Dependency In Counselling

The alcohol dependency has determined him in numerous occasions to behave impulsively or to take actions that he might not otherwise taken, such as suicide or self-harm. He describes and evaluates the services provided by SEPT as 'good enough', as he has established good relationships with different professionals involved in his care plan, especially with the counsellors.
It is largely known that the role of a counsellor it is to provide non-judgemental confrontation, support and education in addiction treatment. Through counselling , the patient is encouraged to take initiative , to be self-directed exploring how to manage a problem in the best way. Those counsellors who adopt an active listening approach , emphasising collaboration ,
are more likely to obtain effective interventions that foster a durable therapeutic alliance.
Peter describes the counselling services towards his alcohol dependency being a pleasure, as he felt empowered, accepted and valued , being able to make his own decisions, (Luborsky et al. 1997).
Peter has benefitted of multiple forms of therapy and counselling within SEPT setting in regards to his complicated and combined diagnosis (schizophrenia , personality disorder and psychotic illness), known as psychosocial treatments.
The counsellors 'mission was even more difficult ,as Peter is taking antipsychotic medication that helps him to control the symptoms of psychosis. He experienced the drug's side effects such drowsiness , tremor or involuntary movements of his lips which is a long -term side effect called Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) This type of medication definitely didn't help Peter to establish effective relationships , to help him to communicate well with other people or to increase his coping skills . Usually, the therapy for schizophrenia concentrates on improving the individual's cognitive function such as memory, social skills, attention, managing stress or building a mechanism of coping with persistent symptoms. In order to treat Peter's episodes of psychosis , in particular hallucinations and delusions , Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was applied.
Kingdon& Turkington(1994), point out that CBT has been demonstrated to reduce distress, relapse rates or hospital admission
time.
Despite Peter 's willingness to seek help , considering a professional, directed intervention, he didn't have his family support which had been crucial for his recovery process. Brooks and Rice (1997) , defines family as a' “group of people with common ties of affection and responsibility who live in proximity to one another".
Peter's family composition is problematic., as he hasn't got too many family members around, excepting his brother who lives in Wales. That was a fundamental factor that was detrimental for his recovery plan. Without having his family's support , Peter wasn't able to build up a strong emotional curriculum that could enable him to become more resilient , gaining more self-confidence. He wasn't able to comply consistently with the medication prescribed by his local G.P , which caused him periodic and severe depressive episodes .
He has two close friends at MIND , where he attends regularly the Wellbeing Centre. He considers them as being part of his family, as he uses to spent a considerable time in their company, having a positive influence on him.
Referring to the Systems Theory, some Peter's subsystems, such family members or non family members that should help him to achieve equilibrium are dysfunctional .Kim(1999), suggests that the subsystems are interrelated, affecting the individual's performance as a whole. Even so, Peter receives support from other different sources, such treatment providers or legal system .
In his recovery journey, Peter has been supported in regards to his alcohol abuse and mental health issues by different categories of people from different settings.
Peter has been frequently the subject of multiple risk assessments , carried out by clinicians and social workers. Having a history of suicidal attempts , Peter has been classified as high -risk patient, having a substantial mental disorder. Social workers are recognized as major providers of social services that operate in a wide range of settings, playing a crucial role in intervening with suicidal patients. Social workers take crucial, urgent decisions about the least restrictive and most suitable context in which people should receive care and treatment, playing a vital, statutory role in protecting people’s human rights and promoting the principles of the Mental Health Act Code of Practice (2015). ("Social Work: Improving Adult Mental Health - Publications - GOV.UK")
For this profession , the suicidal behaviour is the most visible, as very often the mental disorder is highly related to a major risk for suicide. (Harris & Barraclough, 1997 .In Peter's case , the social worker helped him to arrange appropriate low stress accommodation, to encourage him to comply with his medication and to make appropriate referrals to different voluntary and statutory agencies available within the community, and sporadically to act as an advocate when he had to go to tribunal to have his Personal Independence Payment
Review.
For Peter, talking about the social workers interventions and their contribution to his wellbeing , is always a very sensitive subject, like a Pandora Box. Peter has a tendency to be manipulative ,preferring to blame different categories of professionals involved in his recovery plan for his failures. He often plays the victim's role ,perceiving the social workers as persecutors , saying that they always criticize him, being too authoritative or having no empathy . Apart from that, Peter recognizes that being referred to Mind , was one of the most fruitful strategy of his social worker. Mind provides a wide and varied selection of support and services , aiming to promote and protect good mental health for people with a living mental health distress.
Peter comes at Mind 3 days a week ,joining different projects such as Stepping Stones which is a gardening project or the Wellbeing Centre that is designed to enable service users to socialise , to participate to different art group sessions, helping them to develop life skills and to maintain their wellbeing.
Very often Peter accesses the Independent Advocacy Service provided by Mind to communicate regularly with other health professionals, such his G.P, dentist, his support worker, or to cope with a wide range of situations that he comes across in his daily life: housing problems or accompanying him to different appointments. Mind defines advocacy 'as getting support from another person to help you express your views and wishes, and to help make sure your voice is heard.' ("Advocacy | Mind, The Mental Health Charity - Help For Mental Health Problems").
An independent advocate role is to support the service users' choices , to listen to their concerns and opinions , to provide the adequate information, enabling them to make informed decisions, without solving problems or to make decisions on their behalf.