Mental Health Interview

Introduction

The essay below discuses an interview carried out on mental health workers. This essay critically investigates the environment in which mental health workers operate. A complex combination of interview techniques such as questionnaire, critical observation and sampling of the results has been used very well. This essay also talks about the applicability of handling mentally ill people by a person who is sane. This essay with interview questions is instrumental in analyzing the problems they solve and the implications they have in their lives. Robin Dunbar, a psychologist, was interviewed.

Part 1

The first part of the essay describes the questions that would be used in the interview of people working in the mental health field. I chose to interview Mr. Robin Dunbar, a psychologist and head of social, evolutionary and research group of neuroscience in the University of Oxford, department of experiential psychology. These questions are as listed below:

How long have you worked in the mental health field?

What pleases you most about your work?

What challenges do you encounter in your attempts to treat the clients?

What are the strengths of your career?

What are the weaknesses of your career?

What are your future work plans?

How practical is it to help a patient recover from mental illness?

How many cases of mental illness do you address per day?

What are the ways of communication you use in your interaction with the mentally ill?

What do you do to ensure you relate well with your patients?

Part 2

Following an appointment with a mental Robin Dunbar, we discussed several prevailing issues about his counseling career, and the whole activity turned out to be advantageous to me as a student. I successfully conducted an interview and compiled his responses to the questions I had earlier prepared before meeting him. The mental health worker, who was a young man, was exceedingly educative (Morrison 2008).

In his response to the interview questions, he began by telling me that he has served in the department of mentally ill people for twenty years. This is quite a long period. This response is so encouraging to a researcher, because it shows the researcher becomes confident that he/she is dealing with the right person.

The second question I asked was what he felt about his work. This question framed an access to the modes of thinking found in mental health workers. To respond to this, he explained that he was really proud of his work. He referred to himself as a “savior” arguing that he rehabilitates people who have not fully fitted in the society. According to him, these people fail to fit in the society due to their inability to reason like normal human beings. He explained that he had a childhood passion for counseling, and that was his main source of pride.

When the counselor was asked about challenges he faced when handling cases of mental illness at his workplace, he clearly explained a number of challenges. The first challenge was certainly poor communication (Valcarolis, 2009). Even after adequate training, to communicate with individual with this disability, he still said that it sometimes proved hard to do so. Also, he described temperaments of their patients as “unpredictable”. For this reason, he argued that his patients would overreact sometimes. He emphasized on the importance of psychological training for mental health workers to fight this fear.

On matters pertaining to strengths and weaknesses, he appeared optimistic that every career has its pure own unique strengths and weaknesses. He identified his strengths as the love for equality in the society. He argued that equity should exist in any liberal society for all the people as long as they are alive. He seemed to have an inward value of peace making. He also appears to respect all people regardless of their mental status. On the weakness part, he pointed out that most people did not understand him, especially because he deals with insane individuals (Donnelly 2000). All people who work with mentally ill people are sometimes liable to misunderstanding. Another weakness that he explained was psychological strain. He pointed that mental health workers suffer extreme exhaustion by dealing with unfriendly patients with low levels of intelligence.

When asked about the plans for the future, the health worker appeared to be foresighted. He explained that there were plans in the offing to create schools for the mentally ill to ensure they at least acquire basic life skills. In his plans, he showed intentions to involve the government in funding mental hospitals and rehabilitation centers. He emphasized on fundamental rights of human beings as long as they were alive. When asked about how practical it was for a patient to recover from mental illness, he argued that mental illness varies so much in its extremes (Barry 2002). According to him, there were cases that require only some drugs, and patients rehabilitate back to their former lives of mental stability.

In a day, the mental health worker said that he attends a minimum of about ten patients. This is certainly a substantial number of people, and it should not be ignored. To the question concerning the way he communicates with his clients, the man answered that he only ensured he spent most of the time with the clients. In his explanation, he argued that this contact created a bond with them, and they could not even harm him. The mental health worker said that he rewards the best behaved persons amongst his clients so that his relationships with them would improve every day. He showed the ultimate importance of playing around with these individuals.

Part 3

In my opinion, the responses given by the counselor working in the mental health department are genuine. It is undoubtedly true that dealing with a population of about ten people per day is not that easy, not forgetting they are issues of mental nature. They suffer strain, and I think they should also receive mental treatment after a long time to restore their minds from wearing out too fast. People who suffer from mental incapacities have the ability to do anything without fear of anyone (Wiger, 2002). These workers solve these issues day in day out, for example, a case of a father who rapes a daughter. Some of the cases they have to hear are so disgusting and unbelievable, but they are left to help people recover regardless of their actions. This is because it is their duty and responsibility.

The feeling and impression that the interviewee is a hardworking man who loves his job is inevitable. He spends time with people who do not have sane minds. In my opinion, mental fields are exceptionally demanding places of work. This is because many psychological studies are needed even after having the will to help out an insane or a mentally troubled person (Pope 1979). With regard to this, mental health workers should be respected in the society. Their efforts to develop our emotional and mental wellbeing should not be ignored. Working in the mental health field can also be fun. Apparently, individuals who love their jobs always find it obvious to be jovial every moment they attend a client.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, it is evident that mental health workers such as counselors are extremely vital in the society today. Their role of rehabilitation and handling situations of mental instability cannot be handled efficiently by any other person apart from them. They should be accorded all the respect they deserve. Also, this field of work should be given attention by the government in order to back up its activities.