Case Study on Person-Centred Counseling

Introduction

As emphasized by BACP, counseling changes people’s lives. Counseling enables the client and a therapist to discuss the client’s feelings. In most cases, the therapist or the counselor is a third party who allows the client to express their feelings. Notably, many people face challenges in sharing their problems with everyone.

Lack of trust discourages many people from sharing their feelings with their peers and family members. Counselling provides a nutria ground where those who have problems can share with professionals. Counseling is a process that is mostly carried out in several sessions. Some of the counseling processes take up to 12 sessions.

As a counselor, I have dealt with several clients with different problems. According to behaviorism and psychodynamic theories, actions are determined by life experience. A more significant number of clients are always facing various challenges in life. To assist the client, the first step is to understand the client’s situation.

The client should provide essential information relating to the problem. This case study illustrates my personal experience in the counseling field. The case study focuses on a client who was angry with his father. The client developed a poor relationship with his biological father after his parents divorced.

After the divorce, the client’s mother stayed separately while the client stayed with the father. The father had already married another wife who had a son. At the time of marriage, the son was seven years old. The clients’ father was in another relationship even before the divorce. The client realized that his father was cheating on her mother hence leading to the divorce.

In addition, the client’s biological mother died a few weeks before he came for counselling. This was one of the scenarios that required professionalism and ethical standards as far as counselling is concerned. This case study focuses on one client.

9.1

The first meeting with the client was the first place to make an impact. I first introduced myself to show the client that I was genuine. Ideally, I first build a good relationship with the client. Apart from the introduction, I invited the client to sit down. Moreover, I also ensured that the client is comfortable. People tend to open up when they are healthy and free. I also ensured that there were no third parties in the room to avoid any distractions and confusion. The environment in the room was so encouraging.

After the introduction, I invited the client to tell me his story to identify the problem statement. I ensured that the client had shared relevant information regarding his situation and whatever he was feeling about the other family members. I engaged the client is asking questions such as; how did that make you feel?

As a result, the client shared his feelings about every instance that has ever happened in his life. I realized that the client was not only angry with his father, but he also needed counseling after the loss of the mother. Notably, the last instance that happened in his life before seeking advice is the death of the mother. As far as the problem statement is concerned, the client also gave the reason why he decided to seek counseling.

Having known the problem statement, I developed a goal toward a successful counseling session. I gave the client the priority in almost everything that entailed the counseling procedure. The goal, in this case, was to ensure that the client develops a good relationship with the father for the wrongdoings and that he heals from the loss of his mother.

I intended to indemnify the client’s feelings. In other words, I needed to bring the client back to the condition that he was in when his mother and father lived together. Even though such a situation seemed impossible because his father and mother would not live together again, but the counseling sessions would bring hope to him.

As far as person-centered counseling is concerned, I allowed the client to realize who he was. With this regard, he took note of what the client said about his father’s perception. His father referred to him as a problem and a burden that was good for nothing. This made him feel worthless. However, the application of person-centered counseling enabled the client to realize his self-worth as well as his importance in society.

The client had an excellent time to express his feelings and to interpret who he was. In other words, he realized that life is challenging in one way or another. Therefore, he needed to respond to the challenges in a better way to avoid stress and to look down upon himself.

With regards to evaluation, follow up and referral, I intend to empower the client to realize his potential. Currently, the counseling has not been terminated. The follow up is still in the process of the client’s emotional healing. The counseling process was based on facts and another important aspect of the client’s life from the time of divorce.

By the end of the follow-up, the client will have realized his potential in life. I also showed empathy while having a meeting with the client. Apart from the first meeting, I also engaged the client in other eight sessions for three months. The main reason why I made these interventions was to lead the client to find a better solution.

9.2

Having listened to the client’s story, I developed a negative perception of the client’s father. I thought that the father must have been a wrong person that does not care about humanity. I was curious to meet his father in the client’s absence. Notably, I realized that the client did not want his father to know that he had decided to seek counseling. He knew that the father would not support such an idea. Though I count not to tell the client about my thoughts about his father, yet I had never met him before.

When the client mentioned his father’s name, I felt irritated. Moreover, I also developed a negative perception of people with such a name. Nonetheless, I engaged the client in a conversation to create a therapeutic environment. However, much the client was angry with the father. I was aware that too much sympathy would lower the client’s self-esteem.

Ideally, I could not show the client that, indeed, his father is a wrong person, and he should avoid him by all means. As far as the therapeutic relationship is concerned, I ensured that the client did not realize my thought about his father.

Death is one of the crucial cases to deal with. In other words, dealing with clients who have just lost their loved ones is not an easy task. The mysterious death of the client’s mother shocked me to the fact that I could imagine how the client felt about it. However, I realized that my main aim was to encourage the client regardless of what he has gone through. Even though I could not withstand the pain that the client was going through, I avoided any facial expression that could have shown excess sympathy.

Furthermore, I wanted to assure the client that I was genuine to give him an easy time expressing his feelings. I also confirmed to the client that I was interested in him. As a result, I addressed him by name to assure him of self-worth. I also felt that being in such a situation would instill various thoughts in someone’s mind. I thought that the client would have even thought of committing suicide or doing a bad thing to his father.

I could identify the aspect of such thoughts by focusing on nonverbal cues. I noticed that when the client mentioned his father’s name, teas would roll out. I could also feel the same way, but again, I wanted the client to understand that everyone is likely to face challenges in life and that he should be hopeful about a better tomorrow.

When the client approached me, I was aware of my emotions that would affect the counseling process. I tend to be emotional when I listen to people’s stories. Therefore, I decided to avoid any negative impact that my emotions would have brought. I decided to realize my potential as a counselor before realizing the client’s potential. To reduce anxiety, I engaged the client in some social conversations. This created a balance between the client’s story and real-life situations.

Moreover, the client enjoyed listening to some social conversations instead of telling his story. During the social interview, I gave the client enough time to respond. My main aim was to avoid the influence of my thoughts and feelings toward the achievement of counseling goals. Counselling intends to protect the client from having negative perceptions about people and even life.

9.3

As a counselor, I was aware of the diversity and equality between the two of us. In terms of age, I was older than the client. Therefore, the client considered me as his elder, and anything he said reflected a sense of inequality. In other words, how he addressed me was not the same way that he would address his peers. The fact that the client perceived that I was older than him influence how he addressed me.

Apart from age, the client also felt that my educational background was higher than his. As a result, he was afraid to express himself freely in fear of making mistakes. At the time of counseling, the client was a high school student. In this case, gender and race were minor issues that had no negative impact on the counseling process.

The client perceived himself as a failure and a worthless person. Considering his father’s perception of him, he thought that he was ineffective among his friends. The client’s perception of self-worth prevented him from sharing his problem with his peers. He did not interact with his friend freely because he feared rejection and criticism. He thought that everyone viewed him as his father did. At the school, he was felt free to share his problem with one of the teachers who eventually linked him to me.

Consequently, the client knew that people are equal before a supreme being. I noticed that the client believed in God and that he was hopeful that He would solve his problems. Based on this fact, the client felt that he was just like his peers, regardless of his situation. He perceived that some people were also going through tough times in life, yet they have never told him.

The similarity in terms of gender also encouraged the client to address me without fear of intimidation or rejection. He knew that I was likely to understand his problem than someone of the opposite gender.

Concerning the client’s case, I applied effective strategies to avoid being seduced into over-identification by apparent similarities between myself and other client groups. I engaged the clients in storytelling to shape their thinking and also to encourage them in some aspects of life.

Moreover, I continually asked the client ‘why’ to understand his situation better. The client was even willing to listen and to cooperate effectively. Generally, both differences and similarities affected the overall counseling process.

