Hi everyone!
In regards to the first topic of this discussion board, I am in Counseling Clinical Mental Health, I choose to go into this field after taking my last class as an undergraduate of the psychology (applied mental health) program, Intro to Professional Psychology with Gary Labine in Edinboro University. In this class I had learned the clear difference between psychology, psychiatry, social work, and counseling. It is also in this class, as well as in the VA I had learned, I wanted to help veterans as a counselor. Specifically veterans who suffer combat related PTSD, as well as, veterans who suffer depression, family, relations, institutional, and/or occupational stress.
In regards to the second topic of this discussion board, I believe assessment is absolutely one of, if not the most important tools in helping veterans who suffer these distressful things in their lives. Assessments are necessary in this field to 1. build a good therapeutic relationship. The more the client chooses to share about themselves the more (a.) the client starts to notice they are not being given a judgmental response. (b.) the client notices they are genially being cared about and listened to. (c.) the client starts to trust the therapist and becomes comfortable with sharing and participating in therapy. 2. to gain an understanding of the clients distressfulness
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The four stages of helping. 1) Exploration 2) Insight 3) Action 4) Termination. In the stage of exploration, it is important to gain knowledge of the client as well as building a therapeutic relationship with them. In some instances however, a client is able to gain insight within the exploration phase. Simply by disclosing issues in their lives, they are able to gain insight about those issues. This helps clients prepare to either go deeper into the insight stage or action
As a result, I am learning how to assist clients without labeling the client and developing a proper diagnosis. Assessing client problems should happen throughout the counseling process. In the beginning, counselors get background information on their clients to help the counselor develop a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Correct diagnosis of clients is vital to receive reimbursement from insurance companies for counseling services. Assessments help the counselor determine an appropriate treatment for the client. Assessments can help clients realize their strengths and weaknesses (Whiston, 2017). Helping the client understand their strengths can assist the client in building confidence, reach the clients counseling goal, and implement healthy choices in the client’s
214)”. Indeed this offers further opportunity to exist in the here and now with clients in the group, however, the motivation for such opaqueness warrants consideration. By using greater transparency Yalom asserts, “…you gain considerable role flexibility and maneuverability and may…directly attend to group maintenance, to shaping of the group norms…(2005, p. 218)”. In addition to activating the here-and-now, Yalom hypothesizes that therapist openness decentralizes the therapist position furthering the development of group autonomy and cohesion. (2005, p. 218) He even considers collaborative evidence from individual therapy suggesting that therapist transparency offers a supportive and normalizing experience for the client. (Yalom, 2005) Janine Roberts offers significant insight into the complexities of transparency in family therapy. The parallel between group work and family work deems relevant. Roberts’s research contemplates, “Within a family or couple, one person might experience the disclosure as helpful, and another as a boundary violation (2005, p .52)”. So for some clients or group members it may feel normalizing, while for others it may be experienced as a dismissal of their concerns. Every therapist evidences his or her own unique style, the same emphasizes for therapist transparency. The reason for disclosure exerts significance prior to transparency. “Therapists may self-disclose to facilitate transference resolution; or to model therapeutic norms; or to assist the interpersonal learning of the members who wanted to work on their relationship with the group leader; or to support ad accept members by saying in effect, “I value and respect you and demonstrate this by giving of myself (Yalom, 2005, p. 221)”. This concern cannot be stated
... be shown that we care about him and want to provide stability in his life. It’s importance for a therapist to share things about themselves and give their honest opinion in order to make the patient comfortable and trusting of them. (Comer, 2011, p. 43)
They argue that therapists should consider their own motivation to self-disclose and set boundaries. The therapists should never put their own needs above the client. They make sure to point out that self discourse alone cannot affect the outcome of treatment. Self-disclosure is effective only if it is used appropriately and only if it is used when it is necessary. The amount of information disclosed and when it is disclosed is also important. Therapists should draw a clear line with the amount of intimacy to include in their therapeutic disclosure to ensure that no inappropriate boundaries are crossed. The authors suggest two rules of thumb to follow when disclosing information which include: (a) “Why do I want to say what I am about to say” and (b) “What will be the likely impact of the client” (p. 567).
