Counseling | EssayIvy.com

Running head: COUNSELING 1

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A mental health counselor helps individuals and families deal with difficult emotions

which include stress, mental health disorders and trauma. A mental counselor is well versed

with providing therapy and coaching sessions to help the patients manage their stress, reconstruct

their lives and set their goals straight. Therapy sessions are known for helping the patient in

recovery or management of the situation. The patients are also helped in in modifying their

behavior which may take in various set-ups including hospitals, schools, private offices and

clinics. Mental counseling also involves people with eating disorders anger management and

anxiety. People with post-traumatic stress issues, abusive relationships and grief also tend to look

for mental counseling. People suffering from divorce as partners as well as the children also

tend to suffer from depression if not well prepared and hence may look for counseling. Children

with esteem issues also are advised to look for mental health counseling (McMahon, 2016).

Mental health counselors are also known to help in crises treatment. This mainly occurs

to people who are in distress after accidents which are a traumatic event. Also people from crime

violence situations, rapes cases, or unexpected death of the loved ones also require counseling.

People who have also tried suicide are also under crises and hence require mental care which

involves counseling. Mental health counseling also involves helping people suffering from

addictions and abusing of other substances. This involves helping the patients recognize their

problems, what triggers them to adapt the behavior (McMahon, 2016). Mental health counselor

provides people facing life changes or decisions that cause stress including choosing a career

path, course to take, moving from one place to another, and divorce. Counseling also requires

team effort from the counselor as well as the patient. The patient has a one on one talk with the

counselor.

There are various theories that help in explaining the health of a person and how it affects

individuals. Some of the models include the health belief model which is psychological model

that attempts to explain and predict the health behavior of the patients. The health belief model

focuses on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. The model was first developed in the 1950s by

social psychologists Hochbaum, Rosenstock and Kegels working in the United States of America

public health services. The model has various assumptions where the model is based on the

understanding that a person will take a health-related action if that person feels that a negative

health condition can be avoided (McMahon, 2016). The person also has a positive expectation

that by taking a recommendation action he will avoid a negative health condition. The theory

was developed with the desire to avoid illness and the belief that a specific health action will

prevent, cure, and that an individual action often depends on the person’s perception of the

beliefs and hindrances related to health behavior (McMahon, 2016).

However, the theory has some limitations which include the fact that it does not account

for a person’s attitude, belief, or other individual determinants. The theory does not take into

account behaviors that are very habitual and hence they may inform the decision making process

to take into consideration a recommended action. The model does not into account behaviors that

are performed for non-health related behavior (McMahon, 2016). The model assumes that cues

to action are widely prevalent in encouraging people to act and that health actions are the main

goal in the decision making process.

There is the socioecological model addresses behavior change at multiple levels and

considers the inter-relationship between behavior and the environment and how the environment

affects the individual in the healing and therapy session. The theory also describes the individual

readiness to make and sustain behavior changes (McMahon, 2016). The model is useful as it

helps planners design programs based on the individual readiness ability as well as their source

of motivation. The model has five stages which include the precontemplation stage. In this

particular stage, the individual has no intention to change behavior within the next six months.

The person may lack the knowledge or in the previous times he or may have been unsuccessful

in initiating the change. Contemplation stage is where the individual is considering a behavior

change within the next six months. In the preparation stage the individual takes some steps

towards making a change and doing so in the next 30 days. An individual takes action once he or

she has made an apparent behavior change for six months or less. In the maintenance stage, the

person’s behavior must have lasted for more than six months and from the stage the person can

move to the final stage (Haryati, 2018).

Counseling as a career requires a lot of skills which includes listening more to the patient.

As a counselor, one should place themselves to the patients’ shoes, background and their current

life situation for them to understand what is actually happening. As a counselor, one should be

flexible and ready to listen to the patient more and talk less. One has to make the client

comfortable and be able to create a conducive environment in which they can communicate

freely and openly without making judgments (Haryati, 2018). A counselor also needs to have a

particular kind of empathy but a balance must be established between empathy and

accountability. Also although a relationship should be established, boundaries should be well

defined because at the end of the day it is work and ethics should be practiced. Policies and

procedures should be put in place to ensure proper time management (Haryati, 2018). The

counselor should also be non-judgmental and should avoid imposing their own beliefs, values,

attitudes, and behavior on the client. They should also know that all clients are not the same and

what works on one may not necessarily work on the other. Personal beliefs, values, and struggle

should be respected and embrace diversity. The counselor should be a good listener and avoid

talking while the client is talking. This will help the client feel valued and is able to fully express

themselves. One should also be research oriented as different clients have different problems and

one may be faced with a challenging task which requires further research to be carried out. When

it comes to counseling, confidentiality is the most and paramount aspect. The counselor must be

able to maintain confidentiality to win the trust of the client. In counseling class, one is able to

learn the basic skills in problem solving and how to handle different problems when it comes to

the client. One is also well equipped with the communication and literacy skills. Self-

management skills are also well explained in the classes and how to handle various clients from

different backgrounds. However, skills such as understanding, empathy and genuine interest on

the client are some of the skills that I have learnt throughout the course. In the King’s speech,

Lione had an open communication with Bertie which ensured that both parties were able to share

everything without hiding each other facts. Additionally, both parties could tell each other facts

of the situation without hiding each other despite the situation or whether one was hurt. This

helped in creating an open and truthful where trust was the basis of the relationship. For people

to openly communicate how they feel and their attitude towards certain situations, trust must be

created and earned (Haryati, 2018).

For an new counselor, it is paramount to note that each and every patient or client has a

unique situation and all clients come from different backgrounds and although the problem may

be similar, the causing agents are different or their current situations and hence the solutions to

the problems should be different based on the client and their background. Additionally, the

counselor should learn that the patients need to trust the counselor for them to be open and

explain the whole situation. This will also help in facilitating the therapy sessions. In many cases,

when there is no trust and the counselor does not try to understand and listen to the client, the

situation gets worse than it was as the patient feels that people are trying to create their own

version of the story. In my first day in the counseling session, one should come with an open

minded learning that all situations are not handled in the same manner and that research as well

as proper understanding of the client culture and background is important. Over the years, the

role of a health counselor has not changed but evolved to handle more problems due to

civilization and human evolution. A health counselor also now offers healthcare services related

to the stress of situation affecting the patient. The health care counselor has also become more

patients which is the evolution of the healthcare systems and how clients should be handled.

Being a health counselor is more fulfilling as more is able to learn and see life

from a different perspective. One also learns that different people undergoes different

problems and that may people are fighting demons in their lives which could be their

work schedules, their emotions or relationships and the major thing we have to is being

kind and offering a listening ear.

References

Haryati, A. (2018). Personal Integrity of Islamic Counselor on Professional Ethics

Commitment. Islamic Guidance and Counseling Journal, 1(1), 11-16.

McMahon, M. (Ed.). (2016). Career counselling: Constructivist approaches. Routledge.

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