Wellness comprises the emotional, physical, mental, social, intellectual, spiritual and environmental well-being of an individual. To strike a balance among all these factors, there must be preventive measures towards issues that might impact negatively on each of the factors. One of the most effective measures employed in institutions and organizations is the availability of professional counsellors. The counsellors have the duty of providing support on as much as each factor is concerned. Apart from counsellors, institutions have their own policies to ensure existence of ‘wellness’ (Sink, 2011) among the employees or the students. This paper will discuss in detail one case affecting the wellness of an individual and how a counsellor is involved in the scenario.
An example of a mental case, as one of the factors that affect wellness has been discussed in detail by Sink (2011). The case involves Amy, who is a 15 year old student. Amy goes to the counsellor with issues affecting her. Amy believes she is depressed and hence needs some guidance. She misses parental love and concern because her mother is busy at work if not work, she is at home with visitors. Additionally, she finds it hard to make friends and has only one whom they can freely engage with. The grades at school are dropping and she has no interest in school programs, she is unkempt because she shows up roughly dressed and has the fear of relocating since it will be tougher to make new friends (Sink, 2011).
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The characteristics of Amy’s condition are an indication of anxiety and depression disorders which are mental disorders. These cases need to be dealt with to make sure the student exhibits wellness. The areas that need promotion of wellness and resilience are; guiding Amy on ways of making more friends or ways of creating long-term relationships with more people. Furthermore, promotion of the positive behaviour needs to be put into consideration. To achieve this, the counsellor needs to involve other parties like the psychologist, the class teacher and the mother. They need to take Amy through a positive behaviour transition. The mother needs to be talked to by the counsellor on the issues affecting Amy and what she thinks she can do to help Amy’s condition improve. On the other hand, the counsellor can talk to Amy friend and assist her in getting more ways to help Amy make more friends and end the fear she has over meeting new people. All in all, the counsellor has the responsibility to ensure the ethics of counselling are followed in each step (ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counsellors, 2016).
Promotion f wellness and resilience is very critical for Amy because it is one of the ways that will help her be stronger as an individual. Ways should be put in place to promote and increase her self-esteem, impart in her skills of coping with different issues. Additionally, it will help her with making better choices especially involving her studies, personal hygiene and relationships. Promotion of wellness also helps in reducing the barrier that might exist when people with mental illness are involved. It helps prevent discrimination and bullying towards people with mental disorders thus reducing on stigma. It also strengthens the community around, in this case, the students. The relationships among students become stronger and constructive thus creating a community that is stronger (Module6: Promoting Mental Health and Wellness, n.d).
Primary prevention strategies that can be implemented to help with the case of Amy are; conducting a parent-teacher and parent-counsellor meeting to discuss Amy’s Issue (Module6: Promoting Mental Health and Wellness, n.d). Amy’s mother needs to be notified on what is going on and helped to look for ways that her as individual can implement to help with the case. Having the meeting will also help in identifying the major problems that Amy claims to be having. The mother will explain her point of view and at last a better solution is reached. The other way is detailed counselling to Amy. The counsellor needs to look for ways to ensure that the student fully opens up, talks about her issues and help her find a better solution to the problems she is experiencing.
There are ethical standards that need to be followed when dealing with a case like Amy’s. These standards have been clearly explained in the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counsellors (2016). One of the ethical standards that needs to be adhered to based on the primary interventions discussed above will be confidentiality. It involves the counsellor explaining to Amy what he or she will do as a professional, explain the whole process that will be involved, seek consent on continuity or dismissal of the procedures and also seek consent from Amy concerning the involvement of other parties like a teacher and the mother. Furthermore, the counsellor should assure Amy of how confidential the information they share is which also promotes openness.
The other ethical standard that need to be followed is that of appropriate referrals and advocacy. If the counsellor needs to bring in the medical team, then he or she should ensure the psychologist or the medical practitioner is qualified and registered with the responsible bodies. Additionally, the counsellor needs to give a detailed list of the resources the family will incur according to the condition Amy is experiencing. When making the referral, Amy should be aware of it and the reasons for the action clearly explained to her. If the counsellor goes ahead to advocate for other resources, clear explanations need to be given and the student also made aware.
References
ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counsellors. (2016). American School Counsellor Association
Module 6: Promoting Mental Health and Wellness. (n.d). A Training Manual for Health Workers on Promoting Healthy Lifestyle
Sink, C. (2011). Mental Health Interventions for School Counsellors
