Think Outside the Box Essential Creative Techniques for

Think Outside the Box: Essential, Creative Techniques for School Counselors Ed Jacobs, Ph. D. West Virginia University

The Brain Likes Novelty What did you learn? Talk / Listen Counseling Focus on Feelings n How Creative Are You? 1— 10 Scale n What Advertisers Know n Talk to the Student’s Eyes n

Common Mistakes of School Counselors— Your BOX Reflect more than necessary n Listen to too many stories n Rarely interrupt student n Take too long to focus the session n Is not theory driven n Is not creative THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX n

The Four M’s of Impact Therapy n Multisensory n Motivational n Marketing n Maps

What Kind of Player Are You? Friday Night Player Saturday Player Sunday Player - has courage and thinks outside the box

Essential Creative Techniques: Props Cups n Rubber Band n $1 n Shield n Eyore and Tigger n Fuses n

Essential Creative Techniques: Using Chairs Creatively To represent goals n Holding on to chair n To represent choices n To represent people n To represent parts of personality n

Essential Creative Techniques: Using Small Chair The small chair is the prop that I use the most. Sunday players will get a small chair (elementary counselors already have them).

Using Chairs for Gestalt Technique n There is tremendous power in presentizing a discussion about someone. n Clients benefit from dialoging with themselves (changing seats).

Essential Creative Techniques: Creative Use of Writing Ratings— 1 -10 Parents, Effort in School, etc n The power of the sentence: n Thoughts cause feelings. .

Not True-----True Grid Not True ______ I am a failure I am never going to amount to anything. True_______ I made a B which means I have to study more. One B does not determine the rest of my life ____________________ Bad Better

WDEP W—What do you want? D—What are you currently doing? E—Evaluate –How is what you’re doing getting you what you want? (This is always it is not. ) P—Plan—Let’s work on a plan to get you what you want.

WDEP W—I hope to be a doctor. n D—I’m smoking dope, skipping, school, not studying, and I don’t turn in assignments. I hang out with people who have no college aspirations. n E—It’s not working for me. I’m failing. n P—Plan—Go to school; hang out with positive people; do homework right after school. n

Creative Use of Drawings n Small box—Big Box

Enmeshed Circles

Timelines 10 x x x 1 2 yrs 1 yr 6 mo 3 mo now

Essential Creative Techniques: Creative Movement Techniques There is value in getting students to move out of their seat. n Being held back n Moving to other (better) seat n Going in circles n Counselor stand in chair

A KEY FOR EFFECTIVE LIVING Get your expectations in line with reality

Questions Regarding Thinking Outside the Box Are you a Sunday Player? Do you want to be? It takes Deliberate Practice n What are you going to do differently next week? n What keeps you from being more creative? n What will be the hardest thing for you to overcome regarding using some of n

More Information To contact me for workshops, information, etc: n Ed Jacobs, 457 Broadway Avenue, Star City, WV 26505; 304 -599 -0109 n Ed. Jacobs@mail. wvu. edu n edjacobs@impacttherapy. com n Book/CD’s orders— www. impacttherapy. com n Summer workshop—

What You Need to Know Grief Counseling n Stages of Change n Parenting models n Drugs and Alcohol n Counseling theories n Panic Attacks n OCD n

Which Kid Are You?