Counseling: Meaning of Life and Client Essay

Abstract This paper consists of my ideas on therapy and the roles of therapy. It also involves the ideas of a person’s relationship with Christ, their purpose and meaning in life, and what changes they need in their life for the therapy to work. My ideas on therapy stem from Existentialism and Person Centered Therapy. Personal Theory of Counseling Counseling is the ability to help people with their problems and assist them in finding their purpose in this life. Counseling is also helping people learn how to be open to new experiences, be more independent, and teach why the willingness to grow is important (Corey, 2009, p.169). Change is also a big part of counseling. People have to be willing to change in order for counseling to work. This therapy’s human nature involves trusting people, being positive, allowing for change, having self-understanding, and self-direction (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). It also includes having self-awareness, being responsible, creating your own identity, knowing your values and goals, finding God, and realizing death will happen (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). It also includes unconditional positive regard, which is accepting and caring for others (Corey, 2009, p. 174-175). Throughout the beginning of people’s lives they feel fulfilled, and they have self-determination to motivate them (Corey, 2009, p. 139-169). During sessions the client needs to be able to take charge of his or her own desired change. This means the client should be able to state and know what he or she wants out of therapy. The client should also be able to identify what he or she wants to change in their life. The counselor can only help as much as the client wants to be helped. So the client has to be able to make choices and help in their change (Corey, 2009, p. 165-175). Also, during sessions it is important to focus on the positive things in the person’s life. This can be done by allowing the client to think about things that have brought them happiness. Happiness according to Walker (2010) is, â€Å"A sense that life is good and a state of welling-being that outlasts yesterday’s moment of elation, today’s buoyant mood, or tomorrow’s feeling of sadness† (p. 500). These thoughts help the client to understand why they are here in this world, and it helps them find their meaning in life (Corey, 2009, p. 144-146). It is significant the client knows he or she has a meaning in life. If the client does not feel like they have a meaning in life, the counselor should help in this area of their life (Corey, 2009, p. 144-146). This can be done by having the client do an activity involving writing down all the good things of their life. Also, the client needs to understand and know he or she is in charge of their self-understanding and self-direction. This means the client needs to focus of their self-understanding and self-direction (Corey, 2009, p. 139-142). This can be done by having the client do activities that involve discovering their self-understanding and self-direction. Focusing on these areas will help the client through more difficult issues in counseling. This therapy will help target the key problems causing issues in the client’s life. These problems stem from not allowing change and development to take place in their life (Watson & Tharp, 2007, p. 200). An example of this is not fixing problems as soon as they happen in their life. The client has to learn the skills needed to allow for change and development. This will include working on problem solving skills and developing a better understanding on how to address their daily issues. The client also needs to learn how to take responsibility and handle their problems. Another problem is focusing on past experiences rather than the present. During therapy the client will learn how to focus on the here and now, not focus so much on the past (Watson & Tharp, 2007, p. 205). This will be done by having the client think about past experiences that still bother them. After thinking about the experiences the client will work on letting those issues go through role playing. The therapeutic process of this therapy has a set of goals for the counselor to use to help the client during the sessions (Watson & Tharp, 2007, p.210). These goals help the client learn how to be more independent and self-aware of the changes they need in their life. The point of this therapy is helping the client realize being independent and self-ware of the changes in their lives is very important and can lead to positive results. The first goal of the therapeutic process is allowing the client to be in charge of the change they want to accomplish (Corey, 2009, p. 170-171). An example of this is allowing the client to decide what change they want to master first. Through this goal the counselor and client can build a more trustworthy and deeper relationship. This also leaves room for a more positive and realistic change. The second goal includes working on the needs of the client (Corey, 2009, p. 170-171). This involves teaching the client how to identify their identity, learn self-awareness, and what their purpose is in life (Corey, 2009, p. 139-146). This goal also helps the client develop the skills needed to meet their needs. An example of how this will be done is using role playing and journaling. Another goal is allowing the client to be free in choosing their therapy topics. This means to some degree allowing the client to choose what he or she wants to talk about. Letting the client choose the topics helps make them more comfortable in talking about the more touchy subjects needed to reach the root of the problem. The next goal is opening doors in the client’s life to figure out where God is in their life. This includes showing the client the love of God and what God can and will do in their life. Also, this goal will give the client the opportunity to develop a relationship with God. The last goal is allowing the client to establish goals they want out of the sessions (Corey, 2009, p. 170). An example of this is allowing the client to explore what goals they want. The goal also includes letting the client decide whether the goal is working or not. If the goal is not working, the counselor should allow the client to drop the goal if they want to. It is very important the client feels like they have a say in their therapy. The client will be more willing to be open and honest if they have a say in their therapy. The relationship between the counselor and client should be friendly and trustworthy. The client needs to be able to trust and depend on the counselor. The relationship should develop over time and be positive to the client. Even though the relationship is friendly, there should only be contact during sessions or on the phone. The client needs to understand this is a concrete rule because of ethical standards. Also, the client needs to know that you are just his or her counselor and not a close friend. This is also because of ethical standards. The client needs to be aware that experiences during sessions will be comfortable, but they should also understand the sessions will not always be easy. The hard parts, though, are necessary for their desired change. During the sessions there will be no assessment, because it is not needed for this type of therapy. This is because the client will be choosing their desired change and what they want out of therapy. A normal session will involve the client being in a comfortable chair and feeling free to say what is on their mind. Even though they are free to speak what they are feeling, there will still be general topics for each session. During each session there will be a planned topic, but the topic may not get covered until later if the client needs attention on other topics. The first few sessions will involve the client and the counselor getting to know each other. This will include the client sharing about their life and what brought them to this point in their life. Also, these sessions will involve a few techniques to help the client feel more comfortable around the counselor. These techniques will include saying words that describe who they are as a person. Another technique will be having the client write down thoughts they are having about the counseling sessions. The next few sessions will cover the client’s self-awareness, his or her identity in this world, the client’s goals and values, and their relationship with God (Corey, 2009, p.139-147). During these sessions the client will work on building up his or her self-awareness through writing down their feeling. Also, the client will work on their self-awareness by thinking about what makes them who they are as a person (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). The client will also work on figuring out their identity in this world (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). They will do this through writing down and thinking about what they are doing in the world to make a difference. They will also journal their thoughts on their identity in the world and what makes it their identity. During the sessions the client will also work their goals and values. This will include the client making a list of their current goals and values and what they want their new goals and values to be. Also during these sessions the client will work their relationship with God. This will include going over who God is, what His son done for them on the cross, and how they can have a relationship with God if they want to. After those sessions the counselor will cover the client’s goals for therapy and the issues the client may be facing. This will include the client stating what goals they want out of therapy and how they want to achieve them. After the client decides on what goals they want to work toward, the counselor and client will work together on techniques to help the client. Throughout this process the client can move on and work toward fixing their problems. During the sessions it is significant to cover important topics about life and death (Corey, 2009, p. 147-148). This will include using the Word of God and other resources to reveal what life and death are. After the sessions are complete the client should have an understanding of their self-awareness, his or her identity in this world, their goals and values, their relationship with God, and what death is. Also, they should have a basic plan to help them through future problems and issues Overall, this therapy can help people who have the desire and drive to make it work. People can benefit from this therapy by getting the help they need. This therapy is set up to motivate and help people learn about themselves and how to solve their problems. It is also designed to help people reach their desired change and help them learn their meaning and purpose in life. This therapy can aid people in building a better life and future. References Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (8th ed. ). Australia: Thomson/Brooks/Cole. Walker, V. (2010). Becoming aware: A text/workbook for human relations and personal adjustment (11th ed. ). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Pub. Co.. Watson, D. L. , & Tharp, R. G. (2007). Self-directed behavior: Self-modification for personal adjustment (9th ed. ). Australia: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.