Pedagogical Practice makes Perfect

Pedagogical Practice Makes Perfect

Course: COUN 774, Counseling and Psychotherapy

Faculty: Michelle Hall, Ph.D.

Partner: Academy of World Languages

One of the keys to counseling is meeting people where they are, and caring for the whole person. In Michelle Hall’s graduate course on counseling and psychotherapy, her students did both: They crowded the hallway at the Academy of World Languages (AWL) and distributed information about mindfulness to parents who were there for parent-teacher conferences.

AWL, who partners with Xavier in several ways, is the perfect place for students to learn how to put the theory they learn into practice because of the unique nature of the school. The school follows the community learning center model, which means that it is a school with complete healthcare services located on their campus. This partner gave students the opportunity to see how the theory they learn in the classroom can be put into practice.

Hall said. “Because I’m teaching students to value the whole person, this school is (a way) for them to see it in action.”

The students get more out of the partnership with AWL than simply seeing cura personalis in person, they also get the chance to put the classroom learning into a full on practice.

“As a counselor, our job is to interact with others,” student Kate Reichman said. “There’s only so much you can learn from a book. We sit in class and learn how to apply mindfulness techniques, and learn how to talk to parents, but that doesn’t teach us (how) to do it in the real world. So going out and having that kind of hands-on kind of experience is very beneficial.”

Another student, Jennifer Welch, agrees whole-heartedly.

“When you see it in a textbook, but then when you actually put it into practice, you see that there’s a big difference,” Welch said. “There’s kind of like a learning curve when you’re working with real human beings. You kind of have to tweak it to your own styles. I think (this opportunity) has been very beneficial.”

The benefit is not for the students alone, however. According to Jill Smith, AWL’s Resource Coordinator, having the students come and do outreach to the parents has been an outstanding resource.

“(The partnerships are) super helpful,” Smith said. “Sometimes it’s nice for parents and students to hear it from people that they don’t see every day. Bringing outside ideas plus additional resources is great. There’s some expertise that perhaps we don’t have inside the building.”

The course, and the relationship with the outside community, is one huge benefit for