Certain kinds of environmental factors or conditions have been found to be associated with happiness and include such things as: individual income, labour market status, health, family, social relationships, moral values and many others (Carr, 2004; Selim, 2008; Diener, Oishi & Lucas, 2003).

Ultimately, in the pursuit of understanding happiness, there are two main theoretical perspectives which focus on addressing the question of what makes people feel good and happy. These are the hedonic and eudaimonic approaches to happiness (Keyes, Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002).

Hedonic well-being is based on the notion that increased pleasure and decreased pain leads to happiness. Hedonic concepts are based on the notion of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is a scientific term that is commonly used to denote the ‘happy or good life’.  It comprises of an affective component (high positive affect and low negative affect) and a cognitive component (satisfaction with life). It is proposed that an individual experiences happiness when positive affect and satisfaction with life are both high (Carruthers & Hood, 2004).

Eudaimonic well-being, on the other hand, is strongly reliant on Maslow’s ideas of self actualisation and Roger’s concept of the fully functioning person and their subjective well being. Eudaimonic happiness is therefore based on the premise that people feel happy if they experience life purpose, challenges and growth.  This approach adopts Self-Determination Theory to conceptualise happiness (Keyes et al., 2002; Deci & Ryan, 2000). Self determination theory suggests that happiness is related to fulfilment in the areas of autonomy and competence.

From this perspective, by engaging in eudaimonic pursuits, subjective well being (happiness) will occur as a by product. Thus, life purpose and higher order meaning are believed to produce happiness. It appears that the general consensus is that happiness does not result from the pursuit of pleasure but from the development of individual strengths and virtues which ties in with the concept of positive psychology (Vella-Brodrick, Park & Peterson, 2009). The differences between eudaimonic and hedonic happiness are listed below.

Hedonic (Subjective Wellbeing) 

1. Presence of positive mood
2. Absence of negative mood
3. Satisfaction with various domains of life (e.g. work, leisure)
4. Global life satisfaction

Eudaimonic (Psychological Wellbeing)

1. Sense of control or autonomy
2. Feeling of meaning and purpose
3. Personal expressiveness
4. Feelings of belongingness
5. Social contribution
6. Competence
7. Personal growth
8. Self acceptance

Positive Psychology views happiness from both the hedonistic and eudaimonic view in which they define happiness in terms of the pleasant life, the good life and the meaningful life (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). Peterson et al., identified three pathways to happiness from the positive psychological view:

1. Pleasure is the process of maximising positive emotion and minimising negative emotion and is referred to as the pleasant life which involves enjoyable and positive experiences.
2. Engagement is the process of being immersed and absorbed in the task at hand and is referred to as the good life which involves being actively involved in life and all that it requires and demands. Thus the good life is considered to result from the individual cultivating and investing their signature strengths and virtues into their relationships, work and leisure (Seligman, 2002) thus applying the best of self during challenging activities that results in growth and a feeling of competence and satisfaction that brings about happiness.
3. Meaning is the process of having a higher purpose in life than our selves and is referred to as the meaningful life which involves using our strengths and personal qualities to serve this higher purpose. The meaningful life, like the good life, involves the individual applying their signature strengths in activities, but the difference is that these activities are perceived to contribute to the greater good in the meaningful life. 

Ultimately, it is a combination of each of these three elements described above that positive psychology suggests would constitute authentic and stable happiness (Vella-Brodrick, Park & Peterson, 2009; Carruthers & Hood, 2004).

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

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Denham, Zoller, and Couchoud (1994) examined family relationships and the discourse they hold around emotions. It was found that maternal emotional discourse is especially salient in a child’s development of emotional understanding. Specifically, mothers who explain their emotions to their children help to promote proficiency in their child’s emotional understanding. Furthermore, children who are exposed to negative maternal emotions, such as anger, appear to be at a disadvantage in understanding the emotions of others and their own.

Peers also have a significant influence on the child’s emotional development. As children interact with their peers, they create peer cultures in which to carry out the complex processes of making friends, gaining access to play groups, and facilitating shared action (Cosaro & Eder, 1990). Because of the intimate nature of friendship, emotional competence is attained in the context of peers sharing their emotions with each another (Denham et al., 1994).

