Essay On Human Services Theory

It is important for a Human Service worker to be familiar with the current and widely used theories. Theories can help the Human Services worker plan treatment for a client and decide which direction they want to would like to go with a particular client. Some of the theories that will be examined throughout this paper include Behavior Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and Family Systems Therapy. An analysis of the theories used within the Human Services field, helps individuals that are new to the field, like myself, pick the theory that suites them best.

After reading the assigned chapter on developing your integrative counseling orientation, I have determined that my personal counseling style is founded in behavior therapy.

With behavior therapy, “early and effective intervention is essential in order to impact behavior change.” A study on the problem behavior interventions for young children with autism showed that the using of behavioral interventions early can produce reductions of problem behaviors by about eighty to ninety percent (Brosnan, 2011). A key term when talking about behavior therapy is learned behavior. Learned behaviors are the actions or reactions that humans or animals pick up from other humans or animals by means of observation.
According to “The Human Services Counseling Toolbox,” page one-hundred and fifty-four, behavior therapy tends to be more directive. After working at Wabash Center for the past few months, I agree with the textbook in that behavior therapy is more directive when working with individuals with developmental disabilities. I tend to be more directive in my personal counseling style when I see that it either suites the client or when I need to be more directive to get something completed. Three reasons why my personal counseling style is more directive include: being more directive to help meet the needs of the consumers I serve, being more directive because it helps get a point across, and being more directive to attempt to get others to listen to what I have to say (Howatt, 2000).
Human nature is defined by the Free Dictionary as, “The unique elements that form a basic part of human life and distinguish it from other animal life” (human nature, n.d.). Belief systems include stories we tell ourselves to express our personal sense of reality. Every human being has a belief system that they utilize, and it is through this mechanism that we individually, “make sense” of the world around us. Humans often use all of these belief systems to varying degrees to cope with events in our lives. Overall, we need the world to make sense of the world around us (Usó-Doménech, n.d.).
As mentioned earlier, everyone has a belief system that they use. I had not thought about what my personal belief system is until I had been in the Human Services program at Ivy Tech for a couple semesters. My belief system is fairly basic. My belief system concerning human nature lies partially in Person-Centered Therapy. Some core ideas of Person-Centered Therapy that I would include in my personal belief system include: optimism, which is the idea that people know what they need and how to get it; Each human is thought to possess an innate ability for a self-directed process of growth and fulfillment; The counselor, by accepting the world as the client perceives and values it, reduces the resistance of the client and encourages personal growth, giving the client an opportunity to develop a positive sense of self-worth, personal direction, and a capacity to take personal risks. Another part of my belief system is that life should be taken one step at a time. I also believe in being honest, trustworthy, helpful, and courteous, which are many of the adjectives that describe a Boy Scout that are throughout the Scout Law (Howatt, 2000).
As the semester comes to an end, I have discovered three theories in which I either already use, or that I would like to learn more about because they seem to “make sense” and that they adhere closely to my belief system and style of directiveness in helping. The first approach, as mentioned previously, that adheres closely to my personal belief system is Person-Centered Therapy. The main ideas as listed in “The Human Services Counselor Toolbox” textbook include: the counselor acting as a genuine, caring person and the counselor respects the needs and abilities of the client. The counselor attempts to create an atmosphere for the client based on the following: basic optimism, or the belief that individuals know what they need and how best to obtain it. With this, Carl Rogers felt that, to support a person’s inner resources, the counselor needs to get a true understanding of the client’s subjective experiences; actualizing tendency of persons, which is trust in a constructive, directional flow toward the realization of each individual’s potential. In other words, everyone is thought to have the innate ability for a self-directed process of growth and fulfillment. Within Person-Centered Therapy, warm regard, congruence, and empathy are defined as the necessary core conditions to facilitate client growth and change. The counselor, by accepting the world as the client perceives and values it, reduces the resistance of the client and encourages personal growth, giving the client an opportunity to develop a positive sense of self-worth, personal direction, and a capacity to take personal risks. The main principle behind Reger’s humanistic philosophy as a personal self-concept based on the idea of locus of evaluation and experience. During the Person-Centered process, there is a shift from an external to an internal locus of evaluation as the client becomes more self-accepting and regains control of life (Howatt, 2000).
At the beginning of chapter sixteen in the text, Aaron Beck describes Cognitive Therapy as, “an active, directive, time-limited, structured approach… based on an underlying theoretical rationale that an individul’s affect and behavior are largely determined by the way in which he structures the work in his mind.

