Respond by offering new perspectives, approaches, suggestions, or considerations for working with the client and family Taylor: Main Post- Jeong Kelsey is a 46-year-old female of Korean descent and is returning to counseling due to many recent and stressful mid-life changes. Such changes include her children leaving home for college, making Kelsey an "empty nester," and her husband deciding to leave her and their 25-year marriage (Walden, 2019). Kelsey is now left feeling stagnant and is questioning her next steps in her midlife as her identity as a mother and wife has now come into question. One developmental challenge Kelsey is likely experiencing is the sudden drop in marital satisfaction in her relationship with her husband (Walden, 2019). Typically, once children leave home, a couple's marital satisfaction increases, as does relationship intimacy, with the primary focus being the dyadic relationship rather than a parenting unit (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). However, since Kelsey's husband had reported he was against adopting children in the first place, he was not only likely more dissatisfied with the marriage from the beginning but likely saw less reason to remain in the marriage and focus on their relationship after their twins left home as men who report higher report rates of marital dissatisfaction early in the marriage are more likely to end the marriage with high marital dissatisfaction (Broderick & Blewitt; Walden, 2019). Another developmental challenge Kelsey faces is a sudden change in her roles as a mother and wife, as this sudden change of roles from being a married parent to a divorcing empty nester is likely impacting her sense of purpose and generativity (Broderick &Blewitt, 2020; Thapa et al., 2018; Walden, 2019). Often, parents, though mothers especially, experience more negative emotional impacts and less generativity when their children exit the home and become more autonomous from the family (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020; Thapa et al., 2018). This may be especially difficult for Kelsey as she has never been able to conceive children of her own and greatly desired to be a mother since early adulthood (Walden, 2019). Kelsey is thus finding it difficult to identify who she is now outside of being a wife and mother who has given up her career to raise her two children (Walden, 2019). Though she states she is somewhat involved in her community, the significant changes in her roles are impacting how she views herself to the point where she claims she no longer has a clue who she is or what she wants to do in her life (Walden, 2019). Counseling Goals One counseling goal for Kelsey to help address the stagnation she is experiencing is to help her grieve and adjust to the loss of her relationship with her husband and the departure of her twin children from the home. Typically, adults in midlife are expected to launch their adult children into adulthood and thus will begin to reevaluate their role as parents to their children, and with this comes grief, increased subjective experience of negative emotions, and reduced generativity (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020; Thapa et al., 2018). The departure of children would generally bring focus to the marital relationship and lead to a restructuring and improvement in the couple's relationship and intimacy with each other (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). However, since Kelsey's husband is leaving her, it may be more helpful for Kelsey to reflect upon and mourn her experiences of being a wife and mother so that she may be able to move forward in accepting these changes in her life. Based on Erikson's developmental goal in stage seven of lifespan development, a second goal for Kelsey is to encourage her to develop generativity in her life rather than face stagnation. Promoting generativity can include involving oneself in community work, giving back to younger generations, mentoring, and finding meaning and purpose in life (Broderick & Blewitt). Helping Kelsey to find purpose and meaning in her community work and spirituality as a Christian Buddhist may be beneficial and provide her with increased feelings of subjective well-being, as involvement in work, religious communities, and community volunteering are associated with higher rates of subjective well-being and improved a sense of purpose, distress tolerance, resilience, and meaning in individual's phenomenological worldview (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020; Le et al., 2021). Connecting to extended family and spirituality are the primary coping strategies for stress in East Asian cultures and may, therefore, be beneficial to incorporate into Kelsey's counseling to support her development of generativity and the restructuring of her midlife identity (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Counseling Interventions Existential therapy would effectively address Kelsey's reported challenges with shifting identity, role changes, loss, and stagnation (Becker, 2006). The goal of existential therapy is to promote growth and development within the individual's phenomenological world by supporting clients to find and create meaning within their lives, identify their strengths and values, and learn to respond, adapt, and cope with existential topics such as freedom, loss, identity, purpose, aging, and the sense of self (Becker, 2006). Existential therapy would support Kelsey in her developmental task of building generativity by encouraging her to explore and find meaning in this new chapter of her life as a middle-aged woman who is grieving the loss of her relationship, the launching of her adult children, and the sudden changes of her role as a mother and wife (Feizi et al., 2019). Existential therapy would also allow her to explore her values in her extended family, her culture, and her religion, which may help her align herself, her actions, and her mindset with these and begin to recreate and find meaning in her life outside of motherhood and marriage (Becker, 2006; Feizi et al., 2019). Summary Kelsey is currently facing many challenging changes and losses, including the recent departure of her adult twin daughters from home and the loss of her relationship with her husband of 25 years (Walden, 2019). This has led to feelings of grief but has also contributed to her feeling lost within herself and her identity as both a mother and a wife (Walden, 2019). Kelsey is now faced with stagnation, which has left her confused about what she should do next or who she is (Walden, 2019). Kelsey's identity confusion and grief inform the counseling approach by providing context to what development task Kelsey is currently challenged with trying to achieve. Per Erikson's theory of lifespan development in middle adulthood, Kelsey faces staying stagnant and doing nothing to find meaning and purpose again outside of marriage and parenthood, or she can begin to explore how her life how shifted and how she can foster generativity to find meaning and purpose (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). The focus of counseling with Kelsey via existential therapy will be to encourage her to explore the recent changes in her interpersonal relationships and the existential questions of loss, aging, meaning, isolation, identity, and purpose that accompany this (Becker, 2006; Feizi et al., 2019). Existential therapy will also encourage her to explore and strengthen her values of family, spirituality, and community so that she may align herself and her actions via her volunteer work, practicing in her spiritual community, and maintaining family connections so that she develops a renewed sense of purpose outside of parenting and marriage and may experience improved subjective well-being (Becker, 2006; Broderick & Blewitt,2020; Feizi et al., 2019). References Becker, D. (2006). Therapy for the Middle-Aged: The Relevance of Existential Issues. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 60(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2006.60... Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education 2nd post - Dylan: Discussion Post – Anderson Ernie Anderson is a 65-year-old African American man who has recently come to counseling at the suggestion of his wife, Audrey. He and his wife have been together for 43 years and have raised 3 of their grandchildren together after the sudden passing of their daughter and son-in-law. Their grandchildren are now adults, and are ages 18, 20, and 24. Audrey has insisted that Ernie comes to counseling, even though he “really (doesn’t) believe in counseling” (Walden University, 2019). After talking with Ernie for a little while, he opens about the issues he is currently facing. Ernie has recently been forced into retirement by his job and feels a sense of betrayal from his company of 30 years. He states that he is concerned about how he will support his family now, due to reduced income and lost benefits. He feels great shame in being forced out of his job and does not like that Audrey has had to pick up a part-time job to supplement their income. As described by Broderick and Blewitt (2020), when workers lose their jobs, an expression of their generative capacity becomes compromised, often leading to a decline in overall life satisfaction, which has implications for mental and physical health problems. By working with Ernie, I want to address these issues associated with job loss and find ways to help promote a sense of generativity within Ernie as he encounters Erikson’s stage of generativity versus stagnation. Counseling Goals Despite being forced into retirement and losing his position at work, it is still possible for Ernie to find a sense of generativity in his life. The text describes that generativity consists of two parts, agency (creating and producing) and communion (wishing to care for the next generation) (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Individuals who score high in generativity generally report higher levels of self-esteem and happiness (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). By working with Ernie, I would like to encourage these factors within him by addressing his negative self-talk, ultimately reducing feelings of stress, anxiety, and/or hopelessness. Another goal for Ernie in the counseling session would be to maintain wellness, as job loss is associated with depression, and I would like to do check-ins each session to maintain that Ernie is getting restful sleep, eating well, and remaining active. While in retirement, Ernie can still maintain a sense of agency by participating in things he enjoys, and encourage communion by continuing to stay an active part of his grandchildren’s lives as they mature. Counseling Interventions In addressing the challenges that are associated with job loss and generativity versus stagnation, research has shown that cognitive behavioral approaches have successfully helped in altering negative thinking and encourage self-efficacy (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Findings have suggested that with cognitive behavioral therapy, individuals were more successful in finding reemployment, displayed fewer depressive symptoms, and overall demonstrated better adjustment than individuals that had not undergone treatment (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). By using cognitive behavioral therapy with Ernie, I would be able to educate him on the cognitive fallacies that are associated with CBT, and how negative thought patterns can be redirected or reframed into more helpful ways of thinking (Daves, 2022). Overall, I would want this intervention to acknowledge the negative self-talk that is associated with Ernie’s job loss and sense of shame from being forced into retirement. Summary Ernie Anderson has experienced a major shift in his sense of personal achievement after being forced into retirement by his employer of 30 years. With this change in employment, Ernie is witnessing the stage of generativity versus stagnation. By counseling Ernie and using cognitive behavioral therapy, I would acknowledge the difficult feelings associated with job loss and how to address the negative self-talk that is associated with this change. For Ernie, he has lost part of his agency, and we can work together to build a new sense of agency so that he does not have to lose a complete sense of generativity. By staying involved with his family and addressing the negative thoughts associated with this recent change, I believe Ernie will successfully stay in the generativity stage of his life. References Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education. Davies, A. (2022). A Case Study: Psychological Issues in Coping and Wellbeing during Midlife Adulthood. American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research.
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