Suzie, a new clinician, really wants her clients to know that she cares about them. During therapy, she empathizes with her patients by telling them detailed stories about her personal life. Further, she gave each of them her cell phone number so they could contact her whenever they needed. Do Suzie’s actions represent an appropriate client/clinician relationship? Why? Suzie actions do not represent an appropriate client/clinician relationship. It is imperative that the clinician establish appropriate boundaries in the beginning stages of every therapy plan. Without appropriate boundaries, clients may become anxious and treatment expectations will be blurred (Roth & Worthington, 2011, p. 361). Additionally, it is not appropriate for Suzie to share too much personal information. According to Roth and Worthington (2011), “The type and amount of personal information that a clinician shares with clients should be carefully monitored, ensuring that the focus of counseling remains clearly on the clients and their needs” (p. 362). While Suzie feels she is empathizing by sharing detailed personal information, she may be causing more harm than good. In her article “Drawing Boundaries,” Lott (1999) emphasizes that personal stories should be used sparingly and only when they may benefit the client. Finally, it may be valuable for some clients to have Suzie’s phone number; however, she should use discretion when providing it. Suzie’s personal therapy style, including providing her phone number, may promote client dependency (Roth & Worthington, 2011, 361). Moreover, it is not Suzie’s responsibility to solve the client’s issues (Roth & Worthington, 2011, 361). If a client has Suzie’s phone number, he or she may be tempted to call when problems arise. Roth & Worthington (2011) assert: “The clinician’s role is to assist clients in assuming responsibility for their own behavior and decisions” (p. 365). In conclusion, proper boundaries play a crucial role in maintaining an appropriate client/clinician relationship (Roth & Worthington, 2011, 361). Question 2: Suzie attended the IEP meeting for one of her new clients. While in the meeting, the client’s mother began crying. Suzie quickly told the mother that it was neither the time nor the place for crying. Following the meeting, Suzie met with the mother and told her she should do her best to hide her emotions. Did Suzie handle the mother’s feelings at the IEP meeting correctly? Why? If Suzie is a new clinician, she may feel uncomfortable with emotional outbursts (Roth & Worthington, 2011, 360).
Major current stressors in patient H’s life are normal for a girl of her age; attending college at a prestigious university, a new puppy, and friends. Patient H also is suffering from a variety of mental illnesses (this will be discussed later), and her family majorly stresses her. Patient H is an only child and therefore has had her parents
As I mentioned at the beginning of this paper, the professional relationship of Susan and I started somewhat slow. There were numerous attempts to make the first initial contact and to complete the necessary paperwork. Clinically, I had a million thoughts running through my head. Was Susan avoiding me. Was she safe? Does she have cell phone minutes available to return my call.? Is her depression overwhelming her? After our first meeting in the community I quickly assessed that Susan was used avoiding behaviors.
This paper will also talk about the importance of self –care and what I would do, or things I could do to mitigate those biases and difficult reactions to clients and people that I am working with in a treatment team so that I am fully aware and not distracted by my personal reactions, to a case.
As this book points out, and what I found interesting, the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client, can be even more important than how the therapy sessions are conducted. A therapists needs to be congruent. This is important because a client needs a sense of stability. To know what is expected from him or her while being in this transitional period of change. In some cases this congruency may be the only stability in his life, and without it, there is no way of him trusting in his t...
They argue that therapists should consider their own motivation to self-disclose and set boundaries. The therapists should never put their own needs above the client. They make sure to point out that self discourse alone cannot affect the outcome of treatment. Self-disclosure is effective only if it is used appropriately and only if it is used when it is necessary. The amount of information disclosed and when it is disclosed is also important. Therapists should draw a clear line with the amount of intimacy to include in their therapeutic disclosure to ensure that no inappropriate boundaries are crossed. The authors suggest two rules of thumb to follow when disclosing information which include: (a) “Why do I want to say what I am about to say” and (b) “What will be the likely impact of the client” (p. 567).
