Health psychology is the method of understanding health through clinical research and activities. It is also considered as the study of psychological behavior.
It deals with biological factors that have an effect on health and illness directly or indirectly. For example, stress releases the hormone cortical which slowly causes damage to the body. And to help you in overcoming such issues, you can take help of a psychologist in Perth.
The counselling process requires a few steps for a successful counselling. They are:
Step 1: Building relationship
Step 2: Creating a safe environment
Step 3: Building good rapport and trust
Step 4: Listening to the patient actively
Step 5: Reassuring confidentiality
Step 6: Asking open ended questions
Step 7: Motivating and encouraging a counsellee
Step 8: Exploring as much as possible
Step 9: Assessing and diagnosing
Step 10: Evaluating and setting up a goal to solve the problem
Building relationship: The psychologist should build a healthy relationship which includes faith, trust, assurance and confidentiality with the counsellee. The relationship between the two should be professional only. They should avoid all social contact to emerge between them.
Create a safe environment: It is the duty of the professional to make the patient feel comfortable creating a safe environment so that he or she feels free and he/she is in the safer hands.
Building good rapport and trust: A professional should build good rapport with the patient so that patient feels free to share his/her feelings. A counselor should build trust so that a counselee opens up easily and tries to share all the problems and difficulties he/she is facing.
Listening actively: A professional must be patient, active and a good listener. He should patiently concentrate on each and every topic that is said by the patient. The professional should also make a note of all the points shared and the case history too.
Reassuring confidentiality: A professional should build trust to that extent that he should be able to enquire each and every problem and difficulty of the counselee. The professional should make sure that he keeps the meeting and the secrets of the counselee and maintains it till end.
Asking open ended questions: A professional should ask open ended questions to the counselee so that it is easy for the counselee to answer and reveal his difficulties and problems as well. Asking open ended questions will also make the counselor understand the counselee’s behavior.
Motivating and encouraging the counselee: A professional should make sure that his questions or actions do not de-motivate the counselee. Mostly, people who need counselling are depressed and de-motivated. It is the duty of the counselor to motivate and encourage by praising the counselee and enhancing his good and positive point. A professional should not encourage negative abilities of a counselee.