Yes its true, they're just happy to be stuck with you..

As the title hints, I'm refering to Hewy Lewis and the News' song that could describe clients who like to work with you ... maybe a little too much. There can be many reasons for this, but as I have found, if you feel drained at the end of a session, almost as if you are driving the client around mentally, and you have multiple sessions like this, there could be a boundary issue going on. One of the great things that I have experineced as a consultant that has helped me even in my personal growth as an indivudual is learning the skill of discernment when it comes to what you can an cannot do during a consultation. It has been my expernience that, there are some instances where a person will come in, see how versed and skilled you are with the English language and develop the mindset that you can therefore teach them all their matierial for a class that they are struggling with. ... If only it were that simple:) First of all, you are not, and never were their "instructor". You are actually a peer consultant, key word being "peer" so you cannont take on any higher position than that. Second, its almost not fair to them to take on such a role because they need to go through the struggle of class so that they can learn to overcome what is challenging them, or discover that the current path they are taking may need to divert its courseway so that they can operate within their means (to stop biting off more than they can chew... so to speak). This has been the difficult part for me as I instinctively want to intervene and then realize that if I act upon this impulse, I have crossed the line into co-authorship. Also, its a mental exercize to try to take over the construction of someone else's project, so its not serving the other clients who come in later when you have only a couple drops of mental energy left. The good thing is that boundaries not only keep negative things out, they keep good things in. So allow your concentration to be preserved, and let the student work things out. This has been the lesson taught to me in the last couple of years. Even now, I still have to vigilently guard against losing my mental energy to a student who is struggling to stay afloat. A sobering realization I found tonight comes from wiki how describing how to properly lifeguard someone who is being pulled under, bearing an uncanny parallel to boundaries in consulting: "An active drowning victim's only concern is getting air. In fear, he/she may grab onto you and pull you under, resulting in two victims...."

Most rewarding things about being a consultant

Hi everyone, Just a note of encouragement for all of us consultants; the client is helped, but we are helped too! I have found that being a writing consultant is one of the most personally satisfying and rewarding things you could ever do, in the sense that you can see visible results in a client. So I have jotted down some of the coolest moments you will get to have as a writing consultant.. They say: -"Thank you, I understand so much more now." - "I never knew that, thank you." -"You know that paper you helped me with? I got a 96%." -"My second language is English, and meeting with you cleared many things up for me." -"You know that internship application you helped me review, I got the job!" Or, even better, you can actually see how their writing is improved You observe: -No more sentence fragments -No more comma splices -Better use of singular/plural endings for ESL students -The client is able to write a great paper based just off a brainstorming session What are some of the best things you have noticed about being a consultant?

Nursing students just learning APA (non-trad)

Hi everyone, I just had a quick idea about somethign for us to blog about. I am sure we all have been in this situation by now, and I am just curious about how other people handle it. No right or wrong ways per se, I am just curious about what course of action people take and maybe the sharing of ideas can lead to insight. The situation: You've been here before and you can almost predict it.... You notice that you have a new student and you have a blank slate as far as what you will be doing with them today. You meet them, and then after some small talk, you find the reason for why they are here. Perhaps you note that, they are a non-traditional and they have filled out nursing as their program on their logsheet. They grimace slightly as they mention that they have to use APA and they have a super-strict professor when it comes to proper citations. "Oh boy..." you think to yourself. They then say the words that you could have bet money they would say. Like a child confessing that they have just eaten a forbidden cookie from the jar, they nervously chuckle to disguise their true feelings of vulnerability, You hear the sound of their nervous ruffling of papers in their binder, and you observe that they probably have kids of their own your age.... "I haven't been to school in 20 years and we never documented anything, or did research or papers like this, now I have to learn this APA thing and its pushing me over my edge. Can you help me?.... These words can be a little unnerving when you first hear them. You think to yourself, wow, they are a professional with a career, going back to school, they have so much more life experince than me, and they feeling vulnerable doing something that I deal with all the time- APA. Akward huh?

One-on_one in 2011

As we enter the second month of the new year and await the blizzard snow, let's promise to engage in more online professional development via our blog. I have reinvitated everyone to join so that we might share the novel, the treasured, and the tedious consultation. To get started, I'd like us to think about how we engage (or fail to engage) our clients in a dialogue about their writing. In other words, what informs the process we employ? Is it reserach? If so, based upon what data? Is it anecdote? If so, shared by whom? Is it personal preference? Let's consider what we do each time we sit down with another human being and his/her writing, how we do it, why we do it, and how we know that it yields writing development. To ensure that we all hone our consulting acumen, I've asked Genevieve to meet with each of you about your process. In addition to talking with you about your interactions with clients, she will co-tutor and observe. Her role is not to evaluate you for rehire or to record your less successful moments. Her goal is to listen, affirm, redirect, and advise as needed. Starting this week, Genevieve will begin contacting you to set up initial meetings. You need not wait for her, though. She and I will be happy to discuss your role one-on-one as needed. While I am often busy with andministrative paperwork and meetings, please don't misinterpret my time in the "glass castle" as anything but required service. If you need me, I can quickly move back into studio circulation because without clients and dedicated staff, my paperwork is moot.