Mock Interview, Counseling Session - Essay Example

? Mock-Interview/Counseling Session This paper presents an interview conducted between my school counselor and myself for reducing stress and trauma I underwent after my boyfriend Frank killed himself following our break-up. The interview exhibits how the incidence affected me to a point that attending classes was not possible. The paper, through the interview show how I eventually resulted to heavy drinking after Frank’s funeral with hopes to pave away his imaginations and forget the accusations leveled against me by my colleagues. The paper further tries to justify the interview correspondence with the mock interview/ counseling guidelines and principles of an interview. From the guidelines, an explanation of achieving a good mock interview for each party to emerge victorious and satisfied. Below is the interview after I went to school for the first time after Frank’s funeral and the school counselor summoned me to her office; School Counselor: Hello Mercy Mercy: Hello to you School Counselor: I am sincerely sorry for what befell you. How are you doing anyway? Mercy: Thank you, though I do not seem to stop imagining about Frank murdering himself. School Counselor: I know it is actually painful to lose an individual you really cared about. Can you tell me some details concerning your emotions? Mercy: I am so disturbed to imagine that I am responsible for his death. It is hard to imagine that I am to blame. School Counselor: Therefore, you are not only handling the unexpected demise of Frank but also feeling guilty? Mercy: Yes (Starting to shed tears). School Counselor: (With a lot of sympathy) You do not need to think deep. This will pass with time. You know Mercy, in many instances, when individuals experience such unexpected loss the first thought that they think of is suicide. I would not like to imagine you in such a situation. Mercy: (Mercy stops weeping, pauses, and hesitantly utters) Consider that the only option. School Counselor: I think I comprehend; however, may you inform me a few more details, concerning what it is that has caused you imagine about suicide? Mercy: I simply cannot stay with this blame. Every person is pointing a finger at me. They are aware that I had parted ways with Frank. Nobody, apart from you, wants to be associated with me. I have a feeling that everyone hates me, and wishes me dead. I have turned a misfit in the society. School Counselor: (Standing up and moving close to mercy) Therefore, you are actually feeling lonely now. You are imagining that you are being accused of Frank’s demise. Mercy: You have that entitlement (Starts crying again). I will show them. School Counselor: What do you imply by “I will show them”? Mercy: If I commit suicide, I believe the desires of their hearts will be satisfied! School Counselor: (Moving back to her seat) Mercy, you said that you thought suicide is a means to bear with the emotions and challenges caused by Frank’s demise. Do you have any arrangement? How would you carry out the suicide? Mercy: Yes, I would carry it out with my car. School Counselor: Have you imagined about the time you will carry it out? Mercy: Yes, I was arranging to get intoxicated and drive off the bridge tonight. School counselor: Thus, the agony feels so heavy that you are imagining of knocking your vehicle off the bridge tonight. Mercy: Yes. School Counselor: Have you at all, previously attempted to discuss with anybody else concerning this agony? Mercy: I was imagining about visiting my old therapist; however, I do not yet understand if she is still within. It has been a decade since I last laid my eyes on her. School Counselor: What were you visiting the therapist for? Mercy: I was depressed. School Counselor: Mercy, have you once attempted something like this previously? Mercy: No School Counselor: Is there anybody else you can discuss with concerning this? Anybody whom you imagine would assist you solve these challenges? Mercy: No (Mercy slams into his chair, the fury has melted, and she once more starts to cry). School Counselor: Mercy, you should have been actually distressed now and it appears as if you see no way out; however, I trust that I may assist you if you allow me. Mercy: How can you help me (a sign of fury emerges on Mercy’s voice)? I am prepared to leave now. School Counselor: Fine Mercy, I think you need another counseling session some time later with me. Mercy: Fine, I will cooperate. School counselor: Thank you Mercy. There is hope in everything, simply have the trust and you will conquer the challenges ahead. The transcript above explains how the counselor and the client have interacted as the counselor attempts to understand Mercy’s problem and devise the best ways to help him. There are specific interview guidelines that should be adhered to before, in the course of, and after the counseling interview session. These guidelines, as applied in the interview above between Mercy and her School Counselor include: Developing a rapport This is the feeling of self-belief and synchrony that exist between a client and a counselor. In the interview above, the counselor greets Mercy and asks her how she is doing. On the second question, the counselor sympathizes with Mercy and asks her to explain to her more about her feelings. This gives the client confidence and trust to reveal more about her. This rapport encourages the client to speak impulsively and expose significant own information. Mercy came searching for help and anticipates that she will receive it from the counselor, thus the counselor must develop on this anticipation through deeds and words. If this happens, it will encourage Mercy to keep coming back for more and maybe forget about her therapist whom she wanted to go and see and she is not sure whether she is around. The counselor must have