Dangers of over empathising

Dangers of over empathising Discussion This assignment will attempt to discuss the importance of empathizing during the counselling exchange and focus on pointing out the dangers of over empathising as well as discuss how these dangers can be avoided. Before analysing the problems that occur when the therapist over empathizes, I will try to stress the importance of empathy within the client therapist relationship. When referring to the term empathy we mean the capability to share and appreciate someone elses emotions and feelings. It is often referred to as the ability to put oneself into anothers shoes, or in some way experience what the other person is feeling, (Ekman, 1999). Empathising with patients should be the starting point for improving the client therapist relationship and the counselling exchange and process. Empathy has always been a significant characteristic of psychoanalytic treatment. It is the essential healing factor as well as the basis of data collection in psychoanalysis, (Plutchik, 1980). Even though empathy is vital in psychoanalytic, self-psychological, and client centred therapies, its main purpose is seen as different within each therapeutic method, (Nicoll, W.G. 1999). With client centred therapy, the most important role of empathy is to generate a specific kind of learning experience where clients exist and relate to themselves in a different way. In particular, the purpose is to assist people in developing the skill of learning and show them how to use experiential referents in making every day decisions. With psychoanalysis, empathy is a key that assists the therapist in developing insight into the clients unconscious dynamics. With self psychological therapy, empathy works as a way to strengthen self-structure. Even though these functions are different, they can coexist Rogerian therapy According to Rogerian therapy, the therapist enters the clients world. Within this unique world the therapist neither agrees or disagrees. and does not attempt to look into the subconscious, the unconscious or point out contradictions, (Rogers 1977). Instead, therapy is seen as a process of freezing the individual and taking away obstacles and barriers in order for normal growth and development to occur which would eventually result in the clients independence, (Moses, I. 1988). Within the process of therapy the client passes on from rigidly of self perception to fluidity. For this to happen the therapist must be completely genuine and must have positive attitude towards the client and show empathic understanding, (Shaffer, 1978). A fundamental but also tricky in respect to the amount of empathy towards the client is keeping positive attitude towards the client. This demands from the therapist to relate to the client as a person to a person and not as a scientist to an object of stu dy, (Cornelius, 1996). In the context of therapy, empathy is characterised and expressed by studying a persons facial expressions, studying the body movements , and by active listening, by hearing their tone of voice, (Haase Tepper, 1972). Rogers (1975) emphasised on the therapist sensing the clients inner experiencing and communicating something about this understanding back to the person. In this regard, empathy involves a commitment to grasp the internal state of an individual as accurately as possible (Cochran Cochran, 2006). It is the sustained interpersonal stance of the therapist in perceiving and responding to the private meanings of the client that is central to the healing and change process (Barret Lennard, 1976; Rogers, 1975; Bennet, 2001). In order for an empathic response of a therapist to affect a client, it must be expressed or made visible in some form (Barret Lennard, 1993). Although empathic acknowledgment may involve some form of stimulation in the therapist (the empathiser), the therapist should not adopt or experience this feeling as their own, instead they should locate the feeling in the other person. Otherwise the therapist may experience an emotional atmosphere or even that the emotions displayed belong to all the parties involved rather than just to the client, (Moses, I. 1988). As Rogers pointed out: it is crucial that the therapist is able to perceive the experience of a person, but without losing the as if the counsellor were the client (Rogers, 1957). It is said that, in therapy, it is essential for a practitioner to avoid allowing conflictive personal issues to interfere with the counselling relationship (Boy Pine, 1982). On the other hand however, if the therapist maintains only an emotionally distant level of engagement with the client, communications and understandings that are forthcoming from an experiential mode of empathy may be diminished or precluded, (Olinick, S. L. 1969). At this point it is crucial to point out that although empathy is important it can be a very difficult issue for many therapists, (Moses, 1988). This is because therapists are very vulnerable to an excessive level of identification with another individual when personal issues and conflicts are unresolved and subject to merging with the material of the client. Feeling too much can easily complicate things and make it difficult to treat the patient in a completely objective manner. Being too empathic may also result in the therapist in a sense picking up attributes of the patients physical and mental disease. When over empathising the therapist may feel disempowered and it may then become very difficult for the therapist to feel relaxed, centred and rooted which is a basic requirement when attempting to treat someone, When the therapist over -empathises with the client he is in a way reproducing the physiological state of the client in his own system, (Davis, M. H. 1996). This can make therapy a dangerous quest as there are negative emotions involved, which leave the therapist in risk of exposing him or her self directly to the clients negative experience of the problem which could be depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and many more. By exposing himself directly and without borders to the clients negative state, the therapist is not helping himself, the client or the process of therapy. However, by empathising with the client in a conscious and appropriate manner it can work as a healthy protective mechanism which shields the therapist when needed, Empathy Empathy is not the act of