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Theories of CounselingFKHDWVKHHW
A. Psychoanalytical Theory (Sigmund Freud)
1. View of Human Nature
a. )UHXG·VYLHZRIKXPDQQDWure is considered to be dynamic, meaning that there is an exchange of energy and transformation. Freud used the term catharsis to describe this release of this energy.
b. Freud saw the personality as composed of a conscious mind, a preconscious mind and an unconscious mind. The conscious mind has knowledge of what is happening in the present. The preconscious mind contains information from both the unconscious and the conscious mind. The unconscious mind contains hidden or forgotten memories or experiences.
2. Structure of Personality
a. The personality has three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego
b. The id is present at birth and is part of the unconscious. The id is the site of the pleasure principle, the tendency of an individual to move toward pleasure and away from pain. The id does not have a sense of right or wrong, is impulsive, and is not rational. It contains the most basic of human instincts, drives, and genetic endowments..
c. The ego is the second system to develop and it functions primarily in the conscious mind and in the preconscious mind. It serves as a moderator between the id and the superego, controlling wishes and desires. The ego is the site of the reality principle, the ability to interact with the outside world with appropriate goals and activities.
d. The superego sets the ideal standards and morals for the individual. The superego operates on the moral principle which rewards the individual for following parental and societal dictates. Guilt is produced when a person violates the ideal ego denying or ignoring the rules of the superego.
3. Developmental Stages.
a. Oral stage is centered on the mouth as a source of pleasure.
b. Anal stage is centered on the anus and elimination as a source of pleasure.
c. Phallic stage is centered on the genitals and sexual identification as a source of pleasure. i. Oedipus Complex is described as the process whereby a boy desires his mother and fears castration from the father, in order to create an ally of the father, the male learns traditional male roles. ii. Electra Complex is described a similar but less clearly resolved in the female child with her desire for the father, competition with the mother;; and thus, learns the traditional female roles.
d. Latency stage LVDWLPHRIOLWWOHVH[XDOLQWHUHVWLQ)UHXG·VGHYHORSPHQWDO view. This stage is characterized with peer activities, academic and social learning, and development of physical skills.
e. Genital stage begins with the onset of puberty. If the other stages have been successfully negotiated, the young person will take an interest in and establish sexual relationships.
4. Ego Defense Mechanisms
a. were believed by Freud to protect the individual from being overwhelmed by anxiety. He considered them normal and operating on the unconscious level. Some of the ones most often referred to are: i. Repression is the defense mechanism whereby the ego excludes any painful or undesirable thoughts, memories, feelings or impulses from the conscious ii. Projection is the defense mechanism whereby the individual assigns their own undesirable emotions and characteristics to another individual iii. Reaction Formation is the defense mechanism whereby the individual expresses the opposite emotion, feeling or impulse than that which causes anxiety iv. Displacement a defense mechanism whereby the energy that is generated toward a potentially dangerous or inappropriate target is refocused to a safe target.
c. Analysis of transference is a process where the client is encouraged to attribute to counselor those issues that have caused difficulties with significant authority figures in their lives. The counselor helps the client to gain insight by the conflicts and feelings expressed.
d. Analysis of resistance is a process where the counselor helps the client to gain insight into what causes form the basis for a hesitation or halting of therapy.
e. Interpretation is a process where the counselor helps the client to gain insight into past and present events.
B. Individual Psychology (Alfred Adler)
1. View of Human Nature
a. 7KH$GOHULDQFRQFHSWRIVRFLDOLQWHUHVWLVWKHLQGLYLGXDO·VIHHOLQJRI being part of a whole, spanning both the past, present, and the future. Adler believed that people were mainly motivated toward this feeling of belonging. He did not believe that social interest was innate but rather a result of social training.
b. Adler expressed that people strove to become successful and overcome the areas that they perceived as inferior. He referred to this process of personal growth as striving for perfection. Those who did not overcome feelings of inferiority developed an inferiority complex. Those who overcompensated for feelings of inferiority developed a superiority complex.
c. Adler believed that a peUVRQ·VFRQVFLRXVEHKDYLRUQRWWKHLU unconscious, was the mainstay of personality development. Because of this concept, Adlerian theory emphasizes personal responsibility for how WKHLQGLYLGXDOFKRRVHVWRLQWHUSUHWDQGDGMXVWWROLIH·VHYHQWVRUVLWXDWLRQV.
