Assessment process critical thinking sample

DVD ANALYSIS
DVD Analysis on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Introduction

There are events that may happen to a person’s life, which may affect a person’s behaviour and perception towards certain things later in life. Such a person may develop an attitude towards certain things and actions, which may be related to the events that happened previously, in the person’s life. Therefore, such a person requires professional assistance in order to cope and eventually overcome the prevailing effects of previous events. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a pragmatic, psychotherapy form emphasizing on the imperative role of perceptions in the way people feel and do (Leahy 2003). CBT rests on the notion that, people’s feelings and behaviours are caused by people’s thoughts, and have nothing to do with such external things as situations, events, and people. CBT is intended to make affected people change the way they think by taking control of their thoughts so as to attain full recovery (Westbrook et al. 2011). Therefore, this study critically analyzes CBT as revealed in the 50 minute CBT counselling session, in a DVD.
When people are distressed, they may tend to think differently, which affects how they think about certain situations and themselves. From the counselling session provided, it is evident the patient, Amar, is undergoing distress from the way the views are presented. The counsellor, Lamia, is determined to help Amar lead a healthy life free from anxiety. This counselling session reveals that Amar is anxious and is worried to use the lifts. Amar would rather use the staircase, however tall the building, rather than use the lift. This is because of the fear that the lift may get stuck. Amar also reveals previous experiences with cannabis, which appear to be related to his anxiety in the sense that; the moment he stops taking cannabis, the anxiety sessions start.
Since CBT is involved in holding talks with the client in order to determine the cause of the problem, it is, therefore an extensive form of therapy. From the presented counselling session, Lamia is determined to assist Amar by following such steps as assessment, evaluation, and final approach on the course of action to be taken.

In CBT, it is necessary for counsellors to assess their clients in order to understand their past. Hence, with CBT, the past is critical since it holds key information to the current behavioural challenges that affect the client. Without a proper understanding of a client’s past, counsellors may encounter challenges in administering their services, and the client may be more distressed than helped. In this case, Lamia decides to use schema therapy in administering help to Amar.
Schema therapy is a pioneering psychotherapy intended to assist in personality disorders and chronic depression among others (Rafaeli et al. 2011). Schema therapy has the intention of incorporating elements of behaviour, object relations, cognitive, and gestalt therapies into an amalgamated, methodical advancement to treatment. The four principal concepts of Schema therapy include early maladaptive schemas, coping styles, schema domains and schema modes. Early Maladaptive Schemas are behaviours or patters that people tend to use repeatedly throughout their lives. People tend to acquire certain behavioural patterns that come to be manifested in their lives as permanent, and thus have an effect on the personal lives of these people. In looking at Coping Styles, these are ways in which people adapt to the schemas and early experiences in their lives. Schema Domains involves a child’s emotional needs. If, for any reason, a child’s emotional needs are not sufficiently met during childhood, there is a high likelihood of the development of unhealthy schemas, which may contribute to unhealthy behavioural patterns. Lastly, Schema modes are emotional states used by people occasionally. These modes can sometimes be dormant for long periods of time, only to be activated by certain things.
In the assessment, the client has to feed the counsellor with all necessary information regarding their past. In this case, Amar has to reveal imperative information regarding his past, which may help Lamia in the evaluation process. A successful assessment process will provide an excellent chance to experiencing a successful evaluation process. Wright (2006) asserts that, the assessment stage rotates around on behavioural and cognitive observations, in addition to, such other factors as social, biological, spiritual and interpersonal factors among others. All these are incorporated to ensure the counsellor is equipped with all necessary information relating to the client’s past. This process is demanding because the counsellor has to cultivate a dual relationship with the client. Wright et al. (2002) concur that this process requires an active discussion, whereby the client has to engage with the counsellor in giving out information that is relevant to the situation at hand. This sees the promotion of collaboration in attempts to assist the client choose objectives for change. In this case, Lamia is seen to cultivate such a relationship by convincing Amar to relate to her his past, and especially regarding the time Amar started becoming anxious. Lamia tries to engage Amar in a friendly discussion, which can be perceived to reduce the anxiety in Amar, to enable him open up. Anxiety proves to cause much distress to Amar as he becomes easily irritated and fearful of the lifts. It is likely he may not reveal all the necessary details if he were still anxious; hence Lamia’s method of a friendly approach which begins at the introductory process assists the assessment process immensely.

