Welcome to Edition 107 of Institute Inbrief. There has been heightened awareness over the years of what effects domestic violence, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, street violence and catastrophic events have on children.

In our featured article, we overview the impact of abuse on children and provide you with links to five comprehensive articles exploring this topic.  

Also in this edition:

• Resources & Opportunities for Counsellors
• Counselling Dilemma: a Multicultural Issue in Relationship Counselling
• Review - Relationship Breakdown
• Effectiveness Tips - How to Deal Positively with Stress
• Counselling Connection updates
• Upcoming Seminar dates
• Loads of resources, events and opportunities

Enjoy your reading!

Editor

The Diploma of Professional Counselling is supported by a number of optional Advanced Study Majors. Advanced Study Majors allow you to study and gain advanced knowledge and skill in the specialised counselling area of your choice.

The Advanced Study Major Program involves the completion of one or more optional Advanced Study Majors in addition to the Diploma of Professional Counselling. The Majors provide you with the opportunity to specialise in any of the following highly relevant fields of counselling:

• Abuse Counselling
• Relationship Counselling and Conflict Resolution
• Career Counselling
• Grief and Loss Counselling
• Child Development and Effective Parenting
• Workplace Counselling

The Majors are specifically designed to provide you with a higher level of practical and theoretical knowledge in a specialised field of counselling. You are able to enrol into an Advanced Study Major at the time of your enrolment into the Diploma of Professional Counselling, or at any subsequent time.

The advantage of early enrolment in an Advanced Study Major is that studies can be completed concurrently with your Diploma. There is also no limit on the number of Advanced Study Majors you can undertake and they can be completed by either external or face-to-face modes of study.

For further information about the Diploma and the ASM Program, please contact your closest Student Support Centre.

An Asian couple has been referred to a counsellor for marriage guidance. The impact of migrating to Australia has taken its toll on their relationship. In the session, the husband seems quite controlled and reserved, whereas the wife cries often but says little.

The counsellor is a novice in the area of multicultural difference, but has just completed some workshops in multicultural counselling. The counsellor has learned that in Asian cultures, restraint of strong feelings is considered to be a sign of maturity, too much talking is viewed as impolite, and the husband is usually the more dominant member of the couple.

Conscious of these cultural differences, the counsellor avoids talking too much and attempts to refer to the husband for most of the exchange. The counsellor is also conscious of their silence and wishes not to be disrespectful by challenging the couple to open up further. As a result however, the counsellor himself feels uncomfortable and stifled, and useless as a counsellor.

If you were confronted with this dilemma, how would you deal with this couple?

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Opportunity for Workshop Presenters/Speakers

Do you deliver PD workshops for mental health professionals?

Counselling Academy (www.counsellingacademy.com.au) is offering a fantastic opportunity for counsellors and other mental health professionals who currently deliver live seminars and workshops in Australia and overseas.

The Institute has a list of recommended textbooks and DVDs which can add great value to your learning journey - and the good news is that you can purchase them very easily. The AIPC bookstore will give YOU:

• Discounted prices.
• Easy ordering method.
• Quality guarantee!

This fortnight's feature is...

Name: Supervision in the Helping Professions: A Practical Approach

Author: McMahon, M. & Patton, W.

AIPC Code: MCMAHON

ISBN: 1-740-09619-3

AIPC Price: $49.45

This book is a useful and practical guide for those who participate in supervision, yet have received no formal training. It provides those who are being supervised with some idea of what to expect. It is an outstanding and valuable resource for practitioners, academics and students alike.

Article: Relationship Breakdown

Published: Edition 68

If love was the single factor ruling relationships, perhaps our lives would be much less complicated. But a plethora of other factors play an ongoing role in creating relationship conflicts. 

Conflict is a normal part of being emotionally attached. But sometimes, conflict in a relationship can be overwhelming and a huge challenge to the parties involved, plus a cause of concern to close family and friends. And despite the inexistence of an antidote or prevention method that can effectively tackle all side effects of a relationship breakdown; there are strategies which can help manage it. 

In this article, we will explore strategies and skills that both clients (when dealing with a relationship breakdown) and counsellors (when counselling clients in that situation) can use to prevent the breakdown of a relationship.

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For this reason, numerous Associations around Australia recognise Counselling Academy training for PD Points, including Australian Psychological Society (video workshops) and Australian Counselling Association.

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To find out more and register, visit www.counsellingacademy.com.au/courses and follow the prompt registration instructions.

Stress Doesn't Have to Be a Negative

Think you've got a lot of stress in your life? Well, welcome to the club. In today's hectic world and troubled economy, stress is a part of everyone's life.

And while it's true that stress that comes with certain events, such as buying a house, changing jobs or the loss of a loved one, can affect your health and even your life span, the reality is that not all stress has to be damaging.

Stress, even so-called bad stress, has the potential to motivate us, to help us focus and to provide important information about ourselves. The key is to learn how to respond to stress and to make the most of it.

One starting point is to analyze how stress affects you.  When you feel stressed, monitor how you're reacting. Do you get irritated with others, feel physically tense or develop a headache? Perhaps you get jumpy or very talkative, or maybe become very quiet and listless?

