Counselling Case Study: Humanistic Approach for Joel's Issues

This case study examines the counselling of Joel, a 36-year-old man struggling with unhappiness stemming from childhood experiences and an imbalance between his personal and professional life. The counsellor employs a humanistic approach, specifically utilizing gestalt and existential therapies,...Read More

COUNSELLING
CASE
STUDY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Counselling approach..................................................................................................................1
Role as counsellor.......................................................................................................................2
Effectiveness of Humanistic Approach.......................................................................................3
Recommendation.........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Counselling is a process where counsellor supports an individual by having face to face
discussion for problems, helps to solve problems and to increase the self-attitude and behaviour.
It provides guidance to individual or persons for maintaining mental health and enhance their
understanding power and increase the potential to solve conflicts that occurred in life. In this
assessment, a case study is outlined where a man Joel is unhappy with his life and suffered from
childhood and till now suffering for making his wife and son comfortable and happy. This
assessment includes a counselling approach which is adopted by counsellor to give guidance and
support to Joel. It also frames suggestion on counselling approach.
MAIN BODY
Counselling approach
Counselling is a supportive tool for person to resolve the problems in efficient manner by
having appropriate guidance from counsellor (Finlay, 2019). Humanistic counselling approach
is chosen by counsellor.
Humanistic approach refers to providing opportunities to an individual to enhance their
creativity, self-development, personal growth. This approach works on the principle that it is not
about that life activities or events cause problems or negotiations in life, it is an individual who
experiences these life events. Situations that occurred in life influences confidence and self-
esteem behaviour of individual (Kettunen & Tynjälä, 2018) This approach helps to encourage
persons to understand the negative consequences of life and to pull out from them. These
negative situations of life lead to mental discomfort and results in depression. It provides a
deeper understanding of self and to create the opportunities or choices for personal issues. This
approach is used when people come in depression, panic attacks or disorders, relationship issues,
anxiety. A counsellor never makes judgement on anyone's personal life. It is just empathetic
approach based on understanding between counsellor and an individual. Humanistic approach
consists of gestalt and person- centred therapy. In person- centred therapy, it is the responsibility
of Counsellor to provide right guidance which motivates human beings to increase their
potential. In this, counsellor aims to clarify and reflect back to the client's personal issues. It is
analysed that human beings are more aligned to emotional support and uncertain positive
conditions. They should learn to differentiate different type of senses and make perceptions
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accordingly. On the other hand, gestalt therapy focusses on the moments that are going in life
and according to them, a determination is made by counsellor to support individual in that
respect. This humanistic approach aware persons about their self-concept and helps them to
change their state of mind, attitude and their behaviour towards life events. This leads to the
merger of mind and behaviour based on positive support provided by counsellor. Humanistic
counsellors have a goal for their clients that they need to enhance clients thinking and feelings
and to judge them in positive way (Feltham, 2017). It helps to solve problems that being
occurred life at any moment. It encourages individual to concentrate on the present moment and
motivates them to enjoy each and every moment. Humanistic approach tries to teach individual
to recognise their self-fulfilment. Counsellors provide support to the inner conflicts going in
client's mind.
Role as counsellor
I adopted humanistic approach for counselling of Joel. He is unhappy old man who is
suffering from since childhood. He has so many mental disorders like his mother passes away
when he was 12. So, he is suffering for self-esteem needs. He wants belongingness love from
their close one. He cares and love his wife, Anna and his young son Oliver. But he is engaged in
work to provide facilities and comfort to them so that he does not get time to spend some time
with his family and have some special moments. Humanistic counselling approach helps Joel to
differentiate life events in both positive and negative way. I guide Joel that after the death of
your mother, his personal and professional skills come forward and he uses them in well efficient
manner. Today, where he is just because of his hard and smart work. This should be treated in
positive way. I make him understand and encourage him for not to think about past. Live in
present and secure future. He saw his time where he feels that his father does not love him. So,
Joel is so much considerate about his family. He wants to provide all facilities and comfort to his
family. I support him in this route but I prepare his mind in such a way that he understands the
importance of maintaining balance between personal and professional life. Personal life needs
time and for having better relationship with wife and son, he needs to spend time with them.
Professional work is important, but it should be limited. I counsel him for managing time
appropriately so that he also enjoys his self-need and his family need. By having gestalt therapy,
it helps Joel to analyse the present moments and encourages them to enjoy not to feel depressed.
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Humanistic approach helps Joel to aware his self-concept and helps him to change this state of
mind, attitude and his behaviour towards life events. It results in making focus on combining
mind and behaviour based on positive support provided by me. I make him understand that
control of life is in our hands. But to have life events according to us is not in our hand.
Humanistic approach makes a goal for Joel that he needs to enhance clients thinking and feelings
and to judge them in positive way. It helps to solve problems that is being occurred in life at any
moment. It encourages Joel to concentrate on present moment and motivates him to enjoy each
and every moment. Demands needed by Joel family is responsibility him to full fill them. These
responsibilities can make Joel a good husband and a good father. Self-esteem needs makes
everything perfect. As a counsellor, I counsel him in each and every issue and makes him
understand in positive way.
