Counseling Theories And Strategies
Length: 5-6 pages.
Vignette One
Jack, a 28-year old man, tells you: "Most of my life I have felt pushed and pulled. My father pushed me into school, sports, and so forth, and over the years my resentment grew for him. He was always directing and controlling my life and beating me when I challenged his authority. My mother always gave me a warm, unconditional love and tried to pull me under her protective wing. My parents divorced when I was 18 and without parental control I began a life of self-will in my relationships and in my use of drugs and alcohol. On graduating from college, I rejected my father's wishes to pursue a career and returned to school to seek another degree. In some ways it's just a place to be that I like. Most of my life revolves around living for today, a hedonistic style that has no concreteness of goals and aspirations, with a lack of definition of `what a man should be.' I float in and out of people's lives. They see an image of me as a despoiler of women, a drug freak, and a cold bastard. My fear is that I am nothing more than that image, that I am empty inside. I want to be able to open up and let people see the warmer, more sensitive sides of me, but I have terrible difficulty doing that. I have a strong need to become close and intimate with others, yet I never let myself become vulnerable because I fear being dependent on them and trapped by their love."
Assume that Jack comes to you for personal therapy and that all you know about him is what he told you above. Answer the following questions on how you might proceed with Jack within a Psychoanalytic frame of reference:
1. As a psychoanalytic therapist, do you think that Jack's current unwillingness to become vulnerable to others out of his fear of "being dependent on them and trapped by their love" has much to do with his mother's unconditional love? How might this experience be related to his relationships with women now?
2. Jack describes his father as an authoritarian, controlling, and cruel man who apparently had conventional ideas of what he wanted Jack to become. What are the underlying psychological aspects that you see involved with Jack's rejection of his father's wishes? How might you use psychoanalytic counseling theory to explain the fact that in many ways he became what his father did not want him to become?
Vignette Two
Alice and Javier, both in their early 30's, have been married for 7 years and have three young children. Javier is a Latino, and Alice is a Pacific Islander. Neither his family nor hers was very supportive of marrying a person "not of your own kind." Consequently, Javier and Alice do not see their parents very often. She feels a real gap without this connection with her family; he maintains that if that's the way his family wants it, so be it. They have been having a great deal of difficulty as a family for several years. Alice seems to think that Javier is far too strict with the children, demanding full obedience without question. He admits he is a hard taskmaster, but he says that's the way it was for him in his family.
Alice would like to get a job, yet she stops herself from considering it because Javier becomes extremely upset when she even mentions the issue. His response is: "Why can't you be satisfied with what you have? It reflects poorly on me if you have to go outside and get work!" Alice has tended to assume the role of keeping peace in the family, almost at any price. This means not doing many of the things she would like to do, lest it lead to an escalation of the conflicts between them. Alice has finally decided that even if it rocks the boat and causes a storm, she cannot continue living as she has. She has asked Javier to go to counseling with her. He has agreed, reluctantly, mostly to understand her better and "do whatever can be done to help her."
Assume that Alice and Javier come to you for personal therapy and that all you know about them is what they told you above. Answer the following questions on how you might proceed with this couple within an Adlerian frame of reference:
1. As an Adlerian therapist you will want to make sure that your goals and the goals of Alice and of Javier are in alignment. How might you go about this? What if Javier and Alice have different goals? How might the fact that he is a Latino and she is a Pacific Islander be significant in setting goals?
2. If you had to speculate at this moment, what are Alice's "basic mistakes"? Javier's? What specific Adlerian techniques might you be most inclined to employ in working with this couple?
Vignette Three
Paul, a 30-year old gay man, has recently found out that he has AIDS. He knows that the disease is serious and likely requires treatment throughout his life. Paul is seeking counseling to help him deal with accepting his diagnosis without resentment and hostility. He is filled with rage over his fate; he keeps asking why this had to happen to him. He tells you that at first, he could not believe the diagnosis was correct. When he finally got several more professional opinions that confirmed he had AIDS, he began to feel more and more anger-toward God, toward his healthy friends, whom he envied, and generally toward the unfairness of his situation. He tells you that he was just starting to live the lifestyle he denied himself all of his adult life and that he had a direction he was going in professionally. Now everything will have to change. After he tells you this, he is sitting across from you waiting for your response.
Assume that Paul comes to you for personal therapy and that all you know about him is what he told you above. Answer the following questions on how you might proceed with Paul within an Existential/Person Centered frame of reference:
1. Paul tells you that one of the reasons he is coming to see you is his desire to accept his fate. How would you work with him to gain this acceptance? What specific things might you do to help him find ways of living the rest of his life to its fullest?
2. Do you see any possibilities for helping Paul find meaning in his life in the face of death? What diversity issues and ethical considerations might arise in your work with Paul?
Corey, G. (2017). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. (10th ed.). Belmont, CA Cengage. ISBN: 9781305263727
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.