CHC51015 – Unit Code: CHCCSL003 3.11 Integrating Your Knowledge…

CHC51015 – Unit Code: CHCCSL003 3.11
Integrating Your Knowledge
Imagine that you have just started working with a new client, 43 year old Bryan. During the initial contracting discussion you notice that Bryan is sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and is looking at the floor. While he answers your questions and agrees to the proposed counselling relationship, you observe that he does not appear to be very interested in the process. You ask Bryan why he has come to counselling today. Bryan tells you that he is there at the insistence of his wife who believes that he has anger issues but that she is overreacting and that he isn’t that bad – he never yells at or abuses his wife or family, only “idiots who need to be told what they’ve done wrong”. Bryan then tells you that he doesn’t really need help and the only thing that counselling will achieve is keeping his wife happy
D) Bryan tells you that last week he was involved in a minor ‘road rage’ incident in which it got out of his car at a set of traffic lights and screamed at a woman in the car in front of him who had cut him off a few minutes before. Bryan’s wife was in the car with him and told Bryan that he needed to get counselling for his anger issues or she would consider leaving him. Bryan tells you that his wife overreacted and that the incident was fairly minor – he says that he only yelled for about 60 seconds and then got back in the car – but that he wants to keep his wife happy so he has come to counselling. You want to encourage Bryan to share more of his story so it is important that stay with Bryan’s perspective/frame of reference.
E) You want to learn more about the nature and depth of Bryan’s concerns. List three questions that you would plan to integrate into the counselling discussion in order to better understand Bryan’s possible anger issues, the impact that anger may be having on his life, and why Bryan’s wife believes he needs counselling.
F) During the counselling conversation Bryan tells you that his wife is quite a placid person and can’t always understand his need to ‘vent’. Bryan admits that he can get a ‘little hot under the collar’ and that it does get him into trouble sometimes but that it isn’t as bad as his wife makes it out to be. Bryan says that he only points out what people are doing wrong and that if he doesn’t tell them, they may never learn. Bryan says that he mainly gets set off by people who can’t drive and blokes at the pub who are talking rubbish. During the conversation, Bryan also mentions that his desire to make sure people are doing the right thing has gotten him into a little trouble at work – a few colleagues have made complaints against him for telling them off when they do something wrong and that he has been fired from a few jobs when he was younger for telling the boss the right way to do things.
Consider the parallels and links in Bryan’s stories. In the space below, write what you would say to Bryan to encourage him to consider these links.