Humanistic Approach
It is very effective method using by many humanistic counsellors for people who are
stressed and those who lose the hope of living. As discussed in case study, Joel is a 36-year-old
man who is suffering from mental stress due to imbalance in personal life. His mother was died
earlier when he was 12-year-old and his father drink alcohol to overcome with the death of Joel's
mother this was the reasons which make impact on its mind and thoughts and he will become
unsatisfied and unhappy in life (Tudor, 2017). He prefers to go for counselling for improving his
health and remove stress over mind due to disaster happen in personal life. Humanistic approach
is one of the most effective and essential method which taken by the psychologist or counsellors
for removing negative thoughts from mind of individual and make him satisfied within his life
which is very important for being happy. Counsellor have faith that it was not life events that
cause issues, but how individual experiences life. Counsellor also motivate them to learn to
realize how negative responses to life will lead to psychological discomfort. Joel became
successful in his career in corporate law but still he is unhappy due to all that happens in his
childhood after the death of his mother. He got married with Anna and have one young son who
has just now one-year-old. Joel is happy in professional life and he enjoys making money and
taking challenges that came into his job. He is able to fulfil their dreams as well as demands of
family and give them all the things which he never gets in childhood. After having all comforts
in life, Joel still feels unhappy and unsatisfied in his life which make influence on other as well
as their family (Nash, 2017). Counsellors use Humanistic approach because it helps Joel to
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encourage focusing on how he feels at present moment rather than past. This approach works
very well on range of people who are suffering from mental health challenges.
Humanistic approach is very helpful for Joel because it helps him to overcome the
depression which he is facing from childhood days. It contributes in development and
improvement of Joel mental stress behaviours which effects on their personal and professional
lives very much. This approach permit counsellor to concentrate on ways to help improve
individual's self-determination.
Recommendation
Counselling is one of the best method or way in which trained counsellor give therapy to
those individuals who has suffered due to metal illness and unsatisfied with their life events.
Related with the case study, Joel is unhappy and uncomfortable in life. He is gone for
counselling because of feel restless after death of mother and all the things which is going to be
happen in their personal and professional experience. Humanistic therapy is one of better or finer
way that can help Joel to get overcome from depression, anxiety and stress. Gestalt therapy and
Existential therapy are the two techniques from humanistic approach that can help Joel to
facilitate change.
Gestalt therapy being aware Joel of present and accepting its responsibilities for itself.
Gestalt technique is client focused approach to psychotherapy that can helps Joel concentrate on
current life activities and have to understand what is truly happening in its lives right now.
Gestalt therapy is using by specialist physiologist which support to make him feel happy and
satisfied in life and enjoy each and every moment with his family instead of wasting time in
thinking about what they may realize to be happen base on ago experiences. This technique often
using through counsellor that role playing to aid resolution of past issues which can be good for
Joel. It put Joel towards awareness regard how they behave in its environment with family,
friends and job place. The focus of this technique is more on what is happened currently than
what is being discuss.
Existential therapy concentrated on free will, search for meaning and self-
determination, it is one of the second technique that can be used by counsellor when they
counselling Joel. It is unique or different form of psychotherapy that aspect to explore difficulties
from philosophical perspective. It also concentrating on individual condition as entire, existential
therapy high spot capacities of person and encourage them to take responsibilities for successes.
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The aim of this technique is to understand the ways Joel is unhappy and help them make right
choice base on new insight. Joel loves his son and wife, but he is oppressed by continual needs of
parenthood and feel that his work is suffering due to spend more time with family or at home.
They feel frustrated with situation and worry about how they will make personal and
professional life. Day to day he feels disappointed in themselves which is one of the biggest
reasons of unhappy and unsatisfied in life.
CONCLUSION
The present report discusses about importance of counselling in case of Joel where he
feels unsatisfied and unhappy in their life. In this report it has been concluded the effectiveness
of humanistic approach that help Joel to overcome throughout stress and make themselves
comfortable lives. Gestalt therapy and Existential therapy are one of the best techniques that
improve Joel situation and support to reduce depression and anxiety in their life. Furthermore, it
discusses the effectiveness of counselling in Joel case. This report discusses the role of
counsellor in Joel counselling.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bowers, H., & Lemberger, M. E. (2016). A person-centered humanistic approach to performing
evidence-based school counseling research. Person-Centered & Experiential
Psychotherapies.15(1). 55-66.
Feltham, C. (2017). The past and future of humanistic psychology. In Humanistic
Psychology (pp. 73-80). Routledge.
Finlay, L. (2019). Practical Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy: A Relational Approach.
SAGE Publications Limited.
Kettunen, J., & Tynjälä, P. (2018). Applying phenomenography in guidance and counselling
research. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 46(1). 1-11.
Nash, S. (2017). The place of person-centred counselling in Humanistic Psychology.
In Humanistic Psychology (pp. 81-98). Routledge.
Tudor, K. (2017). From humanism to humanistic psychology and back again. Humanistic
Psychology: Current Trends and Future Prospects.
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