CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND PRACTICES

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Child Development Theory and Practices

Introduction

Childhood development is the theory and practice of procedures to ensure that the child is given the proper resources, guidance and nutrition to see them through their infancy up to middle school. Child development can also be the biological, social and psychological change in a child as they grow. However, it is supported by the various efforts and developmental models chosen and taken by their parents and guardians. Indeed, the development of a child involves aspects such as pedagogical development and the development of the various biological systems in the body.

The whole process is geared towards achieving total autonomy in the child. Children are exposed to many issues at an infant age. The most challenging of these issues is the introduction of new diet. Children often have to begin feeding on supplementary diet that is different from mammary milk after they attain the age of twelve months. Child development policies and strategies ensure that these steps and stages in the development of the child are done incrementally and professionally to achieve desired impact (Bevans, Riley & Forrest, 2010).

Background on child development

Child development has been a source of scientific and medical research over the last few decades. Policies in child development often relate to the ability of the parent to help them achieve autonomy. However, with regard to theories in child development, the concern has often been about the emotional and physical relationship of the child and the mother. Many studies have been done on issues in child development. They have since resulted in aspects of child treatment, immunization and even nutrition.

The most significant theories in child development are the Developmental theories and the attachment theories (Warner, 2007). It is necessary however to realize that although most of the theories on child development have hardly been refuted, they have not been unanimously approved as well. Child development is often the cause of controversy in many policy development forums. There are particular goals that need to be achieved in child development but many different approaches to achieve these theories.

Where child development in a biological context is concerned, the physical change in the body of a child as they move from childhood to puberty is often a marvel in scientific research. Many children often realize a particular affinity for certain objects, games and pleasantries as they grow. However, there is likely that a child’s growth potential is achieved by the time they reach puberty (Bevans, Riley & Forrest, 2010). Children however do not easily learn the psychomotor skills on their own.

The exposure the child gets as they grow often determines how well they grow with regard to psychological and emotional development. There is indeed a direct relationship between the child’s environment and their eventual personality traits. More so, the adaptability of the child at the infancy stage is higher than at any other stages in their development. This is why child development theory and practice takes center stage among many pediatric research and education practices (Capel, 2012).

Child development however exceeds past growth. For instance, when a child grows, organs do not just grow, they are specialized. The same is the case for the various body cells and senses. They become bigger (grow) and better at their functions (develop). Child development theories thus take all these issues into account. However, with regard to the aspects and determining factors in child development; it is often the case that cases of child development complications are often treatable.

Medical research asserts that since the mind of the child keeps changing and growing, it is often the case that children may outgrow behavioral and psychological issues. There is however contention on the possibility of child brain research towards the treatment of regressive growth involving limbs and other bodily organs with a rich nervous system (O’Connor & McCartney, 2007).

Child Development Theories

Child development theories assess the growth and development of the child; the mitigating factors and the various aspects of the growth. Theories try and explain why phenomena such as development of limbs, ability to walk, talk and read as well as the growth of the intuition in a child occurs as it does. The major categories children are classified into often include; newborns, infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children and adolescents. These different categories of children often exhibit different traits.

This is why models are often specific to the category and explain how growth takes place from one category to the next. There are various theories formulated towards contributing to child development policies. However, this paper will discuss two main theories; child development theories and child attachment theories. These theories help scientists assess various growth factors and inhibitors to proper development of the child (Rigby, 2007).

Child development theories assess and explain the factors behind a child’s development. The most common of these theories is the ecological systems theory. The ecological systems theory was first proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. He proposed four categories for child biological development. These include; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem. The microsystem of the child is the nervous and cardio vascular system. The mesosystem defines the muscular system in the body.

The exosystem defines the skin organ of the body and all systems that interact with the external environment while the macrosystem defines the organ system in the body. A child’s development is expected to take place simultaneously in all these four stages. The theory also proposes that each of these subsystems contains particular norms and principles that guarantee development in a symbiotic manner. The relationship between the systems defines how well or retarded growth in a child is.

The child attachment theory defines the psychological, evolutionary and ethological development of a child. The theory asserts that interpersonal relationships between human beings are based on the development and proliferation of psychological needs. These needs stem from the child’s emotional upbringing and contact with the environment they live in. It is thus a concern that needs to be addressed by care givers.

The child’s evolutionary needs have to do with the child’s nutrition and socialization. Aspects such as early schooling, introduction to sporting activities and involvement in household chores contribute greatly to child development. It is thus critical to achieve these early. However, ethological (behavioral) growth in a child is cultured from the observations the children make on their own. This is why the environment one raises a child in must be protected from unnecessary exposure.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Early Childhood Education Theories

Early childhood education theories discuss the development of the child as they progress through school from introduction to later stages in school. For instance; the Development Integration Approach in child development discusses child development on aspects such as; physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive skills. Physical development is assessed through measures such as the body mass index (BMI) that evaluates the mass against the height of the child. Social and emotional development skills are the skills the child acquires from interacting with other children and adults.

Language can be considered in two aspects; the first language the child was exposed to; known as L1 and the other languages follow as L2, L3…However, language can also be the ability of the child to learn etiquette, euphemism and other necessary language skills at an early age. Cognition in a child is the most observable change. Abilities such as reading, learning and concentrating however take time to develop in a child. The ability to use language properly is very important to the child’s growth as it makes them able to communicate (Warner, 2007).

The other common theory in early childhood education is the socio-cultural learning theory. This theory asserts that the impact of the child’s social experiences as well as their cultural disposition affects their individual thinking and the development of their mental processes. This is why it is important to raise children in environments that elicit such growth potential.

All the same, whatever environment the child finds themselves in is able to affect their mental and psychological health either positively or negatively. The theory by Lev Vygotsky proposes that cognition should be trained by the child’s care givers since it occurs on a social context. Allowing children to play and undertake certain responsibilities early prepares them for such responsibilities in the future (O’Connor & McCartney, 2007).

For instance, early driving classes make the child develop an intuitive sense that helps them discern the path to take while on the road and the decisions that can help them avoid accidents and dangerous driving. Socio-cultural learning also presents the argument that a child born in cultural practices will likely learn them and embrace them early if they are exposed to them from the onset.

Conclusion

Early childhood development is a phenomenon that has been observed by scientists across the world for centuries. Indeed, aspects of child development such as the development of psychomotor skills, cognitive development and physical development often relate to the child’s culturalization. Most care givers are advised to monitor the path through which the child takes in their development actualization pattern in order to grow into the anticipated adults society envisions.

However, there are biological factors in child development and growth that do not really have anything to do with the care givers but actual parents. Genetic factors are often difficult to deal with as they are as the result of recessive genes since childhood. In such cases that these recessive genes lead to visible impaired limbs, it is necessary to seek medical attention to know how to handle these cases (Ogunnaike, 2015). Children should always be brought up in environments where they feel safe and able to interact freely with all persons in their vicinity. Since most of what they learn is acquired from vision, it is important to invest on the child’s environment and control it as much as possible without interfering with it.

References

Bevans, K. B., Riley, A. W., & Forrest, C. B. (2010). Development of the healthy pathways child-report scales. Quality of Life Research, 19(8), 1195-214.

Capel, C. M. (2012). Mindlessness/mindfulness, classroom practices and quality of early childhood education. The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 29(6), 666-680.

Rigby, E. (2007). Same policy area, different politics: How characteristics of policy tools alter the determinants of early childhood education policy. Policy Studies Journal, 35(4), 653-669.

O’Connor, E., & McCartney, K. (2007). Examining teacher-child relationships and achievement as part of an ecological model of development. American Educational Research Journal, 44(2), 340-369.

Ogunnaike, Y. A. (2015). Early Childhood Education and Human Factor: Connecting Theories and Perspectives. Review Of Human Factor Studies, 21(1), 9-26.

Warner, M. E. (2007). Child care and economic development: Markets, households and public policy.International Journal of Economic Development, 9(3), 111-121.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development theory

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development theory: Stages Case Study

Divorce or parents separation is associated with behavioral issues displayed by children. This is because family separation is a challenging obstacle for the whole family. Children are usually not emotionally mature to understand the situation; therefore, their stress and frustrations are often manifested by changing some aspects of their behavior. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory indicates that human undergo through a series of developmental stages. These include; Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority and identity vs. confusion (Burn et al. 2013).

Explanation of John’s behavior

In this case, John developmental stage falls under identity vs. identify confusion stage of the Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. This indicates that John’s behavior is driven by feelings of frustration, confusion and anger. These negative emotions are associated with diminished school performances and achievements. The fact that he leaves school early without permission or late of school in the past 60 days indicated that he could be indulging in risky behavioral activities such as alcohol and drugs (Bowden & Greenberg, 2010).

Two priority nursing concerns and nursing interventions

The main characteristic of divorce is impaired parenting. This refers to the inability of either parent to maintain or establish an environment that promotes optimum development of John. Therefore, the two priority nursing concerns are (Paul, 2016):

Poor academic performance related to social isolation, poor family cohesiveness and lack of communication.

