THE RELEVANCE OF COUNSELLING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CLIENTS WHO
ARE PHYSICALLY DISABLED AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL:
IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICING COUNSELLORS

THE RELEVANCE OF COUNSELLING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CLIENTS WHO
ARE PHYSICALLY DISABLED AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL:
IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICING COUNSELLORS

ITAYI SAMANYANGA

RACHEAL MAFUMBATE

Society attaches a stigma to many forms of disability and this leads to prejudicial treatment. The birth of a child with a
disability or chronic illness, or the discovery that a child has a disability, has a profound effect on a family. People with
disabilities are often labelled by the non disabled people as blind, wheelchair users and called names rather than as
complex human beings with specific challenges. Siblings need to adjust to a brother or sister who is disabled since the
disabling condition may require a large portion of family time, attention, money and psychological support. The
experiences of parents and siblings of a child who is disabled could be stressfulness, overprotection of the child from
associating with peers, keeping the child secluded or even going to the extent of murdering the child to get rid of the
disability considering it an abomination. Counselling is very crucial once a disability has been detected as that helps
parents and siblings of a child who is disabled to cope with the disability challenges by encouraging the household
members to offer support, manage stress and enhance coping abilities. The counsellor assists the family members
accepting objectively their child who is disabled. The research study is helpful to the community as it provides
knowledge on disability issues and management of physical disabling conditions. The study encourages participation
by people with physical disabilities in community activities and thus establishes and enhances social interaction as well
as builds strong relationships with persons who are physically disabled in community development programs

Research Journal in Organizational Psychology & Educational Studies

2014