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Meet Xavier, a Male Nurse Who Lost His Wife Essay

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Xavier is a 32-year-old, African American, widowed male. After the loss of his wife he escaped into his work as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CAN) in order to avoid the pain of his loss. However, because of this he also avoided processing the loss of his wife. Approximately six months ago he was laid off from his job after 11 years as a CNA, and as a result he was no longer able to properly care for himself or pay his bills, which resulted in the loss of his housing. Subsequent threats of suicide led to a month long hospitalization, and he was treated for Major Depression. After which Xavier made arrangements to live with a friend, and upon his release from the hospital it was recommended that he continued care in an outpatient …show more content…

The therapist believes the clients are completely capable of healing themselves; he or she just needs the proper environment in which to realize this. The therapist focuses on the person rather than the problem, and with the aid of thorough discussion and a caring, empathetic environment the client will realize he or she can become self-reliant in creating goals and coping with problems. The therapist would see Xavier as someone suffering from a discrepancy between his self-concept and his experience in reality (Corey, 2009). Xavier sees himself as a burden and not a “real man” due to his change in lifestyle over the last year. He has built up a mask through socialization and he needs to remove it so that he can focus on what he thinks of himself and become less concerned about what others think of him. The therapist would see Xavier as completely capable of working through his problem with the aid of their relationship. Within the structure of the relationship between Xavier and his therapist, Xavier’s self-healing will be activated (Corey, 2009). All Xavier needs is empathy and acceptance and he will learn to feel those things about his self.
What might help Xavier?
The person-centered therapy approach suggests that it isn’t the therapist who is helping the client per se, but the client who has the ability to find their own solutions. Therefore, the therapeutic process would not be an attempt to change Xavier;

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