Similarities and Differences of Two Counseling Theories
Within the counselling setting there can be many different approaches to take in order to help the client to over come their personal challenges. While all provide a unique and abstract way of handling, interpreting and solving these challenges they all have their own positives and negatives when scrutinized. Two approaches that have little in common but the fact they are used within the same working environment are the feminist theory and the psychoanalytic approach. Psychoanalytic approach has a structured and theoretical basic which leave it with much less room for interpretation and adaption to the client. Focusing more on the past and development then the
…show more content…
feminist theory which looks at problems from an environmentally influenced view. The similarities and differences in the goals, therapeutic techniques, therapeutic relationship and applicability in modern multicultural Australia will be underlined compared to get a better understand of the benefits of each model. Goals of this approach The psychoanalytic approach was originally developed by Sigmund Freud (Gaztambide, 2012), and looks at the interplay of the ID (moral compass) ego (conscious thought) and the super ego (instinctual desires).
The goals of psychoanalytic therapy in basic terms are for the client to develop techniques to later be able to “solve” their own problems as they present themselves. This comes about through change (Carsky, 2013), change in behavior and the ability to adapt. As stated above the ego is the controller of the instinctual drives and the clients moral compass, providing the client with techniques to strengthen the ego will aid in suppressing the super ego and the ID (Gaztambide, 2012). This approach has the focus of helping the client develop a new understand of the self and achieve an insight their own unconscious thoughts and processes. It is still very centered on the individual and the individuals experiences. Feminist theory, being relatively recent, was developed to provide women with better assistance in the case they are experiencing psychological distress (Evans, Kincade, Marbley & Seem, 2005). While originally the therapy was developed exclusively for women, after adapting and evolving the feminist theory is more centered around therapy that is not constrained by societal and cultural norms and the idea of gender (Evans, Kincade, Marbley & Seem, 2005). This approach understands that problems my stem from gender discrimination, gender role conflicts, gender …show more content…
socialization or sexual orientation development issues. (Mazzula & Nadal, 2015). Feminist therapy when juxtaposed with the psychoanalytic approach to therapy has very little similarities. On the other hand, the feminist therapy, as stated above, has adapted and is now applicable to more demographics then just females, it resonates well within minority groups and groups constrained by oppression (Dimitrova, 2010). Feminist therapy is aiming for empowerment of the client, social change, creating equality, beating discrimination and prejudice (Enns, 2004). This approach is a holistic idea, its aim overall is to eliminate sexism and to equalize the gender roles and stereotypes for everyone. (Enns, 2004) by looking at the individuals issues as a result of social injustice and pressure and environmental influence compared to personal experience and influence. Therapeutic Technique Within the psychoanalytic approach there are several techniques used in the therapeutic setting. These techniques, unlike the feminist theory, are relatively structured and straightforward in their interpretation and application. They can be applied to anyone in the same way and leaves little area for adaption to individuals, meaning they are applied the same way to each person. Free association is one of the easier techniques, asking the client to say anything that comes to their mind when provided with a situation or word. (Joffe & Elsey, 2014). Psychoanalytic therapy also holds an emphasis on dream analysis and looking into past childhood experiences that may have played a part in the development of any personal conflicts that the client may have developed, Freud stated that dreaming is a higher mental function which displays your deepest wishes and goals (Spiwak, 2009). This “wishing system” can be a very influencial and useful tool for the therapist, to help find what it is that the client is really desiring or is truly conflicting with. In comparison to the psychoanalytic therapy approach which has applicable setting techniques that can be applied during the therapy session, the feminist theory is more of an over arching structure then a theory with specific techniques (Unger, 2001) There are a number of key ideas that underpin the feminist approach to therapy that help to give a basic understanding of the goals within this type of therapy.
