Psychotherapy Practicum
Mental health is a condition where an individual is healthy and has the ability to adapt to the stress of daily activities and has a positive effect on the people, community, or environment around them. Mental illness affects an individual’s ability to think critically, make decisions, and adapt to everyday living activity. Different strategies have been applied to treat mental illness and to eliminate the occurrence of such conditions in the future in our society. Psychotherapy is one of the treatment strategies applied in dealing with mental illness. This strategy deals with individuals’ emotional outlook to recognize their mental issues and offer the most suitable psychological care (Wampold, 2019). There is an application of psychotherapy to the mentally disturbed and the mentally ill to ensure that they get a positive mental outcome. Psychotherapy strategy focuses deeper on the issues, fear, and worries of a patient. There are many different mental disorders managed through psychotherapy, which includes personality disorder, depression, and schizophrenia, just to mention a few. Nursing theories, as well as counseling theories, are greatly employed in psychiatric care environment to offer therapy to different patients. This paper is going to focus on jean Watson’s nursing theory, the humanistic theory of counseling, and discuss three goals and objectives for the practicum experience in nursing course.
Jean Watson’s nursing theory
The effectiveness of psychotherapy is well known in a number of mental conditions, although the techniques it applies to lower the symptoms in patients are not well comprehended. Nursing theories have proved to be effective in regulating the actual mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety disorder, and emotional disturbances such as stress, divorce, and bereavement, which are caused relationship issues. Although there are many applicable nursing theories, I find jean Watson’s science and ideology to be more suitable in psychotherapy. Watson’s theory is mainly concerned with how nurses provide care to their patients, how the care enhances health outcomes, and how it eliminates patient’s agony to restore health (Riegel, Crossetti & Siqueira, 2018). Watson’s theory supports the role of nurses in providing psychological care and the management of mental illness. When offering psychotherapy care, sympathy is a characteristic that is needed by nurses, and Watson’s theory of transpersonal care offers to prove the characteristics that nurses should acquire. In his theory, Watson explains that nursing care mainly involves taking care of the sick by improving health, preventing illness, and re-establishing an individual’s health status. He adds that medical care does not involve the patient’s emotional view, but through care provided by nurses through a holistic approach, the patient receives the most satisfying care.
Watson’s theory has four main concepts that explain the provision of care to patients. One of the concepts in society and Jean explains that care exists in all societies. In the process of providing care, a nurse should ensure that he puts into consideration the cultural belief of a patient. Another reason for selecting this theory is because of its concept that suggests that all humans should be valued as people and given assistance, cared for, and well understood. The third theory concept explains the nursing values in health promotion, and Watson explains nursing is a concept that involves personal, ethical, and scientific considerations in providing care. Watson’s theory is applicable is psychotherapy since it evaluates all features of a patient, such as perception, environment, and reasoning, and provides a friendly measure to the issues the patient is facing. One of the assumptions in Watson’s theory is that care provision is practiced and demonstrated interpersonally.
The humanistic theory of counseling
The treatment approach of psychotherapy includes managing the mental illness and disorders, and it offers a structure for the therapist to comprehend and analyze the individual’s feelings, thought, and behavior. Through the psychotherapy strategy, the therapist can analyze a patient’s journey from admission assessment, intervention strategies applied, and discharge. From the great number of counseling theories available, I found the humanistic theory to be more effective in managing psychiatric and mentally disturbed individuals. This is because the theory is more focused on the current issue and not the past activities when providing care to the patient, and I am interested in the theory since it supports Watson’s nursing theory.
The humanistic counseling theory applies the study of an individual’s experience strategies where the therapist is required to analyze events the same way a patient sees them (Jones-Smith, 2019). I find the theory fascinating due to its optimism, and it assists individuals in understanding their strengths by providing an experience that is not judgmental. The issue at hand is discussed and analyzed from a patient’s perspective, using the humanistic approach to make a patient integrated. The humanistic counseling theory is a unique and powerful strategy in providing psychotherapy care to patients. Apart from been applied in healthcare, the counseling theory is also applied in educational institutions to offer counsel to learners. The theory provides a patient-centered approach to problems affecting individuals in their daily activities, and it is only related to Watson’s theory since it views people as unique beings. The theory supposes that their will regulates an individual’s behavior, and the answers to the issues affecting individuals can be found on psychotherapy’s sympathy side. The humanistic counseling theory is seen to provide care to patients like the science of nursing care, and psychotherapy needs skills, and using the humanistic theory, the self-actualization of patients is achieved.
Goal and objectives
The experience gained during practicum creates an opportunity for students to enhance their psychotherapy and patient interaction skills. The application of nursing theory and counseling theory creates a chance to know more about a patient while enhancing psychotherapy experiences. The three main goals of the practicum experience in this course are to identify how people understand themselves in the here and now the perspective of their lives. To understand development, self-governance, and responsibilities in patients. To find and apply strategies that will open the patient’s mind and assist in solving their psychiatric issues. Going out for practicum experiences for physical practice requires a nurse to have knowledge and skills concerning different nursing and counseling theories. After the practicum experience, I should have acquired skills that I can apply in my course projects, but the following objectives should offer guidance during the practicum experience. To use different nursing and counseling theories when providing therapy to patients. To have knowledge of the coping mechanism of mentally disturbed patients and support the expression of emotion in the process of therapy. To connect the past and the patient’s present events through comprehending the actions, feelings, and perception of the patient through applying counseling theories.
Psychotherapy practicum timeline
September-October. Searching for a competent practicum chance with a state healthcare facility.
September-October. Register for 2nd-semester course: nursing
Beginning of 2nd semester: finalize and submit a practicum learning plan.
End of 2nd semester: finalize and submit final practicum report
Total Practicum hours= 150
Reference
Jones-Smith, E. (2019). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: An integrative approach. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Riegel, F., Crossetti, M. D. G. O., & Siqueira, D. S. (2018). Contributions of Jean Watson’s theory to holistic critical thinking of nurses. Revista Brasileira de enfermagem, 71(4), 2072-2076.
Wampold, B. E. (2019). The basics of psychotherapy: An introduction to theory and practice. American Psychological Association.