Counseling for People with Psychological Problems - Coursework Example

Introduction Counselling is very important for persons who may have developed some sort of socio-psychological problem, resulting in low confidence and low adjustment within the given paradigm. The most essential factor in the process of therapeutic counselling is the identification of the problems and its causes. Deciphering the mental state of a person in order to observe his level of adjustment with his surrounding and suggest appropriate interventions so as to bring it at par with the ‘socially acceptable’ level of adjustment so as to facilitate improvement in the mental state, leading to higher level of self confidence. Adjustment promotes a concept of temporary state that may require little counseling intervention for improving the state of the well being of a person. In the fast changing environment of globalization and changing socio-cultural paradigms, people in general, are finding it a bit difficult to adjust within the changing societal values. Counselors too, are finding it difficult to measure the ability of the people in coping with the circumstances and the level of their emotional adjustment with the changes around them. One can reasonably say that the acceptable level of adjustment of the client may be broadly described as his or her ability to adjust emotionally and cope with the changes in his or her life especially in adverse situations. In the recent times, the counselors increasingly prefer to measure the adjustment level vis-à-vis factors or inherent abilities of the clients that facilitate adjustments with the changes. Case Study The case study is my personal issue. The issue is that I think, even after my graduation from college, I may not have the knowledge or the skills to be an effective counselor. Approach 1 Rationale choice of intervention To process the issue, I set up counseling session with the therapist who has opted for behavioral therapy since the case in point is that low confidence level, leading to unnecessary anxiety disorder. The psychosocial perspective of the study was highly relevant in the current situation because in the fast changing socio-cultural and economical paradigms of multi-cultural societies, the increasingly competitive environment in the field of professional competencies are having considerable impact on the personalities of the students and are adversely affecting their self confidence. Self esteem is vital ingredient of self confidence of the person and is directly related to the ways he keeps judging and capping people and events in certain defined categories and these categorised analysis influences his decision powers. His most crucial judgement that is life defining is the one that he makes about himself. His analysis of his own character leads him towards his success or his failures in life. Hence, the decision for behavioural therapy as the appropriate intervention in the present case was taken. Therapeutic Process The session with the counselor is very important interaction that facilitates right intervention to arrest the further decline in the mental status of the person. The session proceeds in stages where the counselor also needs to interact with the family members of the patient. Stage 1 Overview of the background The family background of the person helps to evaluate the circumstances which have contributed to the development of the complexes in the person, resulting in low esteem and low self confidence. Stage 2 Developing therapeutic relationship This is a vital step between the counselor and the case to build trust and confidentiality. Good relationship between the two helps the patient to accept the advice and help that is extended by the counselor. The counselor is able to decide on the strategy to instill confidence and promote positive attitude in the patient. In the current case, the patient lacks confidence in his abilities to learn thus making him doubtful about becoming an effective counselor. Stage 3 Family intervention strategy Understanding of family values are important criteria of understanding the patient. Positive family relationship is the rudder that gives a person a strong sense of emotional security and thereby provides him with the stable environment and positive attitude which helps him to cope with the changes with equanimity. The emotional security that is provided in the relationships, facilitate and promote a more rational approach to the changes that occur in the lives of the persons. He or she is better equipped to deal with the adversities because they are secured in the knowledge that no matter what, they would always have the support of their family and with whom they would always be able to share their problems and come up with satisfactory solutions. Stage 4 Confidence building measures Behavioral therapy is highly effective in confidence building measures. The counseling sessions are designed to inculcate self esteem as it the most decisive factor of the personality which helps to decide his attitudes towards life. In other words, it is important that his self esteem must be high so that he can react positively towards other people and events that influence his life. Man is prone to judge and categorise people and events into certain well defined parameters and these categorised analysis influences his decision powers. His most crucial judgement that is life defining is the one that he makes about himself. His analysis of his own character leads him towards his success or his failures in life. Therefore the counsellor helps to reinstate his self esteem by discussing his achievements which have brought him till here. His successes from the childhood through adulthood become the main planks of the proofs of his abilities and talents which encourage confidence building and thereby development of self confidence. Conclusion The behavioral therapy adopted by the therapist is an important approach to counseling especially because it helps to understand the cause and consequences of the mental state of the patient. Developing a committed therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the patient is vital to counseling sessions. Another essential aspect of this approach is that it makes it easier for the patient to understand that his so called drawbacks