Healthcare Counseling

Suffering from some kind of illness is as much a psychological issue in the making as a physical issue. Patients who have an ailing body often start having an ailing mind too. Illnesses of the body can translate into illnesses of the mind eventually. The reason for this is that when the body is diseased, the mind too cannot be at peace. To treat an ailing mind which is but the result of an ailing body, healthcare counsellors can play a role of paramount importance.

Now, how do the healthcare counsellors actually help?

Healthcare counsellors are professionals who enter into a meaningful partnership with patients in order to explore the impacts of a disease on the mind of the patient and help the patient develop a mind-set for coping with the disease. While a doctor can initiate the healing process for a patient’s body, the healthcare counsellor can make the patient feel comfortable and relaxed during the healing process and even after it. Taking disease in a positive way can work many wonders; it can actually expedite the healing process. Healthcare counsellors can help patients take their diseases positively and thus, feel better both in mind and body.

Counselling for patients with long-term illnesses

Long-term illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, a disability or any other, could serve as a constant source of stress for the mind. It is quite common to feel discouraged or sad after being diagnosed with a chronic illness or when one is trying to handle a painful condition arising out of chronic or long-term illness. Such patients often encounter new changed limits on what they can do and may find it difficult to adjust to the new realities. Also, they may come to feel stressed about treatment outcomes and their future. The result of this sort of constant stress could be depression, a serious disease of the mind that can alter the brain structures even.

Taking the help of a healthcare counsellor at the right time can stop a patient from sinking deep into depression. Healthcare counsellors can find out ways to help a patient cope with the illness, divert his or her attention to the brighter things of life and adapt to the new situations in a positive way rather than with pessimism. When a patient is admitted to hospitals for getting treated for a chronic health emergency, there too the healthcare counsellors have an important role to play. They can work in varied hospital settings and often make an inseparable part of the treatment team of the patient.

They work with patients to understand their emotional status, their fears and insecurities, their hopes and apprehensions during hospital stay, at discharge and post discharge. The counsellors also provide referrals and resources to patients and their families to help a patient lead a physically as well as mentally healthy life post discharge from hospital. They even offer suggestions to ease the stress of the care-givers of a patient with debilitating, long-term illness. This is because caring for someone with long-term illness is as stressful as being the sufferer of the illness.

In other words, healthcare counsellors can make life seem less grim for a patient with long-term illness as well as for the patient’s family. with long-term illness as well as for the patient’s family.

Pre-surgery and Post-surgery Counselling

The very thought of surgery can make a patient as well as his family feel utterly anxious. The idea of getting operated, getting hospitalized, putting up in high dependency units and queries related to post-surgery recovery may cause patients to become emotionally labile. In such scenarios patients might feel unsure, uncertain, self-conscious and embarrassed. The questions regarding the surgery’s success, possibilities of disfigurement, managing discomfort and pain, issues faced during recovery, surgical expenses involved all cause lots of stress to the patient and his caregivers too. Stress related to surgery can lead to a negative response in the patient impacting the patient’s physiology, blood pressure, heart rate and recovery rate. To keep such negative responses at bay, counselling services from trained personnel must be availed. The healthcare counsellor can provide guidance on resolving the psychological issues or emotional upheavals arising out of surgery. Pre and post-surgery counselling therefore can go a long way in calming down the anxieties of a patient. Here are some ways the counsellor can help:

• The counsellor can help a patient manage the psychosomatic symptoms arising out of stress due to surgery
• The counsellor can provide preparatory info to the patient on the coping skills
• The counsellor can create a positive attitude in the patient towards post-surgery recovery
• The counsellor can help a patient manage his or her anxiety-triggered mood disorders in a better way
• The counsellor can empower the patient through psychological preparation for the surgery and healing process after it.

Counselling for healthcare staffs

Healthcare staffs like doctors, nurses, and attendants will be under constant pressure. Attending to critically sick patients isn’t a child’s play. Every moment, they have to witness closely the dance of life and death. Tracking the patient’s abruptly changing dynamics, interacting with patient’s families, revealing to them the hard truth demands a lot of mental stamina on the part of the healthcare professional. They need to be alert all the time. Myriad stressors like deaths, supply shortages, patient party agitations, long tiring hours at work and more do take a toll on the psychological health of the healthcare staffs often making them suffer from high levels of stress, anxiety, mood disorders, burnouts and PTSD. According to latest research, there were many instances of PTSD among healthcare workers during the COVID pandemic. That has in fact raised alarms regarding the psychological burden on the healthcare staffs and has made the world aware of the need they have for psychological help.

At SCS we aim at fostering total healing of the patient. While the doctor works towards improving the patient’s physiological aspects, we work towards calming the patient’s tempestuous mind and chalk out ways to help a patient recuperate without those mental ‘lows’ or emotional blues. Our trained counsellors can help in the following ways:

Disease is a part of the mortal body we have. But, handling the disease with positivity is the biggest deal. We at SCS help you take your first steps towards a better tomorrow. Call us for support!