Crises and Coping in Community Psychology
Community psychology therefore entails more of promotion of the community welfare by advocating social change other than individual change. Its focus is on health more than on illness and at the same time promoting individual and community successes (Dalton, Elias Wandersman, 2001). This paper aims at discussing the crises in community psychology and the means of coping in it.
According to Kirp (1975), community psychology was born out of frustration after the social funded programs failed to deliver the results expected. The social revolutions expected from some of the administrative posts did not materialize hence something more asserted, that accepted more diversity and was value promising was needed. These problems lead to several crises.
In definition, a crisis may be termed as a worrying or a dangerous time in which there is a great uncertainty pain or difficult and a time when action must be taken so as to avoid disaster or a complete fall down (Cherry, 2010). One of the crises in psychology is its evolution and its present status as perceived by the psychologists. A number of reasons led to the evolution of community psychology. These included a shift from social conservative practices by individuals to public health issues, social and preventive change after the Second World War two. The need for treatment of mental illnesses among the veterans, questions about the value of psychotherapy in treating many people with mental illnesses and therefore, the need for deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses arises. However, there now lays the threat of the virtual communities that is arising on the internet. This is an issue which not many community psychologists have managed to deal with or address (Mlberger 2008).
Another crisis on community psychology arose with the opposition of community psychology as a natural science. This was evident during the reign of Napoleon (1848-1852). However, things have changed since 1870s with the reign of Napoleon III when new approaches to this matter were devised. These measures seemed more positive and deterministic. There has been a crisis where many psychologists in France have shifted their attention from psychology to psychopathology. The laboratory in France was first seen as a guarantor of objective knowledge on science but later it turned out to be a suspected site of understanding the functioning of the human mind. Though this was at first seen as a problem in France, today the strength of psychology is based on the psychopathology (Carson, 2008).
The future of psychology was another big crisis for the psychologists. The virtue community has been on the rise and hence no experiments to individuals ca be conducted on this virtual community. This is because in these online communities, there is no physical contact with the other persons as opposed to the real physical community. The current generation has been so much hooked to the computer that the very basics have disappeared from them (Matei, 2001).
Another crisis on the issue of community psychology arises on how to develop the psychic theory of elements to a more meaningful theory. When discovery of new ideas and facts was at its peak (the psychoanalytic heroic phase), there arose a crude way of coming up with definitions and formulations of the ideas derived from various fields (Allesch, 2008). While defending this laxity, in his paper on Narcissism failed to give logical clarification of his concepts and observations and thus left the logical fundamental speculations without regret with the hope that more developments would lead to a more clarification of his ideas and concepts. He believed that, facts observation was more preferable than the speculative theory which doesnt form the foundation of science but its body which could be replaced easily by another theory. This therefore leaves the community psychology in a crisis on how to advance this psychic theory to a more meaningful theory with enough proof (Allesch, 2008).
Community psychology was also faced with the difficult of overcoming the association theory. This theory was developed by Thomson Graham (1861). He argued that, all materials are composed of smaller parties bound by a certain unknown force. He referred to these materials as colloids. This theory has long been adopted and has remained a prevalent theory in the formation of polymers in the scientific world (Morawetz, 1985). Since this theory has been established very much in the community, it posses the challenge to the community psychologist on how they shall overcome it hence it has ended up becoming a crisis in the community psychology.
While dealing with the above challenges, there arises another crisis of acknowledging that unconsciousness is a fact as well as a normal occurrence in mental life. The unconscious mind can be termed as that part of the mind in which a collection of the mental issues in ones mind are revealed but without his awareness at the time they occur (Allesch, 2008). Freud, through out the evolution of his theory in psychoanalysis, says that consciousness is a perceptual mind aspect which is very narrow. According to him, the unconscious mind is a repository for the ideas, wishes, desires or painful moments which are not acceptable socially. This is a crisis in the community psychology which has to be overcome for success to be realized in the working of the community psychologists (Allesch, 2008). The other challenge was to reject the psycho mechanical parallelism and extend the psychical research to more facts.