There are a number of problems that present in modern practice that can significantly affect or compromise confidential client information. Primarily, these types of problems are usually categorized as belonging into one of two areas of violation that provide unauthorized access to confidential information. The first area of disturbance of confidentiality occurs when the professional boundaries of the client-therapist relationship are breached, such as when practitioners partake in multiple relationships or decide to access public information about a patient online.
As stated by Collins (2007), the privacy and openness to discuss intimate issues can stimulate vulnerability with the client. Another ethical issue with this theory can be a growing dependence with the counselor. An additional ethical issue with this therapy is for the client to know his or her vulnerability regarding emotional or sexual needs when it comes to counseling a client (Corey, 2007). An additional ethical issue for the Individual Psychology therapy is that there may be some confusion as times to what is to happen in the counseling
... The focus of the psychosocial interventions should be aimed at doing what is beneficial for the client’s physical health, mental health, and safety all at once.
Half a century ago, a doctor’s patients relied solely on their doctor for information and advice regarding how to treat a specific disease. This was due primarily to the fact that a doctor’s patients didn’t see their doctor on a regular basis. Today, however, people see their doctors on a more frequent basis. As th...
To explain, the client should not be inferior to the counselor; the environment should be two people discussing an issue and ways to make a difference. A therapist should occasionally share similar experiences; therefore, sessions should make clients feel comfortable. To add, the client should feel safe due to the positive atmosphere the therapist brings to the session. The goal is to finally give the client a chance to be heard, regularly people are muted and feel like they are insignificant to society. Similarly, to Person-centered therapy where communication with the client is unconditionally positive. The therapist needs to genuinely care about the client needs for them to fully express themselves successfully. Furthermore, clients should be encouraging to make their own choices which model how to identify and use power responsibly. Hence, this will help the client feel more confident in everyday life when making a meaningful
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
Suzette’s historical concerns about therapy not working for her and feeling judged by her previous therapists, will need to be considered for our therapeutic alliance. I will need to build rapport with Suzette through active listening and empathetic words. Our goal as a team will be to create a safe environment for Suzette to feel like she is in a secure and safe place to express her feelings and thoughts without judgment. Periodically, I will check in with Suzette by asking her “Do you have a positive view of therapy and
Within the therapeutic alliance, the clinician-client relationship can be critical to the outcome of therapy. If a client does not feel that his or her feelings, expressions, and or thoughts matter to the therapist, there is no alliance much less a relationship. When a client feels invested in it can certainly change the outcome of therapy. For instance if a client has come to therapy with feelings of inadequacy, lack of visibility and indifference if the therapist treats him or her in the same manner it is highly unlikely the client will return to this clinician. A study (Friedlander, Bernardi, and Lee, 2010) shows that outcomes were more negative when clients felt clinician lack of engagement and involvement in session.
There are the women whose babies I've delivered, whom I've gotten to know at a clinic visit or during the early contractions of active labor, and then coached through the calm between pushes in the last few minutes before delivery. There are the teenagers at their first Gyn exam, nervously kicking the end of the table as we talk about safer sex, the benefits of the pill and just what a speculum actually is. And there are the patients who are very, very sick - the 44-year-old with metastatic ovarian cancer, whose family was ...
Understanding the counseling session from the client’s perspective is a very important aspect in the development of a therapeutic relationship. A clinician must be an excellent listener, while being to pay attention to the client’s body language, affect and tone. The dynamics in the counseling session that is beneficial to the client include the recognition of the pain that the client is feeling. The detrimental part of this includes a misunderstanding of the real issues, a lack of consideration of the cultural aspects of the client, and a lack of clinical experience or listening skills. In this presentation, we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the counseling session from the client’s perspective which includes the client’s attitudes, feelings, and emotions of the counseling session. We will next examine the propensity of the client to reveal or not reveal information to the counselor, and how transference, and counter-transference can have an effect on the counselor-client relationship.