On my final case presentation

So, here's how it went:

The week before my presentation I had to turn my papers in to my panel members.  One lengthy paper was an explanation of the theory I chose for this project--Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples--and how it relates to me and my life experience.  The paper was difficult because I chose a complicated theory.  It has great results, but is complicated and hard to implement.  It takes a lot of skill on the part of the therapist.  My second, slightly shorter paper was about a client, in this case a married couple, that I worked with.  I had to outline what their concerns were, what our goals were, how I conceptualized the case, my hypotheses and diagnoses, and then a detailed explanation of what we did in treatment.  I also had to submit a video log describing the clips I planned to show in my presentation.

The morning of the presentation I got up later than I planned.  I don't set an alarm anymore, because I have this cute baby alarm that was going off every morning at 7.  That morning she slept til 7:45.  All was well though, I still made it on time. First, I had to go to the clinic where I work to pick up my video recordings.  I had to have special consent from my clients to use them for this presentation, including permission to transport PHI (protected health information, like names and video recordings) from my clinic to the university and back.  Part of the policy in the clinic is that PHI is transported in a locked briefcase the clinic provides.  There was just barely enough room for my recordings.

I got over to the university and had time to set up my laptop with the projector and speakers for my presentation.  I had an hour and a half to make my presentation--describing the theory I chose to use with my clients and how I worked with this case from beginning to end.  I finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes and had time to answer questions from the panel of my professors.  One of the members of my panel let me know in advance one of the questions he would be asking me.  He said he was genuinely interested in the answer and wanted to give me time to think about it and research it if needed. It was about whether my theory was appropriate for grief work.  I did the research, and we had a really good discussion about it.  The chair of my panel actually had to stop the conversation so we could move on to the next portion.

I was given a short description of a case--seriously, it was only a small paragraph--and given seven minutes to read it over and make a plan for how I would approach the case.  Then I presented my ideas to my panel and they had the opportunity to ask me more questions.  In each of the case vignettes there are certain things you have to address or you don't pass.  You've got to hit all the crisis issues and not miss or mess up on any legal or ethical issues.

Then I got to leave the room while my panel deliberated and discussed.  They invited me back in and let me know I passed.  Hooray!  They didn't even have any revisions on my papers!  (I'm going to brag about myself now.)  The panel then gave me some very wonderful feedback.  They told me how impressed they were that I've been able to become competent and proficient in such a complicated model.  They strongly encouraged me to continue with the certification and assured me I could have a very successful career as a couple's therapist.  They told me how they'd seen me progress as a therapist and a person, that I come prepared and ask insightful questions about my cases that get to the heart of the matter.  I was told that I have a way of making people comfortable around me and that it's evident my clients trust me.  One of them told me that master therapists have a way of focusing on what's really important; he told me that he thinks I'm able to do that, that it's a gift.  

It was so nice to hear such nice things about myself and to be recognized for the hard work I have put into my work with clients and into learning the theory I chose.  I know I could have chosen a simpler theory, but I chose EFT because I believe in it and it works.  The success rates are twice what they are with other approaches to couples therapy.  Doing my final case presentation was the last hurdle I had to get over before graduation.  I've been working toward this for almost three years now.  I'm so pleased that I've accomplished it.  (Let me just throw in there that I got married and had a baby since I started this journey!  Whew!  What a crazy few years.  Is it time to rest yet?)