A requirement for all counseling students in my graduate program was to write our stories up to that point in our lives and then share them with each other. I remember the assignment being particularly fruitfull in several ways: 1) it added clarity to my family of origin dynamic and my part in it; 2) it provided an avenue to assess my life as I had lived it and make meaning out of my experiences; 3) the sharing of the stories required the practices of expressing vulnerability and building trust; 4) it enriched our understanding of the uniqueness of all of us. It was a fair bit of work and well worth the effort.
A requirement for all counseling students in my graduate program was to write our stories up to that point in our lives and then share them with each other. I remember the assignment being particularly fruitfull in several ways: 1) it added clarity to my family of origin dynamic and my part in it; 2) it provided an avenue to assess my life as I had lived it and make meaning out of my experiences; 3) the sharing of the stories required the practices of expressing vulnerability and building trust; 4) it enriched our understanding of the uniqueness of all of us. It was a fair bit of work and well worth the effort.