Counseling For John’s Case Study: Theories, Ethical And Professional Considerations, And Recommendations

Counseling theories 1: John Holland’s theory

Discuss about the Counseling for John’s Case Study.

Counseling services are essential to help people overcome challenges and lead a happy life. People face stressful situations in their daily activities or within their families and social interactions. Negative experiences deprive individuals of their happiness and can cause distress that has far-reaching impacts. Counselors come in to help affected people psychologically and give hope and positive energy needed to enhance attainment of life goals. A case study discussing counseling activities with John can provide an in-depth understanding of the usefulness of this practice to the society. John is a teacher aged 44 and has been working for over 15 years. Despite his long-term teaching experience, John feels unappreciated at the workplace. He also faces hardships in his family. Of late, there are increased conflicts between John and his spouse. Moreover, his son aged 17 is undergoing psychiatric assessments after the Institute of Health diagnosed him with a personality disorder recently. John requires counseling help to cope with the unfavorable turn of events and make appropriate decision to drive his career forward. In this report, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool was chosen for use in stage assessment; before, during and after. In addition, Taylor-Johnston Temperament analysis was also used. This report outlines the counseling journey with John focusing on suitable counseling theories, ethical and professional considerations, and responsibilities. Eventually, the paper provides recommendations to help John advance in his career. 

The Holland’s theory is useful to help John overcome problems, particularly in the work place. The theory emphasizes that people prefer to work in an environment involving like-minded colleagues to attain job satisfaction (Nauta, 2013). Additionally, the method supports an environment that enables people to apply their skills and capabilities as well as expressing themselves even when taking on workplace tasks. The theory outlines six attributes about career people: realistic, investigative, enterprising, social, artistic, social and conventional individuals. People feel comfortable and motivated to work with people sharing similar attributes. Working with people who follow in other categories does not provide fulfillment at work and would make one to search for other favorable work environments (Sharif, 2015). These elements are observable in the case of John. As a teacher, John feels unappreciated at work that affects his performances. By applying the Holland’s theory, it is possible to determine the category where John falls and give advice on promising ways to enhance his career. To accomplish all this, it is important to develop objectives before, during, and after evaluations of a patient.

Counseling Theories 2: John Krumboltz’s Theory

Before the assessment, the objective is to gather right information about the Holland’s theory and establish relationships with the patient. Following this, John would know necessary information relating the assessment. During this stage, the counselor seeks the informed consent of the patient before beginning the tests. The counselor also addresses the patient’s concerns related to the scheduled evaluations (Sharif, 2015). Examples of these issues include the handling of results, risks, instruments for use, and other relevant information. After laying down the structure, the counselor proceeds to carry out the evaluations. In the case of John, the counselor would aim to identify the category of work environment suitable for the patient. He or she leads John in exploring all the six attributes by way of asking questions, interviews, or using other assessment tools. After the assessment, the counselor analyses the data for John’s character at work that influence his feelings of little or no appreciation. After the evaluations, the instructor produces the results to specified persons (Nauta, 2013). The results inform the patient about the issues that affect careers. The findings also guide the counselor in determining the kind of advice to offer to enable the John overcome the challenges in work and promote his career. The counselor follow-up to help the patient apply skills gained as well as overcome difficulties in implementation.

Another theory suitable for counseling John is the Krumboltz’s approach that recommends for indecisiveness among career people. Krumboltz believes that it is desirable to be indecisive in career to enable unplanned events that can lead to great outcomes (Krumboltz, 2015). In addition, indecision can help people adjust to the rapid changes in the labor market because they lack control over such forces. The theory gives insights for people to explore new opportunities or ideas that can enrich their careers. Counselors who apply this theory aim at helping their clients approach possible events or conditions positively. However, this is an overall goal of the method, and counselors can adopt smaller objectives before, during, and after assessment to realize high effectiveness. Before carrying out assessments, the counselor aims to set structure and introduce the theory to clients. Counselors serve patients with guidelines and relevant information that enable them to give informed consent to allow the assessments. During the evaluations, the counselor aims to arouse the indecision attributes using examination instruments. The assessments point out common but unexpected social variables, environmental forces, and situational moments that influence one’s life (Krumboltz, Foley, & Cotter, 2013). Focus shifts to the presentation and interpretation of findings after the counselor completes assessments. Consequently, the counselor develops appropriate guidance and activities for the client to observe to advance their occupations. The advice given incorporates elements of flexibility to cope with wide range of or situations. By utilizing this theory, the counselor helps address all social factors affecting John’s career and facilitate practical advice that promotes growth.