Dunn and Cutting (1999) also found that four-year-olds who showed emotional understanding had a more positive interaction with their friends, including cooperative shared pretend play, low frequency of conflict, and successful communication when compared to those who did not exhibit emotional understanding.

Other studies confirm that friends who engage and share in conversation about emotion they experienced more cooperative interactions with each other (Brown, Donelan-McCall, & Dunn, 1996). Conversely, children who miss important emotional messages or misinterpret them are at a disadvantage in social situations. This leads to disrupted social interactions, negative social relationships, and possibly inappropriate behaviour (Holder & Kirkpatrick, 1991).

Child rearing styles also contribute to the development of emotions in children. For example, a child of authoritarian parents (i.e. a parenting style that tends to make most of the decisions for the child and can appear cold and rejecting tend to be more anxious, unhappy with low self esteem and tend to react with hostility when they are frustrated (Berk, 2007).

Conversely, an authoritative parenting style (i.e. a parenting style that tends to be warm, attentive and sensitive to the child’s needs) is more likely to encourage happier children with high self esteem. Permissive parenting adopts a warm and accepting style yet uninvolved. Such parents will tend to engage in very little control over their child’s behaviour. As a consequence, the child of such an approach will tend to be impulsive, disobedient and often rebellious (Berk, 2007).

Erickson described a psychosocial process of development across the lifespan that examined the interplay between intrapersonal needs and interpersonal relationships and the key emotional responses this interplay might typically evoke within the person at key milestones of development throughout their life. For example, an infant’s relationship with their primary caregiver will influence their level of trust in others and the world.  The more established this sense of trust becomes the more hopeful a person will feel throughout their life.

Another example can be seen in a preschooler who may be discouraged to take initiatives in tasks and activities whereby they are made to feel guilty for trying things out but getting it wrong or making mistakes. Such feelings of guilt, as opposed to feeling a sense of motivation and pride in giving things a go, could inhibit the child from taking initiative throughout their life.

The examples of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development above offer an overview of how long term emotional dispositions can develop and impact the individual throughout their entire life through important psychosocial interactions. Table 1 below offers further detail of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development and the emotions considered to be developed as a consequence of the interactions contained within it.

Table 1. Erickson’s Psychosocial Developmental Stages

References

1. Berk, L. (2007). Development through the lifespan (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
2. Brown, J. R., Donelan-McCall, N., & Dunn, J. (1996). Why talk about mental states? The significance of children’s conversation with friends, siblings, and mothers. Child Development, 67, 836-859.
3. Cosaro, W., & Eder, D. (1990). Children’s peer cultures. Annual Review of Sociology, 16,197-220.
4. Denham, S. (1998). Emotional development in young children. New York: Guilford Press.
5. Holder, H. B., & Kirkpatrick, S. W. (1991). Interpretations of emotion from facial expressions in children with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28, 170-177.
6. Laible, D. J., & Thompson, R. A. (1998). Attachment and emotional understanding in preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 34, 108-1045.

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

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1. The Psychology of Unresolved/Complicated Grief
2. Types of Unresolved/Complicated Grief

Psychological factors

Anger and guilt can often be a key source of adjustment difficulties in the process of grief. Guilt can inhibit the grief process if mourners are unable to confront the guilt that arises when reflecting on their life with the person that died. Guilt may encourage the mourner to be anxious or afraid of their grief because it may surface negative feelings or acts they have directed to the bereaved. It is also common for individuals going through grief to experience feelings of anger.

Anger may be due to feelings of frustration and a sense of helplessness that may end up being directed at either the deceased or deflected onto others. If the anger is not directed at the deceased and it is not displaced onto someone else, the anger may be turned inward and manifest as depression (Worden, 2005).

The difficulties associated with unresolved grief have also been attributed to a previous insecure attachment to the deceased. Insecure attachments of any kind can encourage distorted perspectives on the meaning of the relationship thereby complicating grief as the mourner grieves from a distorted perspective of the deceased and the meaning they have given to the relationship.