Some of these being that the personal was political, the environment the client and therapist are encompassed in is taken into consideration. (Negy & McKinney, 2006). The other key ideas include, respect for women and their experiences, attentiveness to language, sociocultural variables are the center of psychopathology, having commitment to social change and client collaboration and therapist disclosure (Negy & McKinney, 2006) these key structural ideas work together to help the client feel that what is their reality is validated, identify that the issues that may arise in their life may be a direct result of societal pressures of norms and oppression that are creating issues (Negy & McKinney, 2006). Feminist therapy is client centered (Negy & McKinney, 2006) in the way that it allows for the client to identify their own issues and are viewed as the key holders to opening up a new door in their life (Negy & McKinney, 2006). Though it does use tools within the counseling such as gender-role analysis, power analysis and bibliotherapy to help the client recall and
understand their issues (Corey, 2013). Therapeutic Relationship The therapeutic relationship is very important in the psychoanalytic therapy, (Carsky, 2013). Its quite unlike any of the other approaches. Stemming into two branches, being the classical analyst and the current relational analysis. (Corey, 2013). Gone, or widely ostracized, is the classical analyst that was removed, neutral and objective (DeLaCour, 1998). The psychoanalytic therapist is now seen to influence the client as well as the client influencing the therapist unconsciously (DeLaCour, 1998). Quite similar to the feminist therapy which places the client and the therapist on an even ground, the client and the therapist work together in the counselling session. Within the feminist therapy in order for the therapeutic relationship to be successful and aid in the treatment of the client the, the relationship must be egalitarian, meaning that the therapist should view their client as their own expert on their life, allow the client full disclosure of the therapeutic process, what their role is and what is expected, encourage the client to feel powerful and should model the behaviors that are appropriate for a client – therapist relationship (Rader & Gilbert, 2005) Applicability of each approach in the modern world with a multicultural and diverse population in Australia. As Australia is seen as a multicultural country, providing therapy that that’s into consideration the vast cultural and societal norms and pressures is essential to a providing an accommodating therapeutic setting. The Feminist therapy as a relatively recent approach has been found to apply to the smaller population in a way that other techniques have not been able to, as it takes into consideration the societal, gender, cultural and environmental factors into the counselling setting and applies the possible influence to the problem that the client is provided with allows a more personalized explanation and interpretation that suits the client. While the psychoanalytical approach can be applied to any one, it does not hold any emphasis on the environmental impacts on the client, it looks at the personal conflicts and issues at more of a developmental view rather then a holistic view of the influences on a person that may result in these conflicts. Conclusion While both the psychoanalytic approach and the feminist approach provide strengths and weaknesses to therapy and counselling setting, though research and reading I have found that the feminist theory is the one that I feel the closest relation too. As we live in a multicultural world that is ever involving and changing in the ways of what is right and wrong, acceptable and taboo, the feminist theory accounts for all of these and allows the counselor to adapt and adjust the session to the clients needs, gender, race, age and the culture they are apart of. It is a more recent theory and has the most applicability to the smaller socioeconomic groups by allowing them all to stand on the same level ground that the larger population do. The ultimate goal of the feminist therapy is very admirable, it has long term goals that are valid is reasonable, allowing the clients to feel equal and relevant is an important goal in modern Australia. The relationship between the client and therapist is also a very appealing and non-intimidating, allowing the client and therapist to engage on an equal ground would be comfortable especially for those who the feminist therapy is relatively aimed towards.
Gary, Faye, Linda M. Sigsby, and Doris Campbell. "FEMINISM: A PERSPECTIVE FOR THE 21St CENTURY." Issues In Mental Health Nursing 19.2 (1998): 139-152. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 May 2016.
The current practices of the clinical and counselling psychological streams are not entirely dissimilar as both are concerned with the application of psychotherapy, education, research, and instruction (Mayne, Norcross, & Sayette, 2000; Norcross, 2000). Clinical psychology is primarily concerned with the assessment, treatment, and study of populations who experience severe mental illness (Bechtoldt, Campbell, Norcross, Wyckoff, & Pokrywa, 2000; Norcross, 2000) clinical psychologists mostly employ behavioral and psychoanalytic theoretical orientations when treating clients (Norcross, 2000). In contrast, counselling psychologists generally aim to support people who, while not typically suffering from severe mental illness, need assistance in overcoming the emotions associated with traumas such as loss of employment, marital dissatisfaction, loss of friend or family member, addiction (Geldard & Geldard, 2012; Gladding, 2013). Primarily they employ client-centered and humanistic methods of theoretical orientation (Geldard & Geldard, 2012; Gladding, 2013; Norcross, 2000).
The counseling session should be centered on the client and their understanding of their world and/or problems not heavily weighted on the counselor interpretation of the client’s situation. The role of the counselor is to examine a problem needs changing and discover options in overcoming their problem. Bringing about change can help change the client’s narrative on their problem in the future and/or on life in the process.