getting lost in the clients state. If this happens, the therapist will be pulled down with the client when the client is drowning and therefore will not be able to provide any help, A sensible definition of empathy is to sense the clients private world as if it were your own, but without ever losing the as if quality this is empathy and it seems essential to therapy. To sense the clients anger, fear, or confusion as if it were your own, yet without your own anger, fear or confusion getting bound up in it. (Rogers) As Rogers states, empathising with the client in the way described can assist the client way more than just the positive feeling of being accepted and understood: When the clients world is clear to the therapist, and he moves about in it freely, then he can both communicate his understanding of what is clearly known to the client and can also voice meanings in the clients experience of which the client is scarcely aware. This way the therapist and the client can move forward together, step by step, instant by instant touching areas of experience which are within the client and affect his or her life, but for some or many reasons is difficult to access, therefore is not open to understanding, acceptance or change, (Myers, S. 2000). Therapists need to keep in mind that counselling is not just talking things over (as they do in their everyday life with friends), but a more formal kind in which there are two very different roles, the counsellor does not generally talk about them self or try to rescue the client as they would do with a friend because by doing this there is a danger of over-empathizing with the client and losing a clear sense of being separate people, (Eisenberg, N., Strayer, J. 1987) In terms of the content of therapy, there is a need for the therapist to constantly look out for the influence they may be experiencing from the client. Therapists need to question all their own assumptions and beliefs through reading, consciousness-raising, and through self examination. This requires a ruthless honesty that can be painful as well as exhilarating. Only when counsellors have gone through this themselves can they genuinely help their client and not become to attached or over-empathize. Ultimately it is important that therapists work with and acknowledge all aspects of their clients and themselves that are beneath and above the form visible to our eyes, (Myers, S. 2000). They need to be able to tune into the level on which they can see the human soul in front of them without being distracted by their theories and self beliefs. However it is important for therapists to distinguish the difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy Sympathy is often confused with empathy as both conceptions are viewed as passing on a sense of caring or compassion. In therapy however, there are clear differences between these aspects that can either potentially delay or increase the treatment process, (Lang, J.A. 1994). The primary intent of empathy is to understand a person and the focus of sympathy is the well-being of an individual (Black, 2004). In practice, if a client expresses emotional distress, a counsellor employing an empathic stance tries to understand the individuals functioning and convey a sense of the experience back to the person. In contrast, if a therapist sympathetically responds to a clients distress, he or she may attempt to alleviate the clients plight, (Lang, J.A. 1994). With sympathy, a practitioners identity may begin to merge with a clients feelings and situation (Kalisch, 1973). As the psychological boundaries between the client and therapist blur, and the sharing of feelings intensifies, the expectation that a counsellor will be able to assume an objective or detached perspective becomes more remote. A manifest pattern of similarity with a clients behaviour may indicate the operation of identification as a defense mechanism on the part of a counsellor (Clark, 1998a). In contrast to sympathy, empathy implies a sense of detachment and separateness. A practitioners identity is maintained except for momentary periods of active resonance with a client (Schlesinger, H.J. 1981). With empathy a counsellor directs attention more to the needs and issues of a client and attempts to maintain a focus on the individuals perspectives. As mentioned previously, identification and projection represent defence mechanisms that can distort a therapists ability to communicate and maintain an empathic posture with a client. The defences relate to conflictive issues and a therapists functioning that emerge during threatening interactions in treatment. Counter-transference is another construct with origins in the psychoanalytic persuasion, and relates specifically to unresolved conflicts of a therapist that potentially have a negative impact in the therapy process (Rud, C. 1993). Because it involves distortion of perceptual functioning, counter transference results in the diminished ability of therapists to focus on the needs of a client. At this point it is safe to argue that over-empathising is similar to sympathising in a way. Empathy is clearly different to sympathy. Sympathy suggests feeling sorry for the other person or, perhaps, identifying with how the other person feels. If one sympathises, they imagine them self as being in the other persons position and how doing so would make them feel. This results in not being able to have a clear view of the problem and therefore not being able to offer an objective point of view as a therapist. if one empathises, however, they try to imagine how it is to be the other person which means that feeling sorry for him/her does not really come into the issue, allowing the therapist to be a disposition towards the client, and allowing the client to express them self fully. Therapists should be very cautious so as to avoid being too sensitive to the clients emotions, and to avoid over-investing their own emotions, as this may have an effect on them and drain away their own orig inality, creativity and resourcefulness. In any therapeutic condition an understanding of the borders and limitations of empathic accurateness is fundamental. It is important for the counsellor to always remember that it is the client in the end who will find his own way through, and will find his own idiosyncratic answers to his problems in living and that the counsellor is there to assist and guide him through.