Due to the insecure attachment, the mourner may be afraid to grieve in order to avoid the distorted perceptions of what has been lost and the accompanying feelings of intense helplessness, fear of loneliness and other related overwhelming feelings that can often surround the loss of an insecure attachment figure. 

One overwhelming feeling often experienced with such cases is a deep sense of abandonment within those who have lost their insecure attachment figure. It is such feelings of abandonment that could have some individuals reluctant to grieve because the grieving reawakens the painful and very profound sense of being left all alone to fend for them selves in the world.

Multiple losses can also hinder the normal grieving process. Those who experience multiple losses over a short period of time may experience difficulty in grieving because the combined losses are too overwhelming to contemplate and deal with all at once.

People with severe ego impairments (e.g. personality disorders) are often unable to adequately complete the grief process. Such people may have difficulty successfully engaging normal grief processes and instead experience feelings of intense hopelessness, frustration, anxiety and depression resulting in complicated grief (Williamson & Shneidman, 1995; Freeman, 2005) For example, individuals who suffer Borderline Personality Disorder may have difficulty in mastering the grieving tasks before them as they may not be able to fully understand and express their emotions accurately or appropriately. 

It is common for some individuals to deny themselves the opportunity to grieve because of their beliefs about what it means to grieve. For example, some individuals may deny themselves the opportunity to experience the full extent of their grief because they may fear losing control or may perceive such intense emotional expression as “weak”. Others may not want to give up the pain of the loss because they believe it binds them closer to the deceased resulting in chronic grief.

Those individuals with a history of depression are also at risk of developing complicated grief (Mitchell, 1999).  Such issues, and others, that may interfere with the normal grief process need to be addressed for the individual to successfully work through it.

Social factors

Social connections provide the bereaved with an opportunity to find support, comfort and encouragement in their grief. However, in some instances, these social connections can prohibit the mourner from experiencing and expressing their grief well. Previous literature has identified three social factors that contribute to complications in the grieving process. These factors are 1) When the loss is socially unspeakable; 2) When the loss is socially negated or 3) When there is no social support.

Socially unspeakable loss refers to the loss that is “unspeakable” thereby making members of the social system redundant in being of any assistance to the bereaved (e.g. when the loss is the result of suicide, drug overdose and other potentially ‘unspeakable’ things). In this type of loss, the social network tends to shy away from the bereaved out of ignorance of what to say to console the mourning person.

The social negation of loss refers to when the loss is not socially defined as loss (e.g. abortion, miscarriage, loss of a very old parent, etc). Although the mourner may experience grief, there is often inadequate or nonexistent social support.

No social support refers to when the individual is either away from their social support network at the time of mourning or there is no social support available, thereby making grieving difficult. Geographic distance is becoming increasingly common as individuals become more mobile therefore making the absence of social support in times of grief a very real factor contributing to complicated grief (Freeman 2005, Williamson & Shneidman, 1995).

Society norms and expectations also play a role in the grief work of an individual. Every society has rules regarding what is socially significant and what loss may be recognized. The rules almost dictate who, how long and to whom an individual has a recognized right to grieve. Often these social morays around grieving can overlook the nature of human attachment, the sense of loss and the personal experience and meaning of the grief.

Complicated grief can also be encouraged in the very young and the mentally disabled due to them being perceived as unable to comprehend death therefore are often excluded from the mourning rituals of their society. This often results in disenfranchised grief.

Having the role of the strong one has also been implicated in key social factors that can contribute to complicated grief. In some situations and families, there are certain people who are designated to be “strong” by those around them. They are usually called upon to make all the funeral arrangements, offer support to others and show no emotions. As a result, individuals in this social role could miss an opportunity to deal with their own grief resulting in delayed grief and other forms of complications (Freeman 2005, Williamson & Shneidman, 1995).

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

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Willis (1988) admitted that “in the context of oppressive colonial regimes, ‘riding’ should be seen as an act of corporate leadership to negotiate the survival and interests of their group” (p.135).
 
