Three Seasons of Change: Connecting Life, School and Learning About the Art of Counselling

Abstract

This is a narrative of personal experiences, thoughts and understandings that occurred while I was a graduate student in counselling psychology. While learning to become a counsellor I experienced a significant life event, a divorce. My reactions, my struggles and my movement toward stability were greatly influenced by both the academic and practical content of the graduate studies program I was attending. The experience of this personal distress and how it was influenced by a counselling psychology program is presented over the time frame of three seasons. What I came to understand about the art of counselling and myself as both a counsellor and a person feeling pains is explored. This manuscript combines an individual process of therapeutic writing with a connection of the outer world of academics to the inner world of being human.