Rakesh is a 43-year old married senior
executive in a services company. He has always been a high achiever at work.
Recently he has been experiencing low mood, difficulty in breathing,
palpitations, and anger. This has affected his relationship at work as well as
at home. Before attending meetings, he would get highly anxious and he was
experiencing sleeplessness at home. He felt like he had reached a breaking
point and decided to avail psychological consultation by phone with an Employee
Assistance Program (EAP) counsellor through work.

During the phone counselling session, Rakesh
broke down and reported that being away from his hometown and his concerns
about aging parents were worrying him all the time. Since the lockdown started,
he has been under the constant fear that something might happen to his parents and
he won’t be available to help. For the same reasons, he was having constant
quarrels at home with his wife further adding to his distress

The Counsellor heard him out and allowed him
to ventilate. The counsellor then helped him deal with his emotional challenges
and encouraged him to look for options to balance his work and personal life at
home. The Counsellor also addressed the concerns that his wife was raising and encouraged
open communication between the couple. This further helped Rakesh to be confident
and handle his work and personal life better.

Note:
Changes have been made to names and specifics to maintain confidentiality.
This case study is published to illustrate how counselling sessions can be
helpful.