LESSON 7 PSP TRAINING:Identifying Barriers

Obstacles do not block the path; they ARE the path

The Lord’s plan for His children includes living in a mortal environment where there is an opposition in all things.  Knowing that opposition and adversity are a common part of life, we can meet and overcome these challenges by remaining faithful to the Lord and trusting Him to help us. As we rise above adversity, our weaknesses are turned into strengths. 

The Gospel and the Productive Life Student Manual

LESSON 7: TEACHING PLANNING SKILLS AND GOAL SETTING: How to Identify the Barriers that will prevent the PLAN (as created in the previous lesson) from developing.    

What is most important for mentors to know? 

·        Mentors will know how to discover "what the problems really are"

·        Mentors will understand the full breadth of barriers that face people living in poverty

·        Mentors will learn how to help mentees identify the barriers that each individual has to face in order to work their plan

What is most important for mentors to do? 

·        Mentors will ask questions to help mentees identify the barriers that stand between them and their goal.

·        Mentors will write down the identified barriers and add them to the written plan 

·        Mentors will use all the skills they have learned to encourage those they mentor

What is most important for mentors believe?

Mentors will appreciate the immense challenges that those living in poverty face when they decide to change their lives

What kind of person will mentors be?

“charity . . . believeth all things”

Mentors will understand the barriers that mentees face.  They will help the mentees believe in themselves and their ability to face these challenges.

  

     1.     UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS: Define "Barrier" and give some synonyms: a circumstance or obstacle that keeps people or things apart or prevents communication or progress.    

synonyms:   obstacle, obstruction, hurdle, stumbling Block,  block, impediment, hindrance

For most people mentored by the PSP, there are a lot of barriers they must address before they can reach any goal.  For many of our mentees, this will be a whole new way of thinking.  You are teaching problem identification along with problem solving and planning for the future. 

Let’s look together at the handout called “List of Possible Barriers” that is in your packet.  You will see a lot of these in the lives of the mentees you are working with.   Are there other barriers that we need to add to the list?

Vision/Lack of vision 

Transportation

Housing          

Utilities

Family Challenges

Mental Health

Disabilities

Schooling

Motivation - laziness?

Culture

Debt   

Prior Schooling

Daycare

Food

Addictions

Immigration issues

Physical Health

Budgets

Current employment

Fixations/pre-occupations

Literacy

Marital status

Self-efficacy   

Spiritual needs/ Hope

Legal issues

     2.     BODY LANGUAGE AND TONAL EXPRESSION: Body expression and tonal expression will affect your success.  You are going to be asking a lot of personal questions as you try to identify these barriers. Discuss why it is important to be aware of how you are asking these questions.  Review "The three voices" from lesson 3.

Practice asking the questions below and practice saying them in ways that would be:

                                i.            Threatening

                              ii.            Condescending

                           iii.            Insulting

                            iv.            Non-threatening/ inviting of a response

Hopefully, this exercise will help you to realize how easy it is to slip into condescending tones when talking to another person so that you can avoid this mistake as you mentor.

The Questions: 

What do you think might prevent you from reaching this goal?

How many barriers do you think you are going to have to tackles?

What are you going to do to address that issue?

How long has that been a problem for you?

     3.     UNDERSTANDING THE BARRIERS WORKSHEET: ie., Getting the barriers on paper. 

                                   i.         We will give you an imaginary situation.  Your job is going to be to help this woman identify all the barriers she must address in order to reach her goal.  Since you are not interviewing this person you are just going to have to surmise from her situation what those barriers would be.  In real mentoring, you help the person identify the barriers by asking questions. 

Reminder:   This is THEIR life.  You cannot tell them the barriers. You can only ask questions.  You are teaching a very important skill. You are helping them to see how various barriers affect their ability to move forward.  In the next lesson, we will learn how to teach problem solving skills to address those barriers.

Look at the drawing on page 5.  This is the barriers worksheet.  All barriers will be added to this to visually illustrate how they block the path to the goal that has been set. 

Here is the situation.  You are working with a single woman who is presently living in a one bedroom apartment, working full time at a minimum wage job making $10.00, surviving only because she has food stamps and Medicaid.  She has two children, ages 6 and 9.  She has an aging mother who needs help on the weekends. 

This woman has no car but she is able to walk to work.  She has an outstanding DTE bill of $950 that she is getting notices about.

She has a goal to become a registered nurse, to own a home for her children, and to have job with benefits. 

Please list all the barriers that would prevent her from meeting her goal.  Look through the barrier list on page 2.  Have you forgotten anything that might possibly belong there.  For example, she want to go to college.  Did you find out if she has graduated from high school?  Predicting every possible barrier and planning on how to deal with those barriers is a very positive way to think.  Nothing is worse than thinking you’ve got your plan all set and you are going to make it to your goal, then boom – something surfaces that you forgot to address.  The more complete the list, even though it seems overwhelming to see all of those barriers, the better it is.

 

Once you have created this visual of all the barriers that stand in the way of achieving the stated goal, this document becomes a part of the written plan.  You cannot leave the mentoring session without a copy of that plan for both you and the mentee.  Plan ahead so that you know how you will make a copy.  Cell phones come in very handy!

                                   i.      Ask yourself this question: Do I really believe that this person has the capability to solve her own problems or do I see her as being in this mess because she is incapable?    “Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery;” Mosiah 4:17

                                 ii.      Time to exercise:  Exercise Patience, Exercise Faith, Exercise Capacity Building, Exercise Praise, Exercise Motivation

    4.     UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO TEACH “PROCESS”:  What does it       mean at this point to teach process?  Why is it SO important that mentors allow           people to solve their own problems?  How does overcoming a barrier empower the

         mentee? 

Having to face a lot of barriers can be overwhelming.  Share a situation where you have come to recognize all the barriers in someone’s life.  How have you helped them to keep moving forward?  Which skills have you applied? 

How can you celebrate success with your mentees as they go through these steps?

 

A POWER POINT PRESENTATION FOR EACH LESSON AS WELL AS COPIES OF ALL VIDEOS USED IN OUR TRAINING ARE ON THE DVD OF MENTOR TRAINING MATERIALS THAT IS INCLUDING IN THE MENTOR TRAINING MANUAL.