Review of the Miso Program (8-Week Group Counseling Program)

The counseling that started out as the Miso Program

finished its eight-week schedule as of Thursday.

The fact that it was pushed back two weeks from the originally planned schedule

was made possible by a schedule delay reached by everyone's agreement.

The group counseling program was carried out over a total of 8 sessions,

and was conducted with 10 people in all, including 4 civilians along with the counselor.

At each session, experiencing new things,

I kept reflecting on something within me, and now that's over.

It's really a shame. When I did individual counseling back in school too,

I think I said this to someone.

'I look forward to and anticipate going to counseling every week.'

In my first year of undergrad I started counseling because of a quarrel with my father,

in the second year I started counseling again over human relationships,

and this time I started over my career at the point of nearing two years,

so I'm not sure whether I'll be doing individual counseling again next year.

For people trying to find some kind of answer it might not be a good fit,

but from the start I wanted to sort out the thoughts within me rather than find answers,

and I started because, if there were people with experience, I wanted to hear their stories—

and the group counseling program I began at the counselor's recommendation brought me a great deal.

When we did the program of drawing my body and marking the painful spots on the drawing,

I felt I really couldn't assimilate into the group and it was frustrating,

but the program of choosing about 10 negative emotion words and, using those words,

describing the bad memories you hold one sentence at a time

and expressing them through drawing—

was, as I recall, the best counseling.

Doing psychodrama was also really good. Psychodrama, which I'd only seen on TV,

I could relate to once I did it with myself as the protagonist. I came to understand much better

why people can't speak, or grow sad, or shed tears.

The 'writing your own letter of recommendation' that we did in the final week seemed

most fitting as the 8th-week program for reflecting on and wrapping up the counseling.

For 7 weeks I had thought only of negative images about myself,

so when, entering the 8th week, I suddenly tried to come up with positive images,

it was harder than expected, but that program was very valuable in that

everyone attached good points to one another, one by one.

Fortunately, perhaps because I had much better thoughts after hearing

the words my aunt gave me at the funeral hall,

the words my great-aunt gave me, and the words my uncles gave me,

I felt I could be a bit kinder than others, hold some room in my heart,

have an androgynous mindset along with interests in various areas,

and that wherever I end up doing PR going forward, I could do it well.

Having only sweet memories during a bittersweet army period

still sounds like an attractive proposition. I hope someone else can

receive this kind of benefit too.

End of counseling.