Respond to a minimum of two of your classmates’ posts.
No particular word requirement but must effectively respond and not just “I agree”. Give feedback.
Kentoya:
I think out of the three, resistance would be the most difficult to overcome with a client. I think resistance would be most difficult because its hard to help someone that is resisting your assistance to help them become a better person. In this profession we are here to help, its our job but when you get someone who declines your help it can make us feel like we haven’t completed our job. We must remember its nothing personal we just must learn to manage resistance.
The helping professional falls victim to these issues as well by not being as understanding and respectful of their clients beliefs and issues. The helping professional needs to be capable of insight, understanding and compassion without losing boundaries, to be exceptionally reliable , trustworthy, and discreet, able to put her/his own interests and concerns aside in the presence of clients (patients, parishioners) and at bottom have some affection for one’s fellow human beings. We can not be judgmental at all of others and we must put our differences aside.
I must say dependency is more likely than another because when someone depends on you, you never want to let them down. As a teacher I could be sick but I still try to push my way through the day to attend work because i know my students come in the door each morning prepared to see me. I know they depend on me and their parents as well. So I try my best not to let them down.
Monica:
This week we were asked what would be the most difficult to deal with between vulnerability,
dependence and resistance with out clients. As I was thinking more about this, I have chosen to think that dependency is going to be the most challenging thing for me. The way we look at dependency is that our clients are dependent on us and it can cause some pain or miserable feelings because they are having to depend on someone else.
While we are working with our clients, we are able to fall victim because our clients can take advantage of us and get more assistance than they truly are needing. While we are showing compassion that doesnt mean that our clients can take advantage of us and get everything handed to them. We need to show them how to stand up for what they want and giving them the proper tools to achieve what they are wanting.
Tonya:
What avenues do you feel would be useful techniques for managing the stress that accompanies the Helping Profession?
Stress come with any job, but when you wok in a helping profession, the problems and issues from others can consume you. Learning to not take things personal and not take the problems home that others present to you through their sessions. Keep things with your client professional and always remember that their problems are clear to them even if you can’t relate to them or understand them. Each day you will be presented with some kind of stress, whether it is stress from your own life or the stress from your client. Breathing techniques and music usually gets me into a better mood and when that does not help, I exercise.
How can the Helping Professional remain empathetic without becoming sympathetic?
Putting yourself in the shoes of others makes you empathetic to the situation, but don’t try o take on their problem as yours because that will consume you and make things more stressful in your own personal life. As stated above, even if you don’t see why or how someone feels in, you should always take in consideration that it is real to them. We are not in the minds of our clients and we don’t really know how they are feeling, our job is to coach them and teach them ways to cope with the problems/issues at hand. If we can’t reach them on the level that they are at, we can pin t them in the direction that best fit their situation.
After taking the coping and stress management skills test, I scored a 73. My results indicate that I often use strategies to cope with stress. I use sleep, music, long drives and exercise to cope with the stress that I have in my life. I do not really have much stress in my life because I have adopted the attitude of “It is, what it is”.
Kentoya:
What avenues do you feel would be useful techniques for managing the stress that accompanies the Helping Profession?
Some useful techniques for managing stress would be to remember the profession you chose. In the helping profession we are helping people who have issues which is why they need us. It is our duty to not judge them and help them as much as we can. Indeed they may be stressed and they may even stress you a little but try to remain calm. Give yourself breaks in between clients to clear your mind. Listen to soothing music and sometimes candles help a little. Remember all information is kept confidential, I know sometimes we feel the need to vent but we cant.
How can the Helping Professional remain empathetic without becoming sympathetic?
I think the helping profession can try to view things from the others point of view. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what if that was me? What if I had all of these issues going on? Who would help me? How would I feel? I think this means a lot to me because I tend to want to help a lot I hate to see people struggle but I have to also realize I cant make their issues mine either. In the helping profession we are here to help them get through their issues and realize we can not solve every issue but assure them that we are here to help.
