RoboCounsellor

General instructions

It is easier to benefit from a RoboCounsellor session if you know what to expect and are prepared for it. It has been made as easy as possible for you, but you will have to use some degree of self-discipline in order to be successful. More so than with a human counsellor, because there is no-one in the room with you to keep you in the session doing what you should be doing.

Before doing a RoboCounsellor session, it is important to prepare for the session, not so much mentally but physically. This means:

• having had enough rest and sleep so that you are not physically tired at the time of the session;
• having had enough nutritious food so that you are well-fed;
• not being under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
• having enough time for the session;
• being in an environment relatively free from distractions, i.e., no kids or pets running around, no sudden loud noises, no people looking over your shoulder etc.; and
• being willing to follow the instructions given.

These requirements may seem like a luxury, but a session may fail simply because one or more of them has not been adequately met. An obvious example would be if you are drunk and cannot focus your attention at all, but each of the above factors is important. They are not absolute, but should be kept in mind, and taken care of as best as you can before a session. There are more details on these points in the relevant pre-session pages.

Before starting the session you should have a written session plan. This is a strategic plan for the session that is best worked out in the calm before the session and not in the middle of one in the "heat of battle", so to speak. :). Here are some examples of Rogerian session plans, but each module has its own examples.

The end point for a general RoboCounsellor session is covered in General Session EP.

If you feel yourself suddenly shutting down (starting to go to sleep and feeling mentally foggy as a result of heavy sensory/emotional charge being stirred up, not from lack of sleep or eating too much), recognize it as such. Hit the shutting down link visible on most of the session pages for a quick and effective remedy. Note that you still have to reduce the heavy charge with the ongoing session actions, but you will have successfully dealt with that effect of it for now.

Note that the brief audio command at the start of most of the session screens will repeat about every two minutes until you click on the next screen. This is not intended to interrupt your train of thought, but more to keep things moving along. Sitting and *thinking* at length about your topic is not really very therapeutic. Nor is getting lost in writing a huge long "paragraph" about your topic. Most people have been chewing on their concerns for months or years without too much benefit. What is helpful is getting on with doing the session procedure, often broken down into bite-sized chunks measured in a minute or so once you have read the notes and are familiar with the procedure. A live counsellor could make a judgment call a couple of minutes after the command was first given as to whether a client is doing something productive, or is just chewing aimlessly on random thoughts. Since RoboCounsellor isn't alive, the two minutes repeat is an alternative. You don't *have* to go on to the next screen after two minutes if you're really not done, but don't overdo it.

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