05/18/2009



Today was a stay-at-home and classroom experience day.



Dr. Eugenio Bacchini spoke on the counseling profession in Italy. They are now where we were just 40 years ago! He spoke of the difficulties in getting training (there is no CACREP here in Italy- no standardizations for the profession). Another difficulty he mentioned goes back to the politics of Italy; the disjointed state Italy was not so much one country as it was a conglomeration of independent city-states. Now, The European Union is trying to give counseling an identity as a profession, but the Italians from each region want to be representative of all Italy (every country sends one rep- Italy sends 12: one from each region).
Dr. Bacchini did say there had been meetings with NBCC from US to try and get standards set.
Another problem is identity: How is counseling different from psychotherapy? Dr. Bacchini proposed the difference is that in psychotherapy, the "patient" is passive and it is the therpaist who must be active to "fix"the patient; incounseling, the client is active and the counselor acts more like a light to help the client see their obstacle from a different manner. Ultimately, in counseling, it is the client who must be proactive in their needed changes.

Dr. Christiansen did play therapy; showing video clips and talking. Afterward, I asked her about using play therapy with adults; she said it is not only possible, but sometimes necessary. You just have to adjust the play to meet the age!