Intervention: The nurse should use active listening to explore the child developmental expectations and needs within the context of socio-cultural influences. This will be achieved by interviewing the child in absence of his care taker in order to make him express his frustrations freely (Burn et al. 2013).

Incidence of psychological trauma related to social isolation, changes in family unit and maladaptive coping skills.

Intervention: The parenting styles and behaviors should be examined including the child’s environment, type of interaction and presence of other behavioral problem. The nurse should institute neglect/abuse protection measures if risk of neglect and abuse is suspected (Murphy, 2012).

Reference

Bowden, V. & Greenberg, C. (2010). Children and their families. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Burns, Catherine, Dunn, A., Brady, M., Starr, N. B., Blosser, C. (2013). Pediatric Primary Care, 5th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online].

Murphy, M. (2012). Parental divorce: Relationship between ego strengths and impact of divorce on adult children from an Eriksonian perspective. Retrieved from http://library.argosy.edu

Paul, H. (2016). How to Talk to Your Kids about Your Divorce, by S. Rodman. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 38(2), 184-189. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07317107.2016.1172892

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Effectiveness of the Autism Society

The Autism Society of Los Angeles (ASLA)

The autism society of community is based in the state of Los Angeles. It is also referred to as ASLA and it deals with taking care of the autism children living within the larger community of Los Angeles (Koegel et al., 2013). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (2013) asserts that the autism community has an overall aim of ensuring they have made a major differences in the lives of the people living with the autism conditions.

Furthermore, the families of the children suffering from autism make use of the services being provided by the community. The autism community has also employed a lot of health care professionals who take care of the children suffering from mental challenge.

The autism community was created in the year 1965 (Koegel et al., 2013). It was created when the abnormality condition was not highly known among the community members. It is considered one of the oldest, as well as the largest, in terms of taking grass root measures in Los Angeles. It has over 45 years of expertise in taking care of the autism children (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 2013).

This is due to the fact that it provides a lot of information concerning people suffering from autism while at the same time carrying out adequate research concerning the issue. The total number of members of ASLA community exceeds 120,000 where the supporters have remained connected in a very functional network system (Koegel et al., 2013). According to Koegel et al. (2013), they are connected in over 150 chapters in the whole of Los Angeles.

Thu, the community has also come up with objectives. First, it aims at raising money, both locally and in outside organizations, in order to cater for the demands made by the people suffering from autism. Secondly, ASLA has also been able to bring together the professionals, the interested individuals, the supporters, and the collaborators of the community in order to take care of the needs and requirements of the children suffering from autism.

Community Partnership of the Autism Society of Los Angeles

And Additional Partnership Deemed Important

The Autism Society of Los Angeles has also formed multifaceted partnerships with several important organizations to strengthen its overall operations. The formation of good partnerships has been one of the key pillars that has bolstered the process of effective delivery of the services.

The autism community group has enabled the formation of a very strong bond between the Autism Society National Society and it. Koegel et al. (2013) avers that the major aim of formation of such a partnership is to ensure there is formation of a strong bond between the organization and other related local organization in other parts of the United States.

Apart from that, it has also been able to form strong partnership with other important stakeholders and figures such as the leaders, parents, and the key professionals (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),2013). ASLA is very much aware that the formation of strong bond between it and the parents of children suffering from autism acts a very important stepping stone in building a strong bond in enhancing the process of services delivery.

The whole process has helped the parents to develop trust and confidence with the operations being carried out by ASLA, thus, acting as an important facilitator in compelling the parents to entrust it with the taking care of their children.

Contrarily, the professionals have also collaborated with the autism community in order to improve the process of service delivery. For instance, the special educationists have been able to access a chance for addressing important issues they would like to see addressed in order to improve the experience autism children gain over the time they spend in ASLA (Becerra et al., 2012).

Moreover, some professionals have also volunteered to offer some of the skills they deem important in trying to improve the lives of the autism children. The local leaders in Los Angeles have also passed beneficial laws that have favored the activities and operations of ASLA. The major aim of passing such laws and amendments is to make sure the children suffering from autism attains optimal support from the government (Hanney et al., 2012).

The leaders have also developed important financial kitties in order to fund important autism programs (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 2013). Unlike the normal children, those suffering requires special treatment when being educate. As a result, the local authorities have moved in to support ASLA by closing the financial gap for the effective delivery of its services while at the same time meeting its overall objectives.

Nonetheless, the organization can improve its operations by making sure it has formed more partnership with other significant parties. For instance, it should seek forming partnership with significant parties such as the global autism societies (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 2013).

The move will help incorporate ideas that have far-reaching improvements towards the lives of children suffering from autism. ASLA can also form strong partnership with religious affiliated groups (Becerra et al., 2012). This is due to the fact that such groups are more likely to offer positive contributions towards the lives of the autism children. It can also partner with more charitable organizations in order to expand its educational kitty.

The Cross-Cultural Challenges and the Humanitarian Considerations Enshrined In ASLA

The team of the professional plays a very important role in trying to determine the major decisions made by ASLA during the implementation of the major changes. The pool of professionals have recommended that the autism community should embrace the multicultural system in operating most of its affairs. They understand that the majorities holds different reasons concerning why children suffer from autism.

These may range from mode of vaccination, illnesses, environmental, perennial factors, and the hereditary. Therefore, they have helped to bring all these cross-cultural issues on board in order to come up with a comprehensive system for helping children suffering from the autism condition (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 2013). The parents have also a very important role especially when it comes to the suggestion of the ways their children should be treated and diagnosed (Becerra et al., 2012).

As such, most of the policies used to govern the operations of ASLA depends on the cultural background regarding the different families that are of interest in the autism community (Becerra et al., 2012). This is due to the fact that the decisions they make are influenced by several cultural factors such as the primary language used, the rituals, the beliefs, the values, the religious backgrounds, and the traditions of the parents.

Despite the incorporation of the cross-cultural set up or issues, there is still scanty availability of information concerning the application of the origin of the autism in children. Thus, there is need for ASLA to listen to the reasons being offered by both parents and the professionals as the main reasons for the occurrence of autism in children.

The move helps to offer an important background for the application of the appropriate remedies during the initiation of intervention procedures (Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 2013). For example, children from different cultural backgrounds may have varying length of delayed embracement of their respective languages (Williams et al., 2013). While the trend may seem to be normal, there is need to incorporate important ideas concerning autism in order to determine how appropriate remedies can be applied.

The proposal for such remedies should be the sole purpose of the professionals and the care takers living within the community. Therefore, they would be able to understand how to apply the appropriate remedies based on the cultural setup of the different communities and religious groups living in Los Angeles.

The Autism Society of Los Angeles and how it makes Use of the Economic Benefits Associated with It

The autism community has a lot of economic benefits it can take advantage of to improve the overall delivery of its services towards the children suffering from the mental challenge. The autism community has put it clear that anybody can feel free to offer any form of financial assistance in its official website pages (Hanney et al., 2012). As a result, the move has helped it register tremendous improvements in terms of the bulging of funds kitty.

As a result, ASLA has managed to buy equipment meant for the facilitation of better education for the children suffering from the autism condition (Williams et al., 2013). Apart from that, the autism community has also welcomed volunteers who are interested in working and uplifting the lives of the children suffering from autism (Ennis-Cole et al., 2013). The volunteers have been at the forefront in trying to make sure the autism children are able to learn how to carry out basic events in life such as cleaning of the environment and rehabilitating the environment (Williams et al., 2013).

The larger Los Angeles community is also allowed to visit and entertain the autism children during the major events or days such as the Family Fun Day and other religious holidays such as the Easter Festive (Ennis-Cole et al., 2013). During such events, the children are encouraged to compete in activities such as the painting, mowing grass, and playing in order to create a strong competitive edge among themselves (Hare, 2012). Therefore, they are able to keep on improving their overall mental capability.

Basic Hindrances the Autism Society of Los Angeles Faces When Trying To Look For the Effective Remedies

There is strong belief that autism, among the children, is a sign of curse in respective families. As a result, the strong cultural beliefs has made the treatment and fully embracement of the children suffering from autism a serious challenge (Laugeson et al., 2015). There has been cases where some parents have declined taking their children to the facility in order to access the special needs sighting issues such as curse (Laugeson et al., 2015).

Thus, it is upon ASLA to come up with more appropriate remedies that can create awareness among the parents of such children to embrace the abnormality just like any other. In fact, it should create more open ways of communication in order to promote open sharing of information regarding autism, where some families considered the issues as a taboo (Hanney et al., 2012). This would help erase the anxiety that might be associated with the autism condition among the children in Los Angeles.

In the long run, the launching of a strong campaign, which promotes a strong awareness about the mental condition will help to erase the frustration that might be associated with the parents seeking help (Hare, 2012). The move will promote the development of an open rapport. Some of the therapeutic procedures, which should be encouraged include the embracement of the Positive Behavior Support and the Discrete Trial Training. These will be very important policies that will help to promote the development of a positive feedback concerning the matter.