were basically fallacies that can be overcome with little intervention from appropriate areas of concern. Indeed, behavioral therapy is extremely useful for personality disorders. Approach 2 Rationale choice of intervention Despite his graduation, the patient is not confident of his abilities to perform effectively as counselor. This shows lack of self confidence and low morale. While it is important that the counselor or therapist take up appropriate measures to boost the self confidence of the patient, it is equally important that the patient is made aware of the informed choices of the options for the career that can be taken up by him with equal success. The patient not only lacks the confidence but he also seems to be less responsive and alert towards the wide options that are available to him after the graduation. Therefore the therapist would be taking up the reality/choice therapy with the patient. Therapeutic processes Developing self confidence The patient is made aware of his positive qualities that have helped him to get through his college with good grades. The session is primarily designed to create motivation and cultivate a high worth of himself so that he not only has positive impact on others but also that he is influenced by the positive points of others. It is essential to develop high self esteem if one wants to lead a better life with a successful career while having a happy personal life. Goal setting This is important part of the therapy and it helps the person to assess his capabilities and empowers him to make informed choices in his life, later on. The step is a process to inform him that everyone has an inherent tendency to evolve as a better person and a successful professional. To achieve the desired success, he must set his priorities and outline his short term and long term goals so that he is able to reach the pinnacle of success that he has defined for himself. Identification of goals Identifying and setting goals are not only important for personal success as an individual and a professional but the wider implications of having a mission in life, are much more meaningful and have widespread influence on his life. The patient is encouraged to set short term goals and objectives for himself so that he would be able to acquire necessary knowledge and experience that would facilitate in his personal and professional growth. Therefore, once those goals were identified, a timeframe within which to reach those goals also need to be defined. Skill development Initially goals which would help him acquire knowledge based education and help him in developing skills and professional expertise. For example, goals like learning new computer skills and better communication techniques. These modules of personal growth are designed to add value to our personality helping us to evolve into better person and professional so that we would be able to meet the challenges of the time with equanimity and confidence. Once the goals are achieved, it would show that nothing is impossible in life. We just need to be patient and persistent in our endeavor and work sincerely towards it. The patient or I had also realized that since I had already learnt the fundamentals of the language, practice would certainly make it perfect. Developing better communication techniques is one of the most important ingredients of business development. The proficiency in language, which is to be the main medium of communication, becomes a great asset in communication. While learning to articulate my thoughts and streamline them into cohesive and well defined language would help to convey the right things at the right time, it also made make one more confident. The modules of the goals are also designed to change my approach to tackle critical situations. They helped me to meet the challenges of new situations with more conviction and composure. I had learnt to become more organized in setting my priorities and organizing my schedule to suit my aims and objectives. All in all, it was an inspiring and a great learning experience which had taught me the fundamentals of business skills. Development of new perspectives Learning new skills, set as goals within the prescribed timeframe, did not only help me to acquire new expertise but it also taught me the most important lesson of my life. It taught me to evolve as an individual and work towards improving my strong points and helping me to overcome my weakness and wherever, possible, turn them into my strength. This has turned out be my biggest and most important learning tool because this module taught me to identify and acknowledge my strength and weaknesses and helped me prioritize the aims and objectives of my life according to value based ideologies that would facilitate both: personal and professional growth. Learning to act on informed choices Self confidence is intrinsically linked with empowerment that boosts the concept of self worth, thereby promoting inner strength and a strong will to act upon the informed choices that would facilitate in exploiting one’s potential to become independent. The informed choices provide the inherent resiliency in decision making so as to meet the challenges of the time with confidence and fortitude. Hence, an empowered person has more options and freedom to transform those choices into concrete action plans for the betterment of self and the society at large. This process goes a long way in instilling within myself that I can become an effective counselor. Conclusion The reality/ choice therapy is equally important to inculcate self confidence. Though the approach and counseling techniques may be different but their effectiveness can never be doubted. It is a very effective way to teach that it is up to the man only in how he uses his personal traits and qualities to his benefit. The counselling techniques emphatically show that positive nature has the strength to overcome any adversity and change the very direction of the course of life. The optimistic view of looking at things and events turn failures into challenges which can inspire and motivate one to work even harder so that one’s dreams can be become reality. I can convincingly claim that after this session, I have become confident in my abilities and I know that I will become an effective counsellor. Read More