d. Maladjustment is defined in Adlerian theory as choosing behavior resulting in a lack of social interest or personal growth. Adler believed that misbehavior would take place when the person had become discouraged or when positive attempts at good behavior had failed to get the needed results. Encouragement to good behavior was often the recommended antidote to misbehavior.
e. Another concept is that of teleology, which simply put means that a person is as influenced by future goals as by past experiences.
f. Adlerian espoused the belief that the birth of each child changed the family substantially. He thought that the birth order of the children in the family influenced many aspects of their personality development. Briefly, characteristics of these birth positions are: i. Oldest children are usually high achievers, parent pleasers, conforming, and are well behaved. ii. Second born children are more outgoing, less anxious, and less constrained by rules than first borns. They usually excel as what the first born does not. iii. Middle children have a feeling of being squeezed in and are concerned with perceived unfair treatment. These children learn to excel in family politics and negotiation. However, they can become very manipulative. This position also tends to develop areas of success that are not enjoyed by their siblings. iv. The youngest child is the most apt at pleasing or entertaining the family. While they run the risk of being spoiled, they are also the most apt at getting what they want through their social skills and ability to please. They are often high achievers, because of the role models of their older siblings.
g. Only children or children born seven or more years apart from siblings are more like first born children. Children with no siblings often take on the characteristics of their parents birth order, as the parents are the only role models. While these children may mature early and be high achievers, they may lack socialization skills, expect pampering, and be selfish.
h. Adler saw the family as the basic socialization unit for the child. He EHOLHYHGWKDWFKLOGUHQ·Vinterpretation of the events in their life was determined by the interaction with family members before the age of five. The family interactions taught the children to perceive events and situations through certain subjective evaluations of themselves and the HQYLURQPHQW7KHVHSHUFHSWLRQVWKDWJXLGHGWKHFKLOGUHQ·VEHKDYLRUZHUH called fictions. Basic mistakes could be made based on these fictions. Adlerians believe that some of those mistakes are (Mozak, 1984): i. Overgeneralizing in which the individual believes that everything is the same or alike. ii. False or impossible goals of security which leads the individual to try to please everyone in seeking security and avoiding danger.
4. Techniques
a. Most commonly used are establishing rapport , defining style of life and helping the client to gain insight. While Adlerians may borrow many techniques from other theories, specific theories used to encourage change are.
b. Confrontation FRQVLVWVRIFKDOOHQJLQJWKHFOLHQW·VSULYDWHORJLFDQG behavior.
c. Asking " the Question " consists of asking the client how their life would be different if they were well? The question often asked to parents is what would be the problem if this child were not the problem?
d. Encouragement consists of the counselor supporting the client by VWDWLQJWKHEHOLHILQWKHFOLHQW·VDELOLW\WRWDNHUHVSRQVLELOLW\DQGFKDQJH behavior.
e. Acting "as if" consists of instructing the client to behave "as if" there were no problem or as the person that the client would like to be.
f. 6SLWLQJLQWKHFOLHQW·VVRXS means that the counselor points out the SXUSRVHRIWKHFOLHQW·VEHhavior. Afterward, the client may continue the behavior, but cannot do so without being aware of their motivation for engaging in the behavior.
g. Catching oneself consist of helping the client learn to bring destructive behavior into awareness and stop it.
h. Task setting consists of helping the client set shortterm goals leading toward the attainment of longterm goals.
C. Person Centered (Carl Rogers)
1. View of Human Nature
a. Rogers viewed human nature as basically good b. He believed that if given the appropriate environment of acceptance, warmth and empathy, the individual would move toward self actualization
c. Selfactualization is the motivation that makes the individual move toward growth, meaning, and purpose
d. Personcentered is considered a phenomenological psychology ZKHUHE\WKHLQGLYLGXDO·VSHUFHSWLRQRIUHDOLW\LVDFFHSWHd as reality for the individual.
e. Person FHQWHUHGLVRIWHQUHIHUUHGWRDVDVHOIWKHRU\EHFDXVHRI5RJHUV·V emphasis on the self being an result of tKHSHUVRQ·VOLIHH[SHULHQFHVDQG WKHSHUVRQ·VDZDUHQHVVRIFRPSDULVRQVWRRWKHUVDVWKHVDPHRUGLIIHUHQW
f. Rogers believed that most people were provided conditional acceptance as children, which lead them to behave in ways that would assure their acceptance. However, in their need for acceptance, the individual often behaved in ways that were incongruent with the real self. Thus, the greater this incongruence between the real self and the ideal self, the greater isolated and maladjusted the person became.