Vision of the Autism Society of Los Angeles

ASLA has created its vision it would like to see being achieved in the future. The community aims at promoting and facilitating the autism children towards realizing their full potential especially within the Los Angeles State (Special Education Needs, 2013).The major aim of promoting the positive realization of their full potential is to enable them grow into fully responsible citizen, who are able to think independently and have a positive impact towards the rest of the society just like the normal children.

The Proposed Improvement and the Important Changes the Autism Society of Los Angeles Should Make

The organization will need to come up with more appropriate measures that will seek at discrediting the fact that autism children signals a curse towards the respective families. In fact, this is the only way there will be dislodging of such claims (Sun et al., 2015). The community should also mount string campaign network through the social media trying to promote need for being open enough in about the autism in children (Sun et al., 2015).

Feasible Contributions One Can Make towards the Organization’s Activities

There are different ways that one can participate towards improving service delivery in ASLA community. One can become a volunteer where he/she can take the autism children through important life tasks in order to promote their independent thinking such as encouraging them to embrace graphic designs (Sun et al., 2015).

Moreover, it will also be important in trying to promote the funding process of the organization where one can remain very active in looking for donations. Moreover, regular broadcasting and communication process and important progresses being made by ASLA is also another important opportunity a person can seek at participating in, thus, promoting the creation of more awareness.

References

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). (2013). Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, 368-368. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUgrvXyYPPAhVHVxQKHZyVDzMQFghqMAk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chla.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fmigrated%2FPublication_Final.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHHdlVaf3nB48xVcN7pT8lMaSe7tg&sig2=uXNpVch4wjiX4wLMnGmb7A

Becerra, T. A., Wilhelm, M., Olsen, J., Cockburn, M., & Ritz, B. (2012). Ambient Air Pollution and Autism in Los Angeles County, California. Environ. Health Perspect, 121(3), 380-386. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUgrvXyYPPAhVHVxQKHZyVDzMQFggtMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fehp.niehs.nih.gov%2F1205827%2F&usg=AFQjCNFcPWpkNGzFK8bv0my6JPJGKTGWPQ&sig2=7q0dVsEROKdtE2lHCC4oFg

Ennis-Cole, D., Durodoye, B. A., & Harris, H. L. (2013). The Impact of Culture on Autism Diagnosis and Treatment: Considerations for Counselors and Other Professionals. The Family Journal, 21(3), 279-287. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs4OOqy4PPAhXMJcAKHWSWBfMQFghnMAk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcourses.unt.edu%2FEnnis-Cole%2Farticles%2FFile2.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFZxuVcu0WEMpcE3EG9lQAafkXkWA&sig2=MFwxkOcRa_svbLMuWNA8ag

Hanney, N. M., Jostad, C. M., LeBlanc, L. A., Carr, J. E., & Castile, A. J. (2012). Intensive Behavioral Treatment of Urinary Incontinence of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Archival Analysis of Procedures and Outcomes from an Outpatient Clinic. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 28(1), 26-31. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs4OOqy4PPAhXMJcAKHWSWBfMQFgg-MAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fapschool.edu.hk%2F79_Sallows_2005.pdf&usg=AFQjCNG6sS0b_fkwfWE332LYvn62zCTAXQ&sig2=kxoacDR8GxNgLd6ARvdr0A

Hare, D. J. (2012). Developing Psychotherapeutic Interventions for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Psychological Therapies for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities, 193-206. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=HY29CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=The+Autism+Society+of+Los+Angeles+PDF+Journals&source=bl&ots=5YdGeWaVd_&sig=BdwEOUcQscyqr2KO2T0IefvQZNk&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Autism%20Society%20of%20Los%20Angeles%20PDF%20Journals&f=false

Koegel, L. K., Koegel, R. L., Ashbaugh, K., & Bradshaw, J. (2013). The importance of early identification and intervention for children with or at risk for autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16(1), 50-56. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs4OOqy4PPAhXMJcAKHWSWBfMQFgg0MAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Feducation.ucsb.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fautism_center%2Fimages%2FKoegel%2C%2520Koegel%2C%2520Ashbaugh%2C%2520Bradshaw%2520%282014%29%2520The%2520importance%2520of%2520early%2520identification%2520and%2520intervention%2520for%2520children%2520with%2520or%2520at%2520risk%2520for%2520autisms%2520pectrum%2520disorders_0.pdf&usg=AFQjCNG8CVkEAwgqf8WhIOqRvb0aIfBZyw&sig2=_Ry3inQrgKJQwDOh8iutHg

Laugeson, E. A., Gantman, A., Kapp, S. K., Orenski, K., & Ellingsen, R. (2015). A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Social Skills in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The UCLA PEERS Program. J Autism Dev Disord, 45(12), 3978-3989. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUgrvXyYPPAhVHVxQKHZyVDzMQFghPMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.semel.ucla.edu%2Fsites%2Fall%2Ffiles%2Fpage%2Fassociated%2FLaugeson%2520et%2520al%25202015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGC854UjImjtTTxHiL8ZcdwsMZzmA&sig2=P6nPMak6SB4b0A_gZlrTAw

Special Education Needs. (2013). Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2943-2943. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search’q=related:www.autismarabia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Encyclopedia-of-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders-Facts-On-File.pdf+Special+Education+Needs.+%282013%29.+Encyclopedia+of+Autism+Spectrum+Disorders,+2943-2943&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiphruO1obPAhXJC8AKHZiKCZIQHwg-MAU&biw=1366&bih=657&bav=on.2,or.&bvm=bv.132479545,d.ZGg&ech=1&psi=x_fUV-mGGsmXgAaYlaaQCQ.1473654050794.3&ei=x_fUV-mGGsmXgAaYlaaQCQ&emsg=NCSR&noj=1

Sun, X., Allison, C., Matthews, F. E., Zhang, Z., Auyeung, B., Baron-Cohen, S., & Brayne, C. (2015). Exploring the Under-diagnosis and Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Beijing. Autism Research, 8(3), 250-260. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.1441/pdf

Williams, M. E., Fink, C., Zamora, I., & Borchert, M. (2013). Autism assessment in children with optic nerve hypoplasia and other vision impairments. Dev Med Child Neurol, 56(1), 66-72. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs4OOqy4PPAhXMJcAKHWSWBfMQFggeMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oadd.org%2Fpublications%2Fjournal%2Fissues%2Fvol14no2%2Fdownload%2FdeRivera.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGGbDuHSlE-Vqig9stQMMdspS2MOQ&sig2=_ATfQpXLMZrGeTFniOXpYA

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Intellectual Disability: Research Paper

About 1 percent of the entire population has intellectual disability, which is a considerable disorder in adaptive as well as intellectual function in the early stages of development (Aveyard 2014). Individuals with the intellectual disabilities rate of developing mental illness are greater in comparison to the whole population, however, challenges in communication, access to services, literacy means that mental issues in persons with intellectual disability are inadequately recorded.

Moreover, the majority of persons with intellectual disability exhibit challenging behaviors, meaning characters of intensity, duration, and frequency that endangers their physical safety or those around them or even restricts accessing community services.

For a long period, there have been concerns that psychotropic medicine especially, antipsychotics are overused as such prescribed for problem behavior instead of diagnosing mental sickness, regardless of insufficient proof on their effectiveness. Nonetheless, getting an accurate amount of psychotropic in persons with learning disabilities is intricate, while present literature is limited due to varying descriptions.

In spite of inadequate proof from policy context, there is no detailed assessment of psychotropic in adults with learning disability in United Kingdom primary care conducted, while results from other nations cannot be generalised due to variations in health care provisions as well as practices (Guerzoni & Zuleeg 2011).

Proof demonstrates that psychotropic use in entire population has been increasing tremendously for the past years, however, few studies have investigated that the patterns used to prescribe psychotropic among persons with intellectual disability. Regarding deinstitutionalization, creating warrens of psychotropic use, adverse effects and efforts to minimise its use to individuals with learning disability through the implementation of prescription standards are not clear. Furthermore, with the large as well as representative sample size, it is apparent that there are increased rates of mental illness, challenging behavior and psychotropic medicine among people with intellectual disability.

Research Question

Do challenging behaviors among persons with learning disabilities result from mental impairments?
Are social workers faced with challenges caring for persons with learning disabilities?

Research Objectives

To establish whether or not challenging behaviors among persons with learning disabilities result from mental impairments
To understand some of the challenges that come with caring for persons with learning disabilities

Hypothesis

H₀: Challenging behaviors among persons with learning disabilities do not result from mental impairments
H₁: Challenging behaviors among persons with learning disabilities do not result from mental impairments
H₀: Social workers caring for persons with learning disabilities do not undergo challenges that wear them down
H₁: Social workers caring for persons with learning disabilities undergo challenges that wear them down

What is challenging behavior?

An individual’s conduct may be regarded as challenging if it threatens their safety or those around, particularly care or even contributes poor life quality. In addition, such behaviors can influence their capacity to participate in routine activities. Challenging behaviors consist of self-harm, destructiveness and aggression among others. Communication determines the way in which people express their needs.

In the event that communication is problematic, it may extremely discourage individuals leading to challenging behavior. If such behavior contributes to desire results, it may be repeated over and over. Challenging behaviors are common in persons with problems that impact communication and the brain including learning disability, and dementia (Economist Intelligence Unit 2011).

