Foundations of Mental Health Counseling – First Session

 

I need this back on Feb 2nd by 2pm.  2 references

In Module 4, you learned about the direct and indirect functions performed by clinical mental health counselors before, during, after, and outside the counseling relationship. You were taught that counseling is a process that occurs in stages. At each stage, clinical mental health counselors engage in a variety of activities that are purposeful and intentional. Some of the activities performed by counselors during those stages include building the relationship and establishing rapport, gathering information, conceptualizing the case, and performing assessment and diagnosis where appropriate, with the end goal and activity being the collaborative development of an appropriate treatment plan. As you think about the counseling process and the role of the clinical mental health counselor, consider the following scenario:

Scenario:

Aalia is a 17-year-old Muslim female from Pakistan. Her family has been in the United States for 7 years. Aalia was referred to a counselor by her family doctor because she has experienced several behavioral changes over the past 2 months. She takes less interest in school and community activities and has started to isolate herself in her room at home. Her siblings describe her as irritable and moody. Aalia has had occasional crying spells over the past month and she reported unexplained weight loss over the past 2 months. She does not have a formal diagnosis. As you plan for your first session with Aalia, think about what you will do.

Tasks:

In a minimum of 200 words, respond to the following:

• Describe three objectives you hope to accomplish in the first session with Aalia and explain why these objectives are important to accomplish in the early stages of the counseling relationship.
• Discuss any additional information you want to confirm or gather from the doctor, Aalia, and her parents and siblings and describe how you will go about gathering the additional information.
• Discuss what kind of assessment you will want or need to conduct.
• Explain how what you learned in Module 4 will contribute to your professional growth as a new counselor-in-training.
• Your discussion should clearly reflect your thoughtful and logical analysis of the information.

Support your rationale and analysis by using at least two resources from professional literature in your response. Professional literature may include peer-reviewed journal articles you can access through the Argosy University online library resources; relevant textbooks; and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (websites ending in .edu or .gov).

Be sure to read all of your classmates’ original posts and respond to more than two of your classmates’ posts. Your responses should be substantive, meaning they should encourage further dialogue and discussion, encourage your classmates to think about other aspects of the topic, compare your response to your classmates’ responses, or ask a relevant question, to better assist you with your understanding. Responses such as “I like/I agree” or “I don’t like/I don’t agree” are not complete enough.

Your discussion posts and all written assignments should reflect graduate-level writing skills and appropriate use of APA style, including in-text citations and references.

Submission Details:

• By the due date assigned, post your responses to the Discussion Area.
• Through the end of the module, respond to more than two of your classmates’ posts. While responding, describe how your objectives for the session are similar to and different from the objectives discussed by your classmates. Critique the additional information your classmates would like to obtain and how they would go about obtaining the information. Explain what you might do differently, or do in the same way, and why.

Grading CriteriaMaximum PointsQuality of initial posting, including fulfillment of assignment instructions8Quality of responses to classmates6Frequency of responses to classmates2Reference to supporting readings and other materials2Language and grammar2Total:20 

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Transcript of the video

Interviewer: Why don’t you tell me a little about what brings you in for counseling today?

Interviewee: Well, I don’t really know where to begin. Last night I kept thinking what in the world am I
going to talk about, he is not going to want to hear about all of my stuff.

Interviewer: You are concerned that I won’t be interested in hearing about what’s troubling you today.

Interviewee: Yeah, I mean, some of it sounds a little trivial even to me.

Interviewer: Well, why don’t we start by you telling me about what recently happened that caused you to
call in and schedule an appointment?

Interviewee: Well, I mean I really struggled because I was like, who goes to see a counselor. And then I
realized, I guess the one who can’t handle things on her own, right? I mean on one hand I’m like, Iona, you
got this. You didn’t let the divorce stop you, you’ve been raising your kids and making it happen, you
went back to school, late, mind you, but better late than never, to set example for your children and now
you are almost finished, about to graduate. You are even thinking about going to graduate school. And
here you are, sitting here in a counselor’s office.

Interviewer: It sounds almost hard for you to consider asking for help or needing help when you’ve
managed to do all of these remarkable things on your own. Raise your kids, go back to school, survive a
divorce.

Interviewee: Yes, but then it sounds so hypocritical because I want to be a counselor, and of course, I
want people to come see me.

Interviewer: What does it mean to you to ask for help or to need help?

Interviewee: I don’t know, I think it’s gutsy when people ask for what they need; when they need help
and stuff. But the idea of going to a counselor for help sounds like you are in way over your head. My faith
has sustained me over the years through many, many ups and downs, so coming to a counselor for help
makes me second guess my faith. I don’t like that.

Interviewer: Sometimes it feels like you’re not as strong in your faith as you thought you were.

Interviewee: Right.

Interviewer: Okay.

Interviewee: I feel like the biggest hypocrite, because here I am saying that I want to be a counselor but I
have a problem coming to one myself. I mean, it makes me wonder if counseling is really what I should be
considering. I know there are lot of people who feel the way I feel, especially in African-American
community though we’ll go to our pastor at church for help or even to our doctor before we even think
about going to a counselor.

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Interviewer: Yes, I hear you, and there is research and literature that support what you’re saying. What
do you attribute that to?

Interviewee: Just the stigma attached to counseling. A pastor will listen to you, just like you, but for some
reason it’s just more acceptable to tell someone that you went to go see the pastor than it is to say you
went to see the counselor.

Interviewer: And yet you’re here today and not in your pastor’s office, why is that?