It is a privilege to interview veteran therapists who are exiting the counseling arena after a long career in the profession. I was honored to shadow Lea Keylon, a seasoned counselor, who on the eve of retirement set aside time for a student interview. The enlightening interview opened my understanding to the importance of proper diagnostic coding for insurance reimbursements, the financial struggles of private practice, and the poignant effect of forensic counseling on therapist (L. Keylon, personal communication, March 26, 2010). Lea was eager to share her counseling accounts; however, the excitement of retirement planning could be seen in her demeanor. Private practice requires self-discipline, constant research for legislative changes, peer support and consultation, time management, tenacity, and patience. The encounter with Lea impressed the importance to surround myself with colleagues that are enthusiastic about learning and continuing education opportunities, to hire assistance for time-consuming administrative task, and adequately assess a proper caseload that will sustain my counseling practice and without avoid counselor burn out (L. Keylon, personal communication, March 26, 2010).
The counselling process is one that may last for as little as one session or for years, it is within the middles stages of the helping relationship that particular counselling skills such as a focusing, challenging and immediacy can be implemented, as well as use of advanced empathy that can be applied due to increased familiarity with a speaker. Many actions may occur within middles stage of the helping relationship such as transitions that occur for a multitude of reasons and the outcome of which can vary based on the attitude of the speaker. Self-awareness remains vital throughout the entire counselling relationship due to the continual influence of empathy in the helping relationship and remaining aware my own motives and values when using advanced empathy and specific counselling skills. Ethics and boundaries are also involved within the counselling process as within a counselling relationship, I as the counsellor, must be careful with the balance or expenditure of power when challenging.
These self-disclosures resulted in positive consequences for clients that included insights or new perspectives from which to make changes. This in return can then result in an improved or more balanced therapeutic relationship between the client and the psychologist, giving the client reassurance and encouragement (Hess et al., 1997, p.
Sometimes individuals consider becoming counselors after overcoming some major life challenge such as addiction or a history of bad relationships. Perhaps an individual has encountered a particularly effective counselor or therapist and has a desire to follow in those footsteps. Others may have had a bad experience with counseling and concluded that it can be done better. People do not think of this work so much as a job, or even as a career. More typically, a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one toward the counseling profession” (An invitation to). .
Furthermore, my goal is to let client fix their problems on their own through insight and guidance from the therapist. I envision a successful therapeutic process being when a client follows their goals and achieves positive outcomes in their lives. I seek to gain a therapeutic process with my clients by building rapport, trust, and helping them gain insight. When my clients are stuck and need motivation, I plan to remind them about their goals and the positive things that will come with change. If family is important to a client, informing the client about their family and their happiness may help motivate them to continue to
My first semester in college, I took a Psychology 101 course and immediately knew I wanted to work in this field. I was drawn into different theories and how individual’s minds work. I always believed I was born to help others and guide them to success in life. I desire to help others because of my own personal struggles with mental illness. My unique perspective on mental illness allows me to empathize on a different level with individuals. I desire to give back and support to the community the way it was there for me during my dark times. I was lucky to have known from the start that psychology was my interest. I am excited to continue my education in the counseling field and become a future Clinical Mental Health Counselor.
I don’t think I could just focus on a client’s problem and problematic behavior, and not try to help better them as a person. This is the type of therapy that is the warm and fuzzy type. I like to think as myself as very empathic person, and always try to put myself in other people’s shoes. I try
Egan knew that his structured framework of three questions to the person should be at the heart of the counselling sessions and key to the counselling approach; this way, the goals that are set in the counselling session will be formed by the person themselves, with the counsellor or “helper” assisting rather than leading .
Professional ethical conduct is essential to the success of any client, whether it is in individual counseling or in a group setting. Professional psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers or others in the field of human service or help have the duly responsibility to continuously become aware of their professional responsibilities, and manage their practice based on areas of ability. This paper will research ethics within groups and individual counseling, and compare their similarities and their differences.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
A study performed in 1992, reported approximately 3,400,000 youth had failed to complete high school and were not enrolled in high school (Starr 1998). This statistic is based on the United States where job competition has greatly increased due to technology. Many of these student lacked the support and training necessary to succeed in today’s society. Currently in every high school across the nation, there is a person responsible for offering support and training to the youth of America. Available for all students is a guidance counselor. Counselors within the high school setting play an influential role in the forming of post high school goals through the planning of numerous activities.