Challenging behavior or behaviors that challenge are culturally anomalous behaviors of frequency or duration that endangers their safety or others. In most cases, an individual must display trends that are a threat to services for a significant timeframe. Seriously challenging behaviors are not transient occurrences. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), challenging behavior is a concept that is associated with aggression, stereotype, and agitation or self-harm, withdrawal, and sexual misconduct (NICE 2016).

Additionally, challenging behavior involves persons whose conduct present considerable challenges to services. This comprises of behaviors that are associated with mental health issues. Challenging behaviors are widely used among persons with learning or intellectual disability, in addition to those with autism. Nonetheless, there are other groups that can be regarded to have challenging behaviors such as those with dementia and serious mental issues.

Impact of challenging behavior

Challenging behavior is described as ‘socially unacceptable behavior’, ‘bad behavior’ (Craver 2015). The term also reflects a challenge to those concerned. It indicates that something is not working well, and it needs to be rectified and stopped. Behavior is challenging if it causes harm to another individual, or prevents them from fulfilling certain things in their lives. Challenging behaviors are detrimental to the lives of the affected persons and those around them. Hence, dealing with challenging behaviors requires careful handling in a way that supports the safety and well-being of people and others

Aggression and assault

In a study conducted by 76 social care workers in institutions that provide intellectual disability services, three-quarter of respondents had faced aggression, self-harm, and disruptive behavior. Recent studies of employees working with persons with dementia discovered that roughly three-quarter of workers faced fearful events during their work (Springer et al. 2013). The most common reported cause was physical assault. Among the respondents sampled, a fifth said they had been injured, a quarter experienced fears during interaction, and half of the interviewees stated that they adopted a more personal centered style while others learned to be more vigilant.

This study gives indications of nature and level challenging behavior experienced by staff in care homes for people with dementia. Recent studies of perception of severe behavior and fear of assault showed that the degree of fear was greater when staff was exposed to challenging behavior. Researchers, however, found unclear evidence for the relationship between the quantity of challenging behavior and the level of fear of assault.

References

Emerson, E. 2011, Challenging behaviors. Available from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Challenging-Behaviour-Eric-Emerson/dp/0521728932/280-1066416-6180644?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0521728932&l inkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=mentalhealt08 [25^th May 2016].

Guerzoni B. and Zuleeg F. 2011, Working away at the cost of aging. Brussels: European Policy Centre. Available from:http://www.epc.eu/documents/uploads/pub_1265_working_away_at_the_cost_of_ageing. pdf ,[25th May 2016].

Hayes, S. A., & Watson, S. L. 2013. The impact of parenting stress: A meta-analysis of studies comparing the experience of parenting stress in parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 43(3), 629-642.

Mental health center 2016, Oppositional defiant disorder. Available from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/oppositional-defiant-disorder?page=222 [25^th May 2016].

National Center for Learning Disabilities. 2012, What are learning disabilities? Available from http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/what-is-ld/what-are-learning-disabilities [25^th May 2016].

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Differential Reinforcement of Alternate behavior

BEHAVIORAL CHANGE PROJECT: Differential reinforcement of alternate behavior

1. Author: Felicia Omotosho

2. Title: a) An investigation of differential reinforcement of alternate behavior on adults with autism who exhibit self-injurious behavior.

b) An investigation of differential reinforcement of alternate behavior on individuals with Developmental Disabilities Who Engage in Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

3. Participant(s) and setting: a) 4 adults with autism at a community day program setting

b) 2-4 adults with developmental disabilities

4. Behavioral definition (only): a) Self-injurious Behavior (SIB)

b) Inappropriate sexual behavior

5. Social significance of the target behavior:

Some people with developmental disabilities often develop inappropriate behaviors such as self injury, risky sexual behaviors or aggressiveness. These behaviors are taboo in most communities and are associated with negative consequences. In this context, it is important to equip the care givers with appropriate best reinforcement strategies in order to reduce the incidences of this inappropriate behavior in people with developmental disabilities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the strengths and weakness of Differential Reinforcement of Alternate behavior (DRA) in managing inappropriate behavior in people with developmental disabilities (Bloom and Lambert, 2015).

6. Measurement system (include session length):

The selected participants are individuals with developmental disorders who have engaged in inappropriate behavior that need to be rectified. The data measurements that will be gathered include participant’s age, gender, diagnosis, inappropriate behavior, and expected outcome after integrating the proposed intervention.

The session for each participant will be 5-15 minutes per day, per week (5 days). The sessions will be 10 min in duration, with 5-minn break between each session. The Multi-element design will be used during functional analysis, and the subsequent analysis will apply the reversal designs (Athens & Vollmer, 2010).

7. Reliability (include IOA procedures, formula, computations)

Reliability will be determined using interobserver agreement (IOA). This will be calculated as follows; two independent observers will collect data of the inappropriate behavior. The observations will be divided into 10-s bins and the number of the responses will be scored in each bin. The smaller number of responses observed in each bin will be divided by larger of the observed responses and converted into percentages.

The interobserver agreement (IOA) scores is >90%. The generalized matching equations (GME) provide robust, reliable and precise information about the best alternative between 2 or more available reinforcement and a response allocation. The logarithmic GME version is as follows (Athens & Vollmer, 2010);

Log (B1/B2) = a log (R1/R2) + log b

Where B1 and B2 are frequency of responding to the reinforcement method,

R1 and R2 are the relative response rates from obtained reinforcement from the alternative

Y intercept (b) is the bias of independent relative reinforcement rates and slope (a) is the function reflecting sensitivity reinforcement rates,

8. Procedures

The sessions will be conducted by trained clinicians who will serve as experimenters. The observers will be clinicians (will receive in-vivo training on behavioral observation). The observers will seat behind a one-way mirror. The data will be collected on laptop and desktop, which will provide real time and scoring events in terms of frequency (disruption, aggression, SIB or screaming) and duration (escape from instructions or response time etc). The sessions will be conducted 4-16 times daily for five days in a week.

Before performing the experimental analyses with the participants, a reinforce assessment will be done using procedures described by Piazza et al. (1999). The reinforcing efficacy will be achieved using appropriate activities such as use of praising words, toys, musical instruments or physical contact.

Baseline:

The functional analysis of baseline will be performed as identical as the reinforcement assessment, but only that is associated with problem behavior. To obtain a baseline data, each instance of inappropriate behavior will result in delivery of reinforcement from the instructor. During this assessment, no programmed consequences will be put in place to ensure appropriate behavior so as to collect the baseline data that will be used for comparison purposes.

In addition, equal concurrent schedules of reinforcement will be put in place for both the problem and appropriate behavior. The intervals will be selected based and described and will consist of 30s during the delivery of a reinforcer and 30 s after reinforcing.

Intervention (complete and precise):

Equal concurrent reinforcement schedules will be put in place for both inappropriate behavior and expected appropriate behavior after intervention. The intervals will be timed and the data will be collected in the same manner as in baseline analysis. For all participants, after the interval reinforcer access is complete, it will be removed and timer will be reset for another response.

9. Experimental design:

The experiment design used in this study is phenomenological qualitative research design. This is because the study explores on how humans experience certain phenomena. The design sampling strategy is the purposive sampling which provides samples that are highly representatives of the targeted population. The research method also saves time, effort and money (Bloom and Lambert, 2015).

10. Graph (simply describe the scales of the horizontal and vertical axes and conditions):

The vertical axis will consists of responses (both for appropriate and inappropriate behavior) per time intervals versus the number of sessions attended. This will help in identifying the impact of differential reinforcement of alternate behavior on individuals with Developmental Disabilities in generating appropriate behavior (Bloom and Lambert, 2015).

References

Athens, E. S., & Vollmer, T. R. (2010). An investigation of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43(4), 569–589. http://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2010.43-569

Bloom, S.E., and Lambert, J.M. (2015). Implications for practice; Resurgence and differential reinforcement of alternative responding: Journal of applied behavioral analysis 48(4):781-784 doi: 10.1002/jaba.266. Epub 2015 Oct 19.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

SOCIAL COGNITION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ASD

Study Sample

Parents have great influences in their children social cognition. For this reason, the eligible participants for this study include adolescents diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), age 16- 23 years and together with their parents or the primary caregiver (Hartley, Schaidle, & Burnson, 2013; Loukas et al., 2015). The inclusion criteria for participants included the ability to communicate in English, and the adolescent is diagnosed with ASD.

Participant recruitment will take place at the community clinical settings. Emails requesting for participation will be sent to the adolescent’s parents/ caregivers diagnosed with ASD. The email will include the project’s description in detail, including the benefits and risks associated with their participation. The parents who are interested in participating will be requested respond to the email and will be contacted for official recruitment processes including the signing of the informed consent

Sample collection is an integral part of research design as it determines whether the research hypothesis will be appropriately tested. Therefore, it is important to establish a balance between an ideal sample and a convenient (Kandalaft et al., 2013). At the commencement of the study, the available study sample is estimated at ten pairs of participants, that is ten adolescents diagnosed with ASD and ten parents/caregivers of the adolescents diagnosed with ASD. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, the study sample may slightly less than the estimated number.

