Course of Counselling and Psychotherapy - Essay Example

Course of Counselling and Psychotherapy for Mr. X Introduction Counselling and psychotherapy help individuals seeking help to conquer the mental, emotional or psychosomatic problems as a result of a number of factors. For instance, relationship hitches, relationship break-up, anxiety, lack of self-esteem, disturbances, ordeals, and many other possible causes may result to psychological problems that would need counselling and psychotherapy Sanders, 2002). In this case study, there are numerous client’s issues as reflected in this case study. These issues are holding him back to move forward. It is hard for Mr X to decide on things. He has a number of fears. He put weight on what the others might think of him. He gives more importance on others than himself. Mr X, a 45 years old, real estate agent is a loyal person considering the fact that he has been working for the same company for eighteen years. He does not get easily tired of doing the same thing. It seems that it matters not to him if he is holding the same position for several years. He does not get tired of being on the same company for almost two decades. When the manager’s job in his branch has become available, he has reservations about applying for the vacant position, as he does not want to upset the apple cart if he is not successful. This illustrate that he has reservations on some things. He is afraid to try. He is afraid of not succeeding after trying. However, he knows deep down that he can do the job as he stood in for the present manager many times when he has been on leave. Despite understanding that he has the capacity, something seems holding him back. He cannot easily decide on applying for the position. He cannot quite put his fingers on it. It is taking him sometime to come up with the decision. He thinks that all the people in the office see him as a bit boring as he never goes out with them for a drink after work on a Friday. This is just in the mind. Actually, he does not know for certain that ALL the people in the office see him as a bit boring. This will be hard to know. His reasons for not going out on a drink are justifiable. He does not go because that is the day he visits his mother in the home she lives in. Likewise, she would never understand if he changed the day and would pick on him even more than usual. Maybe, it is possible that his mother will not understand his decision of changing his visiting time or will have more reasons to pick on him. But there is also the possibility that his mother will welcome the idea of him visiting in another day. He has not tried to change the day that he is to visit his mother. So, he would not know her actual reaction on the matter. He would love to go out with his workmates on another night but fears that if he asks, they will say no. He has some fears. However, there is no complete absoluteness that if he asks his workmates to go out they would decline. He would love the manager’s job because then his mother would see him as more successful. Likewise, he thinks that maybe, if he gets to be a manager, his mother gives him more respect. Mr. X has pre-conceived notion on a number of things. He thinks that if he does one thing, it will lead to that pre-conceived notion. He has a sort of girlfriend whom he would like to marry but feels that he does not have much to offer her at present. Anyway, he would not propose for marriage to his girlfriend because he thinks she might say “No”. The feeling that he does not have much to offer has no solid basis. It cannot be said for certain that he does not have much to offer at present. It is for his girlfriend to assess. His girlfriend has not said anything about his financial inadequacy. Mr. X thinks that if he proposes for marriage to her girlfriend, her response would be negative. There is no certainty as to what will be the response of his girlfriend since there was never an instance that Mr. X actually proposes and the acceptability to his girlfriend of his proposal has not been tested. He comes across as a gentle man who is very aware of the feelings of others. He is afraid of what the others might think of him. Being aware of the feelings of others is a positive attitude. However, being cautious of the feelings of others should not come to the point of being afraid of what the other people might think. Course of Treatment for the Client Counselling Assessment (Juhnke, 1995) will be done with Mr. X to widen the counsellor’s perception of the client. Then diagnosis will be conducted taking into consideration the appropriate clients counselling strategy (Mearns and Thorne, 1997). Person-Centred Counselling Strategy will be used to give treatment to Mr. X. This strategy can serve as an important means of support in order to help the people. It is imperative to use the strategy(ies) appropriately. Professional and ethical conduct demand that the strategies be explained to clients and their permission sought to proceed (Allen, 2004). To treat a client, there is a need to first diagnose him. Based on the issues enumerated above, there are several issues that need to be addressed. The client has difficulty in sustaining his decision to apply for the vacant managerial position because he is afraid of not getting accepted. We should ascertain first the client’s own hidden agenda. After identifying his Hidden Agenda, help him to recognize them, accept and work through them. Looking at the different problems mentioned above, list the possible Hidden Agenda behind these problems: Problem Hidden Agenda Mr. X has reservations on applying for the managerial job. Mr. X does not want to upset the apple cart if he is not successful. Something seems holding Mr. X back. Mr. X is afraid of rejection. Mr. X cannot quite put his finger on applying for the managerial job. Mr. X has a fear or sets of fears. Mr. X thinks that all the people in the office see him as a bit boring. He feels inadequate, such as not being able to go with his workmates for a drink after work on a Friday. His mother would never understand if he changed the day he visits his mother in the home she lives. Mr. X fears of not being understood. His mother would pick on him even more than usual if he changed the day