WEEK 1 OVERVIEW & PREPARATION MATERIALS: Domains of Character Structure and Relational Capacities; Skill #1: Attunement; Skill #2: Additive Attunement

 

Overview:

• Learning Objectives: These will give you what the focus for this week is. It also spells out what kind of learning we hope happens. There are four major areas to what you will learn each week plus one optional area. Growth and Healing Strategies: how deep, lasting growth and healing happen. Group Dynamics: how they happen in a group context. Relational Skills: how you best facilitate this kind of growth and healing. NICC’s Core Competencies & Skills Markers: You will review NICC because these competencies and skills markers are also key to growth and healing. Psychodynamic Understanding of Personality and Personality Styles: where change occurs and how to identify the unique pathway it must follow.
• Optional Learning Objectives and Optional Preparation Materials: We know how busy MCO clinicians are. But we know you also love to learn as much as possible. We have put these in there to give you the option to learn this material at the deepest possible level. You choose how much time you want to invest in this course and your level of learning.
• Preparation Materials: We have listed in one place all the various readings, PowerPoints, videos, websites, etc. that you will review for the Learning Activities you will engage in this week. We hope this makes it simple to know the place that has all you need to prepare for the 2 major learning activities you will complete each week.
• Time Investment: We have estimated the time each preparation material and learning activity will take so you know how much time to make room for in your schedule. We estimate an average of two hours and 15 minutes a week. Use this as a way to put into your schedule when you can work on these preparation materials and learning activities. We have found a little planning like this makes use of your time more efficient which in turn enhances your learning. 
• Learning Activities #1 and #2. These are the next two parts of week 1. Click on the “T” in the drop-down menu on the right that is labeled Learning Activity #1 and Learning Activity #2. They are listed right below this general overview.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Growth & Healing Strategies:
  • Deeply understand the 5 Domains of Character Structure (DCS): Connection, Independence, Reality, Feelings, and Spirituality that make up the Thriving/Core Self.
  • Identify the developmental, relational capacities that make up each DCS and are the focus of the change process.
  • Comprehend how the DCS develop through formative relational experiences that create Implicit Core Emotional Learnings that make up the Internal Working Models that form the Playbooks group members bring to the group experience.
  • Realize how deficits in the DCS drive the presenting issues. The problems are not the problem but the underlying deficit character structure.
• Group Dynamics: Understand how group members are oriented, how the first session is facilitated, and the Group Guidelines for Growth Accelerators and Safety Enhancers.
• Relational Skills: Understand and then demonstrate the skill of Additive Attunement & “Experience Near” in individual counseling sessions to practice for when you will use them in Group Therapy.
• Review NICC’s Core Competencies & Skills Markers: Review and gain a deeper understanding of Core Competency #2: Limited Parenting and #9 Feel It Through along with Skills Markers: Welcoming (7.1); Silence (17.12) and Pacing (17.13)

Optional Learning Objective:

• Psychodynamic Understanding of Personality and Personality Styles: Theodore Millon was a major contributor to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in the area of Personality Disorders. He organized a simple way to view and understand the DSM according to interpersonal coping styles that were on a continuum of severity. As you understand his relational nosology it will help you identify the underlying deficit relational capacities in the 5 Domains of Character Structure. Looking at these more difficult personality structures will enhance your “diagnostic skills” in identifying which domain of character structure is most in deficit. You will be able to see more clearly the underlying issues as they arise in what the person is sharing in the group. You also will learn more deeply about the intra-psychic structure that exists in each person. This will help you identify what needs to be changed so you focus on the type of interventions (e.g. Corrective Emotional Experiences) more accurately. You will facilitate different kinds of experiences for a histrionic personality style than a narcissistic personality style. Each week you have the option of learning about one of the 10 personality disorders.  This week you will learn to identify the major deficits in the Dependent Personality Disorder, how it manifests itself in the group, and what types of CEEs and other interventions are needed for growth and healing.

