Norena, a Hispanic student in Grade 7, is a client to be described in this case study. Norena’s teacher referred her to guidance because of recently observed changes in her behavior. The problem is that the girl has difficulties in relationships with her peers as she tries to isolate her from other students, her mood is mostly sad, and she often becomes angry in interactions with peers, yelling at friends and using negative wording when communicating with them.
These changes in Norena’s behavior became observed after the vacation, and in the past, the girl was an active student involved in extra-curricular activities. Thus, Norena was one of the best students in her class, interacted easily and friendly with peers, performed as a member of the honor society and the leadership group, demonstrated an interest in music and art. After the vacation, the girl’s grades became lower, and she did not participate in extra-curricular activities anymore. Problems in performance and interactions have led to Norena’s participation in the ISS (in-school suspension) program. Currently, Norena’s attitude to study, her mood, and performance are the areas of concern for her parents and teacher.
The communication with Norena’s mother helped to determine that Norena’s behavior began to change after her family had planned to move to Ohio, where the father could get a good position. Their relatives also live in a town in Ohio, and the family plans to move at the end of the year. Thus, it is possible to assume that Norena experiences stress and emotional pressure associated with moving and other coming changes in her life as transitioning to a new town and school is challenging and difficult for students (Zyromski, Dimmitt, Mariani, & Griffith, 2018). The girl experiences problems with coping with her feelings and possible fears about uncertainty.
These expected changes in Norena’s life could potentially lead to changes in her behavior and emotional state, leading to problems with academic performance and communication (Dollarhide & Lemberger-Truelove, 2018). In this report, Norena’s words will be represented using the label Student and the counselor’s words will be represented using the label Counselor. The purpose of this paper is to present the analysis of the verbatim transcription of a session with the client along with discussing the theoretical framework and providing reflection.
Section 2 – Transcription and Analysis
Section 3 – Theoretical Framework
During the session and analysis of the transcriptions, such theories as the person-centered theory by Carl Rogers and the choice/reality therapy by William Glasser were applied. According to Rogers’s principles, the key focus should be on promoting a client’s self-actualization and building positive relationships with a counselor (Dollarhide & Lemberger-Truelove, 2018). Thus, feeling support and encouragement, every person can positively develop and realize his or her potential. Furthermore, individuals need to feel support and positive regard from close people, and they tend to value behaviors according to feelings they provoke.
During the session, these principles were addressed through the counselor’s application of reflections, rephrasing, empathy, and respectful interpretation. The counselor helped the client to understand how she could change her behavior to feel better, get rid of anxiety, and improve her interactions with significant others through demonstrating her real feelings and being involved in positive interactions. As a result, the client became able to reflect on real problems that bother her and evaluate her behavior to positively change it according to the idea of self-actualization. The counselor used the empathetic understanding and the positive regard to contribute to the client’s progress.
The choice/reality therapy is based on the ideas that people need positive relationships with others, thus, they need to be loved and to feel independence and power. When developing effective interactions with close people, it is possible to satisfy individuals’ needs. The way to developing such relations is through choosing how to behave to make strong relationships (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2018).
Thus, clients learn how to make better choices to be more satisfied in their relationships with other people. In the context of this theory, the counselor helped the client develop a simple plan to make the first steps in changing her behavior and improving the relationship with others through talking with parents, friends, peers, and the teacher to accentuate the significance of these relationships for the client (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2018). It is possible to state that the counselor’s guidance helped the client start taking control of her behavior.
Self-Reflection Summary
The analysis of the transcription has allowed me to discover what strategies I prefer to use as a school counselor. Thus, I am focused on applying feelings reflection, empathy, rephrasing, and open questions. These techniques provide me with an opportunity to build a strong rapport with the client and ensure that Student can share her emotions and thoughts openly, while being always supported. The models that inform my work with clients are the person-centered theory and the choice/reality therapy that explain my choice of techniques and the extent to which some counselor skills and competencies are developed.
I have received a chance to practice my use of techniques associated with Rogers’s person-centered theory. Therefore, I utilized feelings reflection, verbal encouragement, and rephrasing to help the client express her self-actualization. Applying the choice/reality therapy, I was able to demonstrate the client that she needed positive relations with her relatives and friends, and I helped her find a plan to change her behaviors and renew encouraging interactions with significant others.
My strengths are in making clients feel comfortable when communicating with me to cause them to share their inner problems and emotions and in using the technique of open questions to help clients focus on their feelings to find solutions. I was able to demonstrate the behavior that was more productive and appropriate for Student depending on her needs. Furthermore, through a chain of applying a counselor’s skills and techniques, I helped the client realize her needs in interactions and find the ways to achieve positive results while relieving her pain associated with moving to another town. However, I also have some weaknesses in demonstrating certain counselor capacities.
The challenging task was to balance the use of open questions, demonstrating empathy and using interpretation because interpretation was meaningful for this session to help Student see and understand some aspects of her behavior and background. However, any unbalanced use of interpretation during the session can lead to imposing a counselor’s opinion on Student. I was trying to avoid this negative effect during the session to address the client’s interests.
I should state that my experience in applying such advanced strategies as the counselor’s self-disclosure and theory-based interventions is not enough, and more practice is required in these areas. In addition, I need to improve my use of unconditional positive regard as this technique is closely related to the scope of practices applied in the context of the choice/reality therapy. In spite of the fact that I have knowledge of these strategies and techniques, as well as the areas of their application, I cannot state I can easily use them in my everyday practice at the current stage. Therefore, I need to work on practicing the skills and techniques that are actively used by the adherents of the person-centered theory and the choice/reality therapy to achieve better results.
References
Dollarhide, C. T., & Lemberger-Truelove, M. E. (2018). Theories of school counseling for the 21st century. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Jayawardene, W., Erbe, R., Lohrmann, D., & Torabi, M. (2017). Use of treatment and counseling services and mind‐body techniques by students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Journal of School Health, 87(2), 133-141.
McLain, C. M., & Lewis, J. P. (2018). Professional behaviors and dispositions: Counseling competencies and lifelong growth. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2018). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and practice: Skills, strategies, and techniques (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Zyromski, B., Dimmitt, C., Mariani, M., & Griffith, C. (2018). Evidence-based school counseling: Models for integrated practice and school counselor education. Professional School Counseling, 22(1), 1-10.