Bond (2004) also noted that many educators, linguists and anthropologists would have found their work impossible had they not been invited to form kinship relationships with the Indigenous families who they worked with. The old Aboriginal people still seek to adopt willing outsiders who come to their community.

They “prefer caring, feeling people who come from the heart” (Bond, 2004, p.113). Williams (1987) suggests that, “Once a non-Aboriginal [person] is assigned a kin position other people base their relationship with him or her on it. Behaviour as well as terms of address then follow” (p.23).
 
One can explain adopted skin relationships with an example. Bond asked Elder Kulthangar how she should introduce herself on Aboriginal communities and the reply was:
 
When you’re here on Mornington you should come up with connections so quick.
 
Say hello and when people say, “Who you? You say I call Kulthangar ‘yugud’, my brother in law and Bulthuku my sister.”
 
Then straight away they know you.
 
If it was me and I went over to the Robinson River [in the Northern Territory] people know me there through my grandmother.
 
I would say my skin real quick.
 
So you would say, “I Nimaramaskin.”
 
And they would say, “Oh, call me auntie” (2004, p.75).
 
References

1. Bond, H. (2004). ‘We’re the Mob You Should Be Listening to’: Aboriginal Elders talk about community-school relationships on Mornington Island. Unpublished PhD Thesis. School of Education, James Cook University. 
    
2. Dingo, S. (1997). Dingo: The story of our mob. Milson’s Point, NSW: Random House. 
    
3. Moreton-Robinson, A. (2000). Talkin’ up to the Whitewoman. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.
    
4. Moreton-Robinson, A. (2001). Immersed in Whiteness: An Indigenous woman’s journey through the Australian education system. The Gathering of the Voices Conference: The National Ecumenical Gathering for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Peoples held at Banyo, Brisbane, Queensland in June, 2001. Retrieved on 6th September, 2009 from here. 
    
5. Pattel, N. (2007). Aboriginal families, cultural context and therapy. Counselling, Psychotherapy and Health, 3 (1), 1-24, May, 2007.

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

This article is an extract from MHA’s “Indigenous Counselling” PD course.

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Fran is aware that Charlotte has recently become a part of program at school called, “Out of Our Shells”. This series of classes is designed to build children’s self-confidence. This program encourages participants to engage in activities that they would ordinarily shy away from, such as public speaking, approaching new people and standing up for one’s self.

As well-intended as the program may be, Fran is worried that it has pushed Charlotte well beyond her comfort zone and is triggering anxiety.

In counselling you discuss the program with Charlotte and discover Fran’s assumption is correct. Charlotte is so worried about the activities she is expected to do as a part of “Out of Our Shells” that she has become anxious about attending school all together.

Fran is eager for Charlotte to work on her self-confidence and assertiveness. Charlotte too indicates she would like help in those areas, but she begs to be excused from the “Out of Our Shells” program.

Charlotte’s father (Bill) is, however, adamant that Charlotte stay in the program. He feels it will be the quickest, most effective way to build her self-confidence. Charlotte’s teacher also highly recommends Charlotte continue with the program. Both Bill and Charlotte’s teacher are of the opinion that in a short amount of time, Charlotte will feel much more comfortable with the activities and enjoy the sense of accomplishment the program will give.

As Charlotte’s counsellor, how would you proceed?
Share your thoughts!

Enter your comments below or email them to blog@aipc.net.au and we’ll review it for publication at our quarterly newsletter “The Professional Counsellor”. Please include your full name, qualifications and contact details.

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It has been suggested that infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce and romantic relationship breakdown (Brand, Markey, Mills & Hodges, 2007). Click here to read more about infidelity…

With infidelity come consequences. Many people are impacted. If we were to step outside and look in for a moment, we may be able to see just how many people are affected. Firstly there is the betrayer. He/she has learnt to be an actor in order to not be suspected.

After being found out, feelings of shame, guilt, despair and confusion are evident. In most cases, the betrayer is forced into making a quick decision between two relationships. With that choice come huge impacts for the betrayer, including many of the losses described by the person betrayed. Click here to read more about the consequences of infidelity…

One of three events occur after the discovery of an affair. For some, nothing changes in the relationship and the affair is either ignored, denied, repeated, or continued. The affair can unfortunately also end a relationship depending on the intensity and length of the affair and the values of the parties involved.

For others, the occurrence of an affair can signal a reassessment of the existing relationship and provides an opportunity for change, growth and a more improved relationship. Click here to take a closer look at these options…

Finally, how can counsellors assist clients move forward after adultery? It all starts with re-building trust and re-establishing an effective communication channel. Click here to read more about Lin and Craig’s case study…

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Appropriate levels of anxiety activate the organism to prepare and act. Therefore, in some situations, extreme levels of activation may be appropriate. Appropriate levels of anxiety can facilitate a person to prepare well for an exam through motivating them to etch out time to study while having them alert enough to study productively, stay focused and remember well.

Appropriate levels of anxiety can also act as a gauge to clarify how threatening or dangerous a situation might actually be. In this context extremely high levels of anxiety may actually represent a realistic emotional response to a very threatening and dangerous situation.

In many instances, people with anxiety disorders will often worry about appropriate levels of anxiety presuming it is either inappropriate or unproductive. They may find it difficult to differentiate between those times when they may feel anxious for a legitimate reason and those times when their anxiety may be disproportionate or unnecessary. Often this is because there is a fear that the anxiety may become uncontrollable.

Specifically,  the daily role of the fight or flight response is to increase  our mental alertness to deal effectively with the types of life events and stressors we often encounter in our day, like taking an exam, dealing with conflict at work, driving in peak hour traffic, preparing a presentation, setting boundaries in relationships and a range of other things.

Anxiety, at the right level, is vitally important as it activates us to perform well and meet the demands of life events and stressors because it increases; our alertness, our ability to think clearly and our ability to respond optimally to such things.

Because some level of anxiety is required for effective responses to life events and stressors, too little anxiety would make life events and stressors too difficult to deal with, because we would not be motivated to prepare and we would not be activated to perform at a level adequate to meet the relevant demands. On the other hand though, too much anxiety will decrease our capacity to deal with such things optimally.

This relationship between performance and the right level of anxiety explained above is illustrated below.

The Relationship between Anxiety and Performance

As anxiety levels rise, performance increases due to the arousal of the mind and body. However once anxiety reaches excessive levels, performance decreases dramatically. Where the point of excessive anxiety is depends on the stressor needing to be faced at the time and other personal qualities and attributes of the individual experiencing the anxiety.

The Catastrophe Theory

The Psychology of Optimum Experience

The model in the “Catastrophe Theory” image above identifies an individual’s mental state during a given life experience. The three realms of possible metal state in relation to the organisms level of activation in dealing with presenting stressors are; Boredom, Flow Channel, and Anxiety.

Csikszentmihalyi’s definition of flow is based upon the balance between skills and challenges. The models of flow try to account for all possible combinations of high and low skills and challenges that can result in the broad spectrum of responses between heightened levels of anxiety and more subdued levels of boredom.

Click here to watch Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s TED Talks video on Flow (19 minutes)

Anxiety is identified when a person perceives the challenge (or threat) as being high while their skills to deal with such a challenge (or threat) is perceived to be low. Thereby the more challenging or threatening the stressor is and the lower the skill level is in being able to deal with it… the higher the level of anxiety will be. Boredom is identified as a perception of being high skilled but with a low level of challenge or threat from the stressors. Boredom can be defined as a state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction, which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating situation (Mikulas and Vodanovich, 1993).

A key feature of flow is when an activity features an appropriate balance between the stressor challenge and the skill level required from the person to meet the stressor challenge effectively. If the challenge or threat of a situation is perceived to be too great for the person’s skills then they will eventually become frustrated, lose interest, discontinue from being in flow and instead move into a relative degree of anxiety.

This may eventuate into becoming too anxious and quite fearful if the challenge or threat is too great in comparison to their skills in dealing with it and if the consequences of failing to deal with it are considered significant. Flow will also cease if the challenge of the activity is too low and is too easy whereby it stops being interesting and boredom results.