The study sample will be pretested using questionnaires to evaluate the adolescent’s social cognition ability at the baseline. This will be followed by the proposed intervention (training for adolescents and their parents for 15 weeks). After 15 weeks, a post-test and a focus group discussion will be performed to determine the impact of the intervention and to understand the challenges adolescent’s experiences during the transition.

References

Hartley, S. L., Schaidle, E. M., & Burnson, C. F. (2013). Parental Attributions for the Behavior Problems of Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics : JDBP, 34(9), 651–660. http://doi.org/10.1097/01.DBP.0000437725.39459.a0

Kandalaft, M. R., Didehbani, N., Krawczyk, D. C., Allen, T. T., & Chapman, S. B. (2013). Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(1), 34–44. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1544-6

Loukas, K. M., Raymond, L., Perron, A. R., McHarg, L. A., & LaCroix Doe, T. C. (2015). Occupational transformation: Parental influence and social cognition of young adults with autism. Work, 50(3), 457-463.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Social cognition: Reflective essay

Social cognition

Question 1: various viewpoints and findings observed during literature review

The social cognitive process is critical especially when an individual is navigating complex social interactions. The way people perceive or interpret other people’s actions is important. However, most people diagnosed with atypical mental disorders such as autism lack appropriate social cognitive skills.

It has been postulated that people diagnosed with ASD are biased in visual cognition such as body language or facial assessment. This is a challenge among the adolescents because they are in a stage characterized by consolidation of their social self, their identity and understanding their roles in the social world (Loukas et al., 2015).

From the literature review, I identified two contrasting viewpoints about social cognition development in adolescence diagnosed with ASD; theory of mind (ToM) and adolescent’s sensitivity to social rejection (Leekam, 2016). According to the concept of sensitivity to social rejection, the studies stated that the developmental mismatch occurs due to poor regulation of the adolescent’s emotions and accounts for the poor social cognition skills in adolescents diagnosed with ASD.

On the other hand, ToM argues that individuals are trained to understand other people’s minds, thoughts, intentions and beliefs based on the principles they were taught at the age of 4, and that their social cognition is mainly influenced by their caregivers or parents (Leekam, 2016).

These two viewpoints have been integrated into the literature review and will be used during analysis to determine whether adolescent’s social cognition is determined by the affective theory of mind, sensitivity to social rejection or both. This is because adolescence stage is marked with increased social and emotional sophistication; therefore, the underlying themes that influence social cognition skills should be explored to empower adolescents diagnosed with ASD well-being and behavioral outcomes (Loukas et al., 2015).

Question 2: Thought processes when developing research question

A good research question should be relevant and manageable. Therefore, the research question was developed from issues of intellectual interest raised in practice and literature. The aspects that I find most interesting in this field are children growth and development. From the literature, it is evident that parenting skills greatly influence the children behaviors (Loukas et al., 2015). In this context, the adolescent stage is marked by distinct changes in their relationship with family, peers and the society. It is a stage when they should be taught on ways to assert autonomous control over their emotions, actions, and decisions.

During this stage, it has been argued that the brain undergoes remodeling process. Whereas substantial research has been conducted on social cognition in autistic children, there is little attention in researching parent’s role in ASD adolescent’s social cognition, and whether support training of the parents and caregivers reinforce positive social cognition skills in ASD adolescents (Leekam, 2016). From this analysis, the knowledge gap was evident which led to the formulation of the research questions;

Does parallel complementary training for parents make them be well informed about their children social and intellectual development? Does it empower them with new viewpoints that help to improve social cognition in their children (autistic adolescents)?

Question 3: Developing research methodology

After developing the research questions, I evaluated six evidence-based studies to analyze the research method appropriate to this discipline critically. From these articles, I found out that it is important to establish appropriate study sample because excessive sample or too small study sample lack the statistical power that shows the significant effect. The literature review as the primary source that informed by choice and application of the mixed research method. This research method has a clear connection with the research problem as it provides a complete and comprehensive understanding of the research question (Leekam, 2016).

Moreover, the data collection process is through interviews and questionnaire which are an appropriate approach that facilitates the researcher to develop better and more contexts that have greater construct validity (Loukas et al., 2015). From the literature review, I also learned that the most commonly used data analysis method include chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA, which I have integrated into the proposal’s research methodology. Also, it is important to ensure that the data gathered is accurate. One advantage of mixed research method is that it facilitates triangulation (assessing the same phenomenon using several means of research methods) thereby enhancing the study validity and reliability (Loukas et al., 2015).

Question 4: Innovative part of this research proposal

It is evident that children’s social and cognitive skills development is influenced by their parenting style. Responsive parenting has been explored using various research frameworks such as socio-cultural and attachment; and have been found to have a strong foundation is children’s social and emotional skills (Loukas et al., 2015). In combination with the environment, these aspects shape the child’s social cognition needs including the various range of support required for the child’s learning process. It is these supports that enable the children to be actively engaged in problem-solving, self-regulation and execution of social cognitive skills (Walsh, Creighton, & Rutherford, 2016).

However, the social and emotional stability of parents with children diagnosed with ASD is small. Therefore, their parenting responsiveness is poor and negatively impacts on the child’s social cognition function. The benefits of SCTI-A training is well documented. The study proposes that integrating a parallel complementary training for the parents and caregivers will promote mutual engagement and reciprocate the parent-child interaction. That inturn enables the adolescent to become more active and to develop a trust and bond between the parents and to internalize the trust such that they can generalize the learned behavior to new social cognitive functions/ experiences (Leekam, 2016).

References

Leekam, S. (2016). Social cognitive impairment and autism: what are we trying to explain?. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 371(1686), 20150082.

Walsh, J. A., Creighton, S. E., & Rutherford, M. D. (2016). Emotion Perception or Social Cognitive Complexity: What Drives Face Processing Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder?. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 46(2), 615-623.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Mental health care

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY MENTAL HEALTH CARE

INTRODUCTION

Mental health care practice began several years ago when relatively simple approaches to care were still being utilized. Like any other form of health care, mental health care can be evaluated based on a range of theories and models which have extensively been used to inform mental health nursing practice. This paper discusses the difference between historical and contemporary mental health care as it applies to nursing models and the nursing process.

This paper has described in details, the concepts of “nursing process” and “nursing model” and how they have evolved since conception. Moreover, this paper uses a case study to describe how the nursing process and a nursing model have been applied in nursing care provision for a patient who is suffering from a sexually transmitted infection characterized by depression.

CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL MENTAL HEALTH CARE

2.1 The Nursing Process and how it has Evolved since Conception

The principles of nursing process largely dominate mental health care practice in today’s nursing and health industry. The term “nursing process” is defined as the application of a scientific approach to care provision that involves strict adherence to distinct steps which are aimed at generating positive health outcomes for patients (Perez-Rivas, Martin-Iqlesias, Pacheco del Cerro, Arenas, Lopez and Lagos, 2016, p. 43).

According to Perez-Rivas et. al., (2016, p. 43), for a nursing process to be considered effective, the health care practitioner must complete all the documented steps because information gained from one step results into the success of subsequent steps. Approaching mental health care based on the principles of “nursing process” helps to develop critical thinking skills of nurses, which eventually translates into improved problem-solving and positive health outcomes for mentally-ill patients (Perez-Rivas et. al., 2016, p. 44).

Nursing process and its application in mental health care has greatly evolved from when it was introduced up to date. Traditionally, the nursing process extensively emphasized on health care assessment, implementation of intervention, and planning as the only phases involved in mental health care delivery. In those days, the process did not recognize the significant role played by cognitive processes in influencing decision making during care (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 411).

However, as nurses continued to utilize the historical principles of the nursing process into practice, increasingly advanced nursing processes were integrated and this has greatly improved the overall image of the nursing process. For instance, the advanced nursing process currently integrates diagnostic reasoning that facilitates decision making which was absent in the traditional nursing process.

Through continued nursing research and practice, nursing professionals have contributed greatly to the evolution of the nursing process by identifying the need to incorporate health outcomes identification and planning into the nursing process. To date, health care professionals who handle mental health cases view the nursing process as an advanced form or practice that involves five steps: “assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification and planning, intervention implementation, and evaluation (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 412).

2.2 How the Nursing Process was First Developed and How it is used in Contemporary Nursing

The nursing process that is used in contemporary nursing differs significantly from the one used in traditional nursing as it applies to mental health care. This is attributed to the changes that have been made on the “nursing process” since it was developed (Perez-Rivas et. al., 2016, p. 44). Nursing was first viewed as a process rather than a distinct activity in 1955 by Lydia Hall from United Kingdom.

Although many professionals in the nursing field were not sure as to whether Hall’s views were right, a few of them dwelled extensively on the topic and they began to refer to nursing as a process. Examples of authors who supported Hull in describing nursing as a process include Johnson, Orlando, and Wiedenbach and their opinions on the nursing process are available in their publications of 1959, 1961, and 1963 respectively.

