Communication Classes with Akshat - Guest post by Ms. Suhasini Sundaresan
Hello readers, In today's post, I am sharing another guest post by Akshat's counsellor, Suhasini Sundaresan. We started taking sessions from her in around April 2021 when one day, during conversation, Akshat shared with me something about friendship and I realized that he needs some friends to hang out. After searching online, I got to know about ASK and got in touch with Suhasini and our journey started. The purpose of these sessions was to give exposure to online classes to Akshat, build one to one communication and of course providing him a buddy.
I admire Suhasini for being extremely patient and supportive with us. She's one of the few who is in this field by choice and not by destiny.
About Suhasini Sundaresan:
Hi,
I’m Suhasini Sundaresan, a Mumbai based mental health counsellor and
psychologist at Adult Support Kendra, Mumbai.
I’ve
done my graduation in psychology, masters in psychology(clinical), post
graduate diploma in counselling psychology and international diploma in narrative
practices.
My introduction to
psychology was a revelation, to read, learn and experience many esteemed
theorists and their theories like Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, Roger’s
theory of self.
After completing my
masters and started working, I experienced a whole new world of people, of
different age groups, socio-economic strata’s; each individual a personality,
each individual with their likes and differences and mental health concerns.
Through my interactions
and observations, I realised that people neither communicated nor listened to
each other. Majority people were either swarmed with submissions and deadlines
or obligations and commitments.
Till now, I got the
opportunity to interact with teenagers, young adults and parents, across the
socio-economic strata. And irrespective the class, each and everyone wanted to
be heard and listened to, and receive suggestions that will help in their daily
life and eventually figure out on their own. This made me dive deeper in the
counselling realm where I got specific training in counselling at Xavier’s
institute of counselling psychology.
In
each workplace, I got to learn different aspects of human behaviour, which can not be found in textbooks.
In
my current workplace at Adult Support Kendra, where I am a mental health
counsellor for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it’s a
fulfilling and enriching journey where both counsellor and the counselees get
to discover a newer aspect about themselves, to help in their journey of
empowerment and enriched life.
I
believe that in a counselling relationship, a successful progress is when the
counsellor gains as much as the counsellee. I am always a work in progress and
strive to do my best, every day.
My experiences with Akshat:
When 17-year-old Akshat
was referred to me, like any professional counsellor, I prepared myself for the
first session by thinking of questions to ask, the techniques of building
rapport, how and what could I communicate and so on.
I had especially prepared
quite in length as he was a non-verbal autistic person.
Although my first interaction
did not go as planned, but it did end well. As the sessions progressed, I
observed that he was impulsive and hyper. His threshold to sit for prolonged time
was low and since he was unable to sit for long, his communication was less.
In my experience as a
counsellor, very few counselees have shown an analytical mind regarding the
daily happenings, current affairs or his take on topics like friendship. Akshat
is one of those few counselees who’s insights are honest and brilliant.
Another major discovery,
for me as a counsellor was his poetry writing. Akshat’s introduction to the
world of Cinquain poetry was a revelation to actually read and witness his
profound thoughts on simple things like a kite, mountain.
Akshat’s expression is
direct and honest is open to suggestions that makes communication so much
easier and engaging. For example, we had discussed about Covid and the use of masks.
He wrote that he refrains from wearing it as it was difficult and irritating.
When we discussed the pros and cons of wearing a mask, taking into
consideration his experience and giving scenarios, he was able to come to a
decision, on his own that wearing masks was unavoidable as it was necessary.
Another instance that I remember was when he wrote that he dislikes drawing and
art and only attends the session for his mother.
His insights to his
behaviour are appreciable. He recently wrote about his escalated behaviour and
how it was horrible when he thought about it. He was open to suggestions and
techniques to help in reducing the impact.
Akshat’s mom, Ritu is
very supportive and patient throughout these challenging moments. Her insights
to handle Akshat were gold for me as it helped me to better in my planning of
his sessions.
Akshat has shown and
continues to show improvement in many aspects like listening, his increased
threshold to sit for my sessions. It makes me feel proud to see that he is
trying, earnestly. Of course, it’s a work in progress and I hope to help him on
his journey of empowerment.
Through this process of
counselling, apart from Akshat being my counselee, I found an intellectual
buddy!
Very insightful. Akshat is very attuned to his feelings and the world around him.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bharthi
DeleteSuperb... and yes it's a pleasure to hear about Akshat..So much we get to learn from him...I am really really honoured that I know Akshat..
ReplyDeleteThanks Ma'am
Delete