Importance of Counