Therapist interview methods and practices

Therapist Interview

Child Therapist

The goals of a child therapist are to improve the participation and performance of the child in all the daily activities of the child. The therapist accesses the child and tries to modify the environment in which the child could perform independently. Sometimes the therapist works with the child to improve specific skills of the child. The therapist also works with the teachers and parents of the child so that they can help the children be more comfortable and participate well in the community. (Dominica, 2010)

James Miller

James Miller is a child therapist, who is licensed as a Psychological Counselor. He has been in practice for 10 years in a private sector which serves the children with emotional needs, depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders. He chooses this professional to help children in the development phase so as to implant positivity for their future life.

Interview

The child therapist James Miller is a therapist who enjoys his work. He described his work as

"It is so incredibly rewarding to watch a client going from struggling to thrive." He states that therapy is a very powerful and effective technique and it brings exciting changes in the life of people. He says that the best moment for a therapist is when the client tells them that he is doing very well because of the therapy and the effort of the therapist.

Role of a School Counselor

James Miller states that the main role of the school counselor is to help the children to improve certain skills of the children, to make them improve their performance in different fields of life and to provide them with an environment where they could work independently and without any fear and hesitation. They also work to educate the teachers, parents and other counselors so that they can help the children to be more comfortable and make them participant well in the community.

Counseling Theory or Approach

The therapist James Miller uses the cognitive and behavioral approach for the therapy of the children. In the Cognitive therapy the therapist work with the children to help them solve the everyday problems by helping them identify the thinking that cause emotional discomfort. The therapist uses this therapy for the treatment of children for depression, anxiety and anger problems. The therapist uses the behavioral therapy to train the children in analyzing their behavior, defining problems and selecting goals. (Martin, 2012)

Important Characteristic of a Counselor

The therapist believes that the most important characteristics of a counselor are that one should know how to deal with children suffering from all sorts of disorders and in all possible situations. The therapist should never lose hope and should not give up on children who don't want to be treated. The therapist also mentions that a good counselor should have a regular check on one's own physical and mental well being so as to provide the best therapy to the clients.

Working with Students

Miller mentions that working with the children is full of challenges and motivates them to work even harder. The therapists give the example of some children who don't want to be in a therapy due to some mental disorder and are forcefully brought by the parents for the treatment. The therapist believes that working with such children is a challenge who are reluctant to be treated and they are the ones who encourage to work harder and not to give up. Facing these challenges makes one believe that one is capable of being a good counselor.

Changes as a Counselor

The therapist mentions that being a counselor has brought many positive changes in his life. Being a counselor makes you learn how to be patient and to handle sensitive clients and situations with ease. It has helped to be mentally alert and to be in a good physically condition so that to provide best therapy to the client.

Handling Criticism and Stress

Miller believes that as a counselor one gets positive as well as negative feedback. One should be open towards all types of criticism. The counselor should take all criticisms positively and should try to show improvement in the field that one has been criticized for. Miller believes that criticism is the part of a counselor's job and one should not take stress because that could affect the physical and mental health of the counselor which would eventually effect the work of the counselor.

Ethical Issues

The therapist states that the counselor has to deal with many ethical issues. The most difficult is the issue when the client is not willing to be treated because of one's mental conditions and is unwilling to cooperate with the therapist. Sometimes it becomes impossible to handle such clients which put the counselor in dilemma. It becomes the greatest dilemma for the counselor to handle such situations in which the client is not willing to be treated and the parents want their child to be treated forcefully. Facing such situations is the hardestpart of a counselor's job.