My Theory of Counseling: A Comprehensive Theoretical Approach to Therapy
When becoming a therapist, remaining cognizant of the theoretical approaches and how each one corresponds successfully into one’s outlook on human nature, personal struggles, and the developmental changes in a person’s lifetime is critical. Consequently, comprehending and applying certain methodologies and philosophies remain vitally important as does the therapist’s self-awareness of their own ideals, life philosophy, interpretation of personality development, and how to stand as a catalyst for the client’s perceived needed change. Correspondingly, a personal theory of counseling remains of the utmost importance for the therapist to do their job successfully within the parameters of the therapeutic relationship.
The therapeutic relationship stands as a truly critical role of effective counseling, whereas the therapist as a human is a significant part of the efficacy of the therapeutic treatments (Corey, 1991). In other words, the therapist needs to be true to their convictions and remain authentic with their clients. Authenticity denotes the
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These theories correlate with the author’s life perspectives and beliefs. The author’s theories of personality development, counseling, and social justice and advocacy are examined through the explanations of his theoretical assumptions and their effectiveness. This integrative theory will demonstrate the counselor’s notion of how the client will benefit from these complementary approaches with empirically based techniques. The author believes that during therapy, the client will have a comprehensive opportunity to have their insight improved and their associated emotional characteristics and life experiences considered through their reasoning, emotional presentation, and behavior in order to
Learning about Client Centered Therapy has opened my eyes to counseling. Roger’s theory of actualizing tendency and theory of self expanded my knowledge of my own self-concept as well as counseling. Rogers explained that every person has an innate drive to self-actualize. In many instances, loved ones put conditions for worth on him/her, which causes incongruence for the person. He/she begins to loose trust in his/her organismic valuing process. By understanding this concept, I am more inclined to stay true to my organismic valuing process. I have trust in my innate ability to lead myself in direction to self-actualizing. It may be challenging when others put conditions of worth on me, but understanding the concept may help me stay true to
The therapist must be aware of individual values and beliefs in order to develop an understanding of why the client responds to certain life-stressors. For e...
Sharf, R. S. (2008). Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling: Counseling and Cases (5thed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole
Furthermore, my goal is to let client fix their problems on their own through insight and guidance from the therapist. I envision a successful therapeutic process being when a client follows their goals and achieves positive outcomes in their lives. I seek to gain a therapeutic process with my clients by building rapport, trust, and helping them gain insight. When my clients are stuck and need motivation, I plan to remind them about their goals and the positive things that will come with change. If family is important to a client, informing the client about their family and their happiness may help motivate them to continue to
Probst (2015) conducted a study on how personal clinician therapy may enhance the therapist’s ability to create and maintain a strong clinician-client relationship. Upon review of Barbara Probst’s article, the author agrees that the integration of personal clinician therapy into the repertoire of extensive practitioner training is essential and desirable (2015). This opinion is in correlation to Freud’s position that to
One theme of the book that stands out is the counselor as a person and a professional. It is impossible to completely separate one’s personal and professional lives. Each person brings to the table certain characteristics of themselves and this could include such things as values, personality traits and experiences. A great point that Corey, Corey, and Callahan (2010) make is to seek personal therapy. Talking with colleagues or a therapist will keep counselors on their toes and allow them to work out any issues that may arise. This could also prevent counselors from getting into a bad situation. Another good point made in this book was counter transference. Therapists are going to have an opinion and some reactions are going to show through. It is not easy to hide one’s emotions, but a good therapist will keep the objective in sight and keep moving forward. After all, the help counselors are providing is for the client.
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,
Corey, C. (1991). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, California, USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. (Original work published 1977)
Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. W. (2014). Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy, Systems, Strategies, and Skills (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Reflecting on my work as a therapist, I recognize the importance of the therapeutic relationship. For instance, in EFT the therapist, “the therapeutic relationship, characterized by presence, empathy, acceptance, and congruence, helps clients to feel safe enough to face dreaded feelings and painful memories (Greenberg, 2014).
Theoretical Perspective: This semester in procedures of counseling class we discussed a lot of different types of counseling theories. We also did a lot of practicing with each theory with our partners. I found that person-centered therapy best fits my personal attitudes and style of counseling. I think this would be a good style of counseling for me because I can see myself better helping people as a whole than trying to fix an actual problem.
The Therapeutic Relationship: A Cornerstone of Effective Counselling and Psychotherapy The therapeutic relationship is widely acknowledged as a foundational element in counselling and psychotherapy, essential for achieving successful therapeutic outcomes and fostering client change. Despite its critical importance, the therapeutic relationship often receives less attention in counselling texts compared to the promotion of theories and methods. This disparity in attention overlooks the pivotal role that the therapeutic relationship plays in facilitating meaningful change for clients. This essay aims to bridge this gap by providing readers with a comprehensive exploration of the therapeutic relationship, highlighting its significance across different
1. Person-centred counselling according to Carl Rogers is where the the therapy is client centred, uses a non directive approach and puts the client in charge of the therapeutic process. His quote “the good life is a process, not a state of being” (Rogers, 2004 p183-196) was the starting point for my journey into looking at the theory and concept behind this therapeutic approach. Learning outcomes I wish to demonstrate in this text my understanding of the development and function of personality and the process for therapeutic growth towards self- actualisation for the client when using the person centred approach. I will focus on the six conditions which are deemed to be necessary and sufficient to promote change in the client.
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.