Consultation:  Clinica Viktor Frankl

Universidad Francisco Marroquin

Phyllis Terry Friedman, Ph.D.  

 

Background

I don’t speak Spanish, not the kind you need to be able to read a newspaper or follow a Univision novella, much less converse with colleagues at a university.  I can get around, order food, carry on a rudimentary conversation which impresses people who speak no Spanish at all, but, no, I couldn’t say I speak Spanish.

           I got to Guatemala because of a professor friend who lives there part time.  She convinced our family to come for a visit in 2005, and we all fell in love with the country.  It is beautiful, full of color, the people warm and courteous and gentle, the history sad and complex and full of heart.

           Somehow our University decided it would be good to offer a developmental leave to non-tenure track faculty with regularly renewed contracts.  They said it was good for enhancing the contribution of said faculty to the University.  I said, Okay, sign me up for spring semester.  Because I am older than I like to think, my kids were having adventures and semesters abroad, my friend is there and had university contacts, I loved the country, and I wanted to go somewhere I could make a contribution, I chose Guatemala.  For health reasons I was unable to leave and had to postpone the sabbatical, but my very generous clinical program granted me two weeks of professional leave April 2010. 

           Thus I entered a new world of consultation, something I’ve not done before, and this one was cross-language and cross-culture.  These two weeks required that I use every skill I’ve developed:  my knowledge about the nuts and bolts of directing a training clinic, the cumulative knowledge I’ve gained about other clinics through APTC, my ability to listen, to be genuine, respectful, to navigate university politics and turf conflicts, to accept that somewhere along the line I probably would step on a landmine of politics and turf conflicts and/or (probably “and”) say something culturally insensitive. 

 

What I Actually Did

The consultation turned out to be the perfect storm of good.  Most everyone spoke English, the Dean, the Clinic Director and Assistant Clinic Director were open and eager for my suggestions, I had things I could offer such as the Guidelines and the Competencies Document, and everyone, including students, agreed that more training and improved supervision (for the supervisors this meant more supervision) was critical.  And everybody was warm and open and friendly.  As a consequence, I had very little navigating to do (what a pleasure!) and could focus on the task. 

           I met with the Dean, the Clinic Director and Assistant Clinic Director, had a group meeting with 6 out of 7 supervisors, and met individually with two supervisors to gather their input on how they saw the program and what changes they would recommend.  A meeting between the Dean, Director, Assistant Director and students was also held at this time to obtain input from students.

           I then worked with the Dean, the Clinic Director and Assistant Clinic Director to identify ways to enhance training.  Currently students train one year in the clinic for 300 face-to-face hours and receive ½ hour of supervision per week.  The challenge was identify what was needed then pick changes that were doable.  We decided on several program options such as additional training hours, more supervision time, adding pre-practicum training activities, audio/video taping, and student mentors for new students.  I would focus on enhancing the quality of supervision. 

           I proposed developing a supervisor certificate program, similar to the Teaching Certificate we have at Saint Louis University (who knew that idea would come in handy), and the university President, Dean, the Clinic Director and Assistant Clinic Director were all enthusiastic.  You may notice that I have not mentioned supervisors as part of the enthusiastic group.  The certificate is a top-down decision, to be presented as a requirement of those who supervise in the program.  I will develop the program as part of my sabbatical this coming spring, and present it in two three-day training sessions.

 

Landmines Ahead

Most supervisors are psychoanalytic and entrenched in the Lacanian persuasion 

I’m not sure of the supervisor buy-in

I know it’s only a matter of time before I misread the politics and/or say something culturally insensitive.  Probably “and.”