Students Coaching, Counseling and Mentoring by Dr Pradeep Mane.pptx
m.eigenbrod_t.yosifi_gallupconf.2012[TY.ME.final]
1. Using Strengths-Based Advising
with Students with Disabilities to
Promote Student Success
California State Northridge, University
Megan Eigenbrod
Woo, Communication, Empathy,
Adaptability, Harmony
megan.eigenbrod@gmail.com
Tehra Yosifi
Maximizer, Relator, Empathy,
Responsibility, Achiever
tehra.yosifi@gmail.com
My name is Megan Eigenbrod and my top 5 strengths are WOO, Communication, Empathy, Adaptability and Harmony.
I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Counseling with a specialization in College Student Services. I am also serve as the Strengths Counselor Intern for Disability Resources and Educational Services (also known as DRES) at California State University, Northridge.
Tehra talks—
Tehra and I were first introduced to StrengthsQuest when we started our graduate program. Our passion for strengths grew during our role as graduate assistants at the Career Center at Cal State Northridge. Where we used StrengthsQuest as a career development tool for freshman seminar courses.
So know that you know a little bit about us we would also like to get to know all of you. By a show of hands, who is currently utilizing StrengthsQuest at their work site? How many people are working in higher education? And are there any members of the audience who specifically work with students with disabilities? Great thank you for sharing.
Tehra
Tehra
There are many benefits to facilitating strengths based discussions with students in higher education. Challenging students to be conscious of how they use their strengths provides and opportunity for self-reflection, inspires self-efficacy skills, and nurtures a positive self-concept. We hope to demonstrate how easy it is for all student affairs professionals, faculty, and staff to incorporate into their daily interactions with students and even student programs.
Megan:
DRES serves students with documented physical, mental health and learning disabilities. This quote is a segment of our philosophy statement and was taken directly from our department’s website. As you can see we have made it a priority to focus on students’ strengths rather than their weaknesses or limitations.
Tehra
Megan- In my role as the Strengths Counselor Intern, I conduct one-on-one strengths-based counseling sessions with students with disabilities. Students who are interested in strengths counseling sign an agreement to meet with me for at least 5 sessions. I believe that signing the contract sets the tone for the student to take responsibility and ownership for their development.
Since taking on this role, I have found that the discovery process has a natural progression. First the student is introduced to some of the foundational concepts in positive psychology and the StrengthsQuest philosophy.
After taking the assessment, the student builds awareness of their talents. I want to them be able to define their strength themes in their own terms and answer for themselves, “What does this strength mean to me?”
Now I will give an overview of the broad framework for each session.
Then we move in the reflection stage and I help the student identify how they are using their talents now and in the past.
The student then practices applying their talents by thinking about how they can combine their knowledge and skills in order to successfully accomplish tasks or overcome challenges.
With all of their hard work, it is my hope that they have begun to develop their talents into strengths and are able to incorporate them into their self concept.
Of course this is an ongoing process but my goal is for students to be able to go through these steps on their own and keep their strengths in the forefront of their thoughts.
Say each piece on the slide.
I spend the first session building rapport with the student by discussing their current academic standing, learning about their issues and needs, as well as finding out about their motivation to begin strengths counseling. The first meeting often reveals an area in their academic, personal, or professional life that they would like to focus on.
I then explain the background of the assessment and as the student to do the handwriting if they are able to do so based on their limitations.
I would like to share an example of a first session with a student.
Alfonso is a Hispanic student in his mid 30’s pursuing a degree in engineering. He had been receiving treatment for anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia. In our first session he discussed his transition from work to college. He previously worked in construction and always say himself as a leader and was never afraid of a challenge. However, he was struggling to maintain the same level of confidence in his new role as a student. Before ending the session he shared that he was afraid the results would tell him that he was not fit to be a student.
This conversation shows how the first session can help you as a counselor identify areas that might be meaningful for the student to work on. I thought StrengthsQuest could help him build his confidence as a student and he could explore how to transfer his knowledge, skills, and talents that he demonstrated so well in the work for to his school work.
Tehra
Session two is dedicated to reviewing the results of the assessment. I ask the student to describe their experience taking the assessment. Some students say it was fun, some say that they had difficulty choosing between many of the statements, and some even say that they were scared to find out what is good about themselves.
We then read the descriptions out loud. I always ask the student if they prefer to read them or if they would like me to read it to them. Some students with dyslexia for example are able to process information better after hearing it.
As we read the descriptions I pause to ask the student open ended questions that get them to elaborate on their feelings about some of the statements. Strengths manifest differently within each person. I have found that if the student is not connecting to the description it is usually because they have a different connection to that strength
For example, one student was hit in the head with a softball and suffered brain damage. One of her strengths was Futuristic, however she was not connecting to the idea of having a clear vision of her future that gives her energizes to push forward. We discovered that damage to her short term memory made it difficult for her to remember what she is supposed to do next. She continually has to write notes to remind herself about what she has just done and what she needs to accomplish. She also does not spend a lot of energy thinking about the past because she is not able to retrieve memories from the past. Futuristic was less oriented towards a grand vision and more oriented towards the immediate future.
This example shows how Strengths are look different from everyone and are often shaped by the presence of a disability.
In Session 3 we focus on connecting the student’s strengths to their past experience.
I often refer to the StrengthsQuest Activity Workbook during this stage of strengths counseling.
