COU102 Theories of Counselling

Joel is a 36 year old man who has come to counselling because he feels unhappy and unsatisfied in his life. Joel’s mother died when he was 12 and Joel grew up with his father, who he describes as a good man, who worked hard to support his son, but struggled with anger and alcohol issues and was never able to fully recover from the death of Joel’s mother. Joel felt that his father was distant and so caught up in his own grief that he was never able to love Joel.

Joel describes himself as a rebel in his teens, who gave his father a hard time but that he worked hard and went to university, which he saw as a way out of the small town he grew up in and a way to escape his father. He now has a successful career in corporate law and is married with a young son, Oliver, who has just had his first birthday.

Joel was initially happy in his career, as he enjoyed the challenge and the money that came with his job. He has been able to give his wife, Anna, all the things that he missed out on as a child: they have a big home in a good suburb and Oliver will go to private school. Anna does not have to work and they plan to try for a second child next year.

Despite all of the positives in his life, Joel still feels unhappy. He loves his wife and son, but is feeling oppressed by the constant demands of parenthood and feels that is work is suffering because he has to commit more time at home. He enjoys work less than he did and he feels that his relationship with Anna is also suffering as he finds himself wanting to spend more time away from home and is stressed and frustrated with the situation and worries about whether he can really be a good father and husband. He is also disappointed in himself for not being able to have more control over his life.

For the approach to counselling that you choose to focus on, include the following:

Identification of the key principles and goals of the approach in working with Joel,

Explanation on your role as the counsellor when applying the approach,

Explanation on the relevance of the chosen approach to Joel’s case (why the suggested approach may be helpful for him),

Suggestion of two techniques or interventions from the approach that you would use with Joel to facilitate change.