Postmodern+Therapy+in+Practice

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**Community Counseling Service**
Our Lady of the Lake University’s Community Counseling Service (CCS) offers individual, couple/marital, or family counseling and psychological testing. The CCS staff is concerned with the mental health needs of San Antonio, especially the community on the West Side. CCS also provides counseling to university students. Services are provided at a reasonable (sliding scale) fee.

//Team Concept//
Given that we are a training clinic for psychology graduate students at OLLU, we participate in some unique practices. One such way that we believe is efficacious for our clients to improve their problematic situations is by providing them with more than one idea and opinion about how to implement change in their lives. Each client will talk with two co-therapists in the same room, while there are about 4-5 additional team members, including a licensed supervisor, in the ajoining room listening and watching. When your therapists "take a break" they do so by consulting with the other team members to gather helpful feedback to bring back into the room for you. We like to believe in the adage (this word is NOT postmodern at all!) that "two heads are better than one." Sometimes, when applicable, your co-therapists and you will trade rooms with the team members and, thus, you will sit in the ajoining room now and listen and watch what the "reflecting team" has to say about improving your situation. This is a unique practice that we believe helps to offer additional views of the problem that brought you into therapy.

Since we want to provide our clients with a consistent therapy environment, we operate in a team throughout the clinic. This means that when you schedule an appointment for a certain time on a specific day, you will continue to come as often as you like on that same day, within the same time block. Each team meets for 4 hours each segment of the day, Monday through Saturday. For example, if you make your initial appointment on Tuesday morning at 10:00 am, then you will be seen on Tuesdays (until therapy ends) from 9am - 12pm, to make certain that you are provided with the same co-therapists and team members who you are familiar with you and your concerns. However, in the instance of a change in your home or work schedule, you are allowed to change teams and therapists but we like to offer you as much consistency as possible during your visits with us so that is why we ask that you continue coming in on the same day at about the same time.

//Training Concept and Client Benefits//
This training facility is unique in that it provides both services to therapists in training and to clients and the greater community who benefit from the training. As Gehart (2007) contended, most training models utilize a didactic system that does not fit well when teaching postmodern therapy. Postmodern therapy and postmodern processes promote the notion that one could essentially 'be' postmodern and teach it simply by 'being' it. Students learn together and supervisors provide support in a flexible, non-directive, and beneficial way consistent with postmodern theory. As such, the CCS trains therapists by employing training using a postmodern frame and making the therapy training process one that is fluid but upholds all training standards by licensing boards and accreditors.

This model benefits clients seen at the CCS through putting into practice what is learned. Therapists learn as the therapeutic process develops and are constantly receiving collaborative feedback from the team which all serves to benefit the client directly. This can also serve as a model to clients and show them how there can be multiple perspectives that arrive at a potential solution. Additionally, supervision is handled in the same way and this also serves as a foundation from which therapists learn through doing and this doing creates meaningful discussion about the training process.

The CCS also has a **walk-in clinic** from **10 a.m. to 5 p.m.** most days. During this time, clients can come to the clinic, and visit with the CCS staff that same day. Spanish speaking services area available upon request.

//Assessment Services// The OLLU Assessment Team provides psycho-educational and psychological assessment for all ages. Spanish services are available upon request. Assessments are tailored to client need. We provide strength based solutions and recommendations to improve challenges the client may face. We provide evaluation services every Wednesday from **8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,** appointments only. Self-referrals are welcomed.

**References:**
Gehard, D. R. (2007). Process-as-content: Teaching postmodern therapy in a university setting. //Journal of Systemic Therapies, 26//(3), 15-28.