9.4

BACP members are committed to promoting ethical principles, values, and good practice. An ethical framework is a tool for any therapist. Likewise, dealing with the client in question enabled me to demonstrate ethical awareness. Before engaging with any client, I tend to acquire more about ethical frameworks. In other words, I am always committed to promoting ethical principles, values, as well as good practice.

In regards to the principle of beneficence, I used different strategies to ensure that the client’s well-being is protected. At some point, I felt that I could help the client by offering him the right house and a place to call home. However, the need to maintain the boundary prevented me from making such decisions.

I wanted to make a positive impact on the client’s life by acting as a good example. My main motive was to enable the client to emulate me. I ensured that I was tidy in such a way that the client could admire my look. During the second meeting, the client commented that I acted professionally and that he was encouraged by my talk and all that pertains to counseling. I intended to show the client that self-respect plays a crucial role in human life. During the last meeting, the client said that he was impressed by the fact that I fulfilled the promises that I made to him for that period.

When we met for the first time, I asked the client to tell me what he liked and what he was against as far as the counseling process was concerned. In response to the question, he said that he did not want to involve his father, step-mother, together with his step-brother in the counseling process. He preferred his teacher to family members. He also said that he did not want everyone to know his problems. He wanted the privacy and confidentiality of the information that he provided.

Furthermore, he was against writing his name on some of the documents for record-keeping. He did not want his name to be used on other occasions apart from the counseling process. Having known whatever the client was against, I kept in touch with the teacher to understand how he was doing. I did not even ask him about his father’s contact since he was ready to talk to his father at that time.

The information that the client gave was not written in any document. He exclusively preferred oral communication with other methods of communication. By doing so, I wanted to protect the client’s rights by considering his demands. In this case, I was also protecting the client’s dignity toward improving the relationship between the client and his father.

After two months, the client showed some signs of the need to contact his father. I realized that the client started healing from the poor relationship that he had with the father. My primary strategy was putting the client first. As far as person-centered counseling was concerned, I engaged the client in almost all aspects of the counseling process.

9.5

The supervision has enabled me to deepen my professional knowledge. The influence and the experience from the supervisor impacted my role in counseling. I have learned different ideas and approaches that are relevant to the counseling field. Such supervision should be encouraged by any other counselor to boost their knowledge and understanding of the client’s problems. Based on the reflection, I gained the ability to manage the caseload. I can handle different cases at the same time. Therefore, I have the knowledge and skills to concentrate on more than one client and to give effective feedback on the same.

I have gained awareness of my responses generates by counseling work. Based on the supervision, I was able to learn more about reactions that are linked to my desires or perceptions. In a counseling context, the counselor is likely to have a different understanding of the outcome as compared to that of the client. Therefore, there is a need to determine the most effective strategy to mitigate such differences for a successful solution. The therapist should provide meaningful responses to find a solution to the client’s problem.

Another critical awareness that I have gained is the need to apply ethical principles, values, and good practice at every stage of the counseling process. The supervision enlightened me on the importance of the ethical framework and its impact on the solution to the client’s problem. The end product of any counseling process plays an essential role in restoring the client’s feelings. Therefore, applying this awareness to practice can lead to successful counseling sessions.

9.6

The implementation of awareness was evident in my interaction with the client. I embraced professionalism during and after the counseling process. The client was amazed by my knowledge as far as meeting respect, dignity, and professionalism were concerned. I did not use the client’s details for any other purpose apart from the counseling process.

To advise the client effectively, I inquired more about his life history and anything that have ever happened in his life. This was an indication that I applied professional skills and knowledge in identifying the client’s problems and possible solutions. I also offered advice to the client in regards to life issues and the problem that he was facing.

Adherence to the ethical framework was good evidence of the implementation of the awareness gained from supervision. Having known the client’s desires, I respected whatever he had said. I did not disclose the information to anyone during and after the counseling sessions. Since the counseling process is not complete, I know that the process will succeed, and the client will have a good relationship with his father. This is evident since the client showed some interest in contacting his father after two months, even after refusing to involve him in the counseling process.