Reflective Essay on Counselling Psychology

Introduction

Mental health counselling is essential as it helps people to solve the problems they face every day. According to Cross et al. (2015), mental health refers to the well-being state of mind where an individual recognizes their potential. It helps a person to contribute to society, work fruitful and be able to cope and effectively handle stress. For us to function in the right way, our mind and our body should be healthy since they both work as a unit. However, if one unit fails to function properly, then the rest cannot work effectively as well. Mainly, the reason why I need to attend a mental health counselling is to help me figure out how to reduce the symptoms, work out my emotions and return to effective functioning. Therapists can assist you to comprehend your mental problem and the reason behind your disorder unlike trying to understand it on your own which may cause anxiety, depression, and stress.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Additionally, other reasons that necessitate the need for mental health counselling include the urge to develop my self-esteem. I have been looking at my condition negatively for a long time now. Hence, the services of a therapist will probably help me regain self-confidence and start positively seeing my situation. Also, before starting my counselling, I had a problem with my emotions. Seeing my peers making fun of my state made me react aggressively and being forced to fight with them, but I realized I was being isolated and left alone by the majority of my friends (Cross et al. 2015). The situation made me decide to go for mental health counselling to get some guidance to balance my emotions.

Some interpersonal conflicts I experience as a victim of bipolar for about five years include mood swings. According to Marshall et al. (2018), interpersonal conflicts are emotional experiences where one may feel as if he/she is not being valued in their society or is facing discrimination. The mood swings from interpersonal conflicts caused me isolation by all my friends because it was difficult to maintain a normal friendship. Because my moods kept changing I would not hold a friend for long since friendship depends on the way individuals treat each other. Being isolated by my friends made my life miserable and lonely to a point where I even attempted to commit suicide at the age of thirteen years. However, as mentioned above I applied mental health counselling to try to solve the situation. I visited a therapist who helped me understand my condition and taught me how to adjust the disorder.

Conclusion

I agree with the guidelines of the American Counselling Association (ACA) that provided self-awareness of multicultural and social justice counselling competencies in a patient with mental health problems. For instance, I have had a bipolar disorder since I was thirteen years, a condition that made me attempt suicide due to interpersonal conflicts that I experienced then. ACA assisted me to recover from my state so that I would not suffer from the experiences I had again (Marshall et al. 2018). They assisted me to enrol in a mental counselling program and also gave me some medical prescriptions to assist in the treatment of my condition. Additionally, ACA helps people with different situations like mine to look at their conditions positively to ensure their conditions does not affect the way they interact with others. The association also assist individuals with the responsibility of helping people living with disorders such as bipolar to have the necessary traits such as determination and willingness to help people.

References

Cross, J. R., & Cross, T. L. (2015). Clinical and mental health issues in counselling the gifted individual. Journal of Counseling & Development, 93(2), 163-172.

Lichtenberg, J. W., Goodyear, R. K., Hutman, H., & Overland, E. A. (2016). Counselling psychology in the United States. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 29(2), 216-224.

Marshall, M., Shannon, C., Meenagh, C., Mc Corry, N., & Mulholland, C. (2018). Irish journal of psychological medicine, 35(1), 23-32.