After running the group, I reflected back on body gestures and facial expressions. I had a hard time keeping a straight face (poker face) when a client was describing his act of violence on another person. I was shocked and it probably showed on my face. I don’t want to project an image that I am judging on them but I think the first time hearing about the actual violence made me forget to put a straight face. I hope that with experience, I would be able to portray a poker face even when the client described a situations that disagree with me or ones that I am shocked from.
During my third week, I was told to lead a group “Starting the day the right way”. I met with the clients in cafeteria and went over what they will be doing for the day. At that time, a person was walking towards me awkwardly and I asked, concerned if he had hurt his back; if he had an injury or back pain that made him walked like that. He told me that it is due to his medical condition and had been walking around like that since his birth. When I heard it, in my mind, I was berating myself for talking or voicing out my thoughts out loud without actually knowing all the facts. But after talking about this incident with Jeanne helped me and make me less focused on self-criticism and more focused on the facts that we should own our mistakes and ask the clients to educate me about their