Instructions: When dealing with vulnerability, dependency and resistance with clients, which of these do you feel would be the most difficult to overcome? In what way does the helping professional fall victim to these issues as well? Is one more likely than another for the helping professional? Reply in 200 words to two of your classmates’ posts.

Classmate #1 Thomas Sago

Discussion 1

When dealing with vulnerability, dependency, and resistance with clients, which of these do you feel would be the most difficult to overcome?

I feel that dependency would be the one most difficult to overcome and here is why, one is the fact that we cannot seem to admit that we need the help of other sometimes until we are in a place where tragedy is at the front door (Levine, 2023). Emotion and pride get in the way of letting people help you and it also keeps you form helping others. By the time that the human service worker finds out about this situation, the worker is drawn in because in many cases there are children, handicaps, or the elderly involved. The emotions become part of the picture of the worker if they have not been working with their own personal issues. The feeling of sympathy gets involve instead of empathy, this is can become a tragedy, if the worker is not aware of this happening. The whole thing about independence is fraught with emotions and characterized by cloudy thinking and inconsistent behaviors (Levine 2013). We have created a system that does not allow people to relate naturally to each other in supportive ways. No one is ever very dependent or very independent (Levine 2013).

In what way does the helping professional fall victim to these issues as well?

The helping profession falls victim to this because of the desire to help and serve mankind; sometimes their own feeling can get involved and mixed up with what their role should be as a professional. The helping professional caseload is too large and does not ask for help from their team. Workers themselves can have some issues with being unable to ask for help when that happens the clients can suffer. Society has and our culture has created an unrealistic monolith and made a fetish of independence (Levine, 2013).

Is one more likely than another for the helping professional?

I feel that dependence is the greatest of the three because of the human factor, they are human beings and cannot always protect their emotions, concerning another human being that has fallen to some tragedy in life.

Reference

Levine, J. (2013). Working with people: the helping process. (9th Ed). [Electronic Version]. Retrieved from: https://redshelf.com

Classmate #2 Ronda Shulz

Week 5 – Discussion one – Vulnerability, Dependency, and Resistance

When dealing with vulnerability, dependency and resistance with clients, which of these do you feel would be the most difficult to overcome?

I feel that dependency would be the most difficult to overcome. People are taught that they should be independent, that it is necessary to fend for ourselves. There are even songs about being independent (Independent Feat. Lil’ Boosie and Lil’ Phat). It can be especially difficult, for someone who prides themselves on their ability to be independent, to ask for help. Receiving welfare, food stamps, WIC, or other government assistance is looked down upon, and spoken about in a scathing/disapproving tone. Clients may feel that admitting to and asking for help is to much trouble and that they would rather deal with their difficulty on their own (Levine, 2013). The fear of being judged for being dependent on the government to survive can cause those who really need help to wait until the last minute, and by then it may be too late.

On the other hand, being too dependent can cause issues. When an individual develops a relationship in which they are totally dependent on the other person it can be devastating for the individual when the relationship ends. A totally dependent individual is less likely to do for themselves what they can, they will depend on their families, their friends, and even their case worker if they are able to.

In what way does the helping professional fall victim to these issues as well?

The helping professional can fall victim to these issues if their client is one extreme or the other. If their client is too independent and refuses to seek help or comes for help because there is no other option, it can be difficult to work with them. The client may refuse to speak about what they need help with or may refuse to accept any assistance that is offered to them. The helping professional may feel it is up to them to help their clients and they may be too proud or independent themselves to ask for help, if they are able to, from their superiors with their case.

If the client is too dependent, they may start to rely on the helping professional too much. The client may refuse to do what the helping professional suggests on their own, they may ask the helping professional to do all the work.

Is one more likely than another for the helping professional?

I feel that all three are likely for the helping professional. A helping professional will come across clients with vulnerability, resistance, or dependence issues. A helping professional could come across all three of these issues in one client. A client who was in a relationship where they were very dependent on their partner may be vulnerable because they’ve left their partner. They may be resistant to accepting that they are no longer a part of their partners life, they may still feel dependent on their partner, and they are vulnerable because they’ve just gone through a breakup. In the helping profession there is no predicting what a client may come to you for. The helping professional themselves may have to work through being vulnerable, they have lives and relationships. They may have to work through being dependent or too independent, helping professionals may find it hard to ask for help too. A worker may be resistant to working with certain people, but this is also part of their job.

References

AsylumRecordsTV. (2008). Independent Feat. Lil’ Boosie and Lil’ Phat.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCUiGArhW2M (Links to an external site.)

Levine, J. (2013). Working with people: the helping process. (9th Ed). [Electronic Version]. Retrieved from: https://redshelf.com