Theory and practice in organizational implementation

¶ … Practice

This study focuses on an individual undergoing trauma arising from an indefinite loss of job: the position she was holding was scrapped completely. The individual went into a state of complete and utter shock characterized by the development of mixed emotions. It is not her first time to confront such a stressful experience: she has never been in the unemployed ranks for some time and does not know where to start. The individual felt overwhelmed because she lives in a town where there is limited room for employment opportunities and personal growth. As such, she believed the first step would be to speak with a counselor as it is evidenced in the subsequent sections of this paper. While presenting the issue, this paper will integrate the crisis intervention theory because it is an emergency psychological care, which can assist the person and restore equilibrium to psychological functioning (Hillman, 2012). This approach has shown to reduce the impacts of trauma related to loss such as job loss, especially among Canadian workers.

Presenting Issue

The first scenario involves a crisis, whereby the client has lost her job. The individual has encountered a problem, which has resulted in a sign of anxiety, increase in tension and a condition of emotional unrest. Therefore, the loss of a job is considered challenging because it came as a surprise to the individual. In fact, her coping mechanisms were overstretched. The client is undergoing a period of psychological disequilibrium resulting from a situation, which constitutes a significant problem that needs remedying through coping strategies. However, experts contend that every crisis comes with an opportunity (Hillman, 2012). Thus, crisis intervention will offer opportunities for the client to realize new coping skills while enhancing those that she already possessed. Obviously, loss of employment constitutes a trauma. Availability of emotional support will determine how soon the client will resolve the issue and resume normal functioning.

Theoretical considerations

The loss of a job often invokes the feeling of unfairness of life, which alternatively can be expressed as hurt. The client became intensely emotional, and this condition lasted for several weeks before taking a roller-coaster course. Here, the client raged at the crisis intervention practitioner while sometimes expressing gratitude for the support. Sometimes, she would alternate between moments of confidence and periods of uncontrollable crying. It was imperative for the crisis practitioner to ignore the raging and appreciate the therapeutic significance of allowing the expression of such powerful emotions. It was unnecessary for the counselor to take them personally. Therefore, the crisis intervention counselor must be equipped for strongly expressed feelings. In this case, the client's normal way of dealing with things has been interrupted. While she has limited time to respond and react to the problem, the situation might persist as post-traumatic stress.

One primary advantage of crisis intervention for the client was that she could realize that her emotions were highly charged. As a result, she saw the importance of ongoing therapy. Although she had already lost her job, she understood there would be prolonged emotional repercussions as she adjusted to the unemployment world. Using the crisis intervention theory, the therapist offered support and assurance that the sessions will be private and confidential. The client felt comfortable working with the practitioner. Such a response served to establish the therapeutic relationship between the client and her therapist easily (Ziegler, 2010).

As the sessions proceeded, the therapist debriefed the client with the aim of de-escalating her psychologically. This enabled the client to explore and express a feeling of guilt and perception that she had failed to give her best to maintain her job. During the debriefing process, it was evident that the client believed that she was responsible for her job loss. She had been experiencing notable difficulties maintaining concentration and sleeping. Ultimately, this led to significant distress in social function.

After a week, the client reported to the therapist that she felt that she was not alone in the first time. As a result, she reported that she no longer needed the sedative medication, but remained compliant to the prescribed medication. After a while, the client related her belief in her ability to apply for new job opportunities. It is evident that the client's experience achieved the diagnostic criteria for Acute Stress Disorder. This is especially the time aspect. Her disturbance and persistence were appropriate (Wainrib & Bloch, 2008).

Although the client was not a stranger to stressful events, she was not prepared for the loss of a job that led to emotional trauma. The client attended some few follow-up sessions: she has not experienced any signs associated with traumatic events. By the close of the sessions, she had terminated the medication. She exhibited a number of resilience factors such as pre-incident preparation and training, initiation of crisis intervention, cognitive abilities, spiritual beliefs, and rapid response to debriefing to apply multicomponent strategies (Hillman, 2012).

Counselors must be cognizant of typical responses of people struggling with trauma or those experiencing a crisis. From a cognitive perspective, the client might blame herself or others for her job loss. As a result, she seems to be hypersensitive, disoriented, and confused. Physical reactions to such trauma include shock and anger. Some emotional reactions include depression, panic, anxiety, denial, and fear. When counselors are assessing behavior, some common responses are withdrawal from social events, lack of interest in social things and conflict with another.