Ann Sparling White, MS, LPC, NCCannsparling@gmail.com

THE VOLCANO MODEL

AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL

• Allows for quick and easy information gathering

• Is non-intrusive

• Works both individually and with a family or group

AS A TREATMENT PLAN

• Gives the counselor information so that treatment can be designed to maximize client cooperation and foster client/counselor trust.

• Treatment is client driven which enhances the opportunity for positive outcomes

WHY THE VOLCANO MODEL IS ESPECIALLY HELPFUL IN TODAY’S WORLD

1. TIME WITH CLIENTS IS LIMITED. WE NEED INTERVENTIONS THAT ARE QUICK AND EFFECTIVE.

2. THE VOLANO METAPHOR IS EASILY UNDERSTOOD AND REMEMBERED BY PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

3. THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENTS VARY AND TOOLS NEED TO BE ADAPTABLE TO DIFFERENT SPACES

4. GRIEF AND LOSS ISSUES ARE BETTER UNDERSTOOD (in many areas of the country) THAN IN THE PAST, AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR POSITIVE IMPACT IS MORE AVAILABLE.

5. ANGER THAT IS UNEXPRESSED IS DANGEROUS. AS POPULATION INCREASES, IT BECOMES MORE DANGEROUS.

Why The Volcano Model Is Needed As A Tool In Your Toolbox

All people experience change and transitions that elicit feelings.

It is helpful to children and adults to have consistent structure and expectations.

Feelings influence behavior.

Feelings, unexpressed, cause stress and pressure that can disrupt our ability to cope with daily life and irritations.

Children learn more easily if their environment is predictable.

Our society has no uniform, understood language with which to communicate the process of adjustment to change.

It is easier to maintain behavior if everyone is behaving in similar ways.

Basic Needs for Healthy Growth

Understanding and support A sense that there is purpose in striving A sense that we have the capacity to deal with a

situation Language that clearly expresses what we are

experiencing

A knowledge of options The freedom and opportunity to try a new option Respect

Emotions Leading to Anger and Violence

Fear

Sadness

Frustration

Loneliness

Guilt

A sense of being separate and misunderstood

I know a few people who are walking time bombs. They are constantly in the midst of fights, pain and terror. These kids don’t like to talk about their feelings and keep them bottled up.

Tabitha, age 17 (from Understanding the Human Volcano)

“I believe that people who start most of the violence are kids who have trouble expressing themselves in any other way.”

Tommy, age 16

“There used to be this kid in my class who, whenever he got mad, would throw things around and sometimes hit others. I think he did that because he was so frustrated and didn’t know how else to express his feelings.”

Lillian, age 16From Understanding the Human Volcano,

by Earl Hipp

People need information and understanding in order to have choices about emotional response to experience.

The first step is to develop a link to a feeling word. The choice of this word helps us to gauge the intensity of the feeling and to choose an appropriate response.

• The counselor needs to understand a client’s feelings about a loss or change in order to offer them effective support.

• Assuming client feelings is not helpful.

• Obtaining feeling information in a respectful and timely way is hard.

• The first task in our work with clients is to get accurate information on how they feel about the loss and change that has brought them to you.

How Someone Feels Is Important

How To Ask About Feelings Without Asking About Feelings

This may be our most difficult task. Especially when working with a family.

Have them show you instead of having to talk about it.

The Feeling Word Chosen Gives Us Very Important Information That We Can Use To

Develop Effective Treatment Options

Frustrated vs Furious

Lonely vs Invisible

Sad vs Devastated

Techniques oriented toward behavioral change that emphasize learning and cognitive restructuring are superior to approaches that focus solely on insight or the expression of feelings.

Geraldine Orton Strategies for Counseling Children and their Parents

Steps for Emotional Health

Identify stressor

Identify feeling

Park the feeling (when necessary)

Vent

The Components of the Volcano

Explosions Ways of relieving stress and pressure

that elicit negative response.Vents Often involves a talent or a strength.

Allows for positive expression of an internal feeling.

Rest Getting away from feelings distraction.

Vents that Are Helpful

Talking Crying Drawing Writing Music Creative arts Shouting Hitting soft,

inanimate objects.

Connecting with nature Sports/exercise Laughing Deep breathing Imagery Running Reframing Storytelling

Common losses and expression of the feelings that result

CHANGE OVER TIME

It is never too late to figure out how to take care of your emotional needs. Because the world is a difficult and crazy place, it’s incumbent on each of us to figure out how to be happy.

- The Volcano Model Manual

Do you have any feelings right now that are telling you that you’re stressed?

What are they?

What can you doabout them?

“Sorrow needs expression, but it’s not always with words. The more tools and permission provided for children and adolescents, the more likely they will find their own forms of expression rather than the narrow options we might offer. Give sorrow words, yes, but also paint and glue and hammers and nails and long walks and quiet and music and play and all other possible forms of expression, including silence.”

Donna L. Schuurman, Ed. D

Ex. Director, The Dougy Center

When individuals begin using their natural Vents and receive the positive feedback inherent in them, they begin to feel some control over the world in which they live and develop a positive sense of self as an effective participant in that world.