The counseling approach for the case of Roberta has to be Reality Theory, proposed by William Glasser in the 1960s (Reality Therapy - Counselling Directory, 2018). According to the theory, the patient will be required to understand the current situation with respect to their current problem. This helps them in nonprofessional’s term of getting a “reality check” and opens their mind for the right decisions and personal benefit.
The reason for choosing this theory is because, Roberta is married woman with three children with her husband, although she is not happy with and he current partner does not want to engage in any marital relationship, she has to be made to understand the reality of her situation, her romantic interest does not want to enagage in any social marriage with her which could be problem if she decides to separate with her current husband as well as impact the lives of her children.
The concept of the theory is to make people understand their object of love and hold onto their belongings, having survival instincts with minimum damage to self to ensure a higher advantageous prospect for self. She needs to be told that (Reality Therapy - Counselling Directory, 2018). The duty of a psychological counselor is to guide the patient towards the righteous path and provide solution in such a way that the patient understands and accepts the situation for his or her own benefit. It is advisable to let the person get a reality check without being unempathizing (Reality Therapy - Counselling Directory, 2018). Reality theory is based on giving direct advice and supports it for the personal benefit of the patient. The client sometime needs to heart outside opinion to realize certain truth or fact of the current situation and stop themselves from making a personal harm.
Providing direct advice might have potential problems like mental breakdown of the patient, sudden feeling of restlessness and emotional outburst. The patient might feel an initial lack of confidence but it can be overcome by focused person centered problem (McCabe, 2014).
It is important to not give personal advice to patients but provide the best judgment possible in accordance with the situation at hand (To Give or Not to Give Advice, 2011). The patient might feel that the therapist is unengaging and not interested which would hamper the client-therapist trust. This might also lower the patient’s confidence on the therapist. Gaining the trust of the patient is very important in this kind of setting (Potential ethical violations, 2018).
According to the American Psychologists association, the therapist is not supposed to engage in any relationship outside of the professional environment. Nevertheless, in case of Roberta who is fighting in distress depending on the severity of the situation, a continuation of the session in a coffee shop can be appropriate if the client-therapist boundary is not overstepped. It has to be made sure that the environment is restrained so as to make sure that the professional boundary is maintained and the therapy session can be continued (Potential ethical violations, 2018).
References:
McCabe, C. (2014). Virtual Reality Therapy Shows New Benefits. WSJ. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/virtual-reality-therapy-shows-new-benefits-1413841124
Potential ethical violations. (2018). https://www.apa.org. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.apa.org/topics/ethics/potential-violations.aspx
Reality Therapy - Counselling Directory. (2018). Counselling-directory.org.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/reality-therapy.html
To Give or Not to Give Advice. (2011). Psychology Today. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-ethical-therapist/201205/give-or-not-give-advice