Another description of cognitive therapy is that it is a short-term, cost-efficient form of psychotherapy. The theoretical support from which cognitive therapy come include three core sources. The first being the intentional approach to psychotherapy. The second being structural and depth psychology. The last approach is cognitive psychology (Howatt,

2000).
The main ideas of cognitive therapy are described by the three detailed concepts of depression that follow. The “cognitive triad” represents the cognitive patterns of client’s outlook on life including how they view themselves, the future, and their world experiences. When appropriate and stable schema, or a pattern of thinking, a cognitive structure, consisting of the individual’s fundamental beliefs and assumptions, are upset by the intrusion of overly active schema unique to the individual, it can lead to a loss of voluntary control of thoughts and loss of ability to choose more appropriate schema. Beck explains that clients’ less effective thinking supports their belief that they are only capable of having negative things happen in their lives. Cognitive therapy is based on the concept that the way we process information is important for human survival (Howatt, 2000).
Wilson (1989) described behavioral therapy by the fact that it shares many commonalities with other psychological therapies, particularly those that tend to be briefer and more direct. According to Goldfried and Davidson, the common ground of all behaviors is the belief that behavior follows specific laws much as nature in general does. Certain assumptions and beliefs characterize all behavioral approaches. A list of these perspectives made by Wilson (1989) follows. The first perspective poses the idea that many abnormal behaviors, rather than being illnesses or symptoms of illness, are better thought of as “problems of living.” Second, is that most abnormal behavior is acquired and maintained in the same way as normal behavior, through learning. Perspective three says that assessment of behavior deals with present causes rather than origins in the past. Fourth, analysis of the problem involves dividing it into component parts, so that treatment procedures can be targeted at specific components. The fifth perspective says that treatment strategies are tailored to different problems in different individuals. Perspective six poses the idea that successful treatment of a psychological problem does not require an understanding of its origin. The last perspective says that behavior therapy involves a commitment to the testable, scientific approach (Howatt, 2000).
A therapy that I would like to learn more about is Family Systems Therapy. Virginia Satir (1988) said, “We can make the family a real place for developing real people.” Family systems theory contains a couple of different models. In this section of the paper, I will write about two models of Family Systems Therapy: Structural Family Therapy and Feminist Family System Therapy. Before I go into more detail about these two sub-theories, I would like to take time to talk about general Family Systems Therapy. Family Systems Therapy asserts that in order to understand an individual, the person must be seen in relation to family interactions. Many times, the client’s presenting problems, either biological, psychological, or social, are symptoms of a family structure that is not functioning at its full potential. A client’s behavior may: serve as a function or purpose in the family; be a function of the family’s inability to operate productively, especially during developmental transitions; and be a symptom of dysfunctional patterns handed down across generations (Howatt, 2000).
Structural Family Therapy is based on the idea that symptoms of dysfunction are produces from structural failings within the family organization.

There are invisible sets of rules or functional demands organizing the way members of a family relate to one another. The goal of structural family therapy is to “bring about change (and)… reorganize the system by getting members to move from one place to another, from one role to another.” Therefore, the goals of structural family therapy are to reduce symptoms of dysfunction and to bring about structural change within the system by modifying the family’s transactional rules, and developing more appropriate boundaries. The role of the structural family therapy counselor involves three interactive functions: joining the family in a position of leadership; mapping its underlying structure; and intervening in ways designed to transform an ineffective structure (Howatt,

