Man is a social being. His behaviour and actions have an impact on the society in which he lives. The behaviour of an individual should thus be in coherence with the accepted norms of the society. Every individual behaves in a particular manner based on his mental development and his perception of the environment in which he lives. Accordingly, the cognitive development of every individual is unique. This cognition in turn influences his various skills that govern his interaction with the society. Psychology plays a pivotal role in determining how a person thinks, behaves and what triggers this behaviour. Psychology can thus be defined as the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. Counseling Adolescents Essay
Innumerable theories have been put forth by several psychologists that give us an outline of the various factors that determine the behaviour of an individual. These factors can be biological, physiological, mental and/or environmental, and in turn govern the explicit behaviour of a person. Cognitive theory is a widely accepted psychological theory that gives us an image of the influence and impact of thought processes on the explicit behaviour of an individual and his/her interaction with the society.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist who was the first to put forth a theory that attempts to explain the development of thought processes and human intelligence in a person, and the impact of this cognitive development in his/her behaviour. According to Piaget, cognitive development was a gradual and continuous structure and organization of the mental processes in a child based on its biological development and its environmental influence. Thus, children develop an understanding of the world based on what they observe, then experience variation and distinction between what they are already aware of and what they come across in the environment.Counseling Adolescents Essay Accordingly, Piaget put forth the theory of cognitive development and emphasized that cognitive development occurs in various stages. There are three processes that work continuously to determine the thoughts and actions in a child – assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. These three processes work hand in hand for the child to behave in a specific manner in a given situation. Assimilation involves the conversion of incoming information into a specific form that can be easily comprehended by the child. Accommodation refers to the usage and translation of this information to a completely new situation. Equilibration is to strike a proper balance between the first two entities in order to create stability in understanding. This theory thereby forms a foundation for the various cognitive methods that are employed and interpreted within the counselling of children and adolescents.
One of the most successful and widely accepted methods used for counselling in children and adolescents is the usage of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). It is based on the principles of cognitive theory. It is widely used in the treatment of anxiety and depression. CBT is employed for particular problems and specific strategies and solutions are given to address the problem. Thus we can say that CBT is problem focused and goal oriented. CBT involves techniques that enable the children and adolescents to understand their thoughts and feelings governing their behaviour. Consequently, it emphasizes that a child / adolescent might not be able to control the happenings in the environment but can alter the way in which the happenings of the environment can be perceived and dealt with which in turn has an impact on the behaviour. Thus CBT ensures the achievement of equilibration state by altering the accommodation based on the assimilation. Counseling Adolescents Essay
Alterations in the cognitive processes play a key role in various psychotic disorders in children and in adolescents and these vary from emotional disorders to compulsive orders. These bear a negative impact on their behavioural, social and problem solving skills. Thus, CBT aims at primarily causing changes in the assimilation and accommodation processes which changes the basic cognitive outlook and perception. Goal oriented therapies aim at uprooting the maladaptive thinking and perception and replacing these thoughts with more conducive, effective and realistic thoughts that can reduce emotional distress and self afflicted disorders (Deblinger et.al. 1990).
Thus, counselling of children / adolescents through self analysis and cognitive method is very crucial as it assists them to develop the right frame of mind towards all their future endeavours. Counseling Adolescents Essay
Part 2
The current era has not only been an age of technology and modernization but has also been a witness to a number of social problems that have been growing at an alarming rate. Innumerable children and adolesc