Phenomenon of the Shadow Side

The field of psychology is rich with phenomena that affect human behavior in various ways. One such phenomenon is the ‘shadow side.’ According to Egan (2014), a shadow side refers to all things that have a consistent impact on the quality of personal decisions, whether positive or negative. A shadow side might not emanate from the affected person . A s a result, it is often least discussed or even imagined despite its adverse effects on the victim. In some instances, an individual might refer to shadow sides as personal ideas and thoughts that are not explicit . However, they can subvert and inhibit his or her original ideologies and beliefs. Thus , the false perceptions and thoughts tend to take the place of genuine and legitimate mental imaginations. This essay is aimed at describing a shadow side, the possible shadow side issues and how these issues impact the counseling process. It will also present likely shadow side from a personal perspective. Secondly, the essay will explain and present the stages of Problem-Management. In this regard, it will provide an example of how this approach can be used with a client. The core concerns and processes of the problem management will be presented , and lastly, indicators of adherence to primary ethical principles of counseling in the execution of this approach will be given . 

Helpers often encounter numerous shadow side issues when dealing with their clients. For instance , the desire to establish sexual relationships is a shadow side issue that affects most helpers. In thi s case, the helper capitalizes on the vulnerability of the clients’ mental state and manipulates them for sexual favors. Therefore , the helper does not offer the client genuine and legitimate help but rather approaches the counseling process in a manner likely to increase his or her chances of getting such favors. Another shadow issue with most helpers when dealing with their clients is personal rivalry and hatred. Ega n (2014) cites that although helpers are expected to be impartial and to maintain a neutral stance, some fail to control their emotions when dealing with clients. As a result, they end up harboring feelings of hatred, rivalry or jealousy depending on the client ’s confes sions . Once a helper develops such emotions, there are high chances that he or she may lose interest in helping the client. 

The impact of sh ad ow sides is that they can significantly compromise the quality of counseling process. Once a helper develops any personal emotions towards the client , he or she ceases to be a helper and subsequently becomes part of the problem (Egan , 2014). Rather than sticking to the conventional counseling procedures, in such instances , helpers manipulate the se processes in favor of their emotions towards the client. Hence, a helper is ad vis ed to promptly terminate his or her services once shadow sides become evident in the process of helping a client . The personal shadow sides from a personal perspective are rivalries. This is because I hate failure and as a result, tend to perceive all competitors as personal enemies . This is because their presence impl ies my victory is not guaranteed. Therefore, I harbor negative feelings towards any competitors regardless of whether I win or lose in any competiti ve process that I am part of . As a result, my relationship with my competitors often does not depict competitive rivalr y. R ather , it is a manifestation of personal enmity.

Egan (2014) describe s three major stages in Problem -Management. The initial stage is the identification of the problem , where the helper guides the client in discover ing the exact concern. The second stage entails positive behavior reinforcement. In this stage , the helper takes the client through the process of overcoming the identified problem. The third and final stage involves monitoring resurgence. At this stage, t he client is required to report any signs that might be associated with the problem that was re solved in stage one. I can implement this three-stage Problem-Management approach on an alcoholic client. The initial step would be helping the client to accept that he is an alcoholic. Subsequently , the second stage would involve slowly taking the client through the process of reducing his or her consumption to a relatively healthy level, and finally to the point quitting alcohol altogether . In the third stage, I w ould require the client to report back to me any developing desires to go back to alcoholism. This is with the aim of ensuring that the client doesn’t go back to the harmful habit. 

One of the main concern s and processes of any helper in P roblem -M anagement is the clients’ tendencies to go back to the initial stage , and to the condition that prompted the need for help in the first place . Hence, helpers do not care so much about the duration it takes to achieve the desired result , but are more concerned about the impact of the entire process on the client. In this regard, the problem identification stage and solution finding stage are the most important stages in P roblem -M anagement Approach . Thus, I would be very keen on the two. One approach would be to give the client sufficient time to identify all his or her problem s as well as any other issues that might be triggered by the initial condition. Similarly, when developing solutions, I would be keen in helping the client to explore all possible solutions to the situation. I this case, I reckon that the manner in which the first two stages are handled determines the chances of the resurgence of the problem . Therefore , hurried explorations and decisions result in shorthand solutions while extensively thought out approaches lead to zero resurgences . 

T o ensure that all the ethical principles of counseling are maintained in the P roblem -M anagement Approach, counselors have to stick to the required code of conduct in professional counseling (Egan , 2014). Although professional helpers might not have someone to superv ise their work , rules and regulations exist that govern the relationship between the client and the counselor. Similarly, there are predefined procedures that helpers ought to follow whenever attending to different clients . An important provisio n of the professional code of conduct in counseling is that any form of client manipulation is punishable by law. In this case, helpers who fail to terminate their help despite the existence of shadow sides go against the code of conduct and are liable to punishment by both the counselor’s professional body and the law of the land.

Reference  

Egan, G. (2014). The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping . Cengage Learning.