45. Supervision1 - Unit Coordinator Roles
Becoming Centered
In residential treatment programs by far the most effective way to train direct-care staff in how to effectively care for the kids and to provide counseling is through on-the-job coaching and individual supervision. However, there's a lot of very real barriers to providing quality supervision. The nature of the work, especially at more intensive programs, means that there is a high frequency of behavior-problems on the residential unit. This drives staff toward a short-term focus on getting through the shift, or perhaps through the week, with as few safety issues as possible. ...
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44. Processing3 - Chaining
Becoming Centered
Episode 44 of the Becoming Centered podcast presents the third installment of the Processing Pathway, covering the technique known as "chaining." Chaining is a great way to add a visual element to cognitive processing. It lays out a series of links representing a chain of behaviors and feelings that led to a child or youth having to be separated from their peers. Once the sequence of links has been clarified, the key link that represents a realistic "choice point" is identified. This link represents the point in the sequence where the client could have made a different...
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43. Processing2 - Basic Cognitive Processing
Becoming Centered
Episode 43 of The Becoming Centered Podcast is the second episode in the Processing Pathway series. This episode introduces a 4-question outline for formal cognitive processing. Basically, the four parts include helping the child or youth to take responsibility for the behaviors that resulted in their being separated from their peers; identify at least some of the feelings that drove the probelm-behaviors; identify how those behaviors might have impacted peers and staff around them; and identify a possible plan for how to handle things better in the future. One size doesn't...
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42. Processing1 - Introduction to Processing
Becoming Centered
Episode 42 of the Becoming Centered Podcast is the first episode on the Processing Pathway. Processing involves a structured approach to helping children and youth to mentally process their incidents of problem-behaviors. This episode introduces the concept of there being different ways that different parts of the brain process sensory data, personal experience, and the communications received from the other parts of the brain. This can result in various parts of the brain experiencing different types of confusion after a significant incident of problem-behaviors. ...
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41. Season 2 - Overview
Becoming Centered
Episode 41 of the Becoming Centered Podcast kicks off season 2 of this effort to spread knowledge about professional residential treatment of children and youth. This season is organized into two different educational pathways, mirroring consulting work being done. The Processing pathway is all about how to help kids process their own use of problem-behaviors. Typically, their own incidents and experiences leave parts of their brains confused about what has happened. They will come up with some way to understand, but often times their framing of what led to their misbehaviors...
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40. Residential Counselor 101 Pt. 7 - Resilience to Traumatic Stress
Becoming Centered
Psychological Debriefing is a technique for reducing the impact of traumatic stress after a neurologically intense experience. On a neuropsychological level that experience could be anything that triggers a release of certain hormones such as cortisol (known as “the stress hormone”) and adrenaline. On a behavioral level that typically includes situations such as being involved in a physical intervention, being exposed to aggressive posturing, being yelled at, or really any situation that triggers significant danger signals in your body. Exactly what moves a person...
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39. Residential Counselor 101 Pt. 6 - Empathy vs. Processing & Coping Activities
Becoming Centered
Coping Activities Diversions – any hobby or activity that engages your attention. Writing, drawing, painting, crafts Listening to music, playing an instrument, singing, dancing, acting Gardening Taking a walk, or going for a drive Watching television or a movie Guided Imagery Meditations Playing a game Shopping Reading ...
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38. Residential Counselor 101 Pt. 5 - Scout Skills & Processing
Becoming Centered
The Aspect Compass, part of the Meta-Compass Model, divides areas of the brain and aspects of the psyche into four parts called: The Artist, The Scout, The Warrior, and The Chief. The Artist represents those parts of the brain and psyche that understand the world in terms of emotions. The Artist communicates, in terms of feelings and moods, to the rest of the brain. Helping The Artist feel centered involves making The Artist feel heard and seen. Creative arts activities can be emotionally centering activities. Co-Regulating with others and Experiencing empathy...
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37. Residential Counselor 101 Pt. 4 - Executive Skills & Labeling
Becoming Centered
Executive Skills are abilities that part of the brain can develop that used to regulate other parts of the brain. There’s two Executive Skills that describe ways that the emotional parts of the brain are regulated. Reaction Inhibition is the ability to stop yourself from automatically reacting. More specifically, it’s the ability to stop the action-focused parts of the brain, what I call the inner Warrior, from mindlessly reacting to the emotions being communicated by the parts of the brain I call the inner Artist. Your body will have internal behaviors in reaction to...