Fate in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay -- french revolut

Charles Dickens captures the aura of the French Revolution so poetically it is almost as if he was there. Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is a thrilling novel originally printed in the newspaper, explaining the cliffhangers at the end of many a chapter. One of the elements that makes the story so thrilling is his incorporation of the theme of fate. Dickens incorporates innumerable symbols to enforce this theme. The echoing footsteps, the storm, and the water are all symbols that reflect the theme of fate by demonstrating the inevitability of your fate. The echoing footsteps written in the novel are meant to inspire the idea of all of the people that are going to come into the characters’ lives. Dickens’ character Lucie Manette is listening to a storm with her friends when she says, â€Å"I have made the echoes out to be the echoes of all the footsteps that are coming by-and-by into our lives† (Dickens 78). This quote indicates that Lucie has some premonition of people who will enter her life. While Lucie may think she has some idea of what and who are coming into her life, she has no idea what direction fate will take her. She does not know if she will meet good people or bad people, and all she can do is wait and be patient. Patience is a virtue when it comes to fate, because fate plays out on its own. Further into the conversation Charles Darnay asks of Lucie, â€Å"Are all these footsteps destined to come to all of us, Miss Manette, or are we to divide them among us?† (78). Mr. Darnay, like all humans , is curious about his fate. Humans are extremely curious about their future, otherwise fortune-tellers would not be in business. The reason for this is most likely a mix between people’s curiosity and their obsession with control. People hav... ... brings up the idea that one cannot change their fate through his symbols, and his inclusion of water as a symbol reinforces this notion. The theme of fate is represented by the echoing footsteps, the storm, and the water with the idea that one cannot stop their fate from proceeding. Dickens uses many symbols throughout A Tale of Two Cities that aid in the promotion of the theme of fate. These three symbols demonstrate the idea that one’s fate is unchangeable and there is a reason for that. The symbols used in this book to expose the theme of fate indicate that Dickens believes that fate is powerful force not to be messed with. Dickens relays the theme of fate being unchangeable in an effective and exciting way that captivates readers and makes A Tale of Two Cities a marvelous read. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. N.p.: Dover, 1999. Print.

School Counselor Analysis

School Counselor Analysis Siobhan (Sam) Garrett PSY/435 April 17, 2013 Healey Irked Title of Paper In order to do a proper analysis on a school counselor one must know what he or she does on a daily basis. This is to conduct a job analysis for a school counselor and discuss how it will be used within the school system. Next to determine the reliability and validity of the school counselor analysis. Then the performance and appraisal methods that apply to being a counselor will be evaluated. Finally the benefits and vulnerabilities of each performance appraisal method will be explained.This will provide a full job analysis of a school counselor and what their job entails. Job Analysis For this job one would conduct a job oriented analysis. This is the analysis type that provides the nature of the tasks done on the job (Spector, 2012). The school counselor is there to provide the services that the children need. He or she will provide assessment and screenings, group and individual cou nseling with school staff, parents, outside agencies, and design remedial education programs (National Association of School Psychologist,  2012).The counselor is part of the team that decides what the students eligible for appropriate programming, special services, and ad on-going progress. Some of the responsibilities of the school counselor are as follows. Evaluate and screen children and selecting appropriate instruments, writing reports that show the evaluation findings, and administering tests (National Association of School Psychologist,  2012). This helps the funding for the programs. Have a conference or meeting with the staff, parents, or child about the progress he or she is making and say hat kind of material is needed for the betterment of the child’s learning experience. The counselor should always be available to students who really need to speak with her for private matters concerning the welfare of the home and school environment. Provide direct services such as in general education settings, classroom presentations, and adapting materials needed for the student in the classroom (National Association of School Psychologist,  2012). Documents student’s levels of performance and reevaluate as needed to see where the student has gained and where the student still needs work.Supervise the assigned Para-educators (National Association of School Psychologist,  2012). The counselor must deal with constraints and obstacles positively. He or she must learn to use new performance and approaches in his or her duties. This is just a portion of the requirements of the student counselor. Reliability and Validity The reliability of this information is good because not only did it come from a woman who works as a school counselor it was backed up by information found online and cited so that the information could be looked up and referred to if needed.The validity of this is also good because it has been documented on many webpages inclu ding the N. A. S. P. Therefore it is a valid and reliable source and information from the source. The source has been a school counselor for many years although she will not disclose exactly how many. Performance appraisal methods Some of the objective measures that a school counselor can be appraised with are simple measures. These include showing up for work every day on time with no excuses.This will result in less missed days which should be rewarded because the less they are absent the more they are able to be there for the students that need them that day. If they are there for the student then the student may not end up missing any days which is also a plus so it has like a