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

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With your recognised counselling qualification you’ll be ready to take on exciting new job opportunities (increased government funding is creating many new opportunities) or enhance your current role to take advantage of future promotions. Or maybe you’d like to set up your own private counselling practice and experience the many personal and financial rewards that working for yourself provides.

Whatever you’re imagining, it’s all possible with a qualification from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC) - the largest, longest established, and most trusted counselling education specialist in the country. Here’s why:

1. Flexible Learning Methods. You can study Externally (at home with phone and email access to our counselling tutors), In-Class, Online or any combination… all the time fully supported by our huge national team throughout our 8 Student Support Centres.
2. Premium Education Support. AIPC sets the benchmark in education support. Even if you decide to study entirely at home or online, you’ll never be alone in your studies. We have specialised in external education for over 19 years and have the most highly qualified, professional support team in the industry. Help is only ever a phone call or email away. Our enormous pool of educational resources means you have access to:
1. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the online Knowledge Base that contains over 4,000 specific questions and answers relating to your course.
2. FREE access 9am to 5pm (EST) to the 1300 Study Assistance Line where you can discuss any study questions you may have with qualified team members.
3. Unlimited email support. Send a question any time and have your enquiry replied to within 24 hours.
4. Your local Student Support Centre who will link you into a local student support network; help you prepare for your practical assessments; co-ordinate your In-Class or tutorial activities; and set you up in a number of volunteer opportunities if you wish to practice your skills in the field.
5. FREE and regularly updated online educational resources including our newsletter, Blog, Article Library and Facebook & Twitter pages - with 100’s of articles, news & resources.
3. Specialised Training. The Institute is the largest and longest established trainer of Counsellors in Australia, and still is the only exclusive, national provider of Counsellor education.
4. Cost Effectiveness. With the Institute you can achieve your aspirations in counselling for only 20% to 50% of the investment of other providers.
5. Industry Recognition. The Nationally Recognised Training Program Diploma of Counselling is recognised by the Australian Counselling Association (ACA), Australia’s largest Member Association for Counsellors.

Want to find out more? Visit www.aipc.net.au/lz.

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1. Lack of knowledge of Ethical Standards
2. Financial Incentives
3. Perfectionism
4. Fear of Criticism/Scrutiny by Others
5. High Affiliative Needs
6. Personal and/or Professional Immaturity
7. Counsellor Substance Abuse
8. Lack of Personal Values Clarification
9. Limitations of Codes of Ethics and Conduct
10. Lack of a Decision Making Model

Lack of Knowledge of Ethical Standards

Society is fast paced and ever changing. Counsellors are obliged to remain committed to ongoing learning and development within the profession. This includes continuing awareness of relevant ethical codes and standards. 

It also incorporates knowledge of legal standards and laws. Ignorance is not a defense. Counsellors can overcome this obstacle through personal commitment to professional development and maintaining professional memberships. 

Financial Incentives

1. Ethical dilemmas often present in the form of gifts or rewards offered to the counselor either directly by the client, or indirectly through an agency.
2. A counselor may justify the acceptance of such gifts/rewards by undervaluing the monetary value of their role.
3. Coleman (n.d) considers that counsellors rationalize this behaviour by telling themselves that they are underpaid and deserve it.
4. This barrier often inhibits the counselor at the beginning of the ethical decision making process stopping them from adequately clarifying the problem.
5. Reaffirming the reason for entering the counseling profession may assist the counselor in overcoming this obstacle. 

Perfectionism

1. A large barrier at the implementation stage of the ethical problem solving process is the counsellor’s fear of not making a good decision.
2. A counselor may become over concerned with ‘doing the right thing’, so much so that they are unable to put the decision into practice.  Coleman (n.d) proposes that counselors acknowledge that there is rarely one ‘right’ choice and to look beyond self. 

Fear of Criticism/Scrutiny

1. No one likes to be criticized and counselors are no different. 
2. It is however, inevitable that the decision taken will not be popular with all. 
3. To overcome the fear, a counselor needs to accept that the choice they have made is the correct one for the situation and that not everyone will be pleased. 

