Introduction
An individual’s mental health is one of the major determinants of his/her well-being. The recent years, there has been a tendency toward the emergence of numerous problems in the given sphere. Stress, high speed of life, and social pressure impact people and their quality of life. Under these conditions, counseling interventions acquire the top priority as an important approach to helping clients to feel better. However, the choice of effective intervention depends on the current needs of an individual, his/her issues, and factors that should be addressed. The current state of a client can be evaluated by using specific developmental theories. They help to determine a person’s needs regarding his/her age and how they can be managed. Thus, the following case can be evaluated regarding the peculiarities of a client’s development and what counseling methods can be used.
Main body
Joey is a 30-year-old male single man who asks a counselor for assistance. He rents an apartment with his friend and does not have a regular job. Instead, he looks for temporary jobs to earn money and meet his current needs. Moreover, Joey does not have long and continuous relations with women. Instead, he prefers short sexual relations that do not last long. The client does not have a specific education, meaning his opportunities for building a career are limited. Joey comes from a family with many children and feels responsible for his sisters. The client is satisfied with his current life; however, in 2 months, his friend will marry, meaning Joey will live alone. He feels some anxiety about it and is nervous. Moreover, he is unsure whether he lives his best life and wants to change.
The case can be analyzed regarding the specific developmental stage of the client. Thus, the model, including elements of Erikson’s and Bronfenbrenner’s approaches, is used (Arnett & Jensen, 2018). It implies specific stages of an individual’s evolution regarding his/her age and current needs. Thus, following the model, the client’s developmental stage can be described as young adulthood (Arnett & Jensen, 2018). It implies specific changes in physiological and cognitive development. A person reaches the peak of his/her capabilities, his/her immune system functions effectively, and the person has the power and motivation to act and attain specific goals (Arnett & Jensen, 2018). At the same time, there are significant changes in cognition. They are characterized by shifting priorities from entertainment and short-time relations to family issues. As a result, a person starts analyzing his/her life regarding current achievements and person’s ability to succeed in the future.
The correct understanding of the given stage of development is vital for selecting counseling interventions and preventive strategies. For instance, intimacy versus isolation is the central emotional and psychological issue of the given developmental stage (Arnett & Jensen, 2018). The person might suffer from a change of priorities towards building stronger relations with a person and entering a new phase, such as creating a family. The inability to do it might cause a certain problem and the growth of mental issues (Corey, 2020). In this case, Joey worries about his current status compared to his friends. For a counselor, it is an important aspect as it means that interventions aimed at determining the current attitude to relations and barriers to their successful creation and maintenance must be identified and evaluated. It will create the basis for further cooperation and effective help.
The information about the client’s current developmental stage is also critical for selecting appropriate counseling interventions. For instance, the client’s issues with intimacy peculiar for his age might justify using attachment-oriented interventions. They are aimed at analyzing disorganized or insecure attachments and factors cultivating them to avoid poor socioemotional development and attain client’s well-being improvement (Corey, 2020). Additionally, prevention strategies focused on helping the person to understand the primary source of his anxiety and address it can be used (Corey, 2020). These might include communication, education, and the search for stressors (Corey, 2020). The combination of these approaches is vital for the client as they will consider his current peculiarities and create the basis for future improvement, which is one of the significant aims of successful counseling sessions. Additionally, it is ethical as it helps a person to play an active role in the process and realize his problems on his own.
Conclusion
Altogether, the person’s actual developmental stage is vital for the correct evaluation of his/her needs and issues essential at the moment. Using specific developmental theories, it is possible to analyze the individual’s behavior, outline main deficiencies, and select specific interventions to address the major causes of their emergence. For counseling, the knowledge of the client’s developmental stage leads to the choice of the correct intervention that might cultivate better mental help and promote an enhanced understanding of the source of anxiety or other problems. For this case, the application of attachment-oriented interventions is linked to the problem of intimacy vs. isolation typical for the identified developmental stage. These interventions will help to cultivate a better understanding of the client’s current problems and create the basis for new counseling sessions. In such a way, a counselor should possess the correct understanding of various developmental theories and be ready to use them in a real setting.
References
Arnett, J. J., & Jensen, L. A. (2018). Human development: A cultural approach (3rd ed.). Pearson.
Corey, G. (2020). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.