2000).
Gilligan (1982) asserts that, with feminist theory, the primary objective for psychotherapy in the family unit is to challenge the pathological ideals of the subservience of women within families and society. Feminist theories allow families the opportunity to address issues of power within the family and in its surrounding systems. Gender- based roles and rules are challenged while systemic problems such as family violence, and cultural discrimination against gay men and lesbians are targeted for change (Howatt, 2000).
Next, I will write about common techniques used in the above-mentioned theories. Core concepts used with Person-Centered Therapy include: empathy, or profound interest in the client’s world of meanings and feelings as the client is willing to share this world; congruence, or the counselor’s consistency in thought and behavior; and warm regard, or unconditional positive regard, defined as nonjudgmental caring, in which the counselor’s positive regard for the client does not change no matter what choices the client makes or what the client does or says. The following techniques are suggested for use throughout the Person-Centered Therapy counseling process. Setting the counseling environment allows the counselor and client to get to know one another. Confirmation of confidentiality is essential. It is important that your clients understand your policy on confidentiality, so you may need to take some time and explain something. Consent can include discussion about length of session, fees, and counselor qualifications. Active listening refers to the counselor’s ability to interpret the underlying meaning of what the client is saying. Good listening involves interaction and requires participation on the part of the counselor. Reflection is one of the fundamental counseling skills needed by a professional. Clarifying helps avoid ambiguity and vagueness (Howatt, 2000).
The textbook categorizes the techniques of cognitive therapy into four headings. These categories include reducing anxiety, drawing out beliefs and assumption, testing them, and modifying them to demonstrate the cognitive shift.
Aaron Beck believes it is important to reduce any immediate anxiety that a client carries into therapy, so that positive collaborative and cooperation can be established for dealing with the main concern. The tools that follow are used to promote a calm state in the client: warmth, empathy, and genuineness help to create an atmosphere that is conducive to establish trust. Decatastrophize uses “what if…” questions to help clients see that the problem may have grown in their mind, that it may not be the catastrophe it is thought to be. Reattribute suggests that the problem has causes other than the one the client may be wrongly focusing on. Redefining the problem puts the problem in words that show the client what can be done about it. Decentering is any technique used to persuade anxious clients that they are not the focus of everyone’s attention. Diversion is any form of distraction that will break an emotion or thought pattern for a sad or anxious client. Reframing is when clients reveal an either/or, black/white view of an event, have them place it in a different light. Build a continuum that generates middle-ground options for a person who has either/or, black/white thinking (Howatt, 2000).
Useful techniques common to Family Systems Therapy include: family sculpting, or the positioning of family members in relation to the whole. Family reconstruction takes clients through different stages of their lives with three goals in mind: to enable family members to identify the roots of old learning; to help them formulate a more realistic picture of their parents; and to assist them in discovering their own unique personality. Parts parties is where each person is seen as a system of parts, both positive and negative (Howatt, 2000).
Main techniques used in Structural Family Therapy include: family mapping is used to depict a family’s life cycle and including interpersonal relationships within the family. Enactments are most effective if transactions between family members are kept in the present. Reframing is used to shed new light on an old problem, thus providing a different interpretation of a particular situation (Howatt, 2000).
Feminist Family Systems Therapy has many techniques including: counseling being conducted with a conscious purpose, a positive attitude toward women, an orientation that values that which is considered feminine or nurturing in society and social interactions, a willingness to confront patriarchal processes and re-involve fathers in family life, and empowering women while supporting egalitarian families. The following are six ways in which gender issues might be introduced into the family: Define the problem in such a way as to include the dimensions of power and gender; introduce and discuss in therapy gender issues such as money, power, equity, flexibility, options, housekeeping, and childcare; make connections for the family between gender issues in the family and those in the wider social system; challenge stereotypic behaviors, attitudes, and expectations; discuss the differing impact of divorce on women and men; and raise gender issues in relation to the family origin (Howatt, 2000).
After writing this paper, I have determined that Behavior Therapy is most suited toward my personal counseling style. I think that it fits the type of job that I would like to go into after I graduate and the internship that I am currently in. There are a couple of theories that I would like to learn more about, however I am confident that the theories that I have learned and know a lot about will help me be successful in my career.