Crisis and Trauma Counselling Report: Psychology Case Study Analysis

This report delves into the realm of crisis and trauma counselling, focusing on a case study of a 34-year-old psychologist, Patricia, who is also a single parent. The report meticulously outlines the situations she experiences, including the pressures of single parenthood, societal expectations, and work-related stress. It identifies the signs and symptoms Patricia exhibits, encompassing physical exhaustion, emotional distress like frustration and demotivation, and behavioral changes such as increased irritability. Furthermore, the report explores potential strategies for improving the client's situation, emphasizing the importance of managing thoughts, seeking support, and fostering positive relationships. It also suggests spiritual practices like meditation and attending inspirational talks as methods to attain peace of mind. The report concludes by underscoring the significance of maintaining hope and focusing on the positive aspects of life when dealing with trauma or crisis situations, while also acknowledging the impact on professionals in such fields and the role of counseling and medication in certain cases.

Running head: CRISIS AND TRAUMA COUNSELLING
Crisis and Trauma Counselling
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Situations experienced by the client:...............................................................................................2
Signs and symptoms experienced by the client:..............................................................................3
The ways in which the client can improve the situation:.................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction:
The concept of crisis and trauma counselling has been developed to help people resolve
crisis inducing events. These situations occur in any circumstances and have to be dealt with as
soon as possible. In many occasions the individuals facing problems lose all capabilities of
responding to situations, so they require the proper amount of help and support in order to come
out of their depressing state of mind. In order to help a client to combat his or her depression and
stress levels it is necessary to understand the given situation well and help the person
accordingly. Proper identification of the problem is hence an extremely important step in crisis
and trauma counselling.
Situations experienced by the client:
The provided case study is about a 34 year old psychologist named Patricia. She has
faced the pressure of being a single parent. The responsibility of single-handedly raising a child
is quite challenging. Apart from this the client also has responsibilities pertaining to the society.
In this connection it can be clearly stated that the client faced significant personal issues. These
consisted of being a single parent and tackling responsibilities of raising her son and even the
work pressure. Being a single parent, the client is incapable of sharing her problems and getting
the required mental and emotional support which can usually be provided by a spouse.
The situational issue related to this case is that of balancing all aspects of the client’s life.
The responsibilities of work cannot be ignored by her and at the same time she does not get
adequate rest after fulfilment of all her responsibilities. The client also has an office at her home

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from where she works late into the night and hence the situation in which she is working are
taxing and extremely strenuous (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
The environment at work which the client faces during the day is also very strenuous as
the organisation which she works in has very less chances of employing additional staff. This
also contributes towards her increased stress levels (Gladding & Newsome, 2017).
Besides this, there is a significant amount of speculation and judgemental attitudes
towards single parents which needs to be dealt with in a proper way for which the client might
feel stressed or pressurised.
Signs and symptoms experienced by the client:
Due to the stressful work conditions of the client as well as situational factors, she has
upheld certain symptoms related to changed psychological, emotional as well as behavioural
patterns.
Regarding the physical traits it can be said that the client faced considerable amount of
exhaustion at work. The client also indulged in comfort eating at the time of stress which
accounted for even more amount of stress related to her body weight. She also suffered from
severe headaches due to tension and also had difficulty in falling asleep. Her racing thoughts and
random patterns of thinking did not let her fall asleep (Headington Institute, 2017).
Emotionally the client started feeling down, low, de-motivated at work and dreaded
work. There was a certain amount of distance which she felt from her everyday activities. She
also felt extremely frustrated regarding her job and felt that she was deprived. She felt let down
and sad at not being given the level of promotion which she felt she desired.

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The behavioural changes were experienced in her daily response to the other staff
members and her colleagues. There was an increased irritation in her demeanour and she felt that
her colleagues were irritating. The mails which she sent seemed to communicate the levels of her
anger and frustration. The client also felt as if her tasks and responsibilities at work were
weighing down on her and her productivity started declining despite the additional efforts which
she put in (Levers, 2012).
The ways in which the client can improve the situation:
The best way in which stress can be managed is by channelizing one’s thoughts in a
particular direction. A person needs to try to choose one thought over another or tackle one
thought at a time which is necessary in case of this particular client as well. In case one thought
is focussed at a time there will not be a chance of experiencing chaotic thoughts in one’s mind.
There also are spiritual solutions to such problems, like meditation and the art of staying
calm. The thoughts in the head can be calmed down to a significant extent by regularly
practicing the art of meditation. The client can start by devoting a certain amount of time in the
morning for meditation and can keep on increasing the time bit by bit in order to calm the
thoughts which crowd the mind (Headington Institute, 2017).
There also needs to be a support system where the client should be able to reach out to
others and share the trauma or sad experiences. In case the client can share the problems with her
colleagues she can receive a sense of reassurance which might help her concentrate on her work
and reduce the levels of frustration experienced by her.
It is advisable that the client works towards building a friendly relation with her son so
that they can interact casually and can solve each other’s problems (Hillman, 2013).

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The psychological inception of the thought processes of the client needs to be understood
by her in order to control the thoughts before they start to occupy the brain. The client can also
attend inspirational talks in order to attain peace of mind (Levers, 2012).
Conclusion:
There are several ways in which victims of trauma or crisis situations can be tackled. It
needs to be understood that they should not lose hope and should keep on focussing on the
positive aspects of life. It needs to be remembered that these situations are very normal and can
be tackled with proper care. It is due to the regular interaction with the victims of violence that a
negative impact falls on the people who work in such centres. Proper counselling and monitored
medication in special cases can solve the issue easily.

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References:
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and
interventions. John Wiley & Sons.
Gladding, S. T., & Newsome, D. W. (2017). Clinical mental health counseling in community and
agency settings. Pearson.
Headington Institute. (2017). Headington Institute | Blog | Managing Stress: How you think
about stress matters. [online] Available at: http://www.headington-institute.org/blog-
home/609/managing-stress-how-you-think-about-stress-matters [Accessed 21 Oct. 2017].
Headington Institute. (2017). Headington Institute | Blog. [online] Available at:
http://www.headington-institute.org/blog-home/search/resilience [Accessed 21 Oct.
2017].
Hillman, J. L. (2013). Crisis intervention and trauma: New approaches to evidence-based
practice. Springer Science & Business Media.
Levers, L. L. (Ed.). (2012). Trauma counseling: Theories and interventions. Springer Publishing
Company.