Program of Study: Mental Health & Wellness Counseling

Personal Goal: My personal goal for this program is to learn and be passionate about empowering others to understand, address, and overcome adversity. 

Professional Goal: I want to gain the confidence, qualifications, and critical thinking skills in order to help clients cope with daily life and overcome significant challenges.

Goal for the Course: While gaining the knowledge, counseling techniques and strategies, I can hopefully better assist those who need the proper counseling and utilize those outside resources to live a better and more productive life. The need for mental well-being is everywhere: in schools, at home dealing with the loss of a loved one, or in a facility helping someone overcoming an addiction.

Our World in Data, 2018

Paludi, M. A. (2016). Campus Action Against Sexual Assault: Needs, Policies, Procedures, and Training Programs: Needs, Policies, Procedures, and Training Programs. Praeger Publishing.

Prevention is an important approach to improving mental health. It means stopping mental health problems from developing, getting worse or coming back.

Your mental health and well-being are just as important as your physical health. Positive mental health and wellbeing enables you to function well, have meaningful social connections, positive self-esteem and be better able to cope with life's ups and downs.

Professional boundaries are the limits to the relationship of a member of staff and a person in their care which allow for a safe, therapeutic connection between the staff member and that patient (and their nominated family, careers and friends), protecting both staff and patient/family.

Mental health counselors recognize that they have a moral, legal and ethical responsibility to the community and to the general public. Mental health counselors should be aware of the prevailing community standards and the impact of professional standards on the community. 

A) To protect students, mental health counselors/teachers will be aware of diverse backgrounds of students and will see that material is treated objectively and fairly to reflect the multicultural community in which they live. 

B) Providers of counseling services conform to the statutes relating to such services as established by their state and its regulating professional board(s). 

C) As employees, mental health counselors refuse to participate in an employer's practices that are inconsistent with the moral and legal standards established by federal or state legislation regarding the treatment of employees. In particular and for example, mental health counselors will not condone practices that result in illegal or otherwise unjustified discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin in hiring, promotion or training. 

D) In providing counseling services to clients, mental health counselors avoid any action that will violate or diminish the legal and civil rights of clients or of others that may be affected by the action. 

E) Sexual conduct, not limited to sexual intercourse, between mental health counselors and clients is specifically in violation of this Code of Ethics. This does not, however, prohibit the use of explicit instructional aids including films and videotapes. Such use is within excepted practices of trained and competent sex therapists. 

If you do decide with your supervisor that referral is the right course of action, it is important to plan ahead for this. You will already have explained to the client during contracting how referral in general is managed.

Before telling the client about your specific plan to refer them, make sure:

Ingenia Behavioral Health
311 E Stan Schlueter Loop #108, Killeen, TX 76542
 (254) 539-5039

Lampasas MHMR - Central Counties Services
1305 S Key Ave #203, Lampasas, TX 76550
(512) 556-6962

Mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". Recognizing early warning signs of mental health concerns and receiving adequate support and counseling services can promote wellness through coping skills and resiliency, ultimately increasing an individual's overall quality of life.

Artifacts #1: Prior Knowledge

Over the past 10 years or so, mental health has been brushed to the side, here and there, depending on the relationship of the individual and those who has known them for a while. I think that even the normal person is aware of their weakness and strong points on achieving a goal or taking care of a personal issue without telling someone. Much of these feelings are very personal in which they don’t others to think they are weak, in some sense.

Lastly, I’m looking forward to challenge myself higher than ever within this program so I can make a change in someone’s life who are struggling with personal issues but don’t know how to ask for help. Levels of stress and personal problems causes a lot of pressure we put on ourselves comes from different areas of life but we have to learn to focus on them one at a time.

            
All of us need to “be able to vent or open up” to someone at any given time at least twice in our life. If we hold this pressure locked inside, it can force us to become a very distant, difficult, and unbalanced person. I can’t wait to get out there and help those in our paths to deal with mental health issues so they can live a more enjoyable and happier life. We also need to recognize and acknowledge the amount of stress and uncertainty level of trauma and the unforeseen crisis that can created within an individual(s).

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.

This assignment discussed the five major mental health disorders and those associated disorders in mental health that affects everyone and provides the definition of them. They include anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias, depression, bipolar disorder, and other mood disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.

Artifacts: Reference Guide on Mental Health Disorders

This assignment was assigned so that we could become familiar with mental health disorders and help prepare a counselor to support and assist others experiencing distress or facing a mental health challenge. This would also ensure that we, as a counselor, have an accurate working document that you can keep as a quick reference guide to the different mental health disorders.  This document should be factual and research-based.  It should be free of biased language.  Most importantly, it should be a resource for you now - and for years to come.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.

Once you have selected your case study, copy the case study to your document and begin identifying the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive words or phrases that point to each of the four areas.  Use a different color highlight to identify the four areas.  

Physical - yellow highlight, Emotional - green highlight, Social/Relational - gray highlight, Cognitive/Mental - blue highlight

Roger is a 32-year-old husband and father. He has been married for 9 years and has two children aged 6 and 4. Currently, he works as a middle manager for an engineering firm. The office is a 75-minute drive each way and it is an extremely stressful work environment because of bidding competition and deadlines. The company has mentioned a possible downsizing of the work force and middle management was seen as being the most vulnerable. He has been with the company for five years now.  

Annette, Roger's wife also works as a secretary but may have to leave because of recurring health problems. The possible loss of her income has strained the marriage. Roger works late many days. More often than not, he appears to be angry, frequently yelling at his wife and children.  

