Telling the Story
Telling the Story
Hector is a 35-year-old Hispanic male. Hector was seriously injured in an auto accident 5 months ago. He spent 4 months in the hospital. One leg and hip suffered permanent damage. He will probably always need a cane and walk with a limp. He also has limited mobility in his right arm and shoulder and cannot lift anything heavy.
Hector grew up in a family with a construction business. He has been working in construction since high school. Social work at the rehab hospital referred Hector to counseling because he is not adjusting well to his injuries. He is very depressed and angry because he cannot continue to work in his chosen occupation. Hector says, “What use am I now? I am the man in the family. I should be strong. I need to support the family. I don’t want my wife to work. I don’t know what I am going to do to make a living.”
Telling the Story
Hector still experiences severe pain in his shoulder and his leg. He spends a lot of time watching TV and drinking. At this point, he is not looking for work. His family has reached out to him but he avoids interaction with his siblings and his parents because they remind him of what he no longer can do. He feels shame when he is around family members because of his disability. His relationship with his wife is tense because he is often angry and withdrawn.
You are meeting with Hector for the first time and want to get the story.
As we meet with a new client we develop some hypotheses to explore, as well as listening to what the client says about himself.
Write a 750-1,000-word paper addressing the following:
1. What are some of primary issues that Hector is addressing?
2. What are some of Hector’s feelings?
3. What are Hector’s behaviors and how are these impacting his adjustment?
4. How might Hector’s cultural heritage be impacting his adjustment to his injury?
5. What are some beliefs that may be impacting Hector’s adjustment?
6. How might Hector’s family background be impacting his adjustment?
7. What might be some issues that will need to be addressed in counseling?
8. What are the stages of change the counselor will help Hector through? Provide a brief definition of each stage.
9. What steps can a counselor take to help Hector explore his problems?
10. Consider the following counselor skills: eye contact, closed and open-ended questions, paraphrasing and summarizing, reflection, body language, tone, listening, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard, interpretation, tracking, reflecting emotion, active presence, structuring sessions, encouragement, questioning and clarifying, counselor self-awareness, tolerating intensity, validating, challenging, multicultural awareness/acceptance, probing and questioning, posture. Pick one skill and discuss how a counselor should use this in their sessions with Hector.
Include at three scholarly references in your paper. At least two resources should identify issues that need to be addressed when you are working with someone who is being rehabilitated from a serious injury.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Telling the Story
SAMPLE ANSWER
- What are some of primary issues that Hector is addressing?
Hector is addressing various issues in his life as a result of the change that he has experienced as a result of the accident. The accident led to permanent damage as a result of the impact on the left and hip. Consequently, he is unable to walk properly unless he uses a cane. Also, his right arm’s motility was affected and this impairs his ability to lift heavy things. Furthermore, he still experiences pain on the shoulders as well as the leg. Therefore, the primary issues that he is experiencing are the body function impairment and this makes him angry and depressed. Depression, anxiety as well as other mental disorders are a common thing among people that have experienced any form of disability and therefore Hector is not an exception. (Noh et al, 2016).
- What are some of Hector’s feelings?
Hector also experiences feelings that are associated with the state of his life after the accident. He feels angry about life because he is unable to push through with what he would want to do as a career. Also, he feels helpless and consequently avoids interactions with family members as they make him realize that he can no longer do what he used to do. He also feels shame when he feels like he will be unable to cater for the needs of his family. He feels hopeless based on the fact that he asks “what use am I now?” which implies that he has lost hope and does not believe that something positive could be made out of the prevailing circumstances.
Telling the Story
- What are Hector’s behaviors and how are these impacting his adjustment?
Hector’s behaviors influence the adjustment that he has to make regarding his life. As a person with hips, legs, and arms that have been affected, he needs to do some exercises that may be helpful in one way or another. This will be useful alongside physiotherapy that will help Hector regain his mobility (Harvey, 2016). Also, interacting with people frequently will be an avenue to help him overcome the concerns and find new ways to cope with the challenges that life has presented to him. However, he does not want to interact with people and even his relatives and instead chooses to sit and watch TV all day and also indulge in drinking.
- How might Hector’s cultural heritage be impacting his adjustment to his injury?
Adjustment to the new life is also greatly influenced by the culture of Hector. His belief that he needs to be strong and fend for his family seems to be something that is embedded in his culture. It comes out that he does not want his wife to work showing that it is a norm for the husband to work and fend for the family. This ideally should make him get the desire to work towards finding help and helping himself but is instead making him feel hopeless.
- What are some beliefs that may be impacting Hector’s adjustment?
The main belief that Hector has is that as the man of the family he needs to be strong and support his family. This makes him feel so hopeless because he is unable to do what he believes he should do.
Telling the Story
- How might Hector’s family background be impacting his adjustment?
Hector’s family background also has an impact on his adjustment. His family owns a construction family and he believe that it is what he should be doing but is unable to because of his predicament. Also, his family reminds him so much of the things that he is no longer able to do hence making his adjustment more difficult.
- What might be some issues that will need to be addressed in counseling?
During counseling, various issues will need to be addressed. The first issue is the acceptance of the disability and the need to have him understand that it is not an inability. Depression and anxiety will also be addressed as well as substance use since he spends time drinking.
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- What are the stages of change the counselor will help Hector through? Provide a brief definition of each stage.
Hector like other people will move through a series of stages namely pre-contemplation (PC), contemplation (C), preparation (PR), action (A), and maintenance (M). At the pre-contemplation stage, Hector will be unaware of the fact that his behavior has negative consequences. As he moves to contemplation, he will be gaining an understanding of what needs to be done and will show intentions to be done to improve the quality of life. The preparation stage is characterized by individuals being ready to take action and they make small steps towards behavior change. Action comes in when people start modifying their behaviors to adopt new and healthier ones and this is followed by maintenance.
Telling the Story
- What steps can a counselor take to help Hector explore his problems?
Hector will be helped through the pre-contemplation so that he can realize that not accepting the situation brings more harm to him. At contemplation, he will be helped to recognize that there are negative consequences that he needs to address. This will be achieved through various strategies such as motivational interviewing so that he can be helped to come up with solutions to his problem. He will also be helped through the preparation and action and he will ebb motivated to keep up with the strategies that are aimed at meeting the intended goals.
Telling the Story
- How a counselor should use empathy in their sessions with Hector.
Empathy is one of the skills that will be adopted in helping Hector find a solution to his problem. In order to help Hector through the process of recovery and acceptance as well as behavior change, the therapist will need to express empathy and be able to understand Hector’s issues, struggles as well as the barriers that he experiences in becoming better as this is a key element in helping him be freer (Dwyer et al, 2015). In conclusion, Hector is experiencing challenges coping with life after an accident that left him with a disability. Therapy will be beneficial in helping him make changes in his life and learn to cope with the challenges that the disabilities present.
References
Dwyer, L., Parkin-Smith, G. F., Brantingham, J. W., Korporaal, C., Cassa, T. K., Globe, G., … &
Tong, V. (2015). Manual and manipulative therapy in addition to rehabilitation for osteoarthritis of the knee: assessor-blind randomized pilot trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 1-21. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.002
Harvey, L. A. (2016). Physiotherapy rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injuries. Journal
of Physiotherapy, 62(1), 4-11. doi.org/10.1016/j.jphys.2015.11.004
Noh, J. W., Kwon, Y. D., Park, J., Oh, I. H., & Kim, J. (2016). Relationship between Physical
Disability and Depression by Gender: A Panel Regression Model. PloS one, 11(11), e0166238. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0166238
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