he visits his mother. Mr. X fears of being picked on even more than usual. He would love to go out with his workmates on another night but fears that if he asks, they will say no. Mr. X fears rejection. He would love the manager’s job because then his mother would see him as more successful. Mr. X long for recognition. He would love the manager’s job because then his mother may be gives him more respect. Mr. X long for respect. He would like to marry his girlfriend but feels he does not have much to offer her at present. Mr. X feels inadequate. Mr. X feels that her girlfriend might say “No” when he proposes for a marriage. Mr. X fears rejection. Mr. X comes across as a gentle man who is very aware of the feelings of others. Mr. X is afraid of what other people might think of him. After identification of the client’s Hidden Agenda, we can now gauge if or if not the client is aware of these Hidden Agenda. If Mr. X is aware of these agenda, he will acknowledge them. After acknowledging, some questions about his situation will be asked to gather more information. Then gently and tactically ask what he is getting out of these. Specifically, Mr. X will be asked in a mild manner what he is getting from avoiding to upset the apple cart if he is not successful, being afraid of rejection, having a fear or sets of fears, feeling inadequate, not being understood, being picked on even more than usual, fearing rejection, longing for recognition, longing for respect, being afraid of what other people might think of him. In order to turn out this process to success, good rapport will be built with the client. Mr. X may become resistant to the idea of having a Hidden Agenda and taking responsibility for it. Hence, there is a need to make him at ease. The probing and diagnosis will be carefully conducted to gather significant amount of information. Mr. X will be assisted to undergo the process slowly. If Mr. X is not aware of his Hidden Agenda, more effort will be exerted to be gentler. Mr. X will be assisted to realize what we are doing to prevent therapeutic process. In order to eliminate this hindrance to development, we will ensure the client that the effects of the Hidden Agenda in action are in some way decreased so that they become less important than the main goal that Mr. X came for help with. Using the power of autosuggestion, a required outcome in the mind of Mr. X will be created. This will employ the power of the thought that is identified by the imagination. We will intentionally employ this to effect change. Psychologists agreed that the thoughts that our imagination focuses on become action. If Mr. X continues to think that he will be rejected, misunderstood, picked on even more than usual, then there is a big possibility that these will happen. We will conduct hypnotherapy (Karle and Boys, 1987) to Mr. X. We will address one issue at a time. There is a need to focus on one issue at a time to be more effective. If we focus on one issue at a time, then Mr. X will be able to accept the idea and action will follow (Coue, 2006). The concepts of NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Alder, 1995) will be taken into consideration in the course of the treatment of Mr. X. In this case, NLP will focus on what makes people successful. That is, in the case of Mr. X. the principles of NLP will be acted upon. But firstly, it is important when using NLP to Mr. X to establish rapport first in order to build positive relationships with Mr. X. It will be made clear to Mr. X the outcomes that we want to get. Mr. X has to be informed of these desired outcomes. It is essential that Mr. X understand. There is a need to solicit his approval on the desired outcomes. The processes that will be employed to him should be approved by him also. Once Mr. X has been paced successfully, then we can lead him to where we want him. We would like him to go on a different train of thought or concept that is beneficial to his situation. Conclusion Mr. X is suffering from lack of self-esteem. It is possible that during his childhood, he was not supported emotionally by his parents or other people in authority. This case can be analysed and resolved through psychotherapy. The fact that Mr. X decided to attend the counselling and psychotherapy implies that Mr. X is actually identifying that he feels that he is suffering from an imbalance of thought. That is, he is seeking psychotherapy to change the thought process and acceptance of beneficial thoughts as valid and reliable. In this case, Mr. X is going to have to overcome his fears, anxieties and others. Then how he will deal with the issues will be tackled with the client (Mearns and Thorne, 1997). He has to overcome all these. Mr. X has to accept responsibility for maintaining the activities that support a Hidden Agenda. If he is not willing or ready to do this then there will be difficulty in achieving his goal(s). According to Rogers (1951), the client knows best. The client knows what hurts and where the pain lies and it is the client who, in the final analysis, will discover the way forward. The task of the counselor is to be a companion who can relate to the client in such a way that he or she can access his/her own wisdom and recover self-direction. References Allen, Roger P. 2004. Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy: The Complete Works. Crown House Publishing. Alder, Harry. 1995. NLP: The new art & science of getting: Get What You Want. Piatkus Books. Coue, Emile. 2006. Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC. Juhnke, Gerald A. 1995. Counselling Assessment: Broadening One's Understanding of the Client and the Clients Presenting Concerns. ERIC Digest. North Carolina: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counselling and Mental Health. Karle. Hellmut and Jennifer Boys. 1987. Hypnotherapy: A Practical Handbook. Free Association Books. Mearns, Dave and Thorne, Brian. 1997. Person-Centred Counselling in Action. (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publication. Rogers, C. 1951. Client-Centered Therapy. Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 13, 71. Sanders, Pete. 2002. First Steps in Counselling: A students' companion for basic introductory courses. Rev. 3rd ed. PCCS Books. Read More