Ethical and Professional Practices

Ethics and professionalism are vital to the success of counseling programs. Counselors need to observe principles that guide counseling practice to win the patient’s trust and encourage cooperation (Bond, 2015). By applying professional and ethical guidelines, therapists overcome personal interferences that can potentially undermine the quality of services offered and outcomes. John’s counseling needs demand considerations for all ethical issues that can arise before, during, and after completing the programs. These considerations include maintaining the confidentiality of John’s disclosures (Fisher, 2013). Counseling ethics and professional code requires therapists to keep information shared by patients to themselves to avoid reaching undesired third-parties. It is ethical to protect the patient from perceived or unforeseen consequences when personal information leaks to the public. Conflicts between John and his spouse, dissatisfaction at work, and his son’s personality disorder can have negative implications for him and the family members. The public could look down upon them as a failed family, which has emotional consequences that affect their social interactions or image.

Another important aspect is full disclosure of the counseling programs and relevant information. A patient requires comprehensive knowledge about all the activities and contents of therapies to help in making informed decisions (Bond, 2015). Patients lack high awareness of the risks exposed by sharing personal information, assessments on their bodies, and implications of adopted strategies. A therapist needs to give all necessary details and seek the consent of the patients. Providing comprehensive information also enables the patients to open up and share more facts that help the counselor give accurate advice. Additionally, the patients learn about their liabilities relating to counseling practices that can assist in determining legal actions to take against counselors in case outcomes are undesirable.

Counselors are also expected to exercise due care and avoid negligence that poses high risks for the clients. Therapists are prone to mistakes in offering their services and are liable for associated consequences on the patients. The counseling profession and code of ethics discourage negligent behaviors of practitioners (Levitt, &Moorhead, 2013).  Counselors have an obligation to ensure all activities carried out attain minimum standards. By doing this, the counselors take precautions to minimize chances of unexpected repercussions on their patients (Welfel, 2012).  Although counseling rules can help prosecute the therapists, negligence on individuals can have devastating consequences not possible to correct by punishing the practitioners. For instance, in a case of negligent behaviors that lead to a permanent breakup between John and his wife, punishing the counselor may not help reconcile the two spouses. Ethical and professional considerations assist the counselors to perform their responsibilities throughout the journey with their clients.

Counseling involves various tasks and responsibilities for therapists as well as their customers. Therapists are in charge of all activities before, during, and after counseling programs. Counselors have a duty to carry out assessments of the patients before determining the appropriate programs for the clients (Hébert, Caughy, & Shuval, 2012). A fundamental guideline in examining the patient’s conditions entails safeguarding their welfare. Evaluations carried out should not expose the clients other closely related individuals to dangers. Counselors are required to demonstrate competence when using and interpreting assessment instruments. There are minimum levels of competence set before carrying evaluations (Richards, Dykeman, & Bender, 2016). Counselors who do not meet these performances should seek assistance or refer the patients to other more experienced professionals. The counselors should also ensure the assessment instruments selected are appropriate. Using unsuitable tools reduce the reliability of results due to low accuracy. Inaccuracies have an influence on the eventual outcomes of the patients may not overcome their conditions.

Counselors have an obligation to seek the consent of the clients before attending to them. They should give full explanations to their customers who make decisions on whether to accept or reject the assessment (Low, Kok, & Lee, 2013). The counselors are required to give details about the recipients of evaluation results and obtain consent of the client. Upon assessment, the counselors provide results to the qualified personnel. Authorized people ensure the results do not reach undesired individuals who may compromise the treatment process or expose patients to increased risks. Counselors also play roles of diagnosing possible mental disorders (Zheng et al., 2016). Clients experience psychological problems that can be linked to mental problems. Determining any underlying mental problem can help in developing effective interventions. It is the responsibility of therapist to perform proper diagnosis, demonstrate cultural sensitivity, and explore the history and social prejudices to identify any mental problems.

Other responsibilities include selecting therapy treatment instruments. Evaluations lead to the determination of a client’s problems to enable the development of the treatment program. Therapists have the duty to ensure they select suitable devices. They would apply referral information to avoid choosing inappropriate methods (Whiston, 2012). Further, counselors have a role to play regarding the selection of the conditions of assessing or administering treatments. Conditions during the administration of therapies influence the outcomes significantly. Therapists need to adopt conditions that suit the state of the patients and consistent with the evaluation results. The environment where intervention takes place should be supportive to the patients to heighten outcomes. It is necessary to incorporate technological capabilities to facilitate administration (Balkin, & Juhnke, 2013). Appropriate technologies help produce accurate results. Therefore, counselors should ensure technologies adopted function correctly to produce desired outcomes. After evaluation and administration of care, the counselors have a task to follow up and ensure clients apply skills gained effectively, as well as, recommending for improvements.

