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Adlerian therapy philosophy
Goals of a mental health counselor
Adlerian therapy philosophy
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If you believe that goal-directed therapy is a principle just recently invented or proposed, think again. In fact, one of the pioneering psychoanalysts, Alfred Adler, felt that the therapeutic relationship would be enhanced by goal setting and that therapy was essentially a collaboration between therapists and clients (Dinkmeyer, et al., 1987). More recently than Alfred Adler’s day (Adler lived from 1870 to 1937), is a study that demonstrates the importance of goal setting. In this 1983 study, clients who dropped out of therapy after one session were compared to those who stuck with therapy for a longer period of time (Epperson, Bushway, and Warman, 1983). One component of this research was the recognition that clients who stayed in therapy
In B. L. Duncan, S. D. Miller, B.E. Wampold, & M.A. Hubble (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: Delivering what works in therapy (2nd ed., pp. 143-166). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Adlerian therapy has a distinct influence on different therapies such as, existential therapy, person centered therapy, rational emotive therapy, cognitive therapy, and family systems therapy. This article explains the striking resemblance of Adlerian therapy to Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. There is an emphasis placed on encouragement in the Adlerian therapy that is similar to Solution Focused Brief Therapy. Adlerian therapy is commonly found in a plethora of current therapeutic approaches under a different name. Adler was not given the credit that was due to him in many of these approaches.
Heitler, Susan. Ph.D. “8 Reasons to Cheer for Psychotherapy and to Broaden Its Availability.” Psychology Today. N.p. 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
While CBT has many advantages, it alone does not encompass all of the concepts I believe are necessary to tackle a client’s needs. Therefore, I draw upon concepts from various theories to assist clients in achieving their goals. Pulling from Reality therapy, a key concept I utilize is focusing on what the client is doing and how to get them to evaluate whether they’re present actions are working for them. CBT does use some form of this in the sense that one must examine and establish their cognitive misconceptions; however, I prefer to extract this concept from Reality therapy because CBT tends to do so by focusing on the past. I am a firm believer that while the past can shape who you are, it does little good to remain focused on it. Focusing on overt behavior, precision in specifying the goals of treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy outcomes all come from Behavior therapy (Corey, 2013, p. 474). Behavior therapy is highly structured much like that of CBT. By utilizing this aspect of Behavior therapy, I am better able to closely observe where a client is currently and where they are headed. Lastly, I pull from Person-Centered therapy as the final key concept of my counseling approach. PCT focuses on the fact that client’s have the potential to become aware of their problems and resolve them (Corey, 2013). This Person-Centered therapy concept has overlap with CBT as
The theory that I chose to analyze in this paper is the constructivist approach with a dual use of both the Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) and Narrative Therapy. In my worldview change happens when an individual is motivated to persist and accomplish their goals. In my own personal philosophy, I am optimistic that every student is capable of discovering a solution that best fits in solving their problem and that everything we do in life is interconnected to helping us accomplish our ideal goals. I plan to work with first generation college students after completing the Educational Counseling program at USC and see the Constructivist approach to best accommodate the needs of first generation college student population. I see every
Roth, A., Fonagy, P. (2005). What works for Whom? A Critical Review of Psychotherapy Research. US: Guilford Press.
In regards to the questions and answers, I feel as though my personal approach to counseling is based off of my own priorities I set forth in myself that follow more closely to the aspects of Reality Therapy, and Adlerian Therapy. Though Reality Therapy primarily focuses on the present, it still has some grounding in the past but not as much as Adlerian does. Even knowing this I still feel these two therapies are more closely related to my own belief system. I am in agreement with Reality Therapy, in that we are responsible for the choices we make. I trust that we can exercise great control over our lives, over how we can change to better ourselves, and to better our relationships with those around us. I feel that we all as a society are influenced by basic needs: belonging, survival, freedom, and power, and that these needs can be used as motivational tool when working with clients.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy is a unique approach to therapy that neither focuses on the past nor the future but on what is possible now. SFBT is a post modern approach to therapy that became popular in the 1960's and 70s based on the theory that posits small progress can lead to long term change. This approach was created by...creatorsThe clients and the counselor collaborate to establish realistic goals that can be reached in a relatively short period of time. The counselor works to create an environment where clients can be honest. SFBT believe that analyzing problems is not needed in the process of change. Behavior change is seen as an integral part of change in clients therapeutic process. Both the counselor and the client come together to create goals to incite a change in behavior.
From a psychoanalytic perspective, the goal of counseling is to bring unconscious information to the conscious and strengthen the ego by bringing forth the clients energy to conscious processes (Murdock, 2013). Rasmussen & Salhani (2010) states the following regarding the goal of psychoanalytic theory which further supports Murdock’s statement, “we turn to psychoanalytic theory to understand not only the individual’s conscious, rational thinking, but also the unconscious dynamics and motivation” (Rasmussen & Salhani, 2010).
...velop plans and goals that they can put into action. I further believe warmth and empathy should be used in building relationships between clients. The therapist should create a setting in which clients feel safe and can be vulnerable and spontaneous. As I stated before when discussing goals, it is the role of the therapist to cultivate optimism and hope. According to Gehart (2010), hope should be instilled early on in therapy to foster motivation and a sense of momentum (p. 337). I agree with this statement because more than likely the client is in therapy to make some kind of change, to make an improvement. If hope is instilled early in treatment, clients are able to feel empowered and strengthened by their therapist’s encouraging attitude. Overall, a therapist should be a facilitator, a resource person, an observer and a model for effective communication.
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
It is inevitable that in psychotherapy there are numerous theories. Theories arise out of scholarly investigations of ideas on human behavior. Human behavior is an extraordinarily interesting subject and therefore produces a plethora of ideas from a variety of theorists. These theorists are influenced by their education, culture, and time period. One influential theorist is Carl Rogers. His contributions to human behavior have changed many of the theories that preceded him, and his theory contributed to many theories that followed.
In today's society, individual counseling is becoming more main-stream with increased usage within the school system, family unit and even the military. The role that a counselor can have on any individual varies according to the chosen theory to practice and the approach taken. However, it must be stated that the approach and success of therapy is dependent on the relationship established by the therapist (clinician) with the client. In 2010 Seligman proposed the BETA treatment system, which stands for background, emotions, thoughts, and actions. According to Seligman, all theories are either focused on a person’s background, emotions, thoughts or their actions. For this reason, we will discuss three prominent forms of individual counseling therapy used today. The three types of therapy are Adlerian Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution Focused Brief Therapy. The following paper will seek to introduce the key concepts, therapeutic approach, and application of various techniques, or procedures for each of these practices.
This integrative approach focuses mainly on four approaches: psychoanalytic, Adlerian, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and the postmodern approaches. The main focus is on CBT and how psychoanalytic, Adlerian and the postmodern approaches build on this integrative approach. In this integrative approach, the problem at hand is a client dealing with depression. I chose CBT as the main approach because the cognitive thought pattern is an important key for a client and CBT can branch out to other approaches, without interfering with the key concepts.
I believe therapeutic goals are attainable because therapists allow the client to lead the discussion and do not try to steer the client in a particular direction. I think therapeutic goals are realistic because the therapist accepts the client for who they are and displays support and care no matter what the client is facing or experiencing. Also, if the therapists shares his or her feelings honestly, it can help teach the client to also develop important skills. I believe the person-centered therapy helps to increase self-esteem, more self-understanding, less guilt, and insecurity, and more positive and comfortable relationships with others. I believe the main goal of the person-centered therapy is for the client to realize their capacity for