Treatment by a Humanistic Psychotherapist - Case Study Example

 Treatment by a Humanistic Psychotherapist For the psychological condition of Penelope, humanistic approach has been chosen as the mode of treatment. The reason for choosing humanistic approach is that it is a realistic mode of treatment. In this approach human values are given more importance and the thoughts and concerns of the individual is studied exclusively. This gives more chance for the person to express themselves and also provide the psychologist with ample information as to her level of thinking and reasoning. Since Penelope is suffering from bouts of depression and intense panic attacks, she needs a very mild sort of treatment wherein her feelings are given utmost importance. This approach involves quality counseling which is very essential in case of mental illness. Person suffering from mild or severe illness should be given counseling from a very good professional level. This can educate the client about the pros and cons of their disease which help in curing the disease effectively. As the individuals suffering from illness are in a distressed stage they need a lot of pacifying and consoling from the psychologists. The concept of Psychology Psychology is a combined term which consists of word ‘psyche’ and ‘logy’. The derivation of "psyche" comes from Latin and the Greek psukhe - breath, life, soul. To get a better "feel" for this term try to think of it as the invisible animating principle or entity that occupies, interacts with and directs the physical body (Zimmer,1999). For numerous years, the study of psychology has been the analysis of human spirit, soul or mind. Even though there is some relation to human brain and mind, this relation connection is still a big mystery to humans. The main reason for psychological study being still in a bit vague stage is because mind is thing of intangible nature and is also immeasurable by electronic devices. Until 19th century psychology was considered as a branch of Philosophy. It emerged lately as a unique concept in USA and Germany. Ancient civilization also had an immense interest in human psychology. Egyptian, Greek and Chinese civilization had great enthusiasm in studying human mind .Mind is very much unseen to the eyes but it very well exists, as it is formed with subtle energies. A.S. Sharma stated about mind like this “Although psychology has been traditionally defined as the science that deals with mental activities there has been no commonly agreed – upon definition of mind (Sharma, 1987, p. 83). Psychology can be said to be the study of mind and the way it works. Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates were more concerned with the way the mind works and had thrown much light upon the concept relating to human soul and mind In earlier days there were not much medicinal options for patients suffering from psychological disorder .According to Hinduism people suffered ill mental health due to the imbalance of three different bodily fluids. Ancient Chinese used their traditional medicine and acupuncture to fight mental disorder. Since in olden days there was no proper treatment available for mental disorder, patients often stayed with family or wandered on streets aimlessly. But now the scene has changed and there are numerous treatments and medicine available for the people suffering from mental disorders.Lately the psychological field has achieved a lot and people with every sort of illness are given medication, counseling and therapies according to the individual case. Different schools of thought have come up and various topics are being studied by psychologist intensely. They study how the social and cultural background has effect on different illness. Things have been done to explore the human brain and the nervous system in an effective manner. Scientists at present are able to observe the effects of brain damage, drugs, and disease more effectively than the past. Humanistic approach The origin of Humanistic approach can be traced to the 1950 when psychological problems were being studied deeply .The word humanism can be used to describe the general love of human being. During those times psychoanalysis were conducted commonly as to study different mental problems. It is a study concentrated on the unconscious activities of the mind which resulted in actions. Even behaviorism was a much studied topic in those days. Humanistic thinkers had a notion that psychoanalysis were little negative approach as it aimed on the ill emotions of the patient and neglected personal experiences of the person. Humanistic psychology gave more importance to individual interest and also gave freedom of speech to the person. The highlight of this approach is that it proclaims that human by instinct are good, but has to follow different mode of actions due to social and mental problems faced by him. So ultimately he goes off the track and act different from his natural tendency. In this approach human are differentiated from other animals since he acquire the power to think and ability for reasoning. It gave importance to the mental status of every human being and encourages their mental growth. One of the clearest and earliest examples of a humanistic approach to treatment is client centered therapy, developed originally by Carl Rogers in 1940s.The basis of this method is that the therapist remains non directive throughout the course of therapy (Zimbardo, 1975, p.535) In this approach the importance is given on the whole personality of an individual. It is studied not alone by observing the individuals acting pattern but also by the observance of the individual himself. It gives importance to inner feeling and emotions of a person. Limitations of psychodynamic psychology gave birth to humanistic approach. It has been very much referred to as “third force.” in psychological field. Humanism condemned the theory of behavioral approach as it was mainly oriented with determinism and animal behavioral pattern. Psychodynamic approach was also rejected as it was concentrating on irrational unconscious and instinctive influence on thoughts of human. Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis were considered against humanity by humanistic psychologist. Humanistic psychology saw a growth in nineties. Humanistic approach had a very distinctive approach towards human psychology .It had a new set of values for approaching for the understanding of human nature and human condition. A broader range of effective methods were offered by this approach which made the practice of professionals more convenient. One of the first people to use humanistic psychotherapy was Carl Rogers. He referred to his therapy as person-centered or client-centered. Since many people viewed mental illness negatively, Rogers viewed his clients as not having pathology but coming to therapy for improvement in their lives. A humanistic therapist must help clients with unconditional positive regard(Hardy,2009) The Humanistic approach emphasizes the personal worth of the individual, the centrality of human values, and the creative, active nature of human beings. The approach is optimistic and focuses on noble human capacity to overcome hardship, pain and despair. The humanist's view human beings as a completely distinctive creature which had entirely unique mental structure from that of animals. For humanistic psychologists’ research on animals had very little or no value. They instead believed in a through conversation with the individual and studying her experience and mental reaction to certain situations. In this approach individuals are treated as different entities with different needs and priorities. Every case is studied and analyzed distinctively and proper guidance and support is given. It gives a major importance to active listening and establishing a concrete relationship between client and councellor.It is a very successful therapy and gives a special caring to the individual which help them in comforting themselves.Counsellers who are experts in this field offers clients a very supportive ,safe and nonjudgmental service. The effort is been made to give the client to analyze their whole life experience. He can completely pay attention to his past and present experience which helps him to understand more about his life. Here obviously self is the focus of study. There are different methods used in Humanistic approach .They are Gesalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Transpersonal Psychology and Psychosynthesis and Existential Therapy. All these therapies make sure that client is surrounded by a very comfortable environment. Psychosynthesis focuses on the idea of a higher, spiritual level of consciousness and techniques such as meditation and visualization are suggested to people for their elevation of consciousness. This is a very peaceful approach and can give a very lasting benefit to the client. Existential therapy ignores the past life of the client and emphasize on the existing condition. Transactional analysis gives importance to decision making and communicating ability of the individual. Case study of Penelope As humanistic approach gives much value to personal thoughts and concern, this would be a very apt therapy for the case of Penelope. Penelope requires a milder and more humanistic treatment as she is not posing much risk to herself. Severe psychotic illness cause great risk to oneself and also result in violence and threat to their own and others lives. Penelope is a victim of panic attacks and severe depression bouts. As per GDS her depression scale is moderate to severe. So it can be understood that she is mainly suffering from depression .A depression is a major illness caused by the defect of ones thoughts. The intensity and reason can vary greatly from one person to another. It affects the body, mind and thoughts and makes a person to think unworthy of him. In extreme cases it can lead to suicidal attempts. It affects the person’s life style, eating pattern and sleep and leads to a complete destruction of oneself. As far as panic attacks are concerned, it is a situation where a person is encountered with intense fear and can lose the stability of the body and mind. It can be a recurring phenomenon and can leave effect for months or more in a person. The individual can be in constant fear due to the anticipation of the occurrence of panic attacks in future. It can disable the person to a great extend and requires a proper treatment in order to get back to have a healthy life Panic attacks have to be taken very seriously because it has proven to cause cardilogical problems. It is found in an article that “"Our study adds panic attacks to the list of emotional states and psychiatric symptoms that have been linked to excess risk of cardiovascular disease and death”( Boyles 2007).BAI report shows that anxiety level of Penelope is in a severe range too. Penelope said that she experienced chest pain during her panic attack which reveals the chances of cardiac arrest. But since her over all health is in good condition, chances of death can be ruled out. Such attacks induce the thought of death in to person’s mind and it can put them into mode of depression. She hardly has any social activity after retirement, which creates an environment of loneliness. As her husband is responsible for taking care of household chores, she is left with fewer activities. So humanistic approach is best to handle her situation as it deeply studies her thoughts and concerns as to know the real cause of panic attacks and depression .Other main thing is that her personality has to be developed and she should be given a happier environment to live with. Personality is the main focus of this study as it is a very centre of human behavior. Personality has been defined in many ways by different authors but in essence it is the pattern of behaviour and attitudes which a person will usually display (Stuart,1999,p.53).More activities has to be incorported in her life so as to built up her involvement with life. As she is generally an anxious person, chances of