2011

The alcoholic client, the depressed client, the divorcing, and the widowed client present in the counselor’s office with a problem. The cancer patient, the back patient, and the stroke patient present in the physician’s office with a problem. For both the physician and the mental health counselor, the fundamental question of response is the degree to which the presenting problem can be divorced from the person experiencing it. This fundamental question frames the thoughts, actions, and words of those providing care. In the realm of medicine, the words “illness,” “disease,” “pain,” and “suffering” take on specific meanings with specific implications (Cassell, 2004; Kleinman, 1988) for the helper and the patient. Similarly, in mental health the words “presenting problem,” “disorder,” and “suffering” hold distinct meanings.