Hi Ben,

professionally trained in counseling but have done a lot of "kitchen
table counseling" over the years. It can be better than paying a professionaly trained counselor--a cuppa tea or mug of coffee at the kitchen table may not solve the world's problems but may help you put
yours into a better perspective.

For sure! I read the book Focusing and in it Eugene Gendlin writes
about studying professional counseling on a large scale. The
researchers found equality of outcomes across all modalities. When narrowing down the
factors associated with successful outcomes, the single largest factor
was the attitude that the client brought with them. Focusing is a
process
based on those findings.

Sounds interesting. The client's attitude does have quite the influence
on the outcome. I can see where differing attitudes would produce
different results or lack thereof.

I took a co-counseling course where the instructor said that the
majority of counseling is basically active listening. She said that people are so hungry to be listened to, that if you are a good
listener then strangers will follow you around in the streets.

What is co-counseling? It's a term I'm not familiar with, but then too,
most of my classes were in the early 70s. BTW, Steve (my husband) says
that yes, I am a good listener.

I have read co-counseling books from the 1970's and i think some of
their more experimental stuff was harmful or at least irresponsible. They've cleaned it up a lot since then. All that aside, i see it as a
DIY
approach, which is right up my alley. If we lived in the same part of
the world, i'd love to share a cup of tea with you from time to time.

Where is your part of the world? We do travel, most often in a camper.
We do carry teas, other than my morning British Blend, in the camper as
Steve will sometimes brew up a cuppa non caffienated at night. We also
carry coffee (his morning drink) and hot cocoa mix for some of those
really cold nights we occaisionally encounter. This last trip we had to
pack for mid spring in the northeast (still some chilly days and nights)
to summer in the southwest (hot).


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... If you focus only on the thorns you will miss the beauty of the rose.

--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)

Re: Sourdough Whole-Wheat Biscuits
By: Ruth Haffly to Ben Collver on Mon Jun 30 2025 12:09:37

Hi Ruth!

What is co-counseling? It's a term I'm not familiar with, but then too, most of my classes were in the early 70s. BTW, Steve (my husband) says
that yes, I am a good listener.

Co-counseling is a grass roots method for peer counseling. Sessions are organized as an exchange. I listen to you for a period of time, then you listen to me for an equal period of time. It has a formal structure that
feels awkward compared to an informal meet-up between friends, but i think
it is good practice. Co-counseling is a spin-off from RC (Re-evaluation Counseling), which is in turn an offshoot of Dianetics. It also has ties
to the Human Potential Movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-counselling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-groups

Where is your part of the world? We do travel, most often in a camper.
We do carry teas, other than my morning British Blend, in the camper as Steve will sometimes brew up a cuppa non caffienated at night.

I live in southern Oregon, not far from the northern border of California.
I love British blends, and also Irish and Scottish blends. :)
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (1:124/5016)

Hi Ben,

What is co-counseling? It's a term I'm not familiar with, but then too, most of my classes were in the early 70s. BTW, Steve (my husband) says
that yes, I am a good listener.

Co-counseling is a grass roots method for peer counseling. Sessions
are organized as an exchange. I listen to you for a period of time,
then you listen to me for an equal period of time. It has a formal structure that feels awkward compared to an informal meet-up between friends, but i think it is good practice. Co-counseling is a spin-off from RC (Re-evaluation Counseling), which is in turn an offshoot of Dianetics. It also has ties to the Human Potential Movement.

OK, I see. I don't know if I'd call it counseling but that's the name
chosen so I'll use it if I have the occaision to. I don't know how well
it works; 2 people exchanging and listening to problems doesn't sound
like counseling to me--more of just a co listening session.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-counselling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-groups

I'll look it up but probably not this week or next, got a small trip
coming up.

Where is your part of the world? We do travel, most often in a camper.
We do carry teas, other than my morning British Blend, in the camper as Steve will sometimes brew up a cuppa non caffienated at night.

I live in southern Oregon, not far from the northern border of
California. I love British blends, and also Irish and Scottish blends.
:)

We've not been to California since Steve had his language school in
Montery in 83-84 other than flights stopping briefly. Guess we ought to
try to make it to the west coast at some point; we've good memories of
the Montery area. We were introduced to guacamole and calamari while we
were out there, 2 things that we still enjoy today. IITC, the furthest
north we got then was San Francisco but have flown in and out of Seattle
a couple of times. First time we flew in, we got there in early
afternoon so spent the rest of the day and early evening exploring.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... I'm clinging to sanity by a thread. Hand me those scissors.

--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)