Coping strategies in community psychology
There are different approaches in the treatment and learning methods used in coping with a phobia. Cognitive coping can be a very useful strategy for persons suffering from specific phobia like the aerophobia. This technique has proved to be effective and thus it has been applied by many therapists around the globe (Fear Free Flying UK, 2010). The cognitive coping strategy seeks to change the thought processes and the minds normal responses to the thoughts. This strategy works well with the client and the therapist identifying what triggers the anxiety. They also try to identify the different points from which the anxiety is multiplied. Together after identifying these issues, they work out ways on how to restructure the thought they seek out to encouraging positive thinking through readdressing the hierarchy in the mind in order to gain control over the responses the thought all these being geared towards lessening the phobia in ones mind (Fear Free Flying UK, 2010).
Achieving the strategies
Cognitive coping strategies are achieved by the combined effort of the client and the therapist. This begins with the client identifying the type of phobia and how it is linked to his thoughts and responses. Discovering what triggers the phobia is also helpful to the client. The therapist helps the client on lessening the severity of the phobia or he may lead the client to increase their ability of coping up with stresses in life without taking the phobia as an excuse for his failures (Fear Free Flying UK, 2010). The client will learn on how to realize negative thoughts and the ways of controlling them. This may be achieved by replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones thus with time, the phobia becomes easy to overcome or even completely done away with.
There are a number of techniques the therapist might use such as breathing and relaxation exercises, exposure to the phobia gradually through assignments and home exercises. Slowly by slowly, the sufferer gains control of their behaviors and begin to learn new ways of coping with such situations. During the interaction between the sufferer and the therapist, the issue of food is not neglected since it can play a very important role in the healing process. Exercise and diet are discussed because they affect ones ability to perform and succeed in these practices. Self help techniques are now employed after the therapist is satisfied with the performance of the sufferer. One of the methods used at this stage is the stop technique. It is beneficial both to cognitive coping and as a way of taking control of the thought of the mind (Fear Free Flying UK, 2010).
Mental preparation
Coping in community psychology needs some mental preparations in the day preceding the event. Some of the mental preparation techniques include a simulation of the activities to take place at the therapists office, mental practice on the clients part, setting of goals to be achieved and the time it is expected to take place, some specific technical strategies as well as emotional control, reactions to the mistakes one makes and the behavioral routines. In mental preparations, negative attitude or expectations are discouraged since they pose a threat to the achievements which the person has set in place. These negative attitudes or expectations are normally associated with the body dysfunction which is in relation to emotions, problems with coping and difficulties in paying attention (Bertollo, Saltarelli Robazza, 2008).
Framing
Framing in coping in community psychology may be used to mean seeing a situation in another sense. It can refer to a system or a pattern which is used for purposes of changing bad or unwanted behaviors and habits. Framing involves a six step pattern which includes the identification of context in which the behavior occurred the establishment of the unconscious signals of yes or no and the third step is confirmation that the intended behavior has a positive impact on the client. The next step involves devising means and ways of achieving the positive intentions, from the point above, the best alternative possible is chosen and finally confirming that the selection made is acceptable to the person and to others (Grinder Carmen, 2001).
Context reframing on the other hand is used to mean that a habit or behavior can only be found in the context in which it occurs. It is assumed that every behavior is useful at some point and thus, the psychics ask themselves where that particular disliked behavior can be applied. This mode of reframing indicates that a disliked behavior can be useful in a different setting from the one it is occurring in. Another kind of reframing is the value reframing whereby, in marketing management it can mean to give a new value to a product by changing the market or the context in which it is being marketed (Grinder Carmen, 2001).
