Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Psychoanalysis: My Feelings as a Practitioner - Assignment Example

?Assignment My feelings as a helper/practitioner John, aged thirty-five, drops and tries hard to impress you with the importance of his social connections. I would treat such a client with sympathy because life has taught me that such people who name-drop or try to impress others are simply sick at mind and they need treatment. I would obviously feel very irritated with such a client who is constantly trying to mention popular people to show off his famous connections. I would tell him to talk about his own personality rather than talking about other people so that I may have a better idea about him. I would try to let him know that famous connections are not a part of him, but what he thinks and behaves like are an important part of his personality. Hence, I would make him feel the importance of his own self rather than others. 2. Kate, aged seventy-eight, is a frail widow who feels lonely and depressed and weeps a lot. I would feel sorry for Kate keeping in view her age and frail position. Loneliness is something that kills a person from inside no matter how strong he may pretend to be. And when the person is elderly, he is very weak at heart and emotions and cannot hide his feelings for long. Depression is normally very common in older adults. Hence, I would not feel agitated or irritated at Kate’s state of mind, and will try to sympathize with her and give her relief through words. I would make her talk about her life when she was young, and would laugh with her at her happy memories to give her a feeling of belonging. I would also feel that I should contact her children, if she has any, and tell them to stay in touch with her. 3. Jo, aged twenty, is on probation after a series of shop-lifting offences. I would deal Jo with strictness as I do not feel comfortable with clients who have even a bit of criminal mentality. However, I would also keep in mind his young age and would understand the fact that youngsters normally do such acts at this age. I would listen to him about his problems that led him to commit such an act. I would make him talk about his past, his parents, and his relationship with siblings and friends, so that I may get an idea what is making him do shop-lifting at a continuous basis. If he belongs to low socio-economic background, I would suggest to him that he should work hard to earn good money instead of indulging in criminal offenses. 4. Tom, mid thirties, has used physical violence with his wife. I would feel angry at Tom because I am against domestic violence. I strongly protest to the idea of showing power over weak opponent. I would try to convince him to agree that he should correct his behavior and should discuss out things with his wife rather than beating her up. I would make him feel sorry for what he did. I would tell him that it is against human dignity to use physical violence to get others to do what one wants. However, I would also listen to him and if a problem is with his wife, I would try to make him agree that discussion and communication is the best way a problem can be resolved. I would also take his past history and information about relationship between his parents to get a better idea why he did so. 5. Rita, aged fifty-seven, is a married woman who has just been told she has terminal cancer. I would feel very sorry for Rita and would try to console her on her discovery of terminal cancer. I would try to listen to her sympathetically about how she feels after her discovery so that she talks it all out rather than keeping the frustration inside. I would also encourage her to talk about her past, her relations, and her achievements, so that she may know that she is still a valuable person who is needed and loved. I would make her feel respected, honored, and cared for. I would make her feel lively and happy. I would tell her stories of many people who are fighting with their terminal illnesses but are still living happily. I would not mind making up fake stories to console her. 6. Ron, aged sixty, is a Salvation Army man who expresses strong religious convictions. I would listen to Ron with patience and seriousness. I would consider him an experienced man who is able enough to have strong religious convictions of his own. I would try to benefit from his beliefs and learning that he may have gained over his life time. I would feel respect for him since he has been in Army. I would make him talk about how he feels so that I may get a better idea how strongly he holds his beliefs and how flexible he is to change his standards or accept mistakes. Assignment # 2: Humanistic Approach The three main approaches to counseling include the psychodynamic approach, the behavioral approach, and the humanistic approach. The psychodynamic approach is the kind of therapeutic approach in which the practitioner helps the patient bring out his true emotions so that he may experience and appreciate them. This approach talks about the unconscious mind and the feelings held in it, and tells us that those feelings are very painful to face. The behavioral approach of psychotherapy focuses on the fact that learning arises from experience. The main objective of this therapy is to make the patient analyze his behavior and understand his problems while defining goals for himself. The therapeutic approach of counseling that appeals to me the most is the humanistic approach. This approach has been in use in psychotherapy practice for more than fifty years. It has proved to be a very successful option for psychotherapists. In this approach, the counselor helps the patient play with creativity while discovering the opportunities for personal growth and advancement. The humanistic approach tends to enable the client to discover his real self and understand his feelings. The client becomes competent enough to create choices and make decisions. The basic point is to help the client in the journey of self-discovery or self-realization. Hence, the basic aspect of the humanistic approach of counseling that appeals to me the most is that it provides such a unique method of counseling that highlights the patient’s unique competencies and potential so that he is able to explore his self through creativity and self-awareness. We should also talk about the counselor’s skills here. The humanistic counselor is trained to give the client a non-judgmental, sympathetic and thoughtful counseling which is provided in a safe and private setting. Moreover, the humanistic approach itself is of many kinds, of which the main ones are Gestalt counseling, depth therapy, and transpersonal psychology. All of these kinds ensure a strong and close relationship between the therapist and the client. Therapists, who had been working with psychoanalytic approach of counseling, badly felt the need for a more holistic approach which should focus on the individual himself. They wanted that the patient should be considered as an individual under holistic environment. The humanistic approach mainly comprises of three elements: phenomenology, existentialism, and humanism. Phenomenology means that the counselor helps the client analyze his problems and find solutions to them through the use of empathy. Existentialism explains that the counselor helps the client achieve a high quality of life through providing him self-awareness and self-realization. Humanism means that the clients are able to explore creativity which further helps in self-actualization and personal advancement. In short, the humanistic approach attracts me the most because it tends to provide a more holistic approach to psychotherapy by ensuring that the clients experience personal growth, self-realization and creativity. Read More