One of the ways to develop an optimistic outlook in clients or families is to develop trusting relationship. People often tend to feel constrained in conversations with counselors as the former sense the latter as strangers, which adds to the problem clients have come to solve (Hutz-Midgett et al. 3). A counselor has to make a client feel comfortable in their presence because establishing comfort is a first step towards optimism.
The next method of making a client feel optimistic is to set up realistic goals for him or her. Proposing achievable objectives seems to inspire self-belief and the desire to try. The role of a counselor is to help a client or a family to find a direction.
Another way is outline the opportunities that lie beyond the resolution of the problem (Hutz-Midgett et al. 3). Almost each client has a sensation of intractability of the issue he or she is having. If shown what post-conflict environment is like people may develop optimism due to having a clear motivator with a pleasant image around it.
Positive thinking should derive from everyday speech. Inspiring positive language in a client is one of the strategies to create a healthy and productive orientation towards issue resolution. By showing an example and encouraging to follow it, a counselor should serve as a client’s guide to the goal.
Realization of self-importance is yet another step towards optimism (Hutz-Midgett et al. 5). Indicating strengths in behavior and skills is one of the ways to alter a person’s perception towards the problem through finding the inner leverages he or she could use to alleviate the situation. A counselor should help a client realize his powers and stress them.
Inspiring a client to see the bright side of every problem is another way to foster his or her optimism. In a way, this method relies on developing positive language techniques with a difference being that this way requires certain creativity. A counselor is to exemplify this on a few client’s problems to indicate a way to do it.
Counselling resilience into clients and families is another side of tackling their issues (Lee et al. 2). One of the working methods is building awareness of control. Inspiring the client to feel able to orchestrate events and people in a way that positively influences the resolution process is one of the primary goals for a counselor.
Fostering a calm attitude towards stressors is paramount to build up energy reserves for further conflict settling and relationship building. Initial overreaction is often the cause for piling up problems instead of dealing with them. Therefore, a counselor is to show the techniques and demonstrate them.
Embracing change is another step towards building resilience (Slade et al. 15). Teaching clients to stay open-minded to various events is pertinent to the cause of building toughness to react to problems should they arise in future. Being able to produce an adequate reaction is the way to prevent damage to nervous system.
One of the milestones of a person’s resilience is a strong social support (Szwajca 564). A counselor has to foster collaboration in a family or outline other potential support providers that can reach out to the client to help him or her to cope with the problems. An important item to note here is not to presume on this to resolve all problems, developing client’s own strengths.
Establishing a clear purpose and holding it above all is another way of building resilience. A sense of purpose gives a person a motivation to solve issues and stay alert for dangers that may undermine the process of its achievement. Counselors need to encourage a client or a family to find such a purpose and emphasize its meaning.
Works Cited
Hutz-Midgett, Aida, et al. “Untangling Hope and Optimism: Implications for Counselors.” Vistas, vol. 1, 2012, pp. 1-9.
Lee, Tak Yan, et al. “Resilience as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review.” The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2012, pp. 1-9.
Slade, Mike, et al. Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Szwajca, Krzysztof. “Resilience and Responses to the Experience of Trauma – A Fascinating but Difficult Study Area.” Psychiatria Polska, vol. 48, no. 3, 2014, pp. 563–72.