2. Role of the counselor
a. The counselor sets up a environment where the client is safe to explore DQ\DVSHFWRIWKHVHOI7KHFRXQVHORU·VMRELVWRIDFLOLWDWHWKHH[SORUDWLRQ through a special IThou relationship of unconditional positive regard, empathy and warmth.
b. The personcentered counselor uses psychological testing on a limited basis. The Qsort is sometimes used in assessment by the personcentered counselor. A series of 100 statements are written on cards. The statements are self descriptions, i.e. I am capable, I am dependent, I am worthless. The client is asked to read and sort each of these statements into nine piles from most like me to least like me. Then the stacks are recorded. The client resorts the cards into what they would like to be like. The Q sort gives an indication of the incongruence between the perceived real self and ideal self.
c. The use of diagnostic categories is discouraged as incompatible with the philosophical view of the individual as unique. Diagnosis places the counselor in a position of authority and imposes a treatment plan
3. Goals
1. View of Human Nature
a. Existentialists believe that the individual writes their own life story by the choices that they make.
b. Psychopathology is defined by existentialists as neglecting to make PHDQLQJIXOFKRLFHVDQGDFFHQWXDWLQJRQH·VSRWHQWLDO
c. Anxiety is seen as the motivational force that helps the clients to reach their potential. Conversely, anxiety is also seen as the paralyzing force that prevents clients from reaching their full potential. Therefore, through awareness, this anxiety can be helpful in living more fully
d. Frankl shares that each person searches for meaning in life, and that while this meaning may change, the meaning never ceases to be.
e. $FFRUGLQJWR)UDQNOOLIH·VPHDQLQJFDQEHGLVFRYHUHGLQWKUHHZD\V i.by doing a deed (accomplishments or achievements), ii. by experiencing a value (beauty, love, nature, and arts) iii. by suffering (reconciling ourselves to fate.
2. Role of the Counselor
a. Each client is considered a unique relationship with the counselor focusing on being authentic with the client and entering into a deep personal sharing relationship
b. The counselor models how to be authentic, to realize personal potential, and to make decisions with emphasis on mutuality, wholeness and growth.
c. Existential counselors do not diagnosis, nor do they use assessment models like the DSMIV.
3. Goals
a. A goal of existential counseling is to have the clients take responsibility for their life and life decisions.
b. A goal of existential therapy is to develop selfawareness to promote potential, freedom, and commitment to better life choices
c. A major goal is to help the client develop an internal frame of reference, as opposed to the outward one.
4. Techniques
a. The most common technique used in existential counseling is the relationship with the client.
b. Confrontation is also used by existential counselors, when they challenge the clients with their own responsibility for their lives
E. Gestalt (Fritz Perls)
1. View of Human Nature
a. A Gestalt means a whole, and Gestalt therapy is based on the person feeling whole or complete in their life
b. Gestalt therapy is considered to be a hereandnow therapy focusing on awareness with the belief that when one focuses on what they are and not what they wish to become, they become selfactualized. The idea being that through self acceptance one becomes selfactualized
c. The Gestaltists believe that the individual naturally seeks to become an integrated whole, living productively
d. Gestaltists are antideterministic because they believe that people have the ability to change and become responsible
e. Gestalt borrows heavily from the viewpoints of existenitalist, experientialist, and phenomenologicalist with the emphasis on the present DQGDZDUHQHVV*HVWDOWIRFXVHVRQWKHFOLHQW·VRZQLQQHUZRUOGRI interpretation and assessment of the present life situation
f. Gestaltists believe that individuals emphasize intellectual experience, diminishing the importance of emotions and senses, resulting in an inability to respond to the situations or events in their life
g. Gestaltists believe that thoughts, feelings, and reactions to past events or situations can impede personal functioning and prevent hereandnow awareness. The most common unfinished business is that of not forgiving RQH·VSDUHQWVIRUSHUFHLYHGPLVWDNHVLQRQH·VSDUHQWLQJ
3. Goals
a. The emphasis is on the hereand QRZRIWKHFOLHQW·VH[SHULHQFH
b. The client is encouraged to make choices based on the now as opposed to past
c. Help the client resolve the past
d. Assist the client to become congruent.
e. Help the client to reach maturity intellectually.
f. Help the client shed neuroses.