By then, only three steps were used to define the nursing process and they include, “assessment, planning, and evaluation (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 411).” These three steps provided the basis of the nursing process that traditional nurses used to deliver mental health care to patients.

Later on in 1967, an additional step described as implementation of intervention was added to the nursing process by Walsh and Yura. It is not until 1973 when the American Nurses Association (ANA) felt in necessary to incorporate diagnosis into the nursing process. During the final revision and publication of the ANA standards in 1991, another step known as identification of outcome was integrated into the nursing process.

The step was made part of the planning phase and this resulted into the generation of a nursing process that comprised of five steps namely; “assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification and planning, intervention implementation, and evaluation (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 412).” The development of the nursing process has progressed through a number of steps which have been modified across years to generate the process that is currently used in contemporary nursing to provide care for mentally-ill patients.

Based on the nursing process, contemporary nurses frequently assess, diagnose, identity outcomes, implement interventions, and finally evaluate the effectiveness of interventions whenever they are delivering mental health care to patients.

2.3 The Nursing Model and How they Have Evolved Since Conception

Nursing models play a very important role in nursing practice in the sense that, they largely influence decision making processes by nurses concerning the most appropriate ways through which patients should be handled. A nursing model is defined as a framework of nursing concepts that act as a foundation for nursing care and that describe how given health care practices should be performed (Murphy, Williams and Pridmore, 2010, p. 23).

Nursing models have been developed to help direct nurses on the best approaches they should take to improve patient outcomes and to explain why certain approaches as relevant. Different nursing models exist and their goal is to assist nurses to achieve various nursing components based on the nature of a mental health issue they are handling at any given time (Springer and Casey-Lockyer, 2016, p. 647).

Nursing models have significantly evolved since their conception due to constant changes in patients’ needs and due to rapid technological advancements in the contemporary world which tend to change approaches to care. Nursing models were first developed in the United States way back in 1960s (Murphy, Williams and Pridmore, 2010, p. 23). In 1960, the United States was characterized by a number of cultural, technological and social transformations which influenced nursing professionals to make changes that were aimed at improving nursing practice.

For this reason, traditional nursing models were developed based on their effectiveness in meeting basic medical goals. For instance, the “medical model” provided a foundation only for the management of physical health problems. Nurses in the United Kingdom began to apply nursing models into practice in 1970s (Murphy, Williams and Pridmore, 2010, p. 24).

Since then, significant transformations in the world have helped nurses to build a body of knowledge that has been used to develop modern nursing models. Nursing models which are used in contemporary nursing to deliver mental health care have been developed to guide nurses on how they can handle patients with a wide variety of health problems as opposed to traditional models (Springer and Casey-Lockyer, 2016, p. 660).

2.4 Total Patient Care: A Historical Nursing Model

An example of a historical nursing model that is rarely used by today’s nurses is Total Patient Care which is also known as Private Duty Nurses. Total Patient Care is a nursing model that conceptualizes that, for nurses to deliver quality patient care, they must have a small number of patients that they can effectively handle at any given time. The nurse should then work in collaboration with other registered nurses to ensure that the patients being attended to receive maximum care.

Total Patient Care model guided traditional nurses to work with small groups of mentally-ill patients that they could effectively handle at any given time. Although Total Patient Care can still be used to guide clinical decisions in today’s health care settings, today’s health care organizations rarely utilize this model to deliver mental health care (Mary and Sandra, 2004, p. 291).

2.5 Watson’s Theory of Caring: A Contemporary Nursing Model

Through his theory of caring, Jean Watson greatly influences clinical decision making processes by today’s nurses, especially those who deliver care to patients with mental health problems. This contemporary nursing theory conceptualizes that there are four major factors that determine positive patient outcome during care delivery. These factors include the personality of the care giver, the patient’s health status, the environment in which care is delivered, and the nursing process (Ozan, Okumus and Aytekin, 2015, p. 26).

These factors influenced Watson to assume that the most effective form of care is that which is delivered interpersonally. In addition, the nurse should take time to understand specific health problem that a patient is suffering from. Again, it is the responsibility of the nurse to create caring environment for his or her patient. Furthermore, nursing lies at the center of caring and intended health outcomes will only be achieved if the right nursing processes are followed. Watson’s theory of caring is widely used in nursing practice today (Ozan, Okumus and Aytekin, 2015, p. 25).

SERVICE USER’S HISTORY

A service user whom I have cared for in the past is a female patient aged 16 years and who suspected that she was suffering from a sexually transmitted infection and was therefore in need of medical care. I had to take historical data before I could identify the best component of the nursing process to use in order to confirm presence or absence of a sexually transmitted infection.

My patient was an orphan who stayed with her uncle at the time of visit. At the time of visit, she was feeling depressed and psychologically disturbed because of her health condition. In addition, she was part of a group of commercial sex workers in the city despite her young age, and she uses money earned from the business to earn a living. She had also been in an intimate relation with different partners without protection.

Her uncle used to beat her up every time he was at home and therefore, she feared staying at home. The patient had not taken any medication prior to visiting the health care facility. I applied the nursing process to deliver the most appropriate nursing care for the patient.

When I was handling my patient, I greatly relied on the nursing process that is majorly used in contemporary nursing. By following the five steps of the nursing process, contemporary nurses are able to provide quality care that addresses specific patients’ needs. During assessment phase, the contemporary nurse collects, verifies, organizes, interprets, and documents patients’ health data that will be used to accomplish the subsequent steps.

After collecting relevant data, the contemporary nurse ensues to diagnosis phase where he or she analyzes the collected data to make a clinical judgment which is aimed at identifying a specific health problem that the patient is suffering from (Perez-Rivas et. al., 2016, p. 44).

Once a specific health problem is identified, the contemporary nurse proceeds to the third phase where he or she identifies the most appropriate health outcomes that the patient should be assisted to achieve. It is in this phase where the nurse documents a plan of how the patient can be helped to achieve the proposed outcomes. In the fourth phase, the contemporary nurse implements the right intervention as documented in the plan (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 416).

The nurse then proceeds to the fifth phase where he or she evaluates the effectiveness of the implemented intervention in generating the proposed health outcomes for the patient. In case the proposed health outcomes are not realized following intervention implementation, the nurse is compelled to change the intervention until the intended results are obtained (Perez-Rivas et. al., 2016, p. 44).

A component of the nursing process that I used to exercise care for the patient was taken from the Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADPIE) model described above, considering the fact that it is the one that is widely used in contemporary nursing. I decided to use Diagnosis component of the ADPIE to maximize nursing care for my patient.

By choosing diagnosis component, I wanted to bring together all the historical data that I had gathered into meaningful information. Specifically, when conducting diagnosis on the patient, I used the data that I had already collected to make clinical judgment about my patient and the family. This enabled me to understand that risk factors that exposed by patient to acquiring sexually transmitted infections.

Furthermore, I was able to predict possible responses that she could receive from family members if she approached them with her health problem. Generally, diagnosis provided me with the basis for selecting the most appropriate nursing intervention that could generate positive health outcomes for my patient.

The type of diagnosis that I conducted on the patient was possible nursing diagnosis. A possible nursing diagnosis is conducted when a patient’s problem requires additional analysis for the presence or absence of a health problem to be confirmed (Perez-Rivas et. al., 2016, p. 44). In the case that I was handling, it was not yet confirmed that the patient was suffering from sexually transmitted infections. The client was worried that she might have acquired sexually transmitted infections owing to her sexual behaviours in the recent past. Such thoughts had severe impact on her mental health. Data obtained from this diagnosis helped me to confirm presence of a sexually transmitted infection (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 416).

Diagnosis was a very important component of ADPIE for my patient because it acted as a link to the other aspects of the nursing process namely; planning, implementation, and evaluation. The diagnosis was the second phase of the nursing process that was performed after collecting data in the assessment phase. Information gathered during diagnosis phase was extremely useful in the subsequent steps because I utilized it to identify the best health outcomes for my patient and to select a nursing intervention that could generate those outcomes for my patients. Diagnosis was very important in the overall nursing process because it helped me to come up with the right interventions that were intended to generate improved health outcomes for the patient (Zamanzadeh et. al., 2015, p. 416).

When I was providing nursing care to my patient, I paid greatest attention to Watson’s Theory of Caring mode. I utilized the four major factors that determine positive patient outcome during care delivery as described in Watson’s theory of caring. Specifically, I strived to; build strong interpersonal relationship with the client, establish specific health problem the patient was suffering prove, create an environment suitable for nursing care, and to adhere to all steps of the nursing process (Ozan, Okumus and Aytekin, 2015, p. 25).

CONCLUSION

Historical and contemporary mental health care differ significantly due to evolutions in nursing theories and models which have taken place over the years. For instance, while traditional mental health care was delivered using a nursing process that only involved three steps, delivery of contemporary mental care utilizes a nursing process with five steps.

Additionally, while traditional mental health care was based on historical nursing models, today’s mental health care is guided by contemporary nursing models such as Watson’s theory of caring model. The evolutions of the nursing process and the developments of nursing models have brought about significant improvements in health care delivery particularly in mental health care.

