Counseling is one of their effective forms of specialist assistance to people faced with various kinds of problems. The main goal of this process is to become a trained counselor who assists in coming to an understanding of the issue. For me, this aspect is essential since I believe that it is necessary not only in professional practice but also in personal practice. The reason for this is the fact that people face various problems on a daily basis, and their independent limitation has a positive effect on the ability of the individual to adapt to external and internal factors. However, counseling can be met with resilience, the exclusion of which is necessary. This research paper analyzes examples of the manifestation of this phenomenon, as well as its solutions and sources that can help in this.
The first reason that occurs most often is social stigma. This barrier consists of people listening to public opinion, which can support an unpleasant and unsatisfactory opinion about seeking help from a specialist. This is also because people associate visiting a professional with something negative and shameful (Shea et al., 2019). Clients are thus viewed as powerless people who cannot manage their lives. I see the solution to this problem as spreading awareness about the importance of seeking help from qualified specialists. This should be introduced at the educational, social, and state levels.
The second psychological barrier on the way to professional counseling by a specialist is the fear of the treatment procedure itself and the fear of showing emotions. They are also closely related to public beliefs and the unwillingness of some people to show their vulnerability by showing their true feelings. To limit this problem, it is necessary to create a friendly atmosphere from the very beginning of therapy. Moreover, it is crucial to be able to feel a person’s experiences and move along the plan slower or faster, depending on the response from the patient.
Social norms have one of the decisive influences on a person’s decision to seek counseling to solve problems. A negative manifestation of this aspect is disapproval from family members or close associates, which has an exceptionally high impact on individuals (Ivey et al., 2018). In addition, the fear of being judged and the loss of social significance and authority in the eyes of others are added to this. Thus, despite the dissemination of information and statistics about psychological problems, people still hold different opinions. There are individuals who view counseling and therapy as useless services and believe that people will come up with psychological issues themselves. This circumstance is also an obstacle to obtaining qualified and high-quality assistance.
In addition, there may also be such obstacles to therapy as unwillingness to self-disclosure and inciting a person’s self-esteem. This is due to the fact that in order to provide the best and most effective assistance, individuals must fully open up to a specialist. This implies the transfer of feelings and intimate experiences that not everyone will be ready to tell. Moreover, the patient’s self-esteem is affected in this way, which contributes to the even greater closure of a person from a specialist. This barrier is also formed since when hearing criticism, many perceive it as an insult, which also contributes to a decrease in self-esteem.
In addition to the social factor, demographic and situational factors also influence resilience against consultations. Hence, gender and gender, in the expression of certain norms and roles, can make a person doubt the need to consult a specialist. This is especially true of male representatives, whom society is accustomed to thinking of as independent and strong morally and physically (Heath et al., 2017). When looking for assistance from a professional in solving problems, men may be ashamed of their role and weakness.
Another similar injustice may be the influence of race and ethical affiliation. The difference lies in the fact that, in this case, the culture, ethnicity, and traditions of a person have a unique role (Jun, 2018). Just as with regard to gender roles, in some nationalities, resorting to counseling services is considered a prohibited measure or taboo. To solve the above problems, I would also continue to work on creating trust relationships. Moreover, it is essential to educate the public about the importance of contacting specialists to find solutions to the problems that have arisen. This will contribute to the preservation of the health and well-being of the population and will significantly reduce such non-autocratic factors as stress.
In conclusion, this work considered barriers to seeking counseling. Among them, the main ones are social and demographic, which requires the use of measures to reduce these dynamics. They can significantly expand the availability of these services for the oppressed part of the population. It is worth noting that in order to solve issues that have arisen with patients, there may be the use of proven literature sources and contacting colleagues directly to specialists. However, in order to reduce the influence of resilience factors, it is necessary to educate people from childhood about the importance of such concepts as tolerance and respect.
References
Heath, P. J., Brenner, R. E., Vogel, D. L., Lannin, D. G., & Strass, H. A. (2017). Masculinity and barriers to seeking counseling: The buffering role of self-compassion. Journal of counseling psychology, 64(1), 94. Web.
Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2018). Intentional interviewing and counseling: Facilitating client development in a multicultural society. Cengage Learning.
Jun, H. (2018). Social justice, multicultural counseling, and practice: Beyond a conventional approach. Springer.
Shea, M., Wong, Y. J., Nguyen, K. K., & Gonzalez, P. D. (2019). College students’ barriers to seeking mental health counseling: Scale development and psychometric evaluation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(5), 626. Web.