 Hello and welcome to MIPTV and with me as always is the book reviewer Oh Splendid with the Bob Cook and Bob is, we're going in a different direction in book reviews this year aren't we Bob? We're moving away from T8 to just general books and you've got a cracking one here aren't you? Do you want to tell us a little bit about the title? Yeah the title is making the most of counselling and psychotherapy placements. Oh so I'm gonna and this is by Michelle Aldale and Michelle J Cook. No no connection to you Bob. No it's just CWKE. Yes that's true. No connections. I just bought this book actually a couple of weeks ago because you know at our Institute we train you know psychotherapists of course for a long time and one of the things they have to do as you well know from your counselling days they have to do a hundred-hour placement and it's probably one of the most anxious time for students preparing for placements and of course at our Institute they have to pass first a clinical compensation exam. Yes. So not only are they actually very anxious because they have to do role-playing as therapists to pass this exam but then of course they have to prepare for placements and actually go for interviews with placements. Yeah. So it's a real anxious time and this book 2015 2016 really I liked it because it's really good for students who are preparing for placements not just in understanding what makes up the preparation for placement interviews and actually when they start there really there I think road their clinical road if you like their work experience on the vocational training at the placements but they have to prepare and this book is a very good start for that. Yeah I mean it's one of those things that students my experience is students worry about a lot and also you know I think that for me the title making the most of it because it's a you know for those who have placements it's a really really enriching experience if someone makes the most of it Bob and I wonder what what this book kind of highlights. It really highlights first of all what a placement is in terms of work experience and the importance of this and starting a clinical journey. It talks about preparing yourself not just preparing yourself in terms of clinical competency but preparing yourself in terms of ethics in terms of understanding the ethics of the dilemmas the sort of ethical dilemmas you might come across as a beginning therapist. Yeah for sure. It talks about preparing you in terms of the effectiveness of supervision and I talk about preparing you in terms of your own personal development. Yeah yeah. So it talks about preparing you in three elements first you know you supervision the ethics and the clinical side and also that I very much like because it's preparing you with three fundamental tenets first. Yeah yeah I always I always think that that's something that should be part of good training anyway you know that you talk about clinical competencies when I trained when I used to train therapist we would we would have fitness to practice which is the same same thing and you know that would encompass a really an observed recording maybe they gave some feedback on it and also a general a general consensus with the teaching team about do they really understand aspects such as the law do they understand about the ethical framework boundaries yeah you know and also the use of supervision and the ratios of it which are yeah one to eight I think yeah yeah six yeah and in our institute they have to actually be evaluated doing therapy for 20 minutes and then they have different competencies that have to reach which is pretty anxiety provoking yes then of course they need to understand that they have to use supervision effectively they have to prepare themselves at a personal development level that's after and they have to think ethically yeah all opposed to developments is is all you know again it's that comes down I think to the teaching and things like attachment understanding your own attachment style understanding your own history yeah and of course the other side of this book which are really like tells you prepare and understand interviews and otherwise nowadays and you'll know this is very well yourself it's not so easy to get placements no no you know I mean currently Bob and myself are in the UK so if we're here for the international audience and I don't know if placements are a element of all the training providers in other parts of the world but in it's certainly in the UK and I know so extending in America you get kind of like an apprenticeship where you you you go and you work and you understand the placement and then you know if you once you qualify for any jobs then you know you may have a you may be have a bit of a head start perhaps if they know you know you may or you may not depending on their recruitment policy yeah we're in the UK of course in I think placements are quite sparse because you've got so many counselors coming through programs as well as cyber-focused yeah just so really does help if you've got a sort of when you go to interview you've got a competency certificate behind you and you can talk about how much personal development you've done yes you can even address ethical dilemmas these are the sort of things that interviews they will get gold stars for yeah absolutely I've sat on a few placement interviews yeah when I yeah I was chairing director of Temside and lost at mind for about four years you know it was a it was a pro bono position I did it because the organization was and still is a fantastic organization in my local area and I felt it was the right thing to do and I was you know flattered for being asked and I've sat on interview panels and and yeah you know without giving too much away you usually get one person asking about personal development and one person asking about an ethical dilemma and and someone may be asking about application of theory or