A 24 year old female has requested services as an obligation to her counseling program. While in session client shares that she wants to improve her overall personal growth and finding her chosen path. Client revealed that she wanted to decrease her negative habit of procrastinating and replace it with good time management skills. Client is a full time student and works full time with a new company. Clint shared that when she procrastinates she will begin to stress with the anticipation of an arriving deadline. Client admits to becoming irritable, aggravated and easily annoyed when under large amounts of stress. Client also says that migraines are associated with the stress as well. Client is very close with her mother. Clints relationship with her father is strained. Client also has an older sister and niece. Client has recently learned that her grandmother has fallen seriously ill and clients mother did not respond well to the news initially. In turn, client took on her mothers personal emotional strain along with her own personal and daily stressors. In addition to the desire to better manage time and the sickness of her grandmother client also revealed she was recently in a automobile accident leaving her car totaled and rendering the client without reliable transportation. Having to rely on others to travel has been the biggest stress in the recent days however, client shares she is attempting to remain positive despite her situation. For this case, the first counseling theory I would implement would be Person- Centered. I felt as though I was only asking questions to make the client look at a situation from a different angle. Much like Mr. Rogers, I believe people (without diagnosed serious mental conditions) have the potential to understand themselves and resolve their own problems without much intervention. THEORY APPLICATION PAPER 3
For me, I like the use reflection of feelings as technique to build the therapeutic relationship by letting the client know you are listening and you heard them. I was focused on helping the client understand her concerns and then begin to come up with a plan on how to carry out that plan. I wanted the client to tell me what she thought she should try. I considered that If the client cam3e up with her own solution she would better remember what she did to achieve that and know how to operate the next time an issue is presented to her. I basically wanted my client to know that she was safe and nothing she said would be judged and I was there to support and encourage her while she sorted out items in her life that may be causing distress. Another counseling theory I may have integrated was Existential Theory. I find this theory to be very real and un-sugar-coated yet, it offers encouragement to be able to deal with its reality. This reality being we have no choice in being in this world when we are born but we must deal with what comes our way to the best of our ability. We have all the freedom and choice to never pay a bill or be angry at a past relationship outcome. Existential therapy urges the client to evaluate the ways they are not living full authentic lives and how to make the appropriate decisions to help the client become their real selves. Also, I was pulled toward this theory because it allows creativity in how you deal with each client. There are no set techniques therefore by any means ethically necessary. I found myself inventing techniques impromptu (i.e. what if and even if questions). In addition, existential therapy does take into account the past of the client to answer the questions of the present behavior to help accept the responsibility for future change. Conceptually, and from an Existential prospective, the client has the capacity to increase her self- awareness and be able to decide a future for herself. The client does not have to suffer through migraines and become irritable if she would use her freedom to choose to not procrastinate. In relation to the clients close relationship with her mom and the tendency for her to take on her THEORY APPLICATION PAPER 4
mothers burden along with her own stress I say it would be important to me to display full understanding and an attempt to enter my clients world. It is important from a Person-centered perspective that I dont judge the relationship between my client and her mom but instead understand why they are so close and provide the safe environment and empathy needed to discuss the strained relationship she has with her father. In relation to the treatment plan, I chose to use Carl Rogers unconditional positive regard to reduce overall frequency, intensity, and duration of the anxiety so that her daily functioning impaired. In choosing this theory I would also be able to support and encourage my client to describe current and past experiences related to the anxiety symptoms, complete with their impact on functioning and her attempts to resolve it. I would take an Existential approach to assisting the client in making the choice and taking responsibility to resolving the core conflict that is the source of her anxiety. I do not believe I experienced transference from my client, however, I did acknowledge countertransference by way of my clients strained relationship with her father and my own with my grandfather.