There are multiple structures of that can be applied to the counselling process, ranging from the basic idea of a beginning, middle and end to a more structured approach as that proposed by Egan (1994). Although his initial structure offered three main components; Stage 1, exploring the situation, stage 2, identifying a new or desired scenario to strive for and stage 3, the action stage, in which methods of coping are devised of and implemented. Egan later devised a ten stage structure that still takes into account initial stages from the speakers perspective of identifying a problem and seeking help, within this structure stage 4 is the initial meeting of the counsellor and client and can be considered the beginning stage of the helping re...
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
2). My integrative approach is built on postmodern narrative therapy, but also includes techniques and definitions based on family systems and experiential theories to help clients understand their own family narratives. My desire is to use any technique that will help individuals create a preferred positive future. In this paper I expound upon my personal integrative approach to working with individuals, couples, or families in therapy. I share my theory of how problems develop, how client change is facilitated, my role as therapist and goals for therapy based on post-modern and person-centered principles. I then describe the techniques I am comfortable using, and those that do not appeal to me, and end by explaining my views on power, gender, and multiculturalism in
Understanding the counseling session from the client’s perspective is a very important aspect in the development of a therapeutic relationship. A clinician must be an excellent listener, while being to pay attention to the client’s body language, affect and tone. The dynamics in the counseling session that is beneficial to the client include the recognition of the pain that the client is feeling. The detrimental part of this includes a misunderstanding of the real issues, a lack of consideration of the cultural aspects of the client, and a lack of clinical experience or listening skills. In this presentation, we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the counseling session from the client’s perspective which includes the client’s attitudes, feelings, and emotions of the counseling session. We will next examine the propensity of the client to reveal or not reveal information to the counselor, and how transference, and counter-transference can have an effect on the counselor-client relationship.
¬When considering what my own personal philosophy of counseling would be, it was eye opening to consider who I was a person and how much I have grown. The self analysis was new to me because I never thought about how I do that on a day to day basis. Reviewing the questions I found that a lot of my focus surrounded family, my significant other, and close friends. Constantly living in a diverse population and having that as my surrounding also made its mark in my answers. I also noted that both past and present influences, but primarily the present, play a large role in my own perspective. By following the prompt, I was made to understand that my thought process makes me think of what is occurring in the present and how I can alter these happenings to help shape the future that I want.
Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.
As a future counselor, I have enjoyed learning about the different techniques and theories of counseling. Understanding each approach is important but I believe that the counselors self knowledge of her or his own values, worldviews and life philosophy is just as important for the counselor to do the job effectively. Each theory that we learned about, I could see being helpful to different people, their circumstance and individual problem. I can see myself using different parts of each in my future career. Currently, I more drawn to the Adlerian theory. I understand and agree when Adler believed that people do have the ability to monitor and control the direction of their lives.The unconscious shapes personality,
In a qualitative study about GRC male therapists were interviewed about their working experiences with male and female clients. It was mainly found that when working with male clients there could be a different power relationship shift and changes in control levels during the therapeutic process. Plus, the presence of RABBM had significant restrictions in male clients’ behaviour regarding sharing deep feelings and thoughts, which altered and threatened male identity and the masculinity ideology (Gillen, 2012). In regards to female clients, the therapeutic relationship and process appeared to be less challenging as therapists reported female clients to be more in touch with their feelings and male therapists said that this made them to feel more comfortable, it facilitated more congruence and trust, a better sense of connection, and better therapeutic progress.
This essay will attempt to highlight and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the three main theories of counselling within the module covered this term. The three approaches in discussion are psychodynamics, cognitive behavioural and humanistic.
Zakin, E. "Psychoanalytic Feminism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (Ed.), Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011/entries/feminism-psychoanalysis/
The field of psychology and psychotherapy derives from times where gender inequality was a norm. Although individuals believe that this conception has been alleviated they fail to see how many are still, to this day, oppressed, limited, constrained, and shamed. Not only is this due to their gender but also sexual orientation, race, culture, and many other factors. Feminist therapy accentuates that change in society is necessary instead of the need to adjust to society. I believe therapy should always enmesh individual, human, and equal rights.
It is imperative to study counseling theories when beginning field based work. Counseling theories provide a foundation to be able to learn and develop my own techniques. Some ideas that exemplify the significance of counseling theories are; research, application of theories, and case studies.