adequate preparations so that she may manage the counseling interview throughout, give her client trust in her, and hope that she will receive assistance finally, as in the one above (Whiston, 2009). Establishing rapport It is an obvious belief that majority of the clients anticipate to like their counselors from the beginning. This idea gives the client comfort when discussing with the counselor. However, an ideal rapport between two people cannot mainly emerge overnight; it develops slowly as the interview progresses. In the Mercy’s case, the more the interview progresses, the more Mercy is free and willing to expose more details about her to the counselor. The motive and conduct of the counselor are significant in an interview. In the interview above, the counselor tries as much as possible to control her attitude even when Mercy informs her that she will show them, meaning she will kill herself. Being an expert is not similar to being an official and starched. The counselor seemed relaxed, concerned, and understanding; and that is why Mercy felt secure and comfortable (Wise, 2007). The counselor made regular eye contacts, smiled, nodded, and elucidated that she is keen and concerned during the interview. The client’s personal conduct will most likely shape the association more than any other element. The use of body language by Mercy served well to inform the counselor the way she felt. Tone variation as well served to justify Mercy’s feelings during the interview. The counselor remained cautious to sustain certain impartiality to what Mercy at first informed her. This is evident when Mercy accuses everyone except the counselor for blaming her of Frank’s demise; and the counselor does not support them. Through this, she avoided annoying Mercy whose emotions were uncertain. The counselor acted safe and gave an absolute reaction that does not take sides by informing her that she understood how lonely she felt (Ivey, Zalaquett & Quirk, 2012). Assessing personal feelings The way a counselor feels concerning a client may have significant effects and may be a significant piece of information. If a counselor has an optimistic feeling, she will most likely come across as temperate and caring. The counselor’s feelings during Mercy’s interview were positive throughout, since she constantly informed Mercy that she understood the way she felt, everything is possible, and that there is hope in everything and an individual must work towards achieving that hope. In most cases, the feelings may be influenced by the counselor’s origin and upbringing, and this influences the capability of the counselor to get a precise image of the client. The counselor in the entire interview has to be sensitive of the type and sources of his feelings; mainly when something about the client hurts her or makes her bumpy. For example, in the interview, Mercy plans to commit suicide and she boldly explains to the counselor how she is going to perform it. In addition, she informs the counselor that she wants to leave when the counselor is just about to start advising her (Bourne, 2003). The counselor must exercise caution when reacting to the client’s statements since the client can notice the counselor’s disapproval and frustrate her attempts to collect accurate data. The objective here is to illustrate empathy, which means that at some point, the counselor should put herself in the client’s shoes. In the Mercy’s case, the counselor constantly reminds Mercy that she understands the way she feels about the matter and informs her that there is hope. During the entire life of counselors, they handle different kinds of individuals with different issues. A few of them will appear less pleasant than others; however, the counselor discovers that there is something in almost each client to which he can associate. In the Mercy’s case, the counselor heeds to her plans; feelings; and the promise to carry out the plans. However, the counselor does not show her emotions; but reacts optimistically to what Mercy informs her (Scranton & Pennsylvania, 2013). Manner of speaking To develop a rapport, the counselor should allow Mercy to know that she understands. It is tempting to approach this straightforward by saying, “I understand the way you should be feeling concerning the incident”. Unsatisfactorily, this expression has something of an empty loophole to it. Several clients have heard this statement regularly before, in different offices. For instance, Mercy had been visiting her therapist’s place and she must have heard this word there before. A few clients feel that their challenges are more severe, either ideal or perceived, and that no one would probably value what they are experiencing. When handling a complicated case or an individual who has experienced several traumas, one should in addition keep in mind that, due to the various experiences, the “own fable” is in complete blossom. Like in the case above, Mercy feels that the whole world has turned against her and the only solution is to murder herself. She feels no other person has ever experienced such a matter before, even the counselor (Ivey, 2013). Thus, most likely, the counselor must be better off applying some different reaction to show his sympathy and concern like: “you should have been actually distressed, or “I have not at all been in that state before; thus I can simply imagine how it should have been like. As well, “That was an awful condition and I can observe that it distressed you a big deal”, is equally significant. In Mercy’s case, the counselor said: “You should be actually distressed”, to show concern and empathy for Mercy when she told her that no one wants to talk to her, and that each one accuses her of Mercy’s suicide. Experienced counselors mostly discover that their individualities appear nearly to vary as they shift from a client