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At the conclusion of this assignment, students will be able to think about areas of unseeing in which they may need to improve on and apply them to future situations. The client who took part in this assessment had numerous presenting issues in which she requested to cover during counseling. The client is a 22-year-old female, and also completing her postgraduate course at university. Along with her studies, she also works part time however has decreased the amount of hours she does per week due to assignments.
The client explained that she has a history with depression, and is still currently on anti-depressants. Her depression causes her to have both good and bad days. She describes her ‘bad days’ as feeling ‘zombie-like’, unmotivated and overall moody. However, she does find that she has her good days too, in which she doesn’t feel very anxious or stressed, and rather feels energize and sometimes even ‘hyper’. A re-occurring theme presented throughout the echelons Walt n ten client was Tuna to De relationship. The client describes her relationship with her father as ‘average’.
She states that her father perceives her as ‘lazy, as she is working less and focusing more on her studies. Her relationship with her mother had been better in the past, although the linen feels that her mother is responsible with some of her life changes. For example, the client moved back home from living on campus, and therefore had to transfer to another closer university. Her relationship with her brother is similar to the relationship between her and her father’s. She explains that she sometimes feels intimidated by her brother and father.
The family is involved in a family business, which involves mechanics and manual labor. She feels that because she had chosen a more ‘academic’ path, her father does not understand her and she feels left out. Lastly, the client is involved in a relatively new relationship with her boyfriend. She states that she has good days with him, but often feels insecure. There were three sessions conducted with the client. Due to conflicting class timetables, only three were achievable. However, the client was open to discussion, she had a lot to discuss and therefore required less prompting to encourage discussion.
At times it was difficult to engage in exercises as I found that the client would deter from the exercise and continue discussion about the issue at hand. The linen also freely explored her emotions and coping strategies, without too much encouragement from myself. This may be because she has seen various counselors and psychologists previously. Critical Evaluation of Performance as a Counselor In order to be an effective counselor, there are numerous techniques that can be used in order to reach the client’s goals and steer them towards a solution to their problems.
Throughout the student’s experience as a therapist, they used a variety of techniques sourcing from differing therapies. These included , Person Centered Therapy (PACT) and Solution Focused Therapy (SET). Additionally, the counselor also utilized aspects of Gestalt Therapy in order for the client to view her issues from a ‘here and now perspective. The very first technique that the counselor applied to therapy was SOLES. The SOLES model was developed by Gerard Egan (2010) and should be used as an integral part of active listening.
This model further explains the listening process in which a counselor should devise in order to appear ‘available’ to the client. The counselor’s body language can aid in the communication in therapy. For instance, the therapist should be sitting at a comfortable distance and angle toward the client, with an open posture. Additionally, often leaning forward will portray to the client that the counselor is genuinely interested. Effective eye contact is also crucial to active listening skills. Throughout the therapy, unconditional positive regard was a crucial skill in order for the client to open up about her emotions and difficulties.
Unconditional positive regard requires the counselor to have an understanding, support and acceptance of their client regardless of their taxation. Along with this particular technique, empathetic listening was also used throughout the therapy with this particular client. Empathetic listening is essential as it has numerous benefits, regardless of the type of client or their issue at hand. For example, empathetic listening can assist In Dulling trust Ana respect Detente therapist and counselor.
Within this particular case, the counselor may feel that this was achieved and thus the client felt comfortable discussing her problems with the counselor. By combining empathetic listening and unconditional positive regard getter, the counselor felt that it created a ‘safe’ environment for the client, and therefore perhaps made it easier to create possible solutions. In addition to listening skills and building good rapport with the client, the counselor attempted to use two types of assessment or exercises to gain further insight into the client’s problems and the emotions attached to it.
Firstly, the counselor implemented the miracle question. This puts the client in a scenario in which they have to imagine that a ‘miracle’ has happened, and how they would picture their lives differently if that miracle did occur. This exercise helps the client to see the possibility that something important has been missing from their life. However, the answer could contain something that the client has never experienced, or perhaps something they have lost and miss today. Secondly, scaling questions were used for both stress and anxiety.
Within the recorded session, the counselor asked the client how she felt she rated her anxiety on that specific day. The scale was set from 1 to 5, 1 being low and 5 being high. She had rated her anxiety ‘under 3’ out of 5. This may indicate an improvement, as the iris session she reported her anxiety levels around a 3. 5-4. This rating scale gives the counselor an idea of the client’s current feelings, especially as they engage in therapy. Lastly, the counselor employed the techniques of PACT, in which she reflected upon the client’s feelings and also used paraphrasing.
These techniques can again, encourage the client to further explain or to delve deeper into their emotions and what they are trying to tell the counselor. Along with the numerous skills that were used with this particular client, there were also skills that were not implemented. For example, the counselor had not set any ‘homework for the client. The counselor may have felt that perhaps homework could therefore give the client something to think about during her time away from counseling, although was unsure as to what sort of homework to set, and how to interpret her Work’ afterwards.
Furthermore, closed-ended questions were also not used, however the counselor may have decided that they were not needed for this particular therapy and client. By reviewing the recording of the third session, it can be found that the counselor had not implemented SOLES to its full capacity. It can be seen that the counselor was sitting with her legs crossed and often her hands were distracted and fidgeting. This may have been distracting for the client or the client may have felt that the body language towards her was ‘closed-off. It can be perhaps seen that a main area of improvement can be related to the structure of the therapy sessions.
