Question

Using the Empowerment Model, please explain how you would use this approach in working with a client who is feeling guilty about the sexual assault she recently experienced. What options would you offer to the client?

Answer 1

Empowering people is one of the most important elements in humanistic counselling where someone who feels inferior because of someone else’ actions. People feel guilty and troubled because of one’s own inappropriate actions that was not socially acceptable. Firstly, I would like to tell the client that the assault is not the client’s fault, so the client need not feel guilty about it. Secondly, I would tell the client to focus on the future rather than in the past. Thirdly, I would tell the client to focus on their strength to regain their composure and accept the fact that it happened. Finally, I would tell the client to forgive the offender because thinking about the event would only make them sick and weak.