Some effective acitivies are Exploring my signature themes which ask the student to define their talents in their own words.
The Challenge of Affirming my Strenghts asks the student to reflect on what was difficult about acknowledging their talents.
The Secret of my Success encourages the student to think of a memorable accomplishment and think about how their strengths supported their success
The Talent Connection simply asks the student to describe the each theme and state when they have recently used that theme.
I like to check in with the student to see if we are still discussing topics that are meanignful to them.
I also have the student share how they have thought about their strengths in between our sessions. This gives me insight into how well they understand their strengths. If the student is not able to articulate how they have been using their strengths, this gives me the queue to spend more time in the reflection and awareness stages.
If the student is ready to move forward I introduce activities for the student to practice applying their strengths to future tasks.
A fresh perspective asks the student to think about a challenge int heir life and to think about how their strengths can help them get through that challenge.
Realizing my potential requires the student to think of a task and connect themes, knowledge, and skills that make it possible complete the task.
I have developed an effective activity utilizes a popular goal setting tool and then I ask the student to explore how their strengths can support them through each step of their goal.
Tehra and I will explain an little bit more about SMARTE goals before moving to session 5.
Tehra explain SMARTE
MEGAN
First I coach the student as they make their goal as SMARTE as possible.
Then I ask the student to break down their goal into manageable steps.
Finally I ask them to tell me how their strengths themes will help them follow through with their goal.
If we completed a goal setting activity in session 4, I will ask how they are progressing with their goal. This is the evaluation piece that Tehra explained.
Then I ask the student to share what they have learned about themselves throughout their experience in strengths counseling.
I will then share growth that I have seen in the student and thank them for their courage, hard work, and commitment to the program.
Program evaluation and assessment has become increasingly important in higher education due therefore I developed a survey to assess the effectiveness of strengths counseling. The student responds to each statement based on how they felt before and after participating in strength's counseling.
Tehra will highlight some of the results.
The first quote was said by a student in her final session.
This student had been receiving treatment for depression for many years and our main focus was getting her to acknowledge and own her talents. She had built a fear of success and thinking about her positive attributes was a huge challenge. For this particular student it was important to spend more time in the awareness and reflection stages before challenging her to begin applying and integrating her strengths into future experiences.
Megan- This quote truly incorporates all of the stages of strengths counseling. She mentioned gaining self-awareness, reflecting on how she perceives her strengths now and in the past, the ability to create strategies that compliment her strengths, and the integration of her strengths into her self-concept by being able to recognize them in action.
Tehra introduce
Megan
Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder benefit from a highly interactive session. Figuratively and literally, the student needs to hold the pen during the session. The counselor should do their best to limit purely verbal conversations to keep the student's attention.
The counselor should be aware of the studetns cognitive limitations and tailor activities to the student’s learning style. For example, a student with processing speed issues may benefit from visual activities and repetition may be necessary
Students with Mental Health Disabilities may have a harder time acknowledging their strengths so activities that challenge the student to own their strengths. The student I quoted early with depression shared that seeing her personal definition of her strengths written on paper was a major flashpoint in her experience with me.
Students with Autism appreciate being able to think about questions or complete activities before the meeting. If the student is able to process their thoughts ahead of time then the 60 minutes can be used more efficiently.
And it is absolutley crucial for counselors to adjust their strategies to accommodate for any physical limitations that the student might have.
Learning Disabilities- The Neurodevelopmental Framework by Dr. Mel Levine expands on the traditional research on learning styles. This framework can be utilized by counselors who are looking to define the students cognitive strengths and deliver the information in a way that is conducive to the students abilities.
Megan
Tehra
MEGAN
Encourage student to explore possible results for disclosing his/her disability during various situations. Make a list of pros and cons regarding disclosing disability. Create role-play opportunities to provide strategies on how to disclose disability.
Self-assurance- Student feels confident to manage life. Student possesses an inner compass that gives confidence that his/her decisions are right.
Discipline- Student may have the skill to maintain order in life.
Communication- Student is able to express his/her thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and opinions.
Adaptability- Student is able to adapt to different environments and situations.
Relator- Student is able to form close connections with others once mutual trust is built.
TEHRA-Insert Asperger’s Example
Ask the student to list five positive attributes about him/her (i.e. funny, kind) and explain to the student how he/she can use these attributes as strengths.
Individualization-using topic of the club as a talking point or gettings to know the students and their unique qualities
Acheiver-Setting a goal for the student to talk to at least 2-3 students and the next club meeting gives them a task to accomplish
Achiever- Student gets satisfaction from taking on and accomplishing many tasks
Maximizer- Student enjoys many tasks that will help he/she grow from good to great
Empathy- Student is able to communicate feelings or is able to put him/herself in other peoples shoes
Woo- Student is comfortable reaching out to strangers
Connectedness- Student believes that people are connected on some level. Help the student understand that most college students desire to make friends.
MEGAN
Analytical-Break down their schedule or project and estimate how long it would take to complete it and decide areas of importance within the task.
Futuristic- Gets energy from planning and looking at the end result, might have an easier time formulating what they want their day to look like and working backwards from there.
Strategic- Student loves to make a Plan A, B, and C for any situation
Positivity- Student is able to look at situations from a positive perspective
Individualization- The students can see the unique characteristics in him/herself and others
Harmony- Student seeks to fin balance in his/her life
Thank you for attending and engagement
Hope you can take something away
We now invite you to ask us any questions you have.