Social skill training
A social skill can be taken as any skill which improves on how people interact and communicate with others. Social skill therefore is a behavior therapy used by therapists as well as trainers to help people who have difficulties in interacting with others. The aim of this kind of training is to help individuals to achieve social reinforcement thus avoiding social punishment (Koenigsberg, 2010). This training is good for persons who may or may not have problems with their emotional stability. Some interpersonal skill such as small talk making in a social gathering have never been taught to some people. Other persons have never learned some subtle cues during a conversation. Social skill training therefore helps the clients or patients learn on how to interpret these social issues and signals so as to help them act positively in their friends company. It is assumed that social skill training helps the patients improve on their self esteem and so increase the chances of other people liking them and so responding favorably towards them (Koenigsberg, 2010).
Another goal in social skill training is to help the patients develop the ability to perform better in every days social activities. This helps patients overcome some issues such as telephone manners which interfere with their jobs or other issues on their daily lives (Koenigsberg, 2010). The techniques used in social skill training involve breaking complex behaviors into small parts and arranging them in the order of their difficulty and then introducing them to the patients.
Relaxation
Relaxation is any activity which is undertaken with the intention of helping a person to achieve a state of calmness or reduce the levels of stress in his body. This technique is employed in the area of stress management to lower blood pressure and slow breath rates. The techniques involved here may require more than one person while others can be performed alone. These techniques may be performed while still, sitting or lying. These include deep breathing, meditation, visualization, yoga and autogenic training amongst others. Some exercises such as walking, yoga and qigong helps in relaxation. Body work may also be useful in this exercise such as massage as well as reflexology. Other methods of relaxation include listening of some type of music, auto suggestion and prayer. Others such as the floatation therapy which uses a floatation tank with Epsom salt kept at skin temperature provide floatation without any efforts. This method reduces stress and pain (Lehrer, Barlow, Woolfolk Sime, 2007).
Meditation
Meditation in community psychology is a discipline where the client makes attempts to go beyond the mind into a deep relaxation. It is the regulation of ones attention using various techniques. This can be done while focusing on the experience or background perception. This mode of meditation is known as mindfulness. Some people have their focus on more specific issues hence it is termed as concentrative meditation. In the mindfulness, the client is encouraged to maintain an open focus while sitting comfortably his attention being on an object. In the concentrative meditation, the client often hold his focus on a particular object and holds on to it such as a repetitive prayer while at the same time minimizing all distractions. The process of meditation can be done while walking (Perez-De-Albeniz Holmes, 2000).
Support groups
Support groups are organizations which offer nonprofessional and nonmaterial help to their members who are carrying a burdensome issue. They normally share in their experiences while others offer to listen. These groups normally establish a social network where the problems of other persons may be sympathized with (VandenBos, 2007). They may also work as public educators on issues affecting the community. These groups maintain close contacts with their members in the traditional setting while others in the virtual community operate online. Some of these groups control their membership by way of payment of a membership fee or some other subscriptions. Other groups are open and allow free participation into any organized meeting. These support groups may be formed from different needs. For instance, those who are addicted to something may form a group to help themselves out. Other groups may be for the grieved or alcoholics among others (VandenBos, 2007).
Avoidance
As a means of coping in community psychology, avoidance may be a way of escaping from facing a situation which may be uncomfortable or an activity which is not desired. It may involve physical withdrawal from a situation and may look for ways not to talk or even think about the issue (Syque, 2010). Therefore, avoidance is a simple means to cope by not coping. This may involve the suppressing of uncomfortable feelings so as not to experience them at all. It acts as a mechanism of defense in many phobias. Avoidance can easily take the form of procrastination whereby the things we would have accomplished today are pushed to another day. In order to have a person do what they are avoiding one, may need to fix them into a situation where they have no escape other than doing whatever is required from them. Avoidance can also be used to persuade someone to do something. This can easily be done through giving options one of which the other person wont like. It will be obvious that they will do the second choice which is what you intended to be done (Syque, 2010).
Conclusion
In conclusion, all the above ways of coping in community psychology have their effects on the client. The therapist should ensure that the results expected will be long term and not short term. Community psychology treatment may take more than an individual. It may also encompass group therapy and this requires training of therapists on how to handle this group treatment. A research should be carried out about how social skills training can be integrated with family needs which arise in different backgrounds.
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