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Theoretical approaches to counseling
Theoretical approaches to counseling
Counseling philosophy
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Initially, I thought that counseling would be a profession that would take serious adjustment in establishing roles as a counselor, in that my initial perceptions have changed from when I first started the program here at Adams University. When reviewing the article by Moss, Gibson, and Dollarhide (2014) it becomes important to attempt to identify as a clinical counselor, and to understand the basic foundations of counseling. The key philosophies of the counseling profession, inasmuch, wellness, resilience, prevention, and self-care are important to learn in studying a profession that takes many hours of dedication and practice. It is also important to be able to articulate the components and characteristics of counseling, moreover, understand
This paper will provide a brief historical view of the counseling profession. In addition, it will focus on the importance of the philosophies of wellness, resilience, and prevention. Furthermore, it will identify the preferred counseling specialization and give a concise detail of how the profession was formed. Moreover, it will also discuss another counseling specialization that will go hand in hand with the preferred counseling specialization analyzing the case of a 12 year old female name Ashley. Hence, a brief discussion of the roles and functions of each professional will be given in details on how it would benefit Ashley and her family. Lastly, I will provide a brief example of how we would work as a team so that the end result will benefit each member of the family.
Over the last 100 years, the underpinning concepts in the fields of psychology and counseling were wrought. Within this period, these concepts have transformed and evolved from somewhat crude conceptions of the psyche toward more holistic interventions and approaches. As the profession continues to move forward, adaptations of the original theorists regarding the nature of man and the development of personality continue to emerge. These adaptations, along with the integration of new concepts and ideas, continue to contribute to the field. The author describes his view of man and human nature, personality development, and explores potential implications for counseling.
Professional identity is the result of a developmental process that facilitates individuals to reach an understanding of their profession in conjunction with their own self-concept, enabling them to articulate their role, philosophy, and approach to others within and outside of their chosen. As counselors engage in this individually unique growth process, it is hoped that the counseling profession as a whole will be strengthened as its practitioners and educators reach a heightened sense of purpose and a synergistic collective identity, an identity which is still developing within the profession. The term collective identity refers to having shared goals, resources, and aspirations for the profession. In order for individuals to build a personal relationship with their chosen occupation, it is important for a clear foundation to be established. To build this foundation, a professional philosophy must be constructed which clarifies and distinguishes one’s profession from other similar vocations; in this instance, other mental health fields. In counseling, this foundation is thought to be created by establishing clear professional expectations through licensure, streamlined educational programming, professional organizations, and ethical standards that build on an underlying professional philosophy. This article will review current literature and research on professional identity in the counseling field. This review will then be presented in relation to the external evaluation of success within counseling and counselor education and how this evaluation is influenced and internally understood through one’s gender role beliefs and associated societal expectations.
Establishing a theoretical counseling orientation is an important step in developing professional identity. Theories provide counselors with explanations of human nature, help with conceptualizing clients’ problems and deliver procedural guidance in predicting clients’ change. Contemporary counselor is expected to be integrative and eclectic, drawing inspiration from many approaches. It is also my hope to synthesize a variety of concepts and a diversity of strategies from different theories and integrate them into a coherent, comprehensive perspective.
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...
Sometimes individuals consider becoming counselors after overcoming some major life challenge such as addiction or a history of bad relationships. Perhaps an individual has encountered a particularly effective counselor or therapist and has a desire to follow in those footsteps. Others may have had a bad experience with counseling and concluded that it can be done better. People do not think of this work so much as a job, or even as a career. More typically, a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one toward the counseling profession” (An invitation to). .
¬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.
When I began my studies at the University of Northern Iowa, I had an interest in the field of psychology, but I was not yet sure that I wanted to pursue a career in that area. The classes that I consequently took and the professors that taught them solidified my desire to receive a degree in psychology.
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.
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.
Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be happening in a counseling setting and serves to inform the client to their rights, responsibilities, and what to expect. Most importantly, the informed consent is in place for the client’s benefit. It also is important to understand that culture and environment play a role in the treatment of a client and how theories can positively or negatively impact this treatment. Therapists need to understand how to work within the context of a theory while being able to understand the individual in their own environment. Although theories are put into place to serve as a framework, there are also alternative ways to approach counseling, one example being evidence-based practice. Such an approach is very specific, which presents a series of solutions for counseling as a whole, but also brings forth many problems. Every approach or theory introduces ethical concerns that need to be taken into consideration by the entire counseling community and how each can positively and negatively affect clients and the pr...
Training to be a therapist or counselor is stressful and involves significant shifts in identity, self-knowledge and confidence. Most of these changes appear to be linked to starting work with clients (Edwards & Patterson, 2012). The practicum or clinical experience portion of a therapist or counselor’s training is arguably the most important part of the program. It is also one of the most stressful and overwhelming times in a therapist trainee’s academic career. Trainees’ clinical internships involve multiple challenges; developing competence with clients is only one challenge that beginning practicum students face. They also must begin to navigate their new practicum environment, develop new working relationships with supervisors and peers, continue expanding knowledge of models and theories, as well as tackle the influence of personal issues and life challenges as they begin to understand that everything in their lives ultimately influences their therapy with clients (Edwards & Patterson, 2012; Folkes-Skinner, Elliott & Wheeler, 2010).
Professional ethical conduct is essential to the success of any client, whether it is in individual counseling or in a group setting. Professional psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers or others in the field of human service or help have the duly responsibility to continuously become aware of their professional responsibilities, and manage their practice based on areas of ability. This paper will research ethics within groups and individual counseling, and compare their similarities and their differences.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
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.