4. Techniques
a. Techniques in Gestalt therapy one of two forms, either an exercise or an experiment i. Exercises include activities such as: i. frustration actions ii. fantasy role playing iii. fantasy iv. psychodrama ii. Experiments are unplanned creative interventions that grow out of the hereandnow interaction between the client and the counselor.
b. Dream work in Gestalt therapy consist of the client telling the dream and then focusing their awareness on the dream from the perspective of each character or element in the dream
e. Empty chair is a process where the client addresses parts of the personality , as if it were an entity sitting an empty chair. The client may switch perspectives by switching chairs or may simply address the chair. The technique is contraindicated for severely disturbed clients f. Confrontation is another of the Gestalt exercises that is very powerful. Basically, the counselor calls attention to the incongruence between the FOLHQW·VYHUEDOL]DWLRQVDQGREVHUYHGHPRWLRQVRUEHKDYLRUV
g. Making the rounds is a group exercise in which the client is instructed to say the same sentence to each member of the group and then adding something personal to each person
h. I take responsibility is the phrase that follows each statement expressing statements or perceptions that the client states. The process is to help the client to integrate their internal perceptions and their behaviors
i. Exaggeration is overdramatizing WKHFOLHQW·VJHVWXUHVDQGPRYHPHQWV to help gain insight into their meaning.
j. May I feed you a sentence is the question that the counselor asks before giving the client a more specific expression of what the counselor believes is the underlying message of the client
F. RationalEmotive Therapy (Albert Ellis)
1. View of Human Nature
a. RET assumes that the individual has the capacity to be completely rational, irrational, sensible or crazy, which Ellis believes is biologically inherent.
b. Ellis is most concerned with irrational thinking especially that which creates upsetting or irrational thoughts.
c. Ellis lists the most common irrational beliefs that clients find disturbing (Ellis, 1984, p.266) i. It is absolutely essential to be loved or approved of by every VLJQLILFDQWSHUVRQLQRQH·VOLIH ii. To be worthwhile, a person must be competent , adequate, and achieving in everything attempted. iii. Some people are wicked, bad, and villainous and therefore should be blamed or punished. iv. It is terrible and a catastrophe whenever events do not occur as one hopes. v. Unhappiness is the result of outside events, and therefore a person has no control over such despair. vi. Something potentially dangerous or harmful should be cause to great concern and should always be kept in mind.
b. RET helps people see that it is their thoughts and beliefs about events that creates difficulties, not the events or situations themselves
c. RET helps the client to understand that wishes and wants are not entitlements to be demanded. Thinking that involves the words must, should, ought, have to, and need are demands, not an expression of wants or desires.
d. RET helps clients stop catastrophizing when wants and desires are not met
e. RET stresses the appropriateness of the emotional response to the situation or event. An situation or event need not elicit more of a response than is appropriate
f. RET assists people in changing selfdefeating behaviors or cognitions
g. RET espouses acceptance and tolerance of self and of others in order to achieve life goals
4. Techniques
a. The first few sessions are devoted to learning the ABC principle: i. Activating event ii. Belief or thought process iii. Emotional Consequences
b. Cognitive disputation is aimed at asking the client questions challenging the ORJLFRIWKHFOLHQW·VUHVSRQVH
c. Imaginal disputation has the client use imagery to examine a situation where the become upset. The technique is used in one of two ways: i. The client imagines the situation, examines the selftalk, and then changes the selftalk leading to a more moderate response. ii. The client imagines a situation in which they respond differently than is habitual, and are asked to examine the selftalk in this imagery.