From this case study, I have learnt the importance of implementing contemporary nursing processes and nursing models in care delivery. I will utilize this knowledge to improve the quality of mental health care that I will deliver in future. As a student nurse, I will take my time to evaluate and understand changes in nursing models and components of the nursing process as they apply to mental health care.

References

Mary, T. & Sandra, L. 2004, “Traditional models of care delivery: What have we learned?” Journal of Nursing Administration, vol. 34, issue 6, pp 291-297.

Murphy, N., Williams, A. & Pridmore, J. A. 2010, “Nursing models and contemporary nursing 1: The development, uses and limitations,” Nursing Times, vol. 1, issue 106, p. 23-24.

Ozan, Y., Okumus, H., & Aytekin, A. 2015, “Implementation of Watson’s theory of human caring: A case study,” International Journal of Caring Sciences, vol. 8, issue 1, pp. 25-35.

Perez-Rivas, F., Martin-Iqlesias, S., Pacheco del Cerro, K., Arenas, C., Lopez, M. & Lagos, M. B. 2016 “Effectiveness of nursing process use in primary care,” International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 43-47.

Springer, J. & Casey-Lockyer, M. 2016, “Evolution of a nursing model for identifying client needs in a disaster shelter: A case study with the American Red Cross,” Nursing Clinics of North America, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 647-662.

Zamanzadeh, V., Valizadeh, L., Tabrizi, F., Behshid, M. & Lotfi, M. 2015 “Challenges associated with the implementation of the nursing process: A systematic review,” Irarian Journal of Midewifery Research, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 411-419.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here.

PTSD Symptom Cluster: Re-Experiencing, Avoidance/Numbing, Hyper arousal

Abstract

Many people tend to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD), after witnessing a life threatening events such as terrorism, road accidents, veteran wars, fire accidents, as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. While treatment approaches have always been used to help individuals to recover from PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal, major aspects of spirituality can also be applied to promote recovery.

In this regard, both Christian counseling and clinical group therapy can help to eliminate the PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal. Ideally, Christian counseling and clinical counseling are intended to achieve a common goal about five major areas including; duration of treatment, the relevance of truth, the role of a community of support, possession of faith and motivation to persevere, as well as the role played by acceptance and hope in healing.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Cluster: Re-Experiencing, Avoidance/Numbing, Hyper arousal

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Following severe traumatic events, victims commonly present with psychological changes that occur as they try to recall either what they saw or felt during the event. These psychological reactions may lessen if proper counseling interventions are applied immediately after the traumatic event. However, if not managed quickly, individuals may suffer constant mental problems accompanied by emotional distress, a condition that is often referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Sareen, 2014).

Sareen (2014) defines PTSD as a mental disorder that occurs as a result of either witnessing or directly experiencing a life-threatening event. With the rapid rise in traumatic events such as terrorism, road accidents, veteran wars, fire accidents, as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, PTSD is becoming a health concern in the society that needs to be addressed with a lot of commitment.

Effective interventions should be implemented to help prevent serious health problems that may occur from PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal (Cohen and Scheeringa, 2009; & Wilkins, Lang, and Norman, 2011).

Effective elimination of PTSD symptom cluster requires a combination of, psychological, spiritual, and pharmacological approaches to treatment (Walker, Scheidegger, End, and Amundsen, 2012). The thesis statement that guides current research states that group therapy intervention for managing PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal, is based on significant aspects of spirituality.

The purpose of this research is to explore the major aspects of spirituality that are related to group therapy management for PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal, while citing teachings of the Bible as well as information obtained from some theoretical resources.

2.0 PTSD SYMPTOMS CLUSTER: RE-EXPERIENCING, AVOIDANCE/NUMBING, AND HYPER-AROUSAL

2.1 Re-experiencing

Before analyzing the significant aspects of spirituality that are related to PTSD symptoms cluster, it is important to understand the specific symptoms that a clinical psychologist and a Christian counselor intend to help their clients to recover from. In the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR (1), the American Psychiatric Association has documented specific symptoms that clinicians should substantiate during PTSD diagnosis.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV, PTSD should be diagnosed based on three symptoms cluster namely; re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal (Goldstein, Bradley, Ressler and Powers, 2017, p. 319). As far as re-experiencing criterion is concerned, people with PTSD individual persistently recall what was either felt or observed during a traumatic event. To prove that a client regularly recalls the happenings of the traumatic event, he or she must present with at least one of the documented five ways.

The five documented presentations include; repeated and disturbing recollection of the happenings of the traumatic event accompanied by perceptions, images, and thoughts; repeated disturbing dreams related to the event; behaving as if the traumatic event was happening again; severe psychological disturbance whenever one comes across issues that look like the life threatening event; and physiologic disturbance any time an individual comes across things that resemble the life threatening event.

As Kleim, Graham, Bryant, and Ehers (2013) explain, it has been discovered that survivors of traumatic events have a tendency of constantly recalling those happenings, and that people often react differently depending on the degree of psychological impact that they have faced from those events.

2.2 Avoidance/Numbing

Concerning avoidance/numbing criterion, an individual who is suffering from PTSD is believed to have a tendency of constantly escaping from stimuli that are related to the distressing event. Furthermore, these people often become less responsive to activities accompanied with feelings of isolation, which did not occur before the life-threatening event.

An individual must demonstrate at least three of the seven behavioral characteristics that have been documented in DSM-IV regarding PTSD diagnosis. The seven features that have been documented by the American Psychiatric Association include; struggling to avoid perceptions, discussions, or feelings associated with the life threatening event, struggling to keep off people, places, or activities that might remind them of the traumatic event, loss of memory of the crucial aspects of the event, lack of interest in taking part in activities, feeling of isolation, inability to have feelings of affection, and loss of hope to plan for the future.

Several studies have been conducted to confirm the presence of avoidance/numbing characteristics among populations with PTSD. For instance, Naifeh, Tull and Gratz (2012) have found that persistent emotional avoidance is a common problem among patients with severe PTSD.

2.3 Hyper-arousal

As far as hyper-arousal is concerned, individuals who suffer from PTSD often exhibit constant symptoms of excitement, which did not exist before the occurrence of a distressing event. For hyper-arousal to be confirmed in an individual, one must present with at least two of the documented characteristic behaviors. These signs include sleep problems, aggressiveness, extreme alertness, lack of concentration, and extremely astound response. As Weston (2014) explains, of the three signs that form PTSD symptoms cluster, hyper-arousal is the most predominant and that should be eliminated first.

3.0 CLINICAL APPROACH VERSUS SPIRITUAL APPROACH

As they interact with people with PTSD, both the clinical psychologist and the Christian counselor often utilize approaches which are aimed at eliminating PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal (Walker et al., 2012). Although the Bible does not give any information concerning PTSD symptoms cluster, Christian counselors often rely on biblical teachings to help individuals to recover from symptoms of PTSD.

Specifically, a clinical psychologist will utilize group dynamics to help their clients to recover from PTSD cluster symptoms, while a Christian counselor will rely on the teachings of the Bible to promote healing for PTSD clients. The use of group dynamics by a clinical psychologist to help eliminate PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal, is based on some major aspects of spirituality (Walker et al., 2012).

3.0 THE MAJOR ASPECTS OF SPIRITUALITY INVOLVED IN THE TREATMENT OF PTSD

3.1 Treatment Takes Time

Both the clinical therapist and the Christian counselor strive to help individuals with PTSD to recover from re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal symptoms by encouraging them that gaining healthy functioning is a process that will take time. The Christian counselor compares the recovery process to Paul’s teachings in the Bible. In 2^nd Corinthians Chapter 12, from verse 7 to verse 10, Paul has written about “thorn in the flesh” (The New King James Version).

Paul says that God provides healing at a time when He feels appropriate. He further asserts that, during times of painful experiences, God provides the suffering with enough grace to help them bear difficult situations. The Christian counselor compares re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal symptoms to the pain of a thorn. By using Paul’s teachings, an individual with PTSD gets to understand the need to be patient and develops a motivation to continue attending counseling sessions repeatedly.

In Lamentations Chapter 3, and in 1^st Corinthians Chapter 1, verse 4 to 9, the Bible says that those who are in suffering should continue to present their problems to God because He is always faithful (The New King James Version). A Christian counselor uses these biblical teachings to help people with PTSD to see the need of remaining focused on the spiritual aspect of recovery.

Like spiritual counseling, group therapy by a psychologist emphasizes the need to be patient if recovery from re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal symptoms is to be realized. In psych educational group intervention, the group therapist often encourages individuals with PTSD that recovering from the three symptoms is a process that will take time. For this reason, the therapist always plans to use sessions that are extended over a given period.

This requires the group members to meet on a daily or weekly basis over some time before the three symptoms can be eliminated (Bahredar, Farid, Ghanizadeh, and Birashk, 2014). According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014), people who are exposed to traumatic events are likely to experience various impacts based on the nature and degree of the life-threatening situation.

For this reason, a group therapist must take the time to understand individual characteristics as well as the degree of psychological impact that has been created by a traumatic event for him or her to be able to help clients to recover from re-experiencing avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal symptoms. This will require repeated interactions between the therapist and the affected individuals who will take some time (Bahredar et al. (2014).