John’s case provides opportunities for applying counseling principles to help solve his problems and enable progress in his teaching occupation. John requires concepts of several counseling theories to promote outcomes (Low, Kok, & Lee, 2013). This report has focused on two methods that address John’s issues: conflicts with his wife, job dissatisfaction, and stress of his son who was diagnosed with personality disorder. These problems hinder John from advancing his careers. The Holland’s theory is useful to help John grow in his career by recognizing like-minded people in the workplace environment, who are easier to work with.  Counselors helping John should consider adopting other theories to support the Holland’s principles, and thereby heighten outcomes (Capuzzi, & Gross, 2013). Additionally, the Krumboltz’s approach of indecisiveness can help john deal with unexpected issues in his life that threated his career prosperity. This method is desirable but requires reinforcement of other ideas to realize increased outcomes. The theory may not address all issues related to conflicts with his wife and stress of the suffering son that affects John’s commitment in his career. Borrowing other ideas provide diverse information to enables John adjust to the changes and enhance chances of succeeding in occupation. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate several approaches to allow attainment of the most appropriate solutions.

Conclusion

This report described counseling practice for helping people to overcome problems and lead happy lives. Emphasis has been given to counseling theories and responsibilities of counselors before, during, and after intervention programs. The contents of the report are tailored to meet the needs of John. He is a teacher dissatisfied with his work, conflicts with his spouse, and has a son suffering from personality disorder. Counseling can help overcome these problems by applying theories such as John Holland’s and John Krumboltz’s approaches. Counselors should carry out all responsibilities utilizing ethical and professional codes. Although the two methods discussed in this paper are helpful, reinforcement ideas of other theories can heighten outcomes. Similar to the case of John, other people can seek for counseling services and work with professionals to overcome life challenges and advance their careers. 

References

Balkin, R. S. & Juhnke, G. A. (2013). The Theory and Practice of Assessment in Counseling. London: Pearson Education.

Bond, T. I. M. (2015). Standards and Ethics for Counselling in Action. London: SAGE Publications.

Capuzzi, D. & Gross, D. R. (2013). Introduction to the Counseling Profession: Sixth Edition. London: Routledge.

Fisher, M. A. (2013). The ethics of conditional confidentiality: A practice model for mental health professionals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hébert, E. T., Caughy, M. O., & Shuval, K. (2012). Primary care providers’ perceptions of physical activity counselling in a clinical setting: a systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 46(9), 625-631.

Levitt, D. H. &Moorhead, H. J. H. (2013). Values and Ethics in Counseling: Real-Life Ethical Decision Making. New York: Routledge.

Low, S. K., Kok, J. K., & Lee, M. N. (2013). A holistic approach to school-based counselling and guidance services in Malaysia. School Psychology International, 34(2), 190-201.

Richards, J., Dykeman, C., & Bender, S. (2016). Historical trends in counsellor education dissertations. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1-12.

RodriÃŒÂguez, M. C., France, H., & Hett, G. (2013). Diversity, culture and counselling: A Canadian perspective. Calgary: Brush Education.

Welfel, E. R. (2012). Ethics In Counseling & Psychotherapy. S.l.: Cengage Learning.

Whiston, S. C. (2012). Principles and Applications of Assessment in Counseling. New York: Cengage Learning.

Zheng, L. X., Keegan, J. P., Rosenthal, D., Talley, W., & Hunter, C. A. (2016). Examining the Attributions of Discrimination toward People with Mental Illness among Chinese College Students. The Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling, 22(01), 40-50.

Krumboltz, J. D. (2015). Practical career counseling applications of the happenstance learning theory. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14439-021

Krumboltz, J. D., Foley, P. F., & Cotter, E. W. (2013). Applying the happenstance learning theory to involuntary career transitions. The Career Development Quarterly, 61(1), 15-26.

Nauta, M. M. (2013). Holland’s theory of vocational choice and adjustment. Career Development and Counseling. Putting theory and research to work. Second Edition. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New Jersey, 55-82.

Sharif, R. (2015). A Model of Creativity in Organizations: John Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice (1973) at Multiple Levels of Analysis. The Journal of Creative Behavior.