Individual’s age or abilities

Respond to the following

1. How might an individual’s age or abilities factor into the client-therapist relationship?
2. Brief explanation on Age related hearing elderly population and its implication for
   counseling. Refer to article below
3. Brief explanation on psychical disabilities of lesbian population and its implication for
   counseling
   Refer to article below
   Use only provided Resources
   Souza, P. E., & Hoyer, W. J. (1996). Age-related hearing loss: Implications for counseling.
   Journal of Counseling & Development, 74(6), 652-655.
   Hunt, B., Matthews, C., Milsom, A., & Lammel, J. A. (2006). Lesbians with physical
   disabilities: A qualitative study of their experiences with counseling. Journal of Counseling
   & Development, 84(2), 163-173.

Individual’s age or abilities

Counseling is important as it allows individuals to lead positive lives. In counseling, there
are different factors that need consideration to ensure that it becomes effective. This paper
delineates on the various aspects concerning clients-counseling relationship.
Various factors do take precedent in the client- therapist relationship because they play a
key role in the process. Some of these factors are the age and the abilities of the client. The age
of an individual is important because it indicates the experience of the person, which is important
in providing therapy. For instance, a person that is older is more exposed and experienced on
various aspects compared to a younger person and this need consideration when providing
therapy services. An older person may also have other complication associated with hearing
impairment, which requires therapist to factor when providing therapy compared to a younger
person. Abilities also do matter when it comes to client-therapist relationship (Souza, & Hoyer,
1996). The level of education that an individual has and the understanding of a given aspect is
essential consideration that therapists need to factor. An educated and a highly skilled person

INDIVIDUAL’S AGE OR ABILITIES 2
will not require a lot of explanation compared to a person that has low level of education because
the level of understanding of these two people differs.
Age related hearing among the elderly population has some implications for counseling.
Old people aged above 65 years often develop hearing problems that deter effective
communication. In counseling, communication is essential, as it is the medium through which
the client and the counselor share and provide amicable solution to the problems that the client
face (Souza, & Hoyer, 1996). Therefore, when the individual has this hearing complication, it
becomes a challenge to carry out effective counseling process. However, to enhance the process
of hearing, various measures are available. One of them is to use hearing aids that can help the
old with hearing impairment to amplify the sound for them to hear. Other mechanisms include,
reduction of background noise, using facial cue and positioning closer to the speaker among
others (Souza, & Hoyer, 1996). The counselor must also speak slowly and clearly without
exaggerating, the voice should be at the same volume throughout the conversation and should
pay close attention to the facial expression and body language of the older person with hearing
impairment (Souza, & Hoyer, 1996). Furthermore, the hearing impairment can use adaptive
communication by asking a given point missed to be clarified or rephrased. These strategies are
essential in enhancing communication and understanding between the adult with hearing
impairment with the counselor. The most important thing is for the counselor to understand the
person and the best way to engage in a conversation with the person.
Physical disabilities of lesbian population have some implications when it comes to
counseling too. Lesbians with physical disabilities face many challenges in society such as
negative perception, which affects their lives. Counselors may also have negative perception
about these physically disabled lesbians affecting the counseling process. During the counseling

INDIVIDUAL’S AGE OR ABILITIES 3
process, the physically disabled lesbians have expectations that they expect to be met and at
times, they are not met because of various factors (Hunt, Matthews, Milsom & Lammel, 2006).
One of the reasons is lack of counselor awareness and education on issues that are important to
lesbians with physical disabilities that compromises the process. When the counselors are not
familiar with the pertinent issues that these people go through, then it becomes a challenge.
Other factors are biasness and discrimination from the counselors. This discrimination deters
the process of effective counseling hence compromising the same. Others include counselor
identity whereby, the counselor is not a lesbian with disability. If the counselor is a lesbian with
physical disability, it creates a conducive environment for the lesbian client to be open to share
their views without restrain because they feel secure and acknowledged.
Therefore, in conclusion, various issues such as age and disabilities play a key role in
counseling and counselors must consider all these to succeed in their quest to offer effective
counseling. Clients will feel at home to share with the counselors if given enough attention and
respect.

INDIVIDUAL’S AGE OR ABILITIES 4

References

Hunt, B., Matthews, C., Milsom, A., & Lammel, J. A. (2006). Lesbians with physical
disabilities: A qualitative study of their experiences with counseling, Journal of
Counseling & Development, 84(2), 163–173.
Souza, P. E., & Hoyer, W. J. (1996). Age-related hearing loss: Implications for counseling,
Journal of Counseling & Development, 74(6), 652–655.