Problem
Case Study I:
John is a 30-year-old Aboriginal man. He has Schizophrenia, which was diagnosed in his early 20s. John comes from a large family. His father was married many times, so he has both full siblings and step-siblings. Jason's parents stayed married but couldn't successfully live together.
John found it difficult to understand his mental illness as he was told by doctors to take the medication, go to therapy, and then he'll be cured. However, he was did all of these things and he didn't get better.
John has often "doctor shopped" to get prescription drugs such as Panadeine forte, Valium and sleeping pills. He would then take these together and his family would need to rush him to the hospital.
John's elders wanted to use traditional medicine and ways to help him and tell him not to take the medication the doctors gave him.
In the last few years, he has been hospitalized several times for unmanaged Schizophrenia because he is unsure what to do about which method to follow.
John wants to have Aboriginal ways included in his recovery. He is interested in doing some community service work so he can work with Aboriginal youth. He loves writing music and busks in the city when he is well.
Task
Explain self-reflection as a counselor after counseling John and explain how did John feel after he came back after 4 weeks for another session and if there was any improvement in his condition.
Case Study II:
Karen is a 47-year-old woman who has Bipolar. Karen lives in rural Australia in a small town. She doesn't know anyone in the town as she has only been there for 3 months. She tends to only visit her GP and do shopping once a fortnight when 2 she gets her Disability Support Pension.
When Karen is well, she enjoys playing online games such as Scrabble and other word games with people on the internet. Karen can forget to take her medication when she gets really focused on the online games. This means that she starts to become unwell after about 2 days. She then doesn't eat or shower. She stays on her computer and plays games. Her sleep is affected.
Karen knows that there is a Community Centre in the town and wonders what sort of activities and services are there, but she is very worried about being judged so she hasn't gone there.
Task
Explain self-reflection as a counselor after counseling Karen and explain how did John feel after he came back after 4 weeks for another session and if there was any improvement in his condition.
Case Study III:
Henry is a 24-year-old man who has generalized anxiety disorder. He developed this disorder during high school and tried to stop the thoughts by developing friendships with people who were bad influences. This meant that he had a few run-ins with the Police for petty theft.
When he left school he pushed himself hard. He held 2 jobs and attended university. This meant working seven days a week and completing university assignments after finishing 12-hour shifts. He often went to the gym in the middle of the night and exercised so he could go to sleep from exhaustion.
He recently started a job that he thought was going to be the beginning of a lifelong career. However, he realized this job was causing his anxiety to get worse so he quit this job.
He is considering becoming a Personal Trainer because he's really interested in physical health and staying fit. However, he knows that his anxiety is getting worse and he really wants to get some help from professionals but doesn't know who to talk to or how to get this help.
Task
Explain self-reflection as a counselor after counseling Henry and explain how did John feel after he came back after 4 weeks for another session and if there was any improvement in his condition.