to the other. They may appear a little simple, or yet unruly, with a client, whereas assuming a further official manner with a different one, as in Mercy’s case. Within borders, these trends are possibly acceptable, despite that counselors must be cautious not to excessively perform them (Dallos & Vetere, 2005). Talking the client’s language Try as much as possible to communicate in a language that the client can interpret. A counselor should pay attention to a client’s language and apply it; as long as the counselor feels relaxed using it. Since youths mainly disbelief grown-ups, they may react more optimistically if the counselor applies a language that is modern for their age bracket. The other perspective of this matter is that younger clients may dislike it greatly if the counselor attempts to assume their speech patterns; they may turn to yet further unbelievable. This can very easily happen like in the case of Mercy above since she is a teenager and the counselor is an adult. That is why the counselor maintains what Mercy tells her and does not attempt refuting her claims or support the people accusing her of causing Mercy’s death. When Mercy tells her that she wants to commit suicide, the counselor does not oppose her, instead she asks her how she is planning to perform the act. This is speaking Mercy’s language. The manner in which a counselor talks to a client must remain directed through the requirement for precision and rapport; therefore, counselors should follow their client’s responses keenly. Some expressions may act like red flags for several clients. These loaded expressions possess a message of sickness, loss, or poor feature, and a counselor must broadly avoid them (Muntigl & Ebrary, 2004). For instance, some of the phrases include bad, flawed, daydream, brain damage, frantic, obscene, and phobic, among others. There are many of them and they can emerge in a debate before the counselor notices it. For example, when a client behaves funny, like the way Mercy did: by asking the counselor how she could help her, standing up, and preparing to leave the office. Broadly speaking, the counselor must shun psychological terminology. The counselor should make sure that the client’s application of terminology is well understood; no presumption that it is similar. For example, “an occasional drink” may mean only one time in a month; however to the counselor’s client, it could mean “intermittently the whole of the day”. This is the situation in Mercy’s interview when she tells her counselor that “She will show them”, the counselor does not make her own conclusions about the expression; rather she asks Mercy to clarify what she meant by the statement. If a client has a variant origin than that of the counselor, they can have difficulty understanding each other. The counselor must not allow her conduct to mean that it is the client who “speaks funny”. Nevertheless, acknowledge that you have variant accents and that you can ask each other for clarification (Stohr, 2009). Maintaining boundaries Counselors association with their clients has been a changing target in the recent years. The ancient picture of an authoritarian person who made decisions for the client has often remained displaced by that of a less- unofficial collaborator, who investigates the challenges and gets their answers with the client. The current technique motivates clients to take part in healing decisions. The technique in effect, places two brains at work. This is what is seen in the interview between Mercy and her counselor. They are trying to reason together to come out with a valuable solution to Mercy’s problem. When clients debate and lead to their personal management arrangements, they have the possibility of moving along with the practice, and less possible to protest regarding the way matters are progressing. However, even counselors who motivate friendly collaboration need keeping limits. People do not like exposing too much concerning their life, although it may be a strong tool for solving the problem at hand. The counselor in the above interview asks Mercy whether she has been seeing any other expert before, and why she has been seeing her. Mercy simply agrees that she has been seeing her therapist and this is because she was depressed. Mercy does not give further details neither does her counselor ask her more questions concerning the matter. This indicates that the counselor is maintaining limits with her client not to offend her. These are the best guidelines one should follow when taking a mock interview or counseling session (Srivastava, 2007). Recommendation Depression in most cases leads to severe conditions of the affected individual and thus the need for urgent guidance and counseling. Depression can occur to anyone, young or aged and the level of handling the situation matters a lot. Mercy is a young lady who is still in college and the depression has overtaken her to a point of resulting to heavy drinking. This does not either solve the problem; however, it further adds to it. Guidance guidelines and principles should be adhered to always when an expert counselor engages in the counseling work, and this will help the client to heed to the counsel hence the session ends up being a success. References Wise, C. C., Hauser, S., & Vault (Firm). (2007). The business school buzz book. New York, N.Y: Vault, Inc. Bourne, J. (2003). Elements of quality online education: Practice and direction. Needham, Mass: Sloan Consortium. Ivey, A. E. (2013). Intentional interviewing and counseling: Facilitating client development in a. S.l.: Brooks Cole. Whiston, S. C. (2009). Principles and applications of assessment in counseling. Australia: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., Zalaquett, C. P., & Quirk, K. (2012). 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