My Experience and Understanding of Adventure-Based Counselling Essay

According to Neill (2004), take a chance therapy is the use of adventure-based acquitivities and/or adventure-based hypothesis to provide people with emotional and/or behavioral problems with produces which head teacher to positive change in their lives. Adventure therapy is withal programming disciplineed at changing specified dysfunctional behavior patterns, using adventure experiences as forms of habilitation and reclamation (Priest & Grass, 2005).The underlying philosophy of adventure-based counseling (ABC) is experiential education and it stresses on champions personal improvement through full look upon contract, adventure wave and challenge by choice (Schoel, Prouty & Radcliffe, 1988). aft(prenominal) several lectures, different skills were explained and point applied on ourselves. In this essay, these theories and experience will be discussed.Adventure-based counseling is part of the inwardness of experiential filling. educational psychologists usually def ine reading as a change in the individual caused by experience (Slavin, 1986, p.104). Through various experiences, people dissolve come upon from them and gain personal growth. Kolb (1984) suggested an experiential culture cycle, pointing out quatern essential elements of experiential tuition, which are experience, review, conclusion and planning.Applying to Adventure-based counseling, experience means nigh challenging activities for classifys or individuals. Review means encouraging individuals to reflect, describe, communicate and learn from the experience. Conclusion means concluding past and present experiences and planning means applying new learning in the future.There are several learning theories explaining how experiences can slip a personal manner to learning, which means behavioral changes or cognitive developments. operant conditioning proposed by Skinner states that successes, praise, positive feedbacks or rewards can act as positive reinforcers so that the sub jects would be reinforced to act the aforesaid(prenominal) way again. Similarly, failures, punishments or damaging comments would act as negative reinforcers which admonish the subjects to act again (Skinner, 1968).In adventure-based counseling, participants would face some challenges and act. Some actions would lead to positive results, which would further reinforce participants to act in the same way when they face similar situations again. Some actions lead to negative results, which make them mindful and change their behaviors next time. This can be applied also to changing of personalities and problem-solving skills. Undesirable personalities will be discouraged by failures or negative feedbacks while desirable personalities will be reinforced.Bandura suggested social learning theory that people can learn through observational learning and mold (Bandura, 1986). Through observational learning, people would feign others behaviors and learn from others successes or failures. In adventure-based counseling, when participants face the challenges individually, they would imitate what other participants do, or take others successes and failures in relations with the challenges as example. So when they face the challenges, participants would improve along the sequence. When encountering group challenges, participants would imitate the socially desirable behaviors of their group couple or remind themselves non to behave socially undesirably after observing their group mates failures. This can enhance participants social skills.In cognitive aspect, James Coleman (1977) differentiates between the information assimilation process of the regular classroom and the experiential learning process. In traditional classrooms, knowledge is taught to students through direct instruction and they apparently memorize the knowledge. Through information assimilation, the learners are expected to move from cognitive and symbol-processing sphere to the sphere of action throu gh applying the general principles learned into new(a) situations.Experiential learning is in a reversed order, which involves actions sufficiently repeated that the learner is able to generalize from the experience. However, it is more etched into the brain as the learning can be associated with concrete actions and events, not just plume symbols or general principles (Mllre, & Priest, 1990).There are some eventful principles of adventure-based counseling, namely Full Value Contract and contend by extract (Schoel, Prouty & Radcliffe, 1988). Full Value Contract means an agreement among group members to value ones own ideas and needs without ignoring or discounting others. Challenge by Choice means individuals can choose their level of liaison in any activity. (Neill, 2007)During our lectures, our lecturer Lau Sir has explained different theories by involving us to twist games. after playing games, Lau Sir would explain how the games worked, the meaning of different proc edures, and what can we learn throughout them.In the first lecture, a game throwing the chicken was played. It is an ice-breaking game, aim at knowing the names of group members. Although it is a very booming game, it has lots of micro-skills included. At the beginning, Lau Sir has asked did anyone feel afraid of the chicken, which could show his caring to the participants, in order to build up the relationship between the leader and the participants. After one round of the game, Lau Sir required the participants to repeat the process, nevertheless with a swift speed, the participants would then move their chairs towards the center. This is using indirect intervention method, helping them to tie close together(predicate) and involve more into it, without directly telling them to sit closer or involve more.The other micro-skill Challenge by Choice was also frequently used during lectures. For example, the throwing the chicken game in the first lecture, the leave ladder in the s econd lecture and different games during the overnight camp. all told of these may only be just simply asking the participants that whether they extremity to play, but it was vital as it shows the respect to the participants. These skills were the easiest thing being omitted, but without it, the counseling work may be affected or even have some adverse effects.Although half of the lectures have passed, there is one more High-event Challenge Day and several lectures. I am sounding forward to learn more different skills in counseling and starring(p) games.Reference ListBandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action A social-cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall.Coleman, J. A. (1977). Differences between experiential and classroom learning. In M. T. Keeton (Ed.), Experiential learning principle characteristics, and assessment, pp. 49-61. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass Publishers.Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning Experience as the source of learn ing and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall.Mllre, J. C. & Priest, S. (1990). Adventure education. State College, DA Adventure Publishing.Neill, J. (2004). Adventure therapy definitions. Retrieved from http//www.wilderdom.com/adventuretherapy/adventuretherapydefinitions.htmlNeill, J. (2007). Adventure-based counseling (ABC). Retrieved from http//wilderdom.com/ABC/Priest, S., & Gass, M. (2005). Effective leadership in adventure programming (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL Human Kinetics.Schoel, J., Prouty & Radeliffe,P. (1988). Islands of healing. A pass away to adventure based counseling. U.S.A Project Adventure.Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts.Slavin, R. E. (1986). Educational psychology theory into practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall.