Models LASA Paper

Part 1 

Human Nature and Development 

Human nature categorically refers to all the naturally distinguishing traits that human beings have including how they behave, act, feel, and think. Some of the characteristics are acquired while others are inborn (Thorpe, 2018). Acquired aspects are considered by the elders, parents, pastors, and teachers in schools to improve on the inherent traits. That is to say that an individual’s behaviour or ways of thinking can be changed or enhanced depending on their mentors or those taking the responsibility to assist them to develop these skills. In fact, these traits are what distinguishes human beings from different levels of human personalities. For instance, there are those people who are considered intelligent than others, while others can be deemed to be persons of integrity than others (Payne & Isaacs, 2017; Thorpe, 2018). 

Even though in the current digital era, people’s natural traits tend to be influenced by the gadgets and technological devices they are using. Still, the one can distinguish between people using their inherent characteristics (Payne & Isaacs, 2017). For example, an unkind person may act good while on social media to gain followers but naturally act cruelly to those who are physical to him or her. Therefore, natural human traits can be advantageous or disadvantageous depending on the kind of characteristics one chooses to display. Positively, human imagination has revolutionised how things are done on earth; this is despite them being on the planet for only less than 250,000 years! 

Additionally, due to these natural human traits like critical and creative thinking, there are new innovations that have helped in shaping the societies, precisely solving most of the social problems that are to trouble people. Therefore, human nature is the characteristics that define the people’s day to day actions aimed at increasing human comfortability on earth. That is to say that when humans respect each other or innovate new approaches to solve human sufferings, they are improving personal comfortability on earth. However, when these traits are misapplied, they increase human sufferings, hence the reason there are corruption, pollution, terrorism and other criminal activities terrorising human beings across the earth. 

Human development, on the other hand, refers to the act of enlarging human being’s opportunities and freedom and enhancing their well-being. That is precise to say that people have real freedom to make their individualised decisions on what to do, how to it when to do it, and who to involve in doing it. These decisions are all targeted at bettering their lives to ensure that they are better off than their ancestors. 

The human development concept was begun in the year 1970’s at the World Bank by one of the greatest economist, Mahbub ul Haq. Later, the idea was adopted and advanced in Pakistan, when Dr Haq., a finance minister argued that human progress had failed to account for the improvement of human lives, the real purpose of development (Hirai, 2017). In other words, he meant that human actions were against the correct functionality of development, to enhance human’s well-being. 

Even so, it is worth to note that human development is entirely linked to human capabilities. Capabilities are what human beings can do and become, which are the right determinants of a life of value. In reality, there are those essential capabilities that all people virtually value like access to knowledge, good health, and a proper shelter or place of living (Hirai, 2017; Thorpe, 2018). Other vital skills that are vital in determining human life include the ability to relax, to have societal respect, to make decisions that affect someone’s life, to enjoy the freedom of expression and to have fun. 

Therefore, since capabilities majorly determine human development, it is significant to note that societal and environmental conditions influence most of these capabilities that human beings are in. Through these conditions and individualised efforts- some people have the capacity of developing the necessary tools they require to advance their lives and have good endurance. However, those with fewer abilities are not able to create the needed tools to improve their lives. 

The Nature of Persons and How They Develop and Mature 

The nature of persons refers to how human beings behave around each other. The way they express their emotional feelings towards each other to show respect, kindness, honesty, and support for each other. These characteristics are usually represented by all people and are typically thought by the elderly, parents, teachers and religious leaders (Hirai, 2017; Thorpe, 2018). In fact, it through the manipulation of human traits that the earth has individuals with good deeds and those with evil acts aimed at harming others. However, despite that, it is good to remember that human nature is defined by their surroundings, which include both the technological and environmental. 

A person’s development is a step-wise process that happens as they physically and emotionally grow. For instance, the manner in which an individual think when he was at age 13 is probably not the same as when he is 40 years old. Therefore, as one grows he acquires and learns new skills that broaden their capabilities to think and act differently in a manner that demonstrates maturity. Also, based on the efforts of an individual, he or she can attain maturity faster regardless of their age. Therefore, the development and maturity of a person are dependent on their capabilities to develop necessary tools required to make their lives better. 

Differences Between Healthy and Unhealthy Individuals 

Numerous differences exist between the healthy and unhealthy persons. For instance, the healthy individuals are in charge of their health while the sick people are not. In the layman’s language, one can refer to the healthy individuals as the CEOs of their bodies while the sick are the workers of their bodies. The healthy individuals make a decision that might not affect their bodies like never to abuse drugs, visit the doctors for checkups frequently, and eats the correct diet. Additionally, they take care of what they listen to and watch to avoid interfering with their mental health. Like for example, a healthy individual cannot engage in rumour-mongering, or unnecessary fights, that might injure their physical bodies and their psychological well-being (Cooper, 2018). On the other side, an unhealthy individual participates in actions that raise the dangers to his or her physical body and their mental health. Steps that might show that one is sick include lack of respect for others, abuse of substances, and engaging in evil and criminal activities that are against the rule of law. Additionally, harmful individuals bother about their eating habits, something that healthy individuals consider dangerous! 

How Maladaptive Conditions Develop (Etiology) 

Maladaptive conditions refer to those conditions that involve the behaviour that hinders individuals from adjusting to specific situations. These behaviours range from minor impairments like nail biting to severe disabilities such as self-harm (Miller & Polack, 2017). These conditions are typically caused by over-anxiousness and fear to adapt to new situations. Since human beings are in a dynamic environment, it is expected that they will change and embrace the new changes as they happen, but fear and anxiety that results in distress make people fear change. That fear leads in mental disturbances that later cause the development of maladaptive conditions. 

The Goals of Therapy, and How Clients Change 

The ultimate goals of therapy are to heal or alleviate symptoms of a given condition successfully. These goals are typically shared by the caregiver, or the psychotherapists and the patient. Meaning that these are shared goals, which both the patients and the caregivers work towards attaining (Cooper, 2018; Michopoulos & Zervas, 2009). 

For clients to attain total healing according to the therapy plan, there must make a great effort between the psychotherapists or caregivers and the clients. Some conditions, more especially mental diseases require that patients are given particular attention so that they can fully recover. 

After healing, specific changes in a client’s behaviour act as indicators that they have recovered. For instance, a person who is addicted to substance abuse may never pass a single day without using the drugs they are addicted to. However, if they are successfully taken through cognitive therapy or any other treatment to make them understand the dangers of abusing drugs, they could slowly change their attitudes and eventually stop abusing drugs. 

Nevertheless, it is worthy to note that the change might take time and therefore, it requires one to be patient, if indeed they desire to accomplish the therapeutic goals. For example, a patient who was an addict to alcohol and used to take seven bottles of tusker a day, after undergoing through the psychotherapy may reduce to three bottles and after some time go to one and at the end stop using at all (Sundet, 2017). Therefore, the psychotherapists are expected to be extra patient. Otherwise, they may not attain the goals of therapy. 

The Goals of Change in My Philosophy of Counseling 

All counsellors have common goals; to heal their client’s emotional ailments, which are dangerous to human health. Therefore, the same shall apply, and I shall strive to alleviate symptoms of psychological conditions from the clients and restore their usual state of health (Geldard, Geldard, & Foo, 2017; King, 2017). However, it is best that one uses a different approach to ensure that the patients are healed. Therefore, to initiate change in my clients, I would primarily encourage the use of smartphones, to support more people, more especially those who might not afford the cash to get access to the counselling services through their gadgets at a subsided price (King, 2017). After that there shall be a series of follow-ups to ensure that indeed the client has changed for the better like for example, if he or she was profoundly distressed due to marriage issues, they become less worried and ready to accept life situations as they unveil. 

Clients Efforts to Bring About the Desired Change 

When conducting a counselling session, it is advised that counsellors come up with specific goals for their clients, which shall contribute to the overall attainment of the desired goals. After setting the goals, the clients are expected to work had to accomplish the goals without being pushed because if that happens there shall be a high likelihood that they shall fall back to their behaviours. Therefore, it is expected that clients fully collaborate and strive to build a good relationship with their therapists so that they can receive the best of their services. Collaboration in this aspect means doing what they are asked to do by their therapists without failure (Cooper, 2018; King, 2017). For instance, if they are asked to take two bottles of alcohol twice a week, in the journey to ending alcoholism, the client should try as much as he or she can to do it. The failure to comply with the given curative instruction may bring about mistrusts that could lower the therapists’ motivation, leading to reduced service delivery. 

