Social Work Counseling - Case Study Example

 Social Work Counseling Introduction Human beings need each other for survival. People co-relate and depend on one another in various ways. Apart from being social, they are also emotional beings. They exhibit many psychological aspects that advocate for proper treatment in terms of meeting their social, physical, and emotional beings (Gambrill, 2006). A person may change the personality and behavioral traits when offended or deprived of the needs as mentioned earlier. The social environment of humankind should be in a position conducive to offering certain bare provisions such as clothing, money, housing, tangible good and most importantly, food. Apart from these provisions, there are other Individual indispensable needs such as education that social environment should offer: counseling therapy at times of psychological turmoil, security, independence, and family, makes the proceeding of the list. A person achieves a state of peace and psychological stability when he or she has the advantage of accessing all these needs. In the case of the 21-year-old Simon, it is apparent that he has traveled through a chain of disappointing case scenarios in life that had altered his thinking and relationships with those he cared for including his mother (Gambrill, 2006). Assessment Simon’s problems did not commence when he quit his job. As a counselor, I can trace his troubles from childhood stages when he witnessed the tragic event of a divorce of his parents. Divorce has extremely adverse effects on children. In fact, it has been argued and established that divorce affects children caught up in such marriages with the intense trauma that surpasses that of the parents. Effects of divorce can manifest in adulthood even 20 twenty years later. Divorce instills feelings of despair and rejection. He must have felt rejected since childhood and to make the matters worse, the events of maltreatment kept on recurring in his life experiences. Subconsciously, he was building blocks for protection, which is normal for every ego. Community plays a vital role in an individual’s development since it provides the social environment that nurtures a person’s social growth (Rosen & Proctor, 2013). The community determines whether a person will develop social or social attributes. Definitely, the environment begins with the family set-up, which is the primary determinant given it poses as the immediate social environ for every individual. Feeling instilled in one’s persona at home can reflect secondary environs. For instance, a student who has issues at home can project those insecurities to fellow students at school, hence, becomes a subject of rejection from peers. Perhaps, this provides the reasons Simon did not proceed with his education after high school. It appears his mother’s strictness with him compelled him to move and stay with his friends; pursue his job at the age of 19, and develop an impassionate attitude about the home. Most probably, the set-up of their friendship involved persons with same experiences (Rosen & Proctor, 2013). After the divorce of his parents, his mother was expected to play the role of both parents, which could have pressured his mother as well. Due to this inadequacy, he clearly lacked a major component of social environment provisions: passion. Simon felt multiple maltreatments from his employer. Such experiences worsened his feelings of rejection, but he endured, perhaps because he hated to stay at home. Simon desired to stay away from his home environment and only trusted his friends (Cooper, 2012). He felt as though he was a bother to people and became very self-reliant. Simon preferred doing all the things by himself without anyone’s intervention. With low confidence following his experiences and his mother’s constant and persistent pushes on his to get up and look for a job made him feel so useless and psychologically tortured. He loved the communal lifestyle with his friends but when he could not support himself anymore having lost his job, he moved back to share household with his mother; evidential to his self-reliance attitude (Holland, 2004). His persistent to keep his job even after facing mistreatments from his employer demonstrates his need of independence and self-reliance. Sometimes, emotional need surpasses physical needs, and when he could not maintain the threshold of the pressure any longer, he sought help. He had resorted to watching TV and surfing the net, which are common comfort zones for the unemployed. Being jobless and without any money, his psychological and emotional dilemma reached a plastic limit. Therefore, he sought help from Bondi’s Headspace service (Holland, 2004). He had to surf the net in order to find an organization that offered free service due to his situation. Initial Intervention Plan Everyone in the society is entitled to certain needs; they should be properly cared for in terms of treatment and security. As social beings, people need one another and the construct of mutual benefit should prevail within a society (Alvarez & Clark, 2010). It is most likely that the welfare of the society starts elementarily from the welfare of an individual. In the case of Simon, the damage had already happened, and all he needed was remedial services other than the preventive campaign. Social work from a psychosocial perspective promotes the mobilization of personality strengths and environmental resources to enhance opportunities available to an individual in order to develop a more effective interpersonal and personal function. To begin with, Simon needed care and provision of emotional and physical needs that were required at the moment such as housing and a well-informed consultancy service; psychoanalytic approach would also help in improving his personality issues. These approaches entail or work best with three parameters: capacity building, empowerment, and developing a person’s potential (Robert, 2006). Identifying Simon’s potential would be a crucial discovery to his recovery. An individual’s potential and talents can sometimes become dormant and unexplored when the individual experiences extreme pressures in life. Currently, Simon’s main problem is defined by the lack of resources: