Role-play # 1: Counseling a Depressed Client
Counselor’s Name: ?
Client’s Name: Vanessa by Kim Neuparth
Client’s Perspective Written by: Kim Neuparth
Client’s Perspective Intake
What I was attempting to role-play
During the role-play I tried to portray a character of a woman named Vanessa. She made a decision to visit a therapist because she suffers from depression and cannot live her life as she used to. It is important to mention that it is her very first therapy session, thus she feels a bit nervous and needs plenty of time to adjust. Vanessa is a devoted wife and a mother of three beautiful kids. Not only that, but she also manages to study at school and work at the same time. Even though she is a responsible person of strong beliefs, this fast-paced flow of things makes her life immensely complicated. She feels like she squanders her time on routine activities: housekeeping, getting ready for the work, doing her own homework and helping her kids with their school tasks. She also experiences lack of attention from her husband, who is an investor: he buys realty, fixes it and then sells it to the customers. Consequently, they do not own a permanent house to live in, but rather constantly relocate from place to place. It does not affect kids as they stick to a particular private school, but Vanessa struggles to cope with this mess.
Vanessa feels like the whole world is a burden on her fragile shoulders. She suffers from an overwhelming apathy which chokes her desire to be active, establish goals and accomplish them. Sometimes Vanessa cannot even get out of bed and make food; the only real motivation to pursue happiness is her kids. However, she did not fall into drinking lots of alcohol; neither had she abused drugs. Moreover, she considers medicines reprehensible as she knows several people who used them and whose health they worsen. She had no signs of chronic depression among her relatives, but she inherited few traits of character which add another layer to the problem.
What I experienced as I role-played this problem
As I role-played this particular scenario I began to empathize with Vanessa’s frustration. She appears to be a vulnerable woman without a friendly shoulder to lean on. Essentially, she seeks attention more than anything, even more than the treatment itself. It is easily seen that, at first, she hesitates a lot, operates with more general words and strict answers. Then, as the conversation goes on, she elaborates on her problems and unveils her darker suicidal thoughts. Even the tone of her voice is changing, and by the end of the session she seems calm and relaxed.
What I learned from the experience
The main principle of such therapy sessions is that client wants to be heard, not judged. Vanessa already wonders if she made the right choices in life, whether she married the right person and she struggles to foresee her future. More than anything she wants to hear that her current situation is …