3.2 Truth is a Key Component of Recovery

When handling clients with PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal, both the Christian counselor and the group therapist inform their clients that they have to tell the truth for them to be able to recover from their psychological problems. Both counselors depend on the true information provided by their clients to develop and implement the best intervention for recovery (Walker et al., 2012).

During spiritual counseling sessions, the Christian counselor reminds clients with PTSD that God is always loving, and since He sees value in His people, He is always ready to forgive everyone irrespective of the nature and degree of sins they have committed (1 John 1:8–9, The New King James Version).

Also, the Christian counselor informs his or her clients that the most important thing that they should consider when evaluating their deeds is to know what God says about them but not what others speak of them. Therefore, instead of viewing themselves as either perpetrators or victims, they should identify themselves as beloved children of God as documented in Ephesians Chapter 1, verse 3 to 6, Romans Chapter 8, verse 14 to 17, and in 1^st John Chapter 3, verse 1-3 (The New King James Version).

For those people who have lost their relatives and loved ones as a result of a traumatic event, the Christian counselor encourages them that God has a purpose for everyone’s life and that He protects His people by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14, The New King James Version). By having a feeling that God loves, values, and forgives, clients can recover quickly from PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal (Walker et al., 2012).

Like it is with spiritual counseling, a group therapist in clinical counseling relies on the true statements provided by every group member to establish the most appropriate intervention plans for them (Scott et al., 2016). Ideally, for a group therapy session to be effective in eliminating re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper arousal symptoms, clients must identify as either victim of executors of traumatic events.

Furthermore, clients must speak the truth of the specific problem behaviors that they experience as this information helps the therapist to distinguish whether the PTSD symptoms cluster are either mild or severe. The clinical psychologist who is handling PTSD clients in group therapy sessions often formulate interventions based on the truthfulness of the information provided by group members (Asher et. al., 2015).

3.3 Healing is Enhanced by a Community of Support

When handling clients with PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal, both the Christian counselor and the group therapist have an understanding that having a community to offer support will help clients to develop a deep understanding of their problems and to perform tasks that promote recovery. The Christian counselor encourages his or her clients to feel free to disclose their problems to the therapist to receive assistance from the group members.

In Romans Chapter 8 verse 35 to 38, the Bible says that nothing can separate Christians from the love of God. Also, it is documented in Hebrews Chapter 4 verse 14 to 16 that Christians should feel free to approach God and explain their problems to Him (The New King James Version). Since God can use people’s situations for His Glory, He also has the powers to restore healthy psychological functioning in individuals who are suffering from PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, hyper-arousal (Walker et al., 2012).

The clinical psychologist who is handling PTSD patients in groups relies on support from group members to help clients to recover from re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal symptoms. According to Norton and Kazantzis (2016), one of the advantages of group psychotherapy is the ability to obtain support from the dynamic relationships within the groups.

For this reason, the therapist strives to formulate rules that promote group cohesion as he or she acknowledges the support that every group member is likely to bring to the group (Caqueo-Urizar, Rus-Calafell, Urzua, Escudero and Gutierrez-Maldonado, 2015). As Caqueo-Urizar (2015), point out; having a community of support when caring for people with mental problems is very important because the community helps with establishing whether clients have adhered to tasks that promote healing.

3.4 Faith and a Motivation to Persevere Promote Healing

Success is achieved from Christian counseling and from clinical counseling when clients are encouraged to have faith and to demonstrate a willingness to persevere from PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal. The Christian counselor perfectly understands that managing mental health problems associated with PTSD is a huge challenge for individuals.

For this reason, the counselor repeatedly informs individuals with PTSD that they should surrender their problems to God who is always ready to show His compassion and love to the suffering. In 2^nd Corinthians Chapter 1, verse 3 to 5, Paul says that God is the Father of compassion who always comforts those in trouble (The New King James Version). By relying on this biblical teaching, Christians with PTSD should have faith in God and healing, as they should develop a motivation to share in the suffering of Christ as written by Paul (Walker et al., 2012).

Similarly, the success of group psychotherapy greatly relies on faith and perseverance. People with PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal, should have faith that the tasks that are assigned to them by the group leader will promote healing. Also, they must be ready to face the hardships associated with the assigned tasks as their commitment to adhering to group tasks is what will determine whether they will recover from PTSD or not. Eventually, positive health outcomes are always generated through a combination of faith and motivation to persevere (Reisman, 2016).

3.5 Acceptance and Hope are Key Components of Recovery

Both Christian counseling and clinical counseling emphasize on the need to accept past occurrences and to have hope for the future. According to Wilkins, Lang, and Norman, (2011), re-experiencing occurs in people with PTSD because they have a tendency of recalling what they either saw or felt during a traumatic event.

These re-experiencing symptoms can be eliminated if clients are assisted to come to terms with experiences of a traumatic event, and this can occur if they learn to accept the past. Furthermore, people with PTSD tend to lose hope in the future and lose interest in engaging in activities that promote personal growth (Naifeh, Tull, and Gratz, 2012). Therefore, the goal of the Christian counselor, as well as the clinical group therapist is to help clients to accept the past occurrences and to have hope in the future.

The Christian counselor assists individuals with PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal, that it is important to have Hope in God because He has the powers to provide good health. The Bible says in 1^stPeter Chapter 5 verse 6 to 7 that human beings should humble themselves under the powerful hand of God so that they may be exalted at the right him (The New King James Version).

In addition, in the same verse, the Bible teaches Christians that they should cast their anxieties and troubles on God because He is caring. The Christian counselor helps clients with PTSD to understand that Jesus himself experienced traumatic events and he increasingly approached God for hope. In a similar manner, by seeking help and understand from God, they will be able to recover from the mental impacts of trauma.

Like a Christian counselor, the clinician counselor always strives to assist group members to accept past occurrences and to be hopeful that they can still acquire an improved mental health (Walker et al., 2012).

4.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, group therapy intervention for managing PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal, is based on major aspects of spirituality. This paper has critically explored the major aspects of spirituality that are related to group therapy management for PTSD symptoms cluster: re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal. Explanations about the interdependence between major aspects of spirituality and group therapy management for PTSD symptoms cluster have been provided while citing teachings of the Bible as well as information obtained from a number of theoretical resources.

References

Asher, L., Fekadu, A., Hanlon, C., Mideksa, G., Eatom, J., Patel, V. & De Silva, M. (2015). Development of a community-based rehabilitation intervention for people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia. PLoS One, 10(11): e0143572

Bahredar, M. J., Farid, A. S, Ghanizadeh, A. & Birashk, B. (2014). The efficacy of psycho-educational group program on medication adherence and global functioning of patients with bipolar disorder type 1. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery, 2(1): 12-19

Caqueo-Urizar, A., Rus-Calafell, M., Urzua, A., Escudero, J. & Gutierrez-Maldonado, J. (2015). The role of family therapy in the management of schizophrenia: Challenges and solutions. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 11: 145-151.

Cohen, J. A., & Scheeringa, M. S. (2009). Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis in children: Challenges and promises. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 11(1): 91-99.

Goldstein, B., Bradley, B., Ressler, K. J. & Powers, A. (2017). Associations between posttraumatic stress disorder, emotion dysregulation, and alcohol dependence symptoms among inner city females. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(3): 319-330.

Kleim, B., Graham, B., Bryant, R. A. & Ehers, A. (2013). Capturing intrusive re-experiencing in trauma survivor’ daily lives using ecological momentary assessment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122(4): 998-1009.

Naifeh, J. A., Tull, M. T. & Gratz, K. L. (2012). Anxiety sensitivity, emotional avoidance, and PTSD symptom severity among crack/cocaine dependent patients in residential treatment. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(3): 247-257

Norton, P. J. & Kazantzis, N. (2016). Dynamic relationships of therapist alliance and group cohesion in trans-diagnostic group CBT for anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(2): 146-155.

Reisman, M. (2016). PTSD treatment for veterans: What’s working, what’s new, and what’s next. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 41(10): 623-634.

Sareen, J. (2014). Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Impact, comorbidity, risk factors, and treatment. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(9): 460-467.

Scott, D., Reid, J., Hudson, P., Martin, P., & Porter, S. (2016). Health care professionals’ experience, understanding, and perception of need of advanced cancer patients with cachexia and their families: The benefits of a dedicated clinic. BMC Palliative Care, 15:100. Doi: 10.1186/s12904-016-0171-y

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US). (2014). Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US): Author

The Bible: The New King James Version

Walker, K. R., Scheidegger, T. H, End, L. & Amundsen, M. (2012). The misunderstood pastoral counselor: Knowledge and religiosity as factors affecting a client’s choice. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/vistas/vistas12/Article_62.pdf

Weston, C. S. (2014). Posttraumatic stress disorder: A theoretical model of the hyper arousal subtype. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 5:37. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00037

Wilkins, K. C., Lang, A. J. & Norman, S. B. (2011). Synthesis of the psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL) military, civilian, and specific versions. Depression and Anxiety, 28(7): 596-606.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here.