According to the SOAP notes, it may be seen that the sessions had no real form of structure, and often the client will discuss many topics within one session. The client and the therapist did not necessarily indulge or focus into one relationship I. . Her father. Related, another area of improvement for the therapist may be the construction of SOAP notes, in regards to detail and structure. Lastly, the counselor may have been able to implement exercises better. For example, within the recording of the last session, the counselor attempted to apply the miracle question and the empty chair technique.
However, it can be found that the client would initially agree to participate In ten exercise, although seen would later deter Trot ten Orlando exercise and continue regular discussion. The counselor needed to be able to guide ere in the right direction and continue with the requested exercise. Perhaps the counselor should have prompted further discussion surrounding the specific exercise. Critical Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Therapy Throughout the course of therapy, the client appeared to be comfortable with the counselor and therefore found it easier to open up and share her emotions and problems.
According to the SOAP notes it can be evident that the client was open from the very first session, and there were no difficulties present in regards to the therapeutic relationship. Therefore, the client may have perceived a positive effectiveness of the therapy. It may have proven helpful for the client to speak to someone simply about their problems and how they have been coping. Upon speaking to the client in regards to feedback from the sessions, the client expressed that she felt that the therapy was useful in that it benefited her by simply having someone to talk to, without Judgment.
Furthermore, the appropriateness of the treatment plan was deemed to be successful. The treatment plan serves the purpose of recording the client’s problems and what will be done in terms of therapeutic techniques, to assist them in problem solving. Upon reviewing this particular treatment plan in relation to the current client, it can be seen that there are two ‘goals’ listed in which the client and counselor have deemed to be outstanding at the commencement of therapy. These goals include the client’s moods on her bad days, and also her wish to someday rely less on anti depressants; being able to motivate herself.
The counselor has listed some appropriate techniques or approaches that she thought might be affective for the client throughout their sessions together. Some of these approaches include Person Centered Therapy techniques, which emphasize the relationship between the counselor and the client. This treatment can be considered successful, as the client was able to open up and engage with her emotions with the counselor. Solution Focused Therapy techniques were also listed within the treatment plan in hopes that this will assist the client in exploring her emotions further.
As seen in the recorded session, both these techniques were employed. However, the effectiveness of them both can remain questionable, as the client did not fully engage in the exercise. Another critique of the treatment plan at hand, may be the goals or issues identified. For instance, her problems were highlighted to be surrounding relationships and her emotions on her ‘bad’ days. Throughout the therapy, the client may have explored her emotions surrounding thee issues, and therefore considered a successful component of the therapy.
Although, the treatment plan also identifies her ultimate goal that would be to rely less on anti-depressants. The counselor may feel that this was only slightly touched upon during the sessions, and not particularly focused on in detail. This may also be because the client may have avoided this topic, and instead wanted to discuss other issues at hand. This specific treatment plan was useful at times however, was perhaps not followed to it’s full extent. As mentioned previously, the miracle question Ana empty canal exercises were conducted, out may not nave played a crucial role In problem solving or self-awareness.
The treatment plan was also not modified throughout the course of therapy, as the counselor tried to follow the original plan to the best of their ability, regardless of sometimes falling off track. Critical Evaluation of the Egan Model The Egan model is a model in which can guide and help clients in a variety of situations. It includes a range of strategies that may be useful as a starting point of communication and structure between a client and a counselor (Egan, 2010). The model is flexible or adaptable which therefore indicates that it is able to adapt to a variety of clients.
However, it is crucial that when following this particular model, that the counselor remains genuine, respectful and empathetic towards the client. Furthermore, active listening is also crucial throughout the therapy process. As previously mentioned, SOLES was developed by Egan (2010) to ensure effective active listening by the counselor, and also appearing ‘available’ to the client. However, this model may be inappropriate for some cultures. For example, an individual may feel uncomfortable by sitting directly towards a counselor, face to face.
In this instance, SOLES may be adapted so that the client and counselor remain sitting face to face, yet perhaps on an angle or side by side. The Egan model has numerous qualities in which can benefit the counselor in guiding the client to a solution to his or her problems. One of these attributes includes fluidity. This meaner that the client is able to move through the stages of the Egan model freely; even if it meaner that they need o move back to stage 1. In relation to SOLES, this structure allows the therapy to be client focused.
Being client focused, the counselor creates an open and honest environment, in which the client may feel encouraged to engage fully in the therapy. Lastly, the Egan model allows therapy to be client and goal focused. Therefore, the client feels welcomed and the main focus. The goals in which the counselor and client develop together are specific to the client and are measurable, achievable and realistic. The Egan model in relation to the current client was effective in some aspects. The client and the counselor were able to identify key issues and goals.
However, there may not have been enough focus on how to achieve those goals, and rather, focused on the discussion of emotions instead of solutions. This outcome could be attributed to numerous causes. For example, throughout the therapy, the client seemed to focus more on discussion about her feelings and overall relationships, rather than wanting to focus one aspect. Although, the counselor may also need to improve the way that she can guide the client into solution focused discussion or even discussion toward the exercises at hand.