Additionally, clients are required to remind their therapists about their sessions. Given the high number of clients a therapist may be having, sometimes they might forget to plan for some meetings. However, when their clients remind them, the probability skipping sessions is lowered, and the clients get their therapeutic services as scheduled (Cooper, 2018). But, when the clients ignore and forget to tell their therapist, it generates some level of discontinuity, which significantly interferes with the healing process and most likely the end goals of both the therapists and the patients might never be accomplished. 

Part 2 

How the Therapist and Client Work Together to Bring About Desired Change 

Therapists are typically they primary determinants of whether or not the desired change shall be attained. That is because they have undergone training on how to best handle their clients to initiate voluntary changes aimed at accomplishing the primary goal. They are expected to be respectful, kind and gentle when dealing with the clients to avoid provoking resistance in their clients, more especially if they treat them poorly, something that could hinder the accomplishment of the desired change (Matthys & Lochman, 2017). 

Additionally, to create a good bond between the client and the therapist, all counsellors are expected to involve their clients in any decision they make regarding their psychological health. By doing so, the therapists guarantee transparency and the patient increase their trust on them, hence increasing compliance to the given instructions. However, when the therapists make decisions without informing the clients, the level of trust declines and the patient may never follow the interventional instructions given the therapists. Equally, it is essential that the psychotherapists keep confidential information about their clients including details about their condition. Sharing of such information should only occur after the client has accepted that the information is shared with another person. Willingly or unwillingly leaking such information without the consent of the clients lowers their trust on the therapists and might never follow their instructions, hence affecting the effort to attaining the desired change. 

While therapists pray a significant role in promoting the process towards attaining the common goal, clients also pray an essential part that determines the rate at which the targets shall be accomplished. Clients are primarily expected to wholly corporate and adhere to the instructions given by their therapists. By doing that the rate of achieving the desired change increases and that acts as a motivation for the therapists, making them deliver the best of their services. 

Equally, just like the patients, the therapists also expect that their clients treat them with respect and kindness they deserve. It is sad that some clients, more especially those from loyal families, never care about the emotions of their therapists, and therefore, they call them names whenever they are treating them. However, such cases of clients disrespecting the therapists happen mostly when the clients are forced by the family members to take the therapeutic sessions to manage or to stop some behaviours such as drug addiction, which is a shame to the family members. Even so, the clients should be respectful enough to allow the therapists to deliver their services to attain the desired goals. 

Another critical aspect that can facilitate the accomplishment of the desired goals is the joint planning of counselling sessions. That means that the clients and the therapists should sit down and agree on the best times to have their meetings when both are comfortable and readily available until the sessions are completed. This act typically creates a good relationship between the clients and the therapists, hence facilitating the patient’s adherence to the interventional instructions given by the therapists. Therefore, clients and therapists must ensure that each decision they make, more especially those decisions aimed at accomplishing the target goals, are made together to promote transparency and trust between themselves. However, if that does not happen, then all the efforts directed at accomplishing the desired changes may go to waste, and the client shall remain in his or her psychological dilemmas, while the therapists shall have his or her name spoilt for poor service delivery. Thus, either way, each of the two parties’ gains when the target objectives are accomplished and loses when they are never performed, hence the reason for the need for the client and therapists to work together. 

The Role of the Therapist and the Client to Bring About the goals 

The therapists have a vital role in facilitating the attainment of counselling goals. First, they are responsible for determining the boundaries of the therapy condition. That process involves the activities done by the therapists to offer a comfortably safe environment and coming up with a warm and caring therapeutic ethos. Secondly, the psychotherapists are responsible for establishing and defining what exactly psychotherapy is, typically because what formulates psychotherapy differs amongst the therapists. Also, the therapists are expected to determine the administrative rules that apply to a specific therapeutic condition. This is vital because it involves the formulation of the contract between the clients and the therapists, where the therapists are expected to give professional therapeutic services while the patient is supposed to pay fees, comply to with the medications, and be responsible in keeping their appointments. 

Additionally, the therapists are also required to initiate and facilitate the awareness, and psychological growth and development of the patients. For the therapists to attain he or she must ensure that there is a perfect relationship between themselves and their clients as that is the precise vehicle that determines therapeutic injury or growth. However, it should be noted that an excellent connection shall only be established if the therapists are genuine, transparent and authentic. 

Despite the vast responsibilities prayed by the therapists, it is vital to remember that 40 to70% is dependent on the client variables. That is to say that, without appropriate corporation from the clients, the therapists may take the time or never attain the set goals. Therefore, to have successful schedules, clients are expected to have specific objectives they want to accomplish at the end of the therapy or rather a clear understanding what they need from the treatment (King, 2017). By having an excellent knowledge of what they need, clients can be able to promote the creation of healthy relationships with the therapists to facilitate the accomplishment of the common goals. That in return shall boost the client’s compliance with medication and hence, promote the therapists’ morale to give quality therapeutic services. 

The Methods and Techniques to Use to Bring Change 

When working with the clients, therapists hope to attain the set goals within the shortest time possible to be able to attend to other clients. However, the rate at which the changes are induced in clients is purely dependent on the methods and techniques used to bring that change. Some of the approaches that can facilitate the process of change in clients when efficiently applied by the therapists include; 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) 

This approach focuses on the careful examination of the negative thoughts to assist the clients to accept the emotional and mental experiences as they happen. Therefore, rather than focusing on the right thought changes, making clients to accept reactions as they occur is an excellent processor path targeted at facilitating client healing. In this approach, techniques such as observing thoughts non-judgmentally, and focusing on the present rather than the future or past can be meaningful in facilitating change. 

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy 

CBT majorly focuses on changing thoughts, e.g. individuals who are untrustworthy can be altered to trustworthy, and behaviours to change feelings and to improve surviving. The techniques that can be applied in this approach include analyzing the objective evidence for certainty or attempting a behavioural experiment to come up with strategies that can be effective in moving the clients towards attaining the concrete goal like lowering the number of panic attacks in a day. The clients and the therapists can work together to come up with common goals and formulate the necessary ways or approaches they shall use to accomplish those goals. The CBT method is particularly useful in treating anxiety and pain conditions but can also be applied to manage other health issues like stress and depressions (Matthys & Lochman, 2017). 

Sand Tray Therapy 

This method can be applied to both the children and adults, more especially those with trauma. The incredible thing about this approach is that it gives an imaginative and spontaneous expression of the inner world of youth, adult, or child in a sandbox, using tiny objects and figurines. Ability to express emotional distress in a defined space allows clients to give their stories, gain insights, and express emotions in a precise manner that facilitates change and healing. Thus, the approach is particularly useful for those clients who can comfortably express themselves through non-verbal ways. 

Observed and Experimental Integration 

The method involves talking through the experiences of trauma and physical movements to lower emotional intensity and give the brain an opportunity to make sense of the elaborate physical, sensory, cognitive and emotional skills linked with trauma. This approach is hugely gentle in that the therapists ask their clients to close one eye at a time and follow their finger. The eye movements are what result in resolving or integrating trauma and lessening the intensity of emotions and bodily sensations linked with the traumatic experiences. 

Gottman Couples therapy 

This approach is based on the relationship research of Drs. John Gottman and Julie, who have discovered some ways through which couples can enhance maladaptive association patterns. For instance, withdrawal and hostility are two interactions that have superior ergative effects on happiness and health of relationships. Applying this information can assist the therapists to work with their clients, more especially couples to identify problems affecting their relationship ad come up with ways to transform these patterns into improved connection and communication. This, therefore, facilitates the process of attaining the set common goals using the shortest time possible. 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing 

This approach has been proven to be effective in treating different conditions as cognitive-behavioural therapy. The therapist when using this approach makes the client recall the memories while eye movement or any other physical movements like tapping are applied. Combining these methods is believed to allow the mind to process memories that were overwhelming and therefore, allowing the individuals to get healed. In particular, the approach works to lessen the life impact or the intensity of traumatic memories and additional trauma symptoms like anxiety and triggers. 

