Clinical Mental Health Counseling Paper Archive

      Mental health and mental illness were originally grouped and negatively stereotyped since not enough research or literature gave support to psychiatry in the early stages of the field. The general stereotype, which some cultures still suffer from today, is that mental illness means you carry bad genes that lend to your inability function in that culture’s norms.        A recent study compared a sample public’s definition and reaction to mental illness from the 1950’s and 1950’s to this century and found that while the conceptions of mental illness have broadened over time due to education and discussions through media and other easily digested venues, the fear that mentally ill people are frightening or violent has grown as definitions encompass a broader range diagnosis from non-psychotic disorders to much more extreme diagnosis as those that include the propensity for self-harm or harming others with creative measures (Phe...

While there are many variables that contribute to risk and resilience of a client, maturity and self-concept are two important variables to consider. These two variables might be closely knit together when one considers self-concept as the beliefs one holds about themselves and their responses to their environment and socio-cultural norms.  These beliefs directly influence how a person perceives themselves, their abilities, their characteristics, and behaviors. Maturity influences a client's self-concept in terms of allowing to be better aware of themselves and this may influence their concept of their active resilience (Rak & Patterson, 1996). Rak and Patterson (1996) found that resiliency in children lies in the capacity of those who are exposed to identifiable risk factors to overcome risk. For example, they can avoid negative outcomes such as delinquency and behavioral problems. Furthermore, Rak and Patterson explain that at-risk children who demonstrate the ability t...