 

Preparation Materials to be Completed by the Virtual Class

   Reading:

• Growth & Healing Strategies:
  • Click here for the 14-page file on NICC’s Competency & Marker #2: Limited Reparenting. This will list the 5 Domains of Character Structure (connection, independence, reality, feelings, and spirituality) and the developmental, and relational capacities that make up each domain. It will explain one of the main functions of therapy is to provide Limited Reparenting which happens the deepest when the group leader facilitates corrective emotional experiences with the client. This file will explain more in-depth this key intervention strategy.
    • The developmental and relational capacities are very critical to understand because they are the main focus of what we are trying to help the members of the group experience growth, change, and/or healing. In turn, this will lead to a decrease in the symptoms that brought them into the group. In this file, there are links you can click on to go deeper into the material. These are optional on whether you want to invest additional time.
  • Click here for an easier summary that lists all the above relational capacities of each Domain of Character Structure in one place without the additional information for the domains.
  • Click here for the 1-page document on the concept of how the problem is not the problem but the deficit in the underlying character structure.

• Group Dynamics:
  • Click here for the 1-page document of the actual email that is sent to orient group members. Click on the special video about their journey is like the Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring.
  • Click here for the 2-page document on how the first session if facilitated.
  • Click here for the 2-page file on Growth Accelerators and Safety Enhancers that the members are sent before the first group. You will explain these in the first session.
  • Click here for the document that you can make copies of for any notes you take each week.

• Skills:
  • Click Here for the 6-page file on Attunement.

• Review NICC’s Core Competencies & Skills Markers:
  • Click here for the 1-page file on NICC’s Core Competency #3 Feel It Through
  • Click here for the 1-page file on the Skill Markers: Welcoming (7.1); Silence (17.12) and Pacing (17.13)

   PowerPoints:

• • Click here for practicing Identifying Core Character Traits: This PowerPoint will give you video examples of the Domains of Character Structure where you decide which one it is demonstrating. Then click on the slide again for the correct answer. We want you to have an 80% accuracy.
  • Click here to preview the PowerPoint you will use for the first session of your Therapy Group.

   Videos:

• • Click here for the opening session (7-29-22) of an MCO therapy group led by Scott Makin. At least watch the first 31 minutes.

Optional Preparation Materials and Activities: You can choose to do some of these if you have time or want to gain a deeper understanding of how to facilitate Therapy Groups.

   Reading.

• Psychodynamic Understanding of Personality and Personality Styles:
  • Click Here for an introduction to Theodore Millon’s classification system as it relates to the Domains of Character Structure.

   Supervision. Set up an individual time with the Instructor for supervision in one of the following ways.

• Review and receive feedback on one of your individual counseling sessions (via tape) that demonstrates one of the concepts or skills you learned about in the last couple of weeks.
• Receive supervision (via tape) on one of the individuals you are seeing or a particular problematic counseling session and how to handle it differently. This supervision will help you gain a deeper understanding of how to identify deficit domains of character structure that are present in a person and change strategies that facilitate growth and healing.
• This kind of supervision will not only help you currently with your client but continue to teach you diagnostic and change strategy skills you will use in a group setting.

   Watching Live Tape.

• You always have the option of looking at additional tapes of Scott Makin’s Group Therapy sessions to see the concepts or skills you are learning about. Click Here for the 1-13-22 session.

Time Investment: 2 hours and 46 minutes (this will average 2 hours and 15 minutes a week):

• Preparation Materials
  • Reading: 56 minutes (28 pages estimating it will take you 2 minutes per page to read)
  • PowerPoints: 10 minutes
  • Watching the video of a Group Therapy first session led by Scott Makin: 20 minutes
• Learning Activities
  • Virtual Class: 60 minutes
  • Posting in Group Chat Space: 10 minutes
  • Sending Tape of a Session Demonstrating a Recently Learned Skill or Concept and Interacting with the Feedback: 10 minutes