During high school and college, Roger would drink socially with his friends and occasionally get drunk. Annette knew of his drinking when they started dating but it never seemed to be a problem and she had never seen him drunk. Roger's mother was an alcoholic and died 7 years ago from complications related to her drinking. Her brother (his uncle) had also been in a detox center twice for drinking problems. The reason Roger was coming home late was because he was stopping at a bar to drink with a couple of his co-workers. What started out as a beer or two once a week after work became a six-pack three or four times a week. Drinking on the weekends also became more routine and he no longer tried to hide it from Annette.  

Annette greatly resents the drinking. Her way of dealing with it is to lecture and moralize. Roger responds with anger, sullenness and most recently by shoving her out of the way and being a little too rough with the kids. He doesn't believe that he has a problem and that his drinking, "calms him down after a long, hard day at the office". He appears aloof and somewhat suspicious of others. Annette has asked you to talk with her husband after he was recently arrested with a DUI and had his license suspended for 30 days. Roger is angry he "got caught" and still thinks he has things under control.

Use the resources within the resource folder to explain how to achieve rapport/ a relationship with the client in the case study. Briefly explain in one to two sentences for each point below how you would establish a relationship with the client with the rapport building steps.

·         Attending Behavior – I will show empathy towards the client on why they are here. I will also encourage the individual to talk about their issues without interrupting them. 

·         Questioning – I will implement using the open-end and closed-end questions to gather more information of their issues or problems. 

·         Paraphrasing – By doing this, I may encourage the person to elaborate more and I can attempt to help the client by simplifying and focusing on what they said. 

·         Clarifying – Here, I will use a close-ended question that serves to clarify what the client had just said. 

·         Reflection – Here, I will help the clients feel understood and express more feelings. 

·         Summarization – I will recall key content and affect messages that were voiced in the session. 

 
Part B: Breaking Down the Problem

For this part of the assignment, you will be identifying the issues within the case study. Do not use words such as "she needs to (verb)".  Instead, briefly list the needs and issues.  Put yourself in the client's shoes and feel how he/she feels. You may use bulleted points for this part of the assignment.  

Use the highlighted areas from the case study to break down the problem by specifically addressing each of the four areas.  Address the specific needs and issues under each of the four areas. A minimum of three is required. However, include as many as you can think of to formulate a complete analysis.  

o   Physical - needs and issues

o   By working late days, Roger is exhausted and too tired to handle situations at home.   

o   Those hard days at the office causes Roger a lot of frustration and stress upon him. 

o   The physical demands of bidding competition and deadlines plays another key role on the body.  

o   Emotional - needs and issues

o   Feelings of being unemployed can be felt at the office environment too. 

o   He appears to be angry, frequently yelling at his wife and children from all of the frustration and stress of work.   

o   Roger doesn't believe that he has a problem and but it fixes his issues for only for a short time. 

o   Social/Relational - needs and issues

o   The possible loss of his wife’s job income has strained the marriage as well as his job going away.  

o   Roger would drink socially with his friends and occasionally get drunk to remove the feelings before he gets home. 

o   He appears aloof and somewhat suspicious of others for his mishaps at home and at work. 

o   Mental/Cognitive - needs and issues

o   The long drive each way and extremely stressful work environment are causing a mental breakdown and other personal issues.  

o   Stress, excessive late working hours, and his unrecognizable drinking habits must be addressed before other issues are attached to his lifestyle.    

o   He should be informed that he’s an alcoholic but he thinks he’s got it under control which is denial. 

 

For each of the four areas analyzed, address the following questions

·         What steps does the counselee need to take (Physical, Emotional, Social/Relational, Mental/Cognitive)? 

            Roger is content and does not recognize that he has a problem. It will be difficult for him to express himself separately. In the relationship of the couple, empathy would be an equally important strategy to improve their life. Roger will need to humble himself and admit that he needs assistance to improve his life. He would need a process of forgiveness for his actions and addition behavior. Roger would also need to open up about his actions within the counselling session. Through strong alliances, Roger might see himself as the victim and he might view counselors as untrustworthy and ensure that their interest at the forefront.  
            For the entire family, addressing the addition problem would be one of the complicated aspects to deal with the problem of Roger. Roger can attend meetings to interact himself with the people having similar issues and from the same background. He has had numerous abusive conflicts with his wife and children. Forgiveness has the ability to lead people into a healthy and fulfilling relationship and this could improve the relationships in the family. 

·         What steps does the counselor need to take (Physical, Emotional, Social/Relational, Mental/Cognitive)? 

 

In any situation, a counselor is a support system for people with psychological and drug abuse issues. I think the counsellor should teach Roger to change his behaviors through an intention of full recovery. Whether or not he might be susceptible to alcohol addition, the counselor has to work with the couple on an on-going process to better their welfare as a family. I believe that counselors would use strategies such bas questioning, pondering, and non-confronting to ensure the counselling session would be effective to deal with the situation of Roger and Annette.  

 

The role of the counselor is based on teaching, listening, and offering advice. I think the counselor can empower Roger to act and change his behavior. The counselor can help the members of Roger’s family on how they can find a support group or outside resources within the area. The counselor must be sympathetic and have passion to enhance their level of relationship with the clients. Rogers had a misunderstanding with Annette which resulted in a conflict in the family. Having knowledge of this, the counselor should advise the couple to manage their misunderstandings and enhance their marital agreements. In the end, the counselor should find effective ways to redeem Rogers from his past actions and help him live a better and productive life with his family. 

References

Erford, B., Eaves, S., Bryant, E. & Young, S. (2010). 35 Techniques Every Counselor Should Know.

Kanel, K. (2012). A guide to crisis intervention. (4^th Ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.