Once you see what stress does to you, look for ways to better handle your reaction. If your stress seems to give you energy, try to channel it in appropriate directions. Step away from the stress-inducing event and use you energy productively. Take a walk, do some gardening or find other physical activity that will redirect some of that stress-induced energy.

If stress, however, seems to sap your energy, then take time to rest and get back on track. Try a few minutes of meditation, or something relaxing like reading or listening to music. Try finding a pleasant activity rather than just facing the unpleasant reactions stress can bring.

As you learn to handle your stress, you also want to reflect upon why you're feeling stressed to begin with. Start writing down situations and activities that prompt stressful feelings for you.

As you develop such lists, try to analyze the fears that lie beneath these stressful situations. In identifying such situations you may find the fears are unfounded, or that the situations can often be avoided or minimized.

Responding to and managing stress takes work, but your goal is understanding what stress is telling you in order to changes for a more positive and less stressful you.

However, if you find that stress is overwhelming you and that your efforts aren't minimizing its affects, then look for professional help. A counseling professional can offer stress management tools to help reduce stress levels and allow you to use your stress for more positive outcomes.

Source: "The Counseling Corner" is provided as a public service by the American Counseling Association, the largest organization of counseling professionals in the United States of America. Learn more about the counseling profession at the ACA web site, www.counseling.org.

Did you enjoy this article? Then share the feeling and forward it to a friend using our automated system via the link below.

Related Articles: Finding Balance Between Work and Life, Humour Makes Life Easier, What is Burnout?, Journaling as a Tool to Reduce Stress.

View this article online: www.aipc.net.au/ezine

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Follow us on Twitter and get the latest and greatest in counselling news. To follow, visit https://twitter.com/counsellingnews and click "Follow".

Featured Tweets

1. RT @abc4rebt "Albert Ellis's approach to shoulds is contrasted with moral language: https://bit.ly/2b9whH. Thank you for the comments Jim!

2. Intimacy strengthens how we value ourselves, reassures us that we matter, and enables us to face the world... https://bit.ly/25xWRH.

3. Clients can be emotionally unstable, skeptical, childish, uncommitted, demanding... each requires a unique approach: https://bit.ly/1nxsEM.

4. Eating disorders: What are they? https://bit.ly/3zXYF2 PLUS interesting article from @NewPsychologist: "Treatment A-Z" https://bit.ly/3YB8NS".

5. Bullying causes injury to health and makes you ill. How many of these symptoms do you have? https://bit.ly/vhmPk.

6. What happens to a child when parents separate? Children can react very differently... https://bit.ly/2nGVTF.

7. Comment on these three case examples involving workplace harassment: https://bit.ly/63Gaf, https://bit.ly/sSPO6, https://bit.ly/2FKdKQ.

Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/counsellingnews

Tweet Count: 230

"If you can't forgive and forget, pick one."

Many students of the Diploma of Professional Counselling attend seminars to complete the practical requirements of their course. Seminars provide an ideal opportunity to network with other students and liaise with qualified counselling professionals in conjunction with completing compulsory coursework.

Below are some of the seminars available in 2009. To register for a seminar, please contact your Student Support Centre.

BRISBANE

Communication Skills I - 05/12/09

Communication Skills II - 14/11/09

Counselling Therapies I - 21 & 22/11/09

Counselling Therapies II - 12 & 13/12/09

Counselling Applications - 28/11/09

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Communication Skills II - 14/11/09

Counselling Therapies II - 21 & 22/11/09

Case Management - 05 & 06/12/09

Counselling Applications - 07/11/09

TASMANIA

Communication Skills I - 15/11/09

Communication Skills II - 06/12/09

Counselling Therapies I - 12 & 13/12/09

Case Management - 21 & 22/11/09

Counselling Applications - 29/11/09

SYDNEY

Communication Skills I - 23/11, 10/12

Communication Skills II - 24/11, 11/12

The Counselling Process - 14/11, 05/12

Counselling Therapies I - 29 & 30/10

Counselling Therapies II - 16 & 17/11

Case Management - 26 & 27/11

Counselling Applications - 30/10, 12/12

MELBOURNE

Communication Skills I - 29/10

Communication Skills II - 30/10, 22/11

The Counselling Process - 25/10, 04/12

Counselling Therapies I - 07 & 08/11

Counselling Therapies II - 19 & 20/11

Case Management - 29 & 30/11

Counselling Applications - 24/10, 03/12

ADELAIDE

Communication Skills I - 05/12/09

Communication Skills II - 06/12/09

The Counselling Process - 28/11/09

Counselling Therapies I - 07 & 08/11/09

Counselling Therapies II - 21 & 22/11/09

Counselling Applications - 29/11/09

PERTH

Communication Skills I - 07/11/09

Communication Skills II - 08/11/09

The Counselling Process - 05/12/09

Counselling Applications - 28/11/09

SUNSHINE COAST

Communication Skills II - 31/10/09

The Counselling Process - 28/11/09

Case Management - 14 & 15/11/09

Counselling Applications - 12/12/09

GOLD COAST

Communication Skills I - 21/11/09

Counselling Therapies I - 31/10 & 01/11/09

Counselling Therapies II - 28 & 29/11/09

*Advertising of the dates above does not guarantee availability of places in the seminar. Please check availability with the respective Student Support Centre.