Emotion-Focused Therapy 

Emotion-Focused Therapy is usually used in relationship and couples therapy, as well as with adults and children, and focuses on the emotive ties between family members. If the bond is destroyed, for instances, by betrayal or misunderstandings, or a relationship tends to be bogged down in mistrust and miscommunication, and additional hurts continue to amass. The therapist in such scenario is expected to focus on repairing the bond using supportive and gentle discussions of past events. Also, the therapists should identify individual needs of the partners to be able to develop an approach that will foster closeness and therefore, improving relationships. 

These methods and techniques, therefore, when effectively by the therapist they can manage to achieve a common goal; change in the client. However, it should be noted that the choice for the method to be used should be a jointly discussed to avoid unnecessary mid-way conflicts between the clients and therapists after the counselling sessions have commenced. 

Part 3 

The relationship of My theory to both Psychology/Counseling and Christianity 

Just like Christian counselling and secular counselling, my argument is aimed at helping people to overcome their problems, find meaning and joy in their lives, and become well-adjusted and healthy individuals, both emotionally and mentally. However, unlike the Christianity counselling that incorporates Biblical truths, spiritual dimensions, and seeking God’s will in the individual’s life, my theory shall focus on non-spiritual issues that trouble human beings. Some of the main problems to be focused on include issues with financial instabilities, which largely contributes to marriage breakups, and excessive use of social media. In fact, it has currently emerged that most of the human sufferings are now significantly caused by the excessive use of social media platforms. People are spending most of their time on the platforms than they do with their family members, and friends, therefore resulting to a state of loneliness, which has increased depression and emotional problems in several people (Cooper, 2018; Michopoulos & Zervas, 2009). Therefore, my theory shall focus more on solving these current problems caused by social media usage that has facilitated marriage and relationship breakups. 

Metasystem from the Approaches 

The applicability of the psychotherapeutic approaches in bringing change in clients is vital in promoting human health. These approaches are precisely crucial because they restore human nature and development allowing people to act soberly when interacting with one another and their surrounding environments. 

Currently, human beings are undergoing severe psychological problems caused by the tremendous political, environmental and technological changes happening all over the world. These issues are making people adopt unhealthy ways of living, which have led to severe emotional problems, resulting in a high number of suicidal cases. Therefore, to solve these issues, the therapeutic approaches discussed must be used appropriately by the existing therapists to help humans regain their right senses to facilitate the elimination of the problems affecting them. 

In conclusion, the paper has precisely illustrated that for human beings to attain proper development and maturity, they must be able to understand their nature first. That means that rational people must be able to identify and distinguish between right and wrong to be able to promote healthy relationships and interactions with the environment. Also, with aims to accomplish therapeutic goals, it is evident that there must be good relationships between the clients and the therapists. However, to note is that the relationship can only be developed in each of the parties understand their roles in working towards attaining a common goal. The therapists must realize that he or she is expected to deliver or give best interventions, while the patient is expected to comply and strictly adhere to the provided instructions. Therefore, when there are any differences between the client and the therapists, quick solutions must be found to avoid interfering with the rapid process of attaining a change in clients. 

References 

Cooper, M. (2018). Goal-oriented practice across therapies. Working with Goals in Psychotherapy and Counselling , 181. 

Geldard, K., Geldard, D., & Foo, R. Y. (2017). Counselling children: A practical introduction . Sage. 

Hirai, T. (2017). History of development: towards human development. In The Creation of the Human Development Approach (pp. 1–20). Springer. 

King, G. (2017). The role of the therapist in therapeutic change: How knowledge from mental health can inform pediatric rehabilitation. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics , 37 (2), 121–138. 

Matthys, W., & Lochman, J. E. (2017). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder in Childhood , 153–172. 

Michopoulos, I. M., & Zervas, I. M. (2009). Psychotherapeutic approaches of depression. Psychiatrike= Psychiatriki , 20 (3), 211–221. 

Miller, R. R., & Polack, C. W. (2017). Sources of Maladaptive Behavior in ‘Normal’Organisms. Behavioural Processes . 

Payne, V. G., & Isaacs, L. D. (2017). Human motor development: A lifespan approach . Routledge. 

Sundet, R. (2017). Feedback as means to enhance client–therapist interaction in therapy. In Routine Outcome Monitoring in Couple and Family Therapy (pp. 121–142). Springer. 

Thorpe, W. H. (2018). Animal nature and human nature . Routledge.