01
Case Introduction
Little A, a freshman from another province. During high school, Little A noticed symptoms of depression in himself. After informing his parents, they showed a cold attitude and mistakenly thought that Little A’s depression was a traditional “mental illness.” According to Little A’s account, before the age of 10, he lived with his grandparents in the village, during which time his parents showed little care for him. Compared to his grandparents, his parents were more strict, making Little A feel oppressed and alienated.
With the birth of younger siblings, his parents shifted their focus to them, neglecting Little A, who felt like an invisible person in this family. In a fluctuating family atmosphere of loosening and tightening, Little A found it hard to adapt emotionally, experiencing great inner conflict and suppression. By the time he reached the third year of high school, under intense study pressure, his emotions spiraled out of control, leading to depression. With parents busy with work and somewhat critical in their words, Little A gradually improved with the comforting presence of a teacher.
During the first semester of his freshman year in college, faced with heartbreak, exam stress, intrusive parental control, and other factors, Little A once again experienced emotional turmoil, anxiety, insomnia, crying, affecting his daily life and studies. Having noticed Little A’s unusual behavior, I took the initiative to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. Through prolonged care, affection, and guidance, I helped Little A open up and ultimately identify the root of his issues, helping him overcome the difficulties.
02
Case Process and Intervention
After understanding the basic situation of the student, I accompanied Little A to seek medical help. Even after half a month of treatment, the situation did not improve. Through multiple conversations with Little A, it was revealed that he harbored resentment towards psychologists, and the root of the problem lay within his original family. The handling of this case went through several stages:
1. Building trust with Little A. Being a child lacking a sense of security, the key to solving the problem was to first earn enough trust from Little A.
To achieve this, I adopted the following approach: First, establishing a connection. I truthfully acknowledged that I hadn’t experienced the same level of pain as him, unable to fully empathize, but I had a lengthy period of wandering in relatives’ homes during my childhood, understanding the sense of emptiness from lacking parental love. Through mutual sharing of information, we respected each other’s exchange of thoughts.
Next, conversations were held in a relaxed environment. Most discussions took place in natural and beautiful settings, sometimes aimlessly wandering, sometimes chatting while walking, creating a relaxed and warm atmosphere for Little A. Finally, a “secrecy agreement” was established. Through gradual guidance, trust was gained from Little A, encouraging him to express his thoughts and alleviating his inner pain by crying when needed. We agreed that he could contact me anytime when facing any issues, with me promising to keep our conversations confidential.
2. Collaborative effort between home and school in nurturing. “To solve a problem, one must start from its cause.” Based on information from the psychologist, the root cause of Little A’s trauma was his original family. While the school environment with teachers and peers offered timely assistance in handling depressive moods, parental misunderstanding and cold remarks towards Little A at home only worsened his situation.
To help Little A confront the issues in his original family, I made the following efforts: Firstly, persistently working on parents’ mentalities. Leveraging my knowledge and understanding of students, I provided parents with essential psychological knowledge, the dangers of depression, and its impacts on students, subtly instilling the right perspectives and guiding parents to alter their understanding of psychological illnesses.
Secondly, collaborating with the school’s psychological center teachers to guide parents in changing their approach towards interacting with their children. Parents were not entirely receptive to my individual guidance, leading me to work with teachers from the counseling center to explain the reasons behind psychological issues, their consequences, and the flawed interactions parents exhibited with students, offering feasible suggestions from a neutral standpoint.
Through persistent efforts in guiding parents, attitudes gradually improved, misconceptions shifted, and the student’s condition started to improve. A close home-school collaboration mechanism was established, aimed at supporting students’ growth together.
3. Care and support. Actively encouraging Little A to face family relationships courageously and say no, I undertook the following measures:
Firstly, as a teacher, actively guiding and motivating Little A to engage in activities of personal interest to shift attention, relax the mind, open up, express his thoughts, and discover the positive, optimistic, and bright side of himself through a series of scientific guidelines.
Secondly, as a friend, frequently accompanying and ensuring a mentor-friend relationship continued. Leveraging the advantages of being close in age to Little A, I provided caring companionship akin to a friend, allowing him to feel the warmth and drive away his inner gloom. Lastly, from a family perspective, offering genuine care, infecting him with my optimistic mindset, treating Little A like a sibling with heartfelt affection.
4. Utilizing the educational role of campus culture. On one hand, mobilizing party members, class representatives, and roommates to interact with Little A in various aspects, such as daily life, studies, and campus activities, providing assistance when needed. Peer support made Little A feel warmth from classmates, bridging the inner gap. On the other hand, encouraging active participation in various academic competitions, club practices, and activities to enrich himself and gain positive energy.
Through multiple conversations, psychological guidance, and a series of measures, Little A gradually emerged from his closed state, becoming much more cheerful. He began confronting the family issues, using his newfound understanding and thoughts to address and cope with various difficulties and uncertainties within the family. Little A also started to rediscover his interests and hobbies, becoming much brighter, confident, and self-assured.
03
Key Insights from the Experience
From this case, we can draw several insights for intervening in special student psychological crises in our daily work:
1. Collaborating between home and school in nurturing students. The triggers for college students’ psychological issues often stem from their original families. When a student encounters psychological problems, counselors should actively involve parents. It is inevitable that parents may not understand or support, requiring counselors to take the initiative in gradually educating parents about psychological knowledge, the dangers of depression, and the impacts on students.
2. Unconditional and proactive attention to gain student trust. In real life, everyone desires to be noticed by others. As university counselors, regardless of a student’s behavior, academic performance, or daily conduct, we must unconditionally accept them, provide rational support, encouragement, and companionship with a neutral attitude. This fosters warmth and a sense of value in students, building trust for future work.
3. Emphasizing “postoperative care.” Psychologists and mental health teachers are like “surgeons,” whereas counselors act as “nurses,” and psychologically troubled students are the “patients” needing surgery. After the “surgery” by the specialists, the postoperative recovery largely depends on the diligent, meticulous, and patient nursing care by the counselors. When intervening with psychologically abnormal students, counselors need ongoing linguistic and emotional support, aiding in their speedy recovery, preventing issues from escalating, and positively impacting the therapeutic outcomes.
4. Enhancing personal psychological counseling skills. Each psychologically troubled student is unique. As university counselors, continuously improving our knowledge and skills in psychological crisis intervention is crucial to offer warm, deep problem-solving support and elevate our psychological counseling abilities.
Author Bio
Xian Mingde University of Science and Technology
College of Economics and Management
Bai Liping
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