I-Poetry as an Instructional Tool in Counselor Education

ABSTRACT

Originally intended for qualitative research, I-poetry is proffered here as a tool that counselor educators can use to help counselor trainees develop case conceptualization and treatment planning skills. Discussion includes a description of the I-poem Transcript and Case Conceptualization (ITCC) assignment, a teaching strategy that incorporates I-poetry with case conceptualization. With the discussion, we present step-by-step instructions for constructing an I-poem transcript from a recorded counseling session and using a client’s “I” statements from the transcript to conceptualize elements of a client’s case utilizing the T/C Model for Case Conceptualization. We include reflective questions that can help counselor trainees to devise treatment plans based on their written conceptualizations and discuss additional applications of I-poem transcripts in counselor education and clinical practice.

KEYWORDS:

• I-poetry
• counselor education
• creativity in counseling
• andragogy
• case conceptualization
• treatment planning

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.