employment. Identifying his personal resources would position him for prospective opportunities available since he had given up pursuing job opportunities following subsequent failures. Simon needs to be intervened psychologically. He is mentally disturbed and cannot make very important decisions in his life. Simon remained highly negative on his job. He only viewed the negative part of his job. He depended on his mother for life satisfaction, and he would not be motivated to find any other job. The counselor should stabilize the mind of the Simon. The stressed individual lacks ability to make conceptual decisions and evaluate life positively (Hepworth, 2009). His intellectual and emotional responses will be enhanced. However, before all the aspects, the psychologist should free him from any form of social pressure and any negative experiences. Simon would adequately respond to life adequately after the counselor informs him of the actual problems. Modeling is a method that can change Simon behavior by helping imitate other people with more positive attitude. Simon should attend the social setting where he can learn from the response of others. Modeling is an intervention plan that facilitates the change of behavior by encouraging the affected individual to imitate the behaviors of others. Simon behavior should be evaluated over a period over which his behaviors would be observed. A firm should be selected where Simon will be required to work and emulate the behaviors of a selected mentor at work. Theoretical Perspectives on Intervention Plan And Assessment Different theories are very informative in relation to the intervention plan and the assessment of the Simon scenario. Maslow hierarchy of needs It is a very crucial theory by Abraham Maslow that defines the needs of human beings. Abraham Maslow identified five levels of needs. Abraham identified what motivated the human behavior. Every individual seek to reach the stage of actualization. The first level of needs was the psychological needs. The psychological needs consist of those needs that are very basic like water and shelter. The second level of needs includes the safety needs. At this stage, the individual will seek security and the freedom (Reamer, 2013). The third level consists of belonging needs. In the assessment, the separation of the Simon parents had an effect on his life. On the intervention, the security at work and lack of basic needs caused trauma on Simon, and a psychological intervention recommended. Simon was so disturbed after he was unable to contribute to the rent required to stay in the same household with his old high schools friends. Biopsychosocial dimensions It is a multi-dimensional approach that individual and environment factors are recognized as inseparable. Therefore, the environmental factors highly influence the life of an individual. The theory holds that the environmental factors continually influence the behavior of an individual (Reamer, 2013). The way the environmental factors interrelate with one another has the impact in the life of an individual. In the intervention, Simon had to undergo modeling so that he can learn certain behaviors from specific individuals. It was so significant that it would help him gain a positive attitude towards his challenges in life. Rogers client-centered approach The theory recognized an individual ability to think and make independent decisions. Nevertheless, an individual with the unstable mind had difficulties in thinking conceptually and developing reasonable resolutions in life. Roger argued that an individual can be motivated intellectually and emotionally, but he must be freed from social pressures and negative experiences. The therapist has a responsibility of creating an environment where individuals can view the concept of life more differently. Simon had to be psychologically advised to help him take a positive view of his work and the life at large. He has a very undesirable attitude towards life and the job at large. Reflections Individual’s feelings and ways of thinking influence our daily experiences in life. The capacity to think influences the qualities of human beings. Simon responded negatively to the life challenges that he experienced. He never enjoyed the aspects of his job. He always felt irritated by the actions of his boss. Mostly, the negative attitude of individuals always influences the individual’s life negatively. Nevertheless, the individuals can change the attitudes toward life. Individuals should view life more positively. In situations where the individuals cannot manage the major aspects of their life, a counselor should assist to restore the intellectual capability of a person. The counselor helps the individual to find ways to view his life more positively (Reamer, 2013). Afterward, the mind develops the capacity to develop meaningful experiences in life. More importantly, it is vital to recognize that human is a social being. The stability of an individual can be traced in the community and the environment of the society. Refining the societal and economic conditions in the community would improve how an individual performs in the society. References Clark, J. P., & Alvarez, M. (2010). Response to intervention: A guide for school social workers. New York: Oxford University Press. Cooper, F. (2012). Professional boundaries in social work and social care: A practical guide to understanding, Maintaining and Managing Your Professional Boundaries. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Gambrill, E. D. (2013). Social work practice: A critical thinker's guide. New York: Oxford University Press. Hepworth, D. H. (2010). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills. Belmont, Calif: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. Holland, S. (2011). Child & family assessment in social work practice. London: SAGE. Reamer, F. G. (2013). Social work values and ethics. New York: Columbia University Press. Roberts, R. A (2006). Foundations of Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. New York: Oxford university press. Rosen, A. & Proctor, K. E. (2013). Developing Practice Guidelines for Social Work Intervention: Issues, Methods, and Research Agenda. New York: Columbia university press Read More