supervision you know and usually a group interview as well as sometimes a group interview oh fantastic and the only thing I like about this book particularly it talks about the accountability of training providers like ourselves in terms of reports from the from the actual student themselves midway through their clinical placement in terms of judging how they're getting on talks about well especially again at our institute but also in the book about how the training provider needs to contact and be in touch with the actual try the training and the placement provider need to be in tandem in in giving the best feedback because this is really at the beginning of the clinical journey for the student so in terms of work experience there's a wonderful time in terms of networking maybe even they'll go back to that placement to get a job after qualification so it is a real rich vein period for the for the training and the more they can learn at these stages the more they make for a competent therapist of course absolutely any bits of the book that really stand out for you really wow moments you've ready and you thought oh wow that's going to be so useful for someone how interestingly enough how to prepare for the interview itself yes even from and this is stands a bit well I don't know what it sounds really making sure you're smartly dressed for example yes no you know your behavioural your behavioural sense if you like yes like you're not on the you know I remember a time and this is my father saying to me a long long time ago you know and I went for a job on the radio and it you know I can hear my father's voice saying make sure your shoes are clean which is a bit ridiculous on the radio but you know in interviews yeah yeah you know yeah but no no things like present well you know be articulate yes how to ground yourself yeah yeah another bit I liked in the book particularly was how to use supervision and and I like the idea that they were talking about have supervision have some supervision sessions before you actually see your client absolutely I mean many people forget that well I mean yeah I mean it's absolutely essential you know I think people forget I think students sometimes forget I mean to be fair to them there's so much to learn it's a for some people it's completely new canvas the fact that if you go into practice without a supervisor you're technically well you're not technically you are an ethical because you're not supervised yeah that's why you know I'm I'm falling the supervisor up and saying can I see you doesn't constitute having a supervisor you know and you know I mean I've written extensively on this and I've lectured extensively on it and you know you have to go and see a supervisor a good supervisor should you know I think I think the opening gamut should be you know tell me about you know your values in counseling tell me a little bit about what's going on for you to get a real sense of the supervisor you know and also you know not to put two finer points on it to make it really clear it's the apprenticeship this is you know the work experience yeah yeah and it's such a valuable valuable time and the only I like in this book particularly I said a bit earlier on alluded to this but the emphasis on your own personal development and the emphasis on why you wanted to be a psychotherapist in the first time first post yeah this is the first time usually to you know in the second year or maybe in the third year that you switch from clinical theory learning about didactic training and you're starting your clinical journey so why did you what brought you into this clinical journey in the first place and and the book talks a lot about the training provider actually there's exercises in this book which is going to tease out you know what was the motivation what brought you here because if you haven't got that in a passion when you start your clinical journey yeah see so it's good the book touches on that yeah I also think there's something about finding a fit for you you're you know you know I know it's difficult because some you know I've known some students in the past who've you know basically said I just I'm just I have to find a placement and I have to enter a place where I wouldn't perhaps normally go but there's nothing else it is very very tricky but if you have a choice you know what I'd say is is find something that's really close to you that's a good tip yeah yeah something that's meaningful yeah because because you know when they go and get stuff and it does get tough I mean they've made no mistake you know if you've got that guiding light on that in a in a fire which is your passion for the work that will that will carry you through yeah definitely so this book provides all those things from a definition of what placements philosophy the values the ethics of the guardian principles of young trainees to prepare people for interviews how to use effective supervision what happens after the placement all those it's a very practical book yeah it is and it sounds it sounds like an essential read for any student of Council of Psychotherapy and maybe I'm sure those qualified colleagues those teaching colleagues who are listening who may have a book budget if there's any such thing left now at universities in college maybe it may be useful to get a couple of copies as usual Bob and myself we don't get paid for promoting these books Bob talks about his love of books just purely for the love of it and sharing his passion for literature right and we're gonna put a link in the link below in the comments bar so you can click on and inspect the book I'll put a picture at the end so you know what the book looks like so making the most of counselling and psychotherapy placements by Michelle O'Dell and Michelle Cook sounds like a must-have for yeah for anybody's you know anybody's starting off in a little journey yeah so Bob Cook as always thank you very much thank you