d. The Emotional Control Card is an actual card intended for the client to carry in their wallet which has a list of inappropriate or selfdestructive feelings countered with appropriate nondefeating feelings. In a difficult situation, the client has this reference card on their person to help them intervene in their own selftalk
e. Behavioral disputation involves having the client behave in a way that is opposite to the way they would like to respond to the event or situation
f. Confrontation occurs when the counselor challenges an illogical or irrational belief that the client is expressing
g. Encouragement involves explicitly urging the client to use RET rather than to continue selfdefeating responses
G. Transactional Analysis (Eric Berne)
1. View of Human Nature
a. T.A. has a optimistic view of human nature that believes that people can FKDQJHGHVSLWHOLIH·VHYHQWVDQGWKDWLWLVQHYHUWRRODWHWRFKDQJHRQH·V life. All decisions that are made in life can be redecided b. TA uses four major methods to analyze and predict behavior: i. Structural analysis looks at what is happening within the individual. ii. Transactional analysis looks at what is happening between two or more people. iii. Game analysis looks at transactions between individuals leading to negative feelings. iv. Script analysis looks at the life plan the individual has chosen to follow. c. Structural Analysis describes each person in terms of three ego states: i. Parent ego state contains the parental admonishments and values with dos, shoulds, and oughts ii. Adult ego state contains the objective, thinking, rational and logical ability to deal with reality iii. Child ego state is the source of childlike behaviors and feelings
d. Transactional analysis i. Complementary transaction are characterized by both people communicating from the same ego state ii. Crossed transactions are characterized by both people coming from different ego states and resulting in an unexpected hurtful response.
b. Through the gaining of autonomy the client can be more aware, intimate and spontaneous living a life free of games and selfdefeating life scripts.
4. Techniques
a. In addition to structural, transactional, game and script analysis, TA counselors other techniques. Some of these techniques are: i. Treatment contract which is a agreement between the counselor and the client about what is to be accomplished and what responsibilities are agreed upon. ii. Interrogation involves forcing the client to answer from the adult ego state through a succession of confrontive questions iii. Specification is identifying the ego state that is the source of the transition. iv. Confrontation is the process of pointing out inconsistencies v. Explanation is a process where the counselor teaches the Adult ego state of the client a tenet of TA vi. Illustration is a story or example that is used to portray a point vii. Confirmation is a technique where the counselor directs the FOLHQW·VDWWHQWLRQWRDSUHYLRXVO\PRGLILHGEHKavior that is reoccurring viii. Interpretation involves the counselor explaining tot he child HJRVWDWHWKHUHDVRQ·VEHKLQGWKHFOLHQW·VEHKDYLRU ix. Crystallization occurs when the client realizes that game playing can be given up and the client can enjoy the freedom of choice in behavior
H. Behavioral Theories (B. F. Skinner)
1. View of Human Nature
a. Behaviorists, with the exception of cognitive behaviorists, concentrate on be observed.
b. Behaviorism has a hereandnow focus
c. A basic tenet of Behaviorism is that all behavior is learned whether the behavior is maladaptive or adaptive
d. Behaviorists believe that adaptive behavior can be learned to replace maladaptive behavior
e. Behaviorists believe in setting up welldefined, measurable and observable goals in therapy
f. Behaviorists reject the idea that human personality is composed of traits
g. Behaviorists strive for empirical evidence to support their use of specific techniques and to support the usage of behavioral therapy techniques
h. Respondent learning is often referred to as stimulusresponse learning in which the learner does not need to be an active participant. The outcome is the conditioning of involuntary responses. The unlearning of these conditioned responses is called counterconditioning
i. Operant conditioning requires that the participant be actively involved. This type of learning involves rewarding the desired behavior or punishing the undesired behavior until the person learns to discriminate the desired behavior that elicits the reward. Operant conditioning differs from respondent conditioning in that operant conditioning is the conditioning of voluntary responses through rewards or reinforces
j. Social modeling is the process where new behavior is learned from watching other people and events without experiencing the consequences from the behavior or engaging in the behavior
2. Role of the Counselor
a. Roles of the behavioral counselor are varies and include being a consultant, a reinforcer, and a facilitator
b 7KHFRXQVHORULVDFWLYHDQGPD\VXSHUYLVHRWKHUSHRSOHLQWKHFOLHQW·V environment to achieve the goals of therapy
c. Counselors using social learning may model the desired behavior, while respondent and operant conditioning counselors are more directive and prescriptive in their approach to the therapy goals
d. Use of tests and diagnosis varied greatly among behavioral counselors
- Goals