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36. Residential Counselor 101 pt. 3 - Co-Regulation & Empathic Listening
Becoming Centered
Posture: The parts of the brain that control the physical body (the inner Warrior) and the parts of the brain that operate in terms of emotions (the inner Artist) are tightly linked in the brain. Changes in one automatically trigger changes in the other. So, getting kids to become more aware of their posture, and to habitually adopt good posture, supports being in a positive emotionally state-of-mind. The art is being able to frequently help kids improve their posture without it becoming obnoxious. Co-Regulation: When you synchronize your nervous system...
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The vertical axis of the Seven-Directions Meta-Compass Model, represents the core functions involved in caring for children who are literally placed in the care of a residential treatment program. The Upward direction (Relationships) involves all the activities a Residential Counselor does to care for the kids. These are things that have to happen simply because the clients are children, regardless of whatever individual treatment issues a client presents. The Downward direction (Task Responsibilities) involves all the tasks involved in caring for the kids, caring for the facility, and being an employee. The Inward (Self) direction involves caring for oneself, so that you have the energy to care for the kids.
Although there’s an overlap between Care and Treatment; the horizontal plane of the compass represents four aspects of treatment involved in being a residential counselor.
The East cardinal position represents the domain of emotions. It’s symbolized by the aspect of The Artist. The Artist is made up of those parts of the brain and psyche that only process the world and communicate in terms of emotions. That’s how those parts of the brain work.
The South cardinal position represents the domain of cognitions. It’s symbolized by the aspect of The Scout. Unlike The Artist, The Scout possesses lots of words and engages in thinking, analysis, and has a purpose of exploring the world, interpreting what it finds, and reporting back to the rest of the brain.
The West cardinal position represents the domain of behaviors (both external actions and internal physiological actions). It’s symbolized by the aspect of The Warrior. The Warrior expresses all The Artist’s feelings and all the Scout’s thoughts as external and internal behaviors.
The North cardinal position represents the domain of executive skills that are used to regulate the rest of the brain. It’s symbolized by the aspect of The Chief. The Chief is concerned with centering The Artist, The Scout, and The Warrior. The Chief regulates the tribe (the different parts of the psyche) and also is concerned with a person’s relationships with other people (the external tribe).
The podcast delves into understanding the brain's functioning, emphasizing the practice effect wherein repeated actions reinforce neural pathways. It stresses the importance of fostering calm feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in children through positive experiences and repetition.
The discussion outlines the interconnectedness of different aspects of the psyche: emotions (East), cognitions (South), behaviors (West), and executive skills (North). It highlights the role of residential staff in creating a therapeutic milieu and inspiring internal changes in children's brains to manage problem behaviors effectively.
Respectful treatment is emphasized as essential for creating a therapeutic environment, contrasting coercive approaches that may yield short-term compliance but hinder long-term transformation. The episode concludes with a preview of forthcoming tools and techniques to help children achieve emotional centeredness, laying the foundation for further cognitive and behavioral growth.
Other Key Concepts
The Practice Effect: Feelings, moods, and even thinking, work the same way in the brain as behaviors. Whatever states-of-mind are practiced become easier to achieve. Practicing becoming emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally centered will transform a person’s brain.
The Intensity Effect: Intense feelings create lasting changes in the brain. This is why a single traumatic incident, let alone the multiple traumas that are common among kids in residential treatment, have a lasting effect on the kids’ brains (unless effective treatment occurs).
Respect Doesn’t Have to Be Earned: In a treatment environment it’s important that staff consistently treat the kids with respect. It is likely that many of the kids will not consistently treat staff respectfully. That makes being respectful to the kids a challenge that requires personal maturity and professionalism. Kids experiencing the adults consistently treating them with respect will, over time, be a key component to the clients feeling safe enough and trusting enough to try new behaviors. The Artist part of each child’s psyche has a primal fear that the world is too harsh to survive. Counselors will be most effective at treatment when they respect that fear and don’t add to it with harsh interactions.
Seeking Compliance is Behavior Management, not Treatment: Sometimes kids in residential treatment exhibit such outrageous and unsafe behaviors that managing those behaviors has to take priority over treatment. However, effective behavior management only trains kids in how to be successful within the artificial environment of an institutional setting. Treatment involves transformational change that carries over to when kids are living back in the community.