Counselling assessment: A case study based on cognitive approach

The initial interviews with a client are used, in general, for assessing the prevailing problems that the client is having. In doing so, what the client expects from counselling will be identified. At the same time, the counsellor also evaluates whether he is suitable to accept the case. For the case study presented in this paper, the whole counselling process followed the rationale of cognitive therapy. After the initial observations, it was found that the client was suffering the disorders of depression and anxiety, which were related to a "rebellious" character, work failures, unsatisfactory family relations, and harassment by the parents. The symptoms associated with the disorders were conspicuous; the one causing very severe malfunction appeared to be the mind blanking. Procedures were tentatively scrutinized to help the client reduce the anxiety, restore self-confidence, and hence subsequently get rid of the mind blanking and the "black shadow of fear". Copyright © 1994 Association of Psychological and Educational Counsellors of Asia.