occurrence of panic attack is at a high level. In Penelope case, traces of agoraphobia can be found as she is reluctant to visit public places. Agoraphobia being the fear of public places needs a very effective counseling and communication. In order to know the reason for such fear her life style has to be studied and importance has to be given to her thoughts and way the mind works in response to given situation. Humanistic approach is appropriate in this case because it gives a great importance to what the person has to say. Only by knowing what happening in her mind can help the psychologist in determining the real cause of her phobia. Agoraphobia is mainly said to develop as a complication of panic attacks. It can be observed that she was the only child of her parents and received utmost protection and care from them. She encountered depression for first time on the death of her mother obviously because she was more connected with her. It can be assumed that the main reason for her phobia for public places can be the way she has been raised by her parents. She was having less exposure to outside world. Even after marriage she was very much connected with her parents. She made herself accustomed to living in a closed environment which exaggerated her mental condition. The other thing to be considered is educating her more about panic attacks and its result on human body. Humanistic perspective is a very positive way of treating people; it gives more value to self concept. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the two people much related with this approach. Carl Rogers, a clinical psychologist, used the theory of self-concept in his study. According to Cliff Note the self concept is defined by Carl as “an organized pattern of perceived characteristics along with the values attached to those attributes. He also assumed that within each individual there is a biological drive toward growth of self-concept, which can ultimately lead to self-actualization” (Notes, 2002). This approach gives due respect to self growth, self actualization and freedom to choose. Personality development is a major focus of humanistic approach which is very essential aspect in the case of Penelope. She first encountered with panic attacks when the time was nearing for her retirement. It can be assumed that her retirement could be a reason for anxiety as it lessened her activity and social involvement. .Since anxiety is counted as a behavioral disorder she needed to be counseled with regard to it. Musser said coping with panic attacks requires a twofold approach. The first is to stop attacks before they begin and the second is to deal with the generalized anxiety that can lead to full-fledged attacks (Mussser,2009) To cure a mental illness ,it is very crucial to know the root cause of the problem. A problem can be solved only if a through knowledge about the individual’s life is acquired Elimination of the fear factor is the best solution for phobia and panic attacks. The person has to be effective counseling to remove the root of fear. For this controlling the anxiety is very important. Penelope had panic attacks during pregnancy and retirement time which was clearly due to her anxiety factor. Anxiety is the main cause of panic attacks. A panic attack is caused due to uncontrollable anxiety resulting in a very high heart beat rate causing problem in breathing .Penelope should be asked to be relaxed in dealing with day to day activities. She should be trained to control her life and to face life with more confidence .People subjected to panic attacks are in fear to visit public places. which is why Penelope is afraid of being in the outside world. She had slight phobia during her pregnancy which developed due to her highly anxious nature. She also is of introvert nature, which means she needs more exposure and social life. Her childhood had a great effect on her life .Being centre of attention during her retirement evoked fear in her mind. She has the nature of being restless, which fires the anxiety problem further more. Her husband also should play a genuine role in supporting her to involve more in to his activities. Amoral support is very much needed as he is only person interacting with her on day to day basis. She is seen to be very far forming her goals and objectives of life, this negative aspect. Her children should also help her out in planning holidays and picnics in order to take away the phobic nature. When more time is spend outside with the family the fear would lessen to a great extend. She has to break out her fear by thinking positive .Panic attacks and phobia is closely related .Family get together, social gatherings and picking up on her hobbies can regain her confidence .It would be an excellent idea if she could take up meditation as a therapy as it would calm her mind .Physical activities also can be incorporated in her chores to make life more worth living. Work Cited Boyles, S. (2007) Panic Attacks May Increase Hear Risk. Retrieved June 07,2010, from http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/news/20071001/panic-attacks-may-increase-heart-risk?src=RSS_PUBLIC Hamilton,I.S (1999) Key Ideas In Psychology(1st Edition).London : Jessica Kingsley Hardy, M. (2008) Treatment by a Humanistic Psychotherapist. Retrieved June 07,2010, from http://www.altmedweb.com/experts/psychotherapy/treatment-humanistic-psychotherapist Musser, M. (2009) How to Stop Panic Attacks and Anxiety. Retrieved June 07.2010, from http://www.zimbio.com/Stop+Your+Panic+Attacks/articles/110/How+Stop+Panic+Attacks+Anxiety Notes, C. (2002) The Humanistic Perspective. Retrieved June 07,2010, from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Humanistic-Perspective.topicArticleId-25438,articleId-25390.html#ixzz0q8pwHmWB Shrama,A.S.(1987)Dictionary of Psychology.New Delhi : A.P.H Publishing Zimbardo,P.G.(1975)Psychology And Life(1st Edition).U.S.A : Scott Foresman Zimmer, G. (1999) The Definition of Psychology. Retrieved June 07,2010, from http://www.sntp.net/psychology_definition.htm . Read More