snowball effect. Another way is avoiding accidents. By avoiding accidents the school does not have to turn in accidents to insurance companies and has less bills and debts owed out at the end of the year therefore not just helping the counselor know what he or she is dong but also the school itself would b enefit from this.Finally productivity or the number of people the counselor sees and helps on a daily basis. The more students the counselor sees the more of them can get back to their everyday lives and living happy and everyone will leave them alone. This could even result in less bullying in the halls and after school. The ways that the subjective measures of job performance can evaluate ones job performance is in the graphic rating form which assesses individuals on several dimensions of performance. This is like rating your job performance on a scale of one to ten.The boss may make a performance rating on your job to tell the person how he or she is doing that week. The behavior focused rating scale can be used to focus on ones behavior on the job. If a person has a good attitude then they may get a good behavior score. If he or she has a bad attitude he or she may get a bad rating on the behavior score. This depends on the way the person acts and behaves while doing his or her job. Other members of the staff may also rate ones behavior on the job.This will help the boss determine if they are getting along with you or if he or she is causing trouble or are not well liked among your fellow employees. They may make observations on ones performance as well. If he or she is doing a good job a terrible job or just a good enough jobs then he or she can be rated on that performance. Benefits and Vulnerabilities. The benefits and vulnerabilities of these can be simple or even drastic. These are more beneficial if one is doing his or her job correctly.If he or she is doing the job correctly then he or she will get good ratings and be able to have a good score and then job will continue to strive from that person doing it. On the other hand if he or she is not doing a good job the he or she could get bad marks and the job could even suffer from the lack of effort that person is putting into the job. The children could even suffer in this particular job if the job i s not done correctly. Another way this could be a bad thing is if a person was to get bad marks but was actually doing a good job.The people he or she is working with may just have a problem with him or her and could give bad marks because of that. Conclusion In conclusion, a school counselor’s job duties include making sure all of the children who her help and assistance need get it in every aspect of school. This is a reliable and valid source and information because not only did the information come from the subject it also came from several other sources. This person is judged on her performance from day to day not on showing up, looking nice, and being courteous but also on the actual performance itself.If he or she does her job, looks nice, and keeps the people she works with happy hoe or she should be able to keep the job and make a good living at it. Level three heading. Replace the level three heading with the words for your heading. The heading must be in bold font. References National Association of School Psychologist. (2012). what is a School Psychologist. Retrieved from http://www. nasponline. org/about_sp/whatis. aspx Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice (6th Ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Achilles An Epic Hero - 1253 Words

Daniel Armour Professor Kimberly Smith World Literature 21 February 2017 Achilles: An Epic Hero in an Epic Poem In the battle between Hector and Achilles, there was more on the line than winning the war. Until the end of the poem, it can be argued that both Achilles and Hector fit the role of an epic hero, but there can only be one. The battle represented who would ultimately be determined the epic hero. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is crafted into an epic hero throughout the poem by the illustration of the qualities of an epic hero: a great warrior, help from the supernatural, an epic flaw, and an epic journey. To be crowned as an epic hero, one must first be a great warrior, and Achilles more than fits this role. From the†¦show more content†¦It is not uncommon for the gods to make appearances in the Iliad, and Achilles is no exception. He receives help from the supernatural on multiple occasions, much like an epic hero would. The most significant divine intervention Achilles received was by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. â €Å"Now let’s get tough and fight and not spare Any spears. Either Achilles kills us both†¦Or he goes down with your spear in his guts,† Athena said to Hector, pretending to be Deiphobus which deceives Hector into fighting Achilles (Puchner Book XXII, 270-272). There is no arguing whether or not Achilles received help from the gods, as he did on multiple occasions. Athena even helps him again in his battle versus Hector by returning his spear after a missed throw. It is the actions like these that craft Achilles into an epic hero, he isn’t asking for the help, but he receives it anyways because it is his destiny to become the epic hero. At points such as these, it seems as if mortal men don’t have much control over their destiny and that the gods are manipulating the outcomes. This can also be seen when Athena prevents Achilles from attack Agamemnon. Not everybody is perfect, and in Achilles’ case, this is definitely true. Perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the epic hero is having an epic flaw. While Achilles may be near perfect in combat, his personality is most definitely flawed. His pride leads him to overconfidence, hisShow MoreRelatedan analysis of the qualifications of an Epic Hero887 Words   |  4 PagesAn epic hero is someone who goes down in history as being brave, courageous, and obviously heroic. They don’t have to be asked to save the day, and often times, they aren’t even saving their own people. There are several epic poems that come to mind when thinking about European culture and where it came from. These stories are held as sacred to many different people, and will always be studied whenever the topic of government or culture comes up. 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