Evaluation Process

After analyzing the information given by the client regarding the past, the counsellor is prepared to evaluate the information so as to get the relationship between the past life and the current behavioural changes. According to Wills (2008), this process is vital in getting the answers to the problems at hand. After Amar gives an account of his life, and his anxious moments in life, Lamia is set to evaluate Amar’s experiences in order to attain an effective solution. The evaluation process can involve other strategies introduced by the counsellor so as the client can reveal more of the issues at hand. The counsellor can lead the client in some exercises intended to assist the counsellor in determining the main factors affecting the client. In the presented case, the counsellor leads the client in sessions where the client is supposed to close the eyes, and imagine a safe place. This is intended to evaluate Amar’s reaction and observation after this session. The counsellor uses such methods to evaluate how hard the client has been affected by the past behaviours, in order to understand the best method to use on the client.
In the evaluation process, the counsellor has the task to identify the major target to handle (Wright et al. 2002). It is the prerogative of the counsellor to identify targets that need to be tackled in order to achieve the desired solutions. The evaluation process, in this case, leads Lamia, the counsellor, to recognize the early maladaptive schema, edged in Amar’s life. One of the principal origins of early maladaptive schema is early childhood incidents, which appears to contribute to Amar’s problems.
These skills are effective in the sense that Amar confesses to feeling safe after being subjected to the ‘ feeling safe’ therapy. Thus, after being informed to close his eyes and imagine a safe place, Amar confesses after the end of that session that he feels safe. His anxiety has vastly reduced and he can connect with his inner self regarding his fears. According to Holmes et al. (2007) the methods used should be effective from the start. The client should show signs of willingness to share information with the counsellor for the methods to show effectiveness. In the case, the methods used by Lamia prove successful since Amar shows the willingness to share his information with the client. Information shared is a reflection of behaviours that could have contributed to the present behavioural state.
According to Bannink (2012) methods are effective if; the client is convinced to change previous thoughts about oneself, and adopt new ones. There are old ways in a person’s life that may be impacting on the present behavioural change, and hence the need to ensure the client is convinced to change. This conviction is arrived at if the client can be taken to understand the real cause of the problem. When the client becomes aware of the root of the problem, then it becomes easy to implement a solution to the problem. Also, when clients understand the problem, they can revisit and recount their experiences without feelings of despair or anxiety. Since the counsellor achieved the intended goal and Amar was able to feel good about himself again, the methods articulated by Lamia can be termed as effective. From the time Lamia introduced herself and promised to assist Amar attain the desired help; the methods applied have been effective. These methods are effective even to the accuracy in the way they are implemented.
Overall, the methods used in the provided case can be said to be effective. This is because; the client can relate the past, which appears to cause the present behavioural patterns. The use of schema therapy by the counsellor appears to work in relating the client’s past behaviours that appear to impact negatively on the current state of behaviours. The fear of using the lifts tends to emanate from the fact that the client stopped taking cannabis, and hence the feeling of having lost control. While the client used cannabis, there was a feeling of being in control. The client could jump and perform other stunts with ease, but after stopping taking cannabis, there was a sense of fear, and the client was always worried of a disaster.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident cognitive behavioural therapy is imperative in counselling of people with anxiety disorders. The behaviours portrayed by people have a relationship in the way people think. Schema therapy is also imperative in trying to find past behaviours, which may affect a person’s future behavioural pattern. Amar’s experience with cannabis appears to be the source of the current behavioural patterns of anxiety. This is revealed in his fear to use the lifts, getting easily irritated, and trying hard not to cause fights.

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