Rewrite and clarification of problem statement and Lit review Essay

Rewrite and clarification of problem statement and Lit review - Essay Example Social support is commonly employed as a means to pacify the tense individuals. Social support plays an important role in solving marital problems and has provided greatly improved the marital satisfaction among couples conventionally. Social support is very important tool for dealing with marital problems and often leads to positive outcomes. It is deemed good for the sustainability of marriage as well as the psychological wellbeing of the whole family (Cummings, 1998, p. 78). Owing to the noticeable usability of social support in sustaining a marriage, there has been blossoming interest in studying the role of social support in safeguarding marriages from potentially pathogenic effects of marital problems (Verhofstadt et al, 2005, p. 23). People even seek counseling when there is no proper need for it. However, it is a useful practice. One does not have to get extremely distressed in order to seek help (Goodman, 1999, p. 342). â€Å"Marriage  counseling  is a type of relations hip therapy that focuses on building and maintaining a strong, healthy marriage† (Foster, 2011). Social support providers have developed counseling programs to suit the needs of elderly couples who conventionally remain out of the focus. However, elderly couples feel much more reluctant than young couples to seek social support in order to improve their marital relationship. In context of this matter, factors that may influence the alliance of the elderly people with the social support provider become concerns of prime importance. In order for the marriage counselor to gain a firm understanding of the underlying issues causing trouble in the marital relationship of the client, he/she needs to know about various matters related to the married life of the client. It is a must for the marriage counselor to develop a certain level of intimacy with the couple so that the job can be done appropriately. It is highly unlikely for a client to make a collaborative relationship with a co unselor without the existence of trust between the two (Sheth and Sobel, 2000, p. 4). One way in which their reluctance can be overcome is by developing marital counseling programs particularly to suit the needs of elderly people. There are several factors that play a decisive role in determining the level of intimacy between the client and the marriage counselor. Such factors include but are not limited to the age, sex, race, language and culture of both the client and the marriage counselor. Culture that the client and the counselor mutually share directs adequate need-based practices and behaviors (Oladipo and Balogun, 2010, p. 5). Physical attributes influence the formation of initial impressions between strangers (Newcomb et al., 1965). According to Beutler et al. (1986), the chronological age greatly impacts the initial impressions that clients form of counselors. Because of their limited experience, many young counselors have little to no experience of interaction with an old client. The very lack of experience on the part of young counselors limits their comfort or interest in dealing with the old people (San, 2011). It is quite likely for an old client to be skeptical about the eligibility of a young marriage counselor in helping him improve his marital relationship with his spouse. Several theories provide the hypothesis about the views of old clients in need of