of Students at Iowa State University. His role focuses on the use of office collaboration and communication tools aimed at streamlining and automating the collection, dissemination and storage of information. He is passionate about social justice and inclusion--especially in the ways technology can empower, educate and connect people. Kelly loves to travel, play games, chase storms, and volunteer for community-building organizations. He and his spouse, Melvin, live in Ames, Iowa, USA with their canine companions, a black lab named Java and chocolate lab named Mocha. Kelly is a member of the NASPA Technology Community (TKC) leadership team and serves as a liaison between the TKC and Disability KC. Kelly can be reached on twitter at @kellypleonard.

Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NASPA. If you agree or disagree with the content of this post, we encourage you to dialogue in the comment section below. NASPA reserves the right to remove any blog that is inaccurate or offensive.

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Time-Saving Productivity Tips for Student Affairs Professionals (Part 1 of 2) - Technology Post

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Anyone that plays video games knows the concept of a multiplier. A long-time favorite game among my friends has been Rock Band. By accurately playing a series of notes in the game, you increase chances of activating the multiplier, known in the game as overdrive.