Counseling Couples Assignment (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

Overview

You are required to write 5 essays in current APA format to a provided prompt in each module: week. Each essay will require 500 words in the body of the paper, a title page and a reference page. Each essay will incorporate your reading and study of issues pertaining to issues in Christian Counseling.

Instructions

Each essay will require the following:

500 words revealing a clear understanding of key concepts.
Interaction with the text and scholarly journal articles if required.
Biblical integration.
Each Essay requires 3 in text citations.
Proper grammar.

Use of current APA to include a title and reference page. ** Please note that running head is not required for undergraduate work at Liberty University. An Abstract is also not required for the essay assignments.**

For Essay: Counseling Couples and Children Assignment, you will have a choice of writing on some of the ethical considerations surrounding lay counseling with a couple or lay counseling with a child.

Couples Counseling

Please use the content in chapter 7 pages 158-187 and 1 journal article (Use the Liberty University Online Library resources linked in the Essay Resources section).

**Direct quotes are not permitted in the essay assignments. Please paraphrase into your own words when citing**.

Discuss the following in your 500-word essay.

What are some of the ethical concerns/challenges associated with couples counseling?
What are some skills needed to effectively counsel couples?
If abuse is discovered in the context of counseling how would this need to be handled?
At what point would the lay counselor need to refer?
What would be most rewarding to you when counseling a couple?

ANSWER

Counseling Couples and Christian Ethics

What are Some Skills Needed to Effectively Counsel Couples?

Counseling couples can be challenging because they are two individuals with a different point of view. Therefore, it calls for a skillset to navigate through the process. For instance, the counselor should possess neutrality and detachment skills that will enable them to determine whether they want to continue with the counseling or advise on breaking. According to Sanders (1997), a therapist verbalizing their opinion on whether a couple should seek help to stay in the marriage or break up is seemingly exerting power on a vulnerable client system. Another skill that is perhaps core to the counseling process is analytical thinking, which helps the counselor evaluate the details provided by the couple needing help. Otherwise, without analytical thinking, it would lead to poor judgment and the unlikeliness of proper counseling. Nonetheless, a couple counsellor should be patient with the clients, be open-minded, and understand ethics.

If Abuse is Discovered in the Context of Counseling, how Would This Need to be Handled?

According to Sanders (1997), suffering in marriage is recognized in the bible, where reference is made to the vows made before marriage that the couple will keep each other in sickness and health. A Christian ethic is supposed to provide purpose and meaning to the concept of suffering in marriage. Since modern marriages are significantly embracing a quid pro quo relationship, a fair share of the marriage includes respect for one another. Therefore, if a counselor discovers abuse, they are at liberty to inquire from the individual privately and determine the next course of action. Away from a Christian life that teaches endurance, the abused will be able to get help from the relevant groups. Even the church can help the abused and the abuser through counseling and reconciliation.

At What Point Would the Lay Counselor Need to Refer?

Referrals are not based on what the counselor needs but on the client’s needs. Assuming that the counselor has a relationship with other providers may not be appropriate as the client might not be satisfied. For instance, a client may decide that they have other counseling needs that may be out of your scope, then a referral is advised, provided it meets the client’s needs. In another instance, if the results are not yielded, as in the plans do not work out as expected by the counselor or client, the counselor may seek referrals. Even best-laid counseling plans do not work out because of a mismatch in personalities, discovery of a different need in treatment, and a client’s unresponsiveness (Natwick, 2017). Therefore, this is the point a lay counselor can seek a referral.

What Would be Most Rewarding to you When Counseling a Couple?

As a general rule, anything one does with dedication has an end goal. Therefore, working as a counselor for a couple secures financial security as the counseling progresses. You will experience personal growth by developing empathetic skills as well as understanding other people. Moderated stress, personal growth, and development of communication skills form the majority of the rewards of couple counseling. According to Gurman and Burton (2014), as a couple counselor, you will begin to understand your relationship dynamics and later know how to handle situations in your personal life as well as those of the people surrounding you.

What are Some of the Ethical Concerns/Challenges Associated with Couples Counseling?

Couple therapy may be more complicated than individual therapy as it comes with complexities associated with values, diversity, confidentiality, and family law. These complexities are primarily ethical and are found nowhere in interventions meant to improve individual mental health. Often, decision-making becomes difficult when there are two types of conflicts to be resolved, i.e., couple and marital problems.

One of the most notable ethical concerns most counselors are likely to face is their responsibility to their clients. For instance, one of the couples has to hold a secret to save their child from a seemingly conflicting personal life, which is causing turbulence in their marriage. So, the counselor has to hold a secret as such, even when the family visits the counselor together. It can be an ethical dilemma for the therapist as they have to decide not to harm anyone in the process. Challenges associated with the difference between Christian and professional ethics can sometimes arise and make counseling difficult. In summary, confidentiality, personal values against ethics, excluding one of the couples, and individual versus family are the top ethical concerns when counseling couples.

References

Gurman, A. S., & Burton, M. (2014). Individual Therapy for Couple Problems: Perspectives and Pitfalls. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 40(4), 470–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12061

Natwick, J. (2017). On the Ethics of Ending: Terminations and Referrals. Counseling Today, 59(5), 18–20. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/ethics-columns/ethics_may_2017_terminations-and-referrals.pdf?sfvrsn=ea25522c_6

Sanders, R. K. (Ed.). (1997). Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Therapists, Pastors & Counselors. InterVarsity Press.