St. John's Counselling Service 2011 - 2012 Teacher and Academic Programs

A Little History
At the policy level, apparently education has two primary (and sometimes competing) roles in today's modern society: a) prepare the student for adulthood and/or b) support the economic needs of that society by way of business oriented courses and related accreditation in educational institutions. For example, a review of those governments and academic institutions that support the later role of education focus on developing curriculum and hiring teachers (more and more with a "business sense of the world") with a mission to "teach for the needs of industry" paradigm (or if you will according to past U.S. Presidents Clinton and Bush "the knowledge and skills to compete in the global economy"). However, those who embrace the former see education as a lifelong process to "develop social, cognitive and emotional competence" with a focus on nurturing a connectedness with others, empowering each student to be understood by others as well as good at listening with others, delivering reasonably demanding and worthwhile learning opportunities, balancing fun and a sense of control, and developing the capacity of resilience.

                       

At the institution level, numerous changes have been unfolding in the structure, management and delivering of education and learning. Web-based coursework, smarter and more demanding customers (teachers, parents and students), increasing number of students with singular and dual diagnosis mental health challenges (depression and/or dyslexia for example), private versus public schools, globalization and multiculturalism, teaching for testing versus teaching for learning, single parent families, and if you will, the list goes on and on. Today more than ever the attention and importance being placed on our academic institutions for preparing our children, teenagers and young adults for success in life has never been felt more in the history of formal education. Suddenly being a professor, teacher, instructor or tutor is no longer the "feel good" profession it once was.

At St. John's Counselling Service (SJCS) our Teacher and Academic Training Programs focus on the guiding principle that happiness leads to success, whether it is the good moods being felt by the student in the classroom or the teacher coming to work in a positive frame of mind. Research clearly shows that when academic institutions demonstrate a clear investment of skills development for their staff, a sense of pleasure and satisfaction increase as their uncertainty about job performance concurrently decrease. In other words, when an organization reduces that nagging sense that something might go wrong, unpleasant emotions are reduced and a sense of simple joy and happiness arise in those employees leading to a greater sense of control over their environment. And with today's cost conscious parent, diverse student population and sometimes unpredictable personalities and social events, training tied to gaining control over one's environment and strengthening the self (i.e. completing a course in primary counselling and assessment skills) greatly increases the chances of happier, more confident employees that correlates to greater success in that learning environment. The math is that simple.

Our Training - Workshops Philosophy
SJCS mission is "to empower the human spirit towards greater awareness in making choices for growth and happiness." Our training mission is derived from over 20 years of research and clinical experience from positive psychology and the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) whereby a balance is sought to i) better understand and reduce the anguish (unpleasant emotions and thoughts) and  ii) learn and practice optimal thinking and positive behaviors (the happy work-life balance). Attempting to understand the behavior of an individual can be perplexing at times, attempting to understand organization behavior can compel one to appreciate the chaos and complexity that life sometimes presents. Simply stated, before we can "fix" the performance gap (or other organization - individual concerns), we must first "talk about" the ideas, experiences and feelings around those concerns. Making the complex and unpredictable understandable then allows the intent of the training (individual or organization change if you will) believable. After that, the science follows a natural flow of making what we understand and believe executable. The science doesn't lie.

Hence, before we "jump right into" any training program, we provide our schools and clients the opportunity to conduct focus groups and information seminars with us (at no cost) so that we at St. John's Counselling Service can better understand those experiences and related emotions of the organization and the individual pertaining to the desired training and development goal(s). Once that has been accomplished, we then proceed to develop a customized - personalized training program that will meet (and hopefully exceed) the training goals of that organizations as well as strengthen the skills and knowledge of those employees to increase organization and individual control. Thus, the greater the sense of control, the happier the mood. The happier the moods of our people, the greater the success we can expect in and out of the classroom.

After our training and workshops have been completed, at some future point in time we conduct post-training focus groups to allow feedback, and if required, additional training to be developed as a result of new discoveries and changes in operations.

Our Facilitators
St. John's Counselling Service facilitators and trainers besides being well qualified psychologists and/or clinical social workers also have a formal background in education and business: in teaching, academic assessment, and organization development-consulting and training. Our facilitators bring forth the latest research in human development, academic learning, cognitive and thinking paradigms as well as the psychological, behavioral and social elements of being human. The training sessions are interactive with small group work, the handouts relevant and up-to-date, and the course material customized to match the organization needs.

Our Programs
St. John's Counselling Service teacher and academic programs are for Chinese and English speaking schools in the greater Hong Kong area (Macau, Shenzhen and Shekou, China region). Our programs are designed for small, medium and large groups. Our current topics for training and development are:

1. Basic Counselling Skills

2. Advanced Counselling Skills (participants must have either completed Basic Counselling Skills or have qualifications in pastoral counselling)

3. Basic Assessment and Intervention Strategies

4. Managing the "High Spirited" Student

5. Dealing with Toxic Parents and Toxic Children

6. Crisis Response Team (how to set-up and manage a campus crisis response team)

7. Dealing with Depression, Cutting and Anger Emotive Students

8. Words that Work: Basic to Advanced Communication Program

9. Intervention and Management Strategies with Teasing and Bullying

10. Drugs, Sex and Rock-and-Roll: Dealing with Kids and Teens

Class Size
Courses can be designed for small groups as few as five (5), and as large as fifty (50).

Program Time
Programs can be delivered to meet the scheduling constraints of any academic institution, to include evening and weekend training times.

Venue
On-site and off campus.

Medium of Instruction/Materials
English and/or Chinese

Information for Brochures
Email your request for our Teacher and Academic Training Brochure at info@sjcshk.com and a confidential - no obligation program manual shall be sent to you.

Program Fees
Fees are based upon several factors: size of class, duration of program, handouts, medium of instruction and locale.

Our Affiliations
As an Organizational Member of BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) we are bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy, the Ethical Guidelines for Researching Counselling and Psychotherapy (where organizations undertake research) and subject to the Professional Conduct Procedure for the time being in force.

St. John's Counselling Service is a professional member of the American School Counselors Association (ASCA - U.S.) with a commitment to the development and delivery of nurturing, empowering and strengthening activities for children and teens to enhance their growth and happiness.

St. John's Counselling Service is a recognized clinical supervision site for world-class universities to train and supervise students at bachelor, master and doctorate level degree programs in psychology and counselling with Hong Kong University HKU Family Institute, Monash University (Australia), City University (Hong Kong), Alliant University (U.S.), and the Shue Yan University (Hong Kong), Australian College of Applied Psychology, and University of New England (Australia).

Email: info@sjcshk.com