HDCW114 Case Study: Understanding and Helping Aarif's Loneliness

This case study examines the situation of Aarif, a 14-year-old refugee experiencing loneliness due to his friend leaving school and his father's absence. The assignment explores the impact of loneliness on adolescents, highlighting feelings of depression and social disconnection. It analyzes how a school counselor could have better handled Aarif's distress by creating awareness, communicating empathetically, and avoiding generalizations. The study emphasizes the importance of family support, advising Aarif's parents to be more involved and seek professional help if needed. The case study concludes by stressing the need for open communication and proactive management of depression, offering comprehensive steps for addressing similar situations.

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CASE STUDY 2
Introduction
Friendship plays a vital role in our daily lives. There are various things people face in the
family, but friends give ways on how to solve some of these issues in reference to Dienlin et al
(2017) On the other hand, loneliness makes an individual to find himself or herself in a
confusing situation. The effect of loneliness has the severe impact on the adolescent age. They
make one to be arrogant, careless and feeling unworthy. Loneliness is agitated by many factors.
These factors range from the family to personal life. If the parents of any child undergoing
loneliness do not handle the situation at an early stage, it may lead to some serious problems
according to Klomek et al (2016). Nowadays, it is evident that parents rarely have time with the
children, this situation also lead to loneliness. In this assignment, it is going to focus on the
condition of Aarif. Aarif is a 14-year-old boy and the eldest in the family of five. He has
developed some signs of loneliness after his friend left school. On the other hand, it is evident
that his father is busy most of the time and do not discuss the matter with him. The following
assignment illustrates the situation and how to deal with the matter. Besides that, the assignment
is going to elaborate on how councilors should handle victims with such problems.
Lesson learned from diverse people and the situation Aarif is experiencing
From the narration provided in the case study, it is very clear that Aarif is feeling
depressed from the social connection. His father is always busy searching for the living and it is
very rare to find time with the family. Human beings usually develop feeling and they should
share the feeling with others according to Lodder et al (2017) However, it is only possible to
share feelings with the one you are close to and there is friendship. In the case of Aarif, you can
see that the disconnection from the friend has caused a deep effect on him. He is finding difficult
to mingle other people in the learning place. Consequently, Aarif is not only facing break up the

CASE STUDY 3
problem in the friendship cycle but also in the family life. The family plays the vital role in
giving the members direction in the required direction, however, in the Aarif case; there is little
connection to the family. Despite being close to the mother, Aarif still undergoes some social
depression. Luhmann & Hawkley (2016) say that, the possible reason is that he is not free to his
mother and not ready to open up. Aarif is not getting what he expects this is causing many
disappointments. The problem has occurred; the main issue now is how to accommodate such
people. There are different types of people in life. Others show their disappointment openly,
while others silently feel the problem and maintain the silence. On should be open-minded on
how to deal with the different types. For instance, Aarif was rude when asked what is the
problem with his teacher. The response shows rudeness as an impact of loneliness. On the other
hand, the teacher should not give feedback with the loud voice as it may anger the victim so
much in reference to Pittman & Reich (2016).
The conversation between Aarif and the teacher in a way does not include a stereotype
Teacher: Aarif, is everything ok?
Aarrif: Mind your own business.
What would to do differently if you were the school counselor and why?
Handling adolescent boys facing distress because of loneliness may be quite challenging.
However, there are some several steps that the school counselor might have used to advise Aarif
on his condition. The first step the school counselor have not applied is creating awareness of
loneliness and the possible cause of loneliness citing the work of Teppers et al (2014). The fact
that the counselor had talked with the teacher and established there were problems at home,
shows that he was aware Aarif was undergoing some friendship and social disconnections. The

CASE STUDY 4
reason why creating awareness to Aarif might have been important is that it would have made
Aarif open on the situation he is undergoing. After elaborating on the possible issues at home
and the general social life, the school counselor might have found it easier to advice on the
situation. Apart from creating awareness, it is evident that the school counselor seems to be ruder
at the beginning of the conversion, which is not good. When someone is lonely, he or she is
already bored and prepared to quarrel. Therefore, it would have been important to the counselor
to come down and talk softly with a smile. The last important thing the counselor is not doing
well is that he is generalizing the situation. For instance, he is saying that boys are the same. This
statement does not provide the solution to the problem but widens the problem. Aarif is going to
class without the solution to the problem. On the other hand, the counselor may have requested
for the contact of Aarif parents and further discuss the issue according to Van Roekel et al
(2014).
Advice to the family of Aarif
Solving the depression problem in Aarif case requires responsibility of all the concerned
people. The Aarif’s parents need to talk to the children constantly. Despite being busy searching
for the better of the family, the father should have time with children. On the other hand, Aarif’s
mother is not sensitive even though she is the one who is spending the better part of the day with
their son. In addition to that, if the family sees the condition persisting, they should consult a
psychologist for advice Aarif on the situation in reference to Vanhalst (2015). Aarif should be
aware that, being rude and non-cooperative is not the way to solve the problem. He should be
willing to speak out the problem. Friends come and go and Aarif can still make good new friends
from the classmates.
Conclusion

CASE STUDY 5
It is important to create awareness of depression and management. Sometimes the family
issues. The problems should not personalize the problems but speak up. On the other hand, the
councilors should have an open mind while dealing with the victim. The signs and symptoms of
the situation are usually evident to the public and they should not get into an older stage of an
individual. The above assignment has demonstrated ways of solving the situation through
comprehensive steps.

CASE STUDY 6
References
Dienlin, T., Masur, P. K., & Trepte, S. (2017). Reinforcement or displacement? The reciprocity
of FtF, IM, and SNS communication and their effects on loneliness and life
satisfaction. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 22(2), 71-87.
Klomek, A. B., Snir, A., Apter, A., Carli, V., Wasserman, C., Hadlaczky, G., ... & Brunner, R.
(2016). Association between victimization by bullying and direct self injurious behavior
among adolescence in Europe: a ten-country study. European child & adolescent
psychiatry, 25(11), 1183-1193.
Lodder, G. M., Scholte, R. H., Goossens, L., & Verhagen, M. (2017). Loneliness in early
adolescence: Friendship quantity, friendship quality, and dyadic processes. Journal of
Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(5), 709-720.
Luhmann, M., & Hawkley, L. C. (2016). Age differences in loneliness from late adolescence to
oldest old age. Developmental psychology, 52(6), 943.
Pittman, M., & Reich, B. (2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be
worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 155-167.
Teppers, E., Luyckx, K., Klimstra, T. A., & Goossens, L. (2014). Loneliness and Facebook
motives in adolescence: A longitudinal inquiry into directionality of effect. Journal of
adolescence, 37(5), 691-699.

CASE STUDY 7
Van Roekel, E., Scholte, R. H., Engels, R. C., Goossens, L., & Verhagen, M. (2015). Loneliness
in the daily lives of adolescents: An experience sampling study examining the effects of
social contexts. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(7), 905-930.
Vanhalst, J., Soenens, B., Luyckx, K., Van Petegem, S., Weeks, M. S., & Asher, S. R. (2015).
Why do the lonely stay lonely? Chronically lonely adolescents’ attributions and emotions
in situations of social inclusion and exclusion. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 109(5), 932.