Usefulness of Mindfulness Based Strategies/Therapies in Counseling
Introduction
Tackling all the pros and cons among other issues that affect the human state of mind is not an easy task to accomplish. The strategic tactics like mindfulness-based approaches examined by such researchers as Chiesa and Malionopwski are the common counseling styles applied in treating psychiatric, physical and mental issues (Chiesa and Malionopwski 404). At times life exhibits issues to all people where they face, health complications, family issues, relationship and career issues. In this regard, these problems must be addressed to motivate the establishment of a strategy to tackle them. As these researchers postulate, sharing these personal with a counselor is very beneficial to prevent stress and depressions (Chiesa and Malionopwski, 2011). This essay discusses the mindfulness-based strategies (MBS) as applied in counseling with special attention to the treatment and management of depression in contemporary literature.
Discussions
According to Moragne (2001), counseling makes the depression victims feel peaceful, comfortable, secure and relieved in their daily life activities. The MBS assures victims the feeling of connection with close family members, friends and spouses. In some cases where depression is caused by lack of life goals, counseling enables patients to identify their life goals in order to make new ones. Counselors employ different strategies to deal with depression victims. Although Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, and Oh, (2010) argued that the efficacy of MBS in enacting treatment for depression are not well investigated, some of the most effective strategies of counseling through MBS have been addressed by authors as described in the following subtitles.
Trust worthiness: It is the obligation of the practitioner to create conducive environment for the client to enhance full trust. In a managerial perspective, the counselor must have such social qualities as communication skills, congruence, responsiveness and positivity towards the client (Sipe, 2012).
Spheres of influence: This appraisal will require the individual to look keenly at the areas in their lives that mostly affect them. The individual’s task is to figure out the areas that either brings depressions or contentment. The common spheres of influence to put into considerations are personalities, friends, family, spouse, colleagues at job places, the community, religion, students at school, or any other external influences (Sipe, 2012). A clear assessment will aid the counselor in coming up with a strategy to control depression.
Congruence: After assessing the challenges facing the client, the counselor should be genuine with the feedback they give to the client. It is client is expected to be honest on such information relating to their counseling as beliefs, current situations, and perceived progress (O'Driscoll, 2009). Genuine patients and counselors get and deliver reliable advices that can help the patient of depression.
Encouragement: The clients must be encouraged to facilitate the progress of counseling and bring mutual understanding between them and counselor. This is a very essential technique as it brings the crucial confidence and respect that is required from both the client and the counselor (Leong, 2008).
Engagement: It is very essential to have a good relationship that is professional between the parties involved. In some cases, as it is expected, there are arguments between the parties involved during the counseling sessions. The counselor is expected to have influential engagement that will not ruin their already in existence relationship but make it professional.
Open-Ended Questions: The “why”, “what”, and “how” questions are sufficient when triggering the client to answer in a straightforward manner (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010). These types of questions encourage both parties in any counseling session to add more helpful information.
Working Alliance: For a successful counseling session that will make the client feel relieved and satisfied, it is essential to have working alliance between both parties (Moragne, 2001). Working alliance entails active collaboration between the person offering the therapy and the client. It is upon both parties to agree on the maters at hand, suggestions and how to achieve the suggestions.
The use of technology in therapy has been in practice for a long time (Rosenthal, 2011). Using the latest computerized therapy, more people have had more attention from researchers. This type of therapy has been verified and passed fit to be used for any type of depression. This occurrence replicates the changing attitude by many people to use the internet as a reliable source to seek answers to mental problems. Therapeutic provisions using the internet have been rapidly increasing despite the rising issues of online mental health (Leong, 2008). There are various challenges involved with online communication and as a result, there have been suggestions that this medium isn’t appropriate as it is accompanied by many challenges. There are few therapists who have defied all odds and by overcoming the technical challenges and they have been successful because of familiarizing themselves with the computerized communication. There are some key components of these forms of communication that ought to be used by therapists. By expressing themselves exclusively, the therapists can extend new innovative strategies. As depicted above, online therapy is a platform in which people attempt to tackle depression issues. However, there have been questions on the efficacy about the counseling psychologists.
Dialectical behavior therapy is a type of therapy that was originally used to offer advice to women suffering from suicidal behaviors (Rosenthal, 2011). This type of therapy has been found to be as an effective method of treatment for changing the therapy interfering behavior, anger expression, hospitalization, suicidal behaviors as well as healthcare utilization. According to research, Dialectical behavior therapy is the best type of therapy to deal with disorder of emotional dysregulation (Sipe, 2012). Hence, some researchers have suggested that Dialectical behavior therapy could be very effective in the treatment of emotional problem. Consequently Dialectical behavior therapy is also very important in dealing with behavioral control that is very frequent in many mental health problems. This type of therapy involves different forms of treatment; weekly group training weekly individual therapy and couching using the phone as a medium of communication to address the motivational problems and skills that are people who are diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Conclusion
The counseling psychology accumulates research that is very high quality together with the work of a psychologist. This review of literature does not only focus on work completed in UK but also to other international institutions using related therapeutic disciplines. It focuses on having excellent outcomes more willingly than the methodological preferences. This type of therapy is expected to have submissions on the case studies on the condition that they are presented under research frame. Submissions are also expected from methodological papers that are closely related to the effort of the counseling psychologist.
References
Bhanji, S. (2011). Is it time we turn towards 'third wave' therapies to treat depression in primary care? A review of the theory and evidence with implications for counseling psychologists. Counselling Psychology Review, 26(2), 57-69.
Chiesa, A., & Malinowski, P. (2011). Mindfulness-based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(4), 404-424. doi:10.1002/jclp.20776
Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169-183. doi:10.1037/a0018555
Leong, F. T. (2008). Encyclopedia of counseling. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Moragne, W. (2001). Depression. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First century Books.
O'Driscoll, A. (2009). The growing influence of mindfulness on the work of the counseling psychologist. A review. Counselling Psychology Review, 24(3-4), 16-25.
Rosenthal, H. (2011). Favorite counseling and therapy techniques. New York: Routledge.
Sipe, W. J. (2012). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Theory and Practice. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(2), 63-69.