Interviewee: Well, I’ve met with my pastor before, he is the first person I reached out to just out of habit
and he was helpful, he really was. I feel like he really listened to me and when I left I felt good, and it made
me realize that I need to focus more on my prayer life and my relationship with the Lord. I believe in the
power of prayer, I really do, because I know that prayer works; I know this firsthand. It’s just that I needed
more — I needed more guidance, I needed tools. I needed to be able to explore different options. And
mostly, I just needed to be able be honest and real about how I was feeling. Even if my feelings were in
line with how people think Christians are supposed to feel, or how they think Christians are supposed to
be, it was always in the back of my mind like what is he thinking?

Interviewer: So in the back of your mind you wondered if maybe you were being judged.

Interviewee: Yes, and it’s crazy because I don’t think my pastor would judge me, I really don’t. But I
always wondered if I told him how I really felt or told him some of the things I’ve done would he put me in
the bad Christian category.

Interviewer: So on one hand you believe that going to a pastor for help is typically considered more
acceptable in the larger African-American community, but in your personal experience you didn’t
necessarily feel that you’ve got all of your needs met when you saw the pastor.

Interviewee: Right. Yes, that’s right.

Interviewer: And it sounds like, and correct me if I’m wrong, that not getting everything you needed had
a little to do with your thoughts and ideas about what your pastor might think of you. So in return you
held back a little and allowed him to help you with what you were willing to share with him.

Interviewee: Well, you put it like that.

Interviewer: Look, I just want to make sure that I understand what that experience was like for you,
because I do want to know how you anticipate that this experience, meeting with me, will be different.

Interviewee: Well even though it’s hard for me to come here, I mean really hard, I think it would be
different because you’re a professional counselor. You are trained in counseling, you are licensed, you are
an expert at helping people with their problems, you’re trained to use different approaches to help people
based on what they need. The focus won’t be on my spiritual development or strengthening my faith, I
guess unless I want it to be, but I just feel like we will cover more ground in here because of your
expertise. I also feel like, as a professional counselor you have to be objective. And while my pastor is
probably objective too, I guess I just feel like I would be more likely to share things with you since I don’t
have a personal relationship with you. And I won’t be wondering, well, maybe a little, but for the most
part I won’t be wondering what you think of me or wondering if you are judging me. Because as a

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professional counselor I know you’ve heard it all and you’ve seen it all, and you are trained to do this.

Interviewer: Well, I appreciate the high regard that you have for professional counselors, and as I listened
to what you shared with me I see the irony and your ambivalence about whether or not to pursue a
degree in clinical mental health counseling. It sounds like you believe that there is value in counseling but
you also recognize that you internalize the stigma that is often attached to counseling.

Interviewee: Yes, and I mean, that sounds so bad because I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here and I
doubt that I will. So, what kind of counselor can I be if I’m not willing to even tell people that I go to
counseling? I mean, I’ve been around people before, black and white, who — who talk about seeing a
therapist and I’ve seen how other people look at them. Even in my own family I can only imagine what
they would say if they knew I was here.

Interviewer: What do you think they would say, and what would those words mean to you?

Interviewee: They’d be wondering what’s wrong with me and they would assume that it’s something
major, like I’m suicidal or something or I am crazy. They’ll probably tell me that I don’t need to see a
counselor and I’m sure they would discourage me from coming to see you. I can hear my aunt now, telling
me to call and make an appointment to see Pastor Washington if it’s that serious.

Interviewer: And what do those words mean to you? You’re crazy.

Interviewee: That I’m weak; that something is wrong with me because I can’t solve my own problems.

Interviewer: So those words are hurtful to you and to avoid hearing hurtful words like that you would
rather not tell anyone.

Interviewee: Right.

Interviewer: So tell me about your desire to be a counselor, where does that come from?

Interviewee: Ever since I was young I have been a good listener, and people have always come to me for
advice and for my opinion on different things. I think it’s because I’m genuinely interested in what people
have to say and what they are willing to share with me, so I really pay attention to what people tell me.
My friends and my family have always told me that I was a good listener. My friends tell me that I always
make them feel special because I remember stuff they told me 10 years ago and they can’t believe I
remember it.

Interviewer: Those are great qualities for a counselor to have.

Interviewee: And I like to help people make decisions and to help them explore all of their options. I am
pretty good at getting people to think outside of the box too.

Interviewer: And, again, those are the qualities that clients appreciate in good counselor, but you’re not
sure if you should pursue a degree in counseling. Talk to me more about some of your reservations.

Interviewee: I’m just not sure if counseling is what I’m supposed to do or if there is something else I
should be doing. I want to help more people in my community deal with their mental, physical, social and

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spiritual development, and I know you’re saying that’s what counselors do. But I really want people to be
okay accepting my help, and by that I mean I don’t want people to be like me where they’re afraid or
reluctant to reach out for my help. And I don’t want them to be afraid to let me come to them to offer
them help.

Interviewer: Your desire to help others is obvious, and it sounds like you have natural gifts and talents
that would work well in your favor. I know how frustrating it can be when you’re not sure where you are
supposed to be, or what you’re supposed to be doing, and I would love to help you explore this more,
Iona.

Question

What is the client’s presenting issue that brought her into counseling?

Answer

The client appears to be struggling with whether or not to pursue a degree in counseling because of the
stigma that is often attached to counseling. She admits to internalizing the stigma herself. The client
believes in counseling but will not tell anyone that she is in counseling. The client feels like she is a
hypocrite for her behavior and questions how helpful she will be to clients if she cannot openly promote
counseling for herself.