Rafts Away!!

This past weekend I had the wonderful experience of going white water rafting for the first time on the Ocoee river. It was an amazing experience and I had a lot of fun with my friends tackling the water and rowing away. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I was scared though. First off, I don't know how to swim, second, the rocks were the size of small islands, and third, I can't swim (I had a traumatic experience with an evil swim instructor as a child....don't judge me).

It took a lot to get out of the mind set that something bad was going to happen to me and that I couldn't do it and today in class we touched on that. A member of my cohort did a presentation on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and started off with a quote by Buddha: "What we think, we become." This is an important point in my opinion especially working with youth. This counseling theory focuses on attitudes and beliefs and addressing irrational thoughts with the client. While we should identify these problems with our clients it will be important to address them in ourselves as well.

Our feelings and thoughts could be clouded by irrational beliefs that need to be confronted head on so that we can support the students we serve. Is it really that important to be liked by EVERY teacher or if an intervention you recommended is unsuccessful, are you a failure as a School Psychologist? Just like we would tell a student that these thoughts are untrue we must recognize those thoughts in ourselves.

That's what I did on my rafting trip. I told myself I could do it, that there were people there to support me if anything happened, and most important, I wasn't going to die....and I have to say I had a great time going down the rapids! If you think you can do something, you can do it!

 

That's me on the back right with my hand up :)