High Affiliative Needs

1. This barrier often accompanies perfectionism. 
2. Many counselors have a need to be liked and ethical decisions may not always be popular. 
3. This need can leave the counselor open to manipulation. 
4. Personal awareness can help the counselor overcome this barrier. 

Personal and/or Professional Immaturity

1. Coleman (n.d) identifies immaturity as acting impulsively without any conviction. 
2. Immaturity involves acting on and implementing decisions that satisfy the counselor first, often without any consideration to the client.   
3. The use of an ethical problem solving model can assist in conquering this barrier.

Counsellor Substance Abuse

Stress within any profession can lead to substance abuse, counselors too are vulnerable. The counselor who acts under the influence of alcohol or other substances is putting themselves, their client/s and the profession at harm. Counsellors need to be aware of the effect personal issues may have on themselves, how it transcends to their professional life and how they deal with said issues (Corey, Corey and Callanan 2007).

Lack of Personal Values Clarification

1. Commitment to ongoing professional growth is facilitative and required. 
2. Counsellors also need to be dedicated to personal development and knowledge of self/values. 
3. As with professional development this is an ongoing reflection.  
4. Failure to do this could result in the counselor becoming stuck and lacking the maturity to undertake sound ethical practice.

Limitations of Codes of Ethics and Conduct

Stein (1990) identifies a number of limitations pertaining to ethical codes. They are:

1. Written in broad, general terms not specific to any one particular situation.
2. Can conflict with other Codes or regulations
3. Reactive rather than proactive
4. Silent or blind to some situations/problems
5. Vital to remain alert to the Ethical Codes offered by professional memberships and acknowledge limits. 

Lack of a Decision Making Model

Decisions that are made impulsively fail to acknowledge the extent of the dilemma and the process.  A clear structure to follow means that the decision made is more likely to be ‘morally acceptable, clinically appropriate and suit both the client and the counsellor’s interests’ (Coleman, n.d., p9).

In summary

1. Barriers exist to the ethical decision making process.
2. These barriers may be due to the agency a counselor works for or barriers within the counselor themselves
3. Barriers may be overcome through (a) continual counselor self reflection, (b) ongoing awareness of professional ethical codes, (c) solid application of a systematic decision making model.

Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au

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Everybody experiences stress in their lives from time to time but it is the way stressful situations are perceived and dealt with that can determine one’s learning experience. Stress can be a positive thing as it gives us the drive and energy to focus, take action, and achieve our goals, but when the stress goes on for too long, it can be overwhelming.

Stress affects everyone differently and it is important to recognise how it may impact on you. Students experiencing stress, often report experiencing:

1. Nausea, stomach aches, headaches
2. Feelings of anger, sadness, or nervousness
3. Fear of failure, fear of the future or unknown 
4. Feeling overwhelmed, confused, worried
5. Trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, or relaxing
6. Excessive tiredness or fatigue

Often when we are feeling stressed, it is difficult to know what to do and quite often we end up responding how we think we should respond, rather than listening to ourselves. When we begin to feel like the assessments are building up, when it is difficult to know where to start, or you feel like you are just not getting it, this is the time to become proactive. There are things you can do to manage your stress and stay motivated:

1. Avoid isolating yourself and talk to someone about how you are feeling. Make use of all the study assistance that is available to you.
2. Identify the cause of the stress. Determine the things you can change and the things that may require time or help from others. Large problems can often be broken down into smaller problems such as breaking an assessment piece into smaller parts.
3. Take care of yourself and prevent the negative impacts of stress worsening – pay close attention to your diet, exercise and sleep patterns. Physical activity can clear the mind, release anxious energy and improve sleep. Make sure that you make time for these things in your study routine.
4. When confronted by a stressful situation, make a conscious effort to slow down. Take ten long breaths and try visualising the word relax. Avoid letting your mind getting stuck on one idea and challenge negative thoughts.
5. Be kind to yourself and reward yourself for the small achievements!

Studying a new course involves challenging oneself, learning new ways of interacting, and developing new understanding. The learning journey of a student is full of both rewards and challenges. Keeping stress in perspective will allow you to enjoy a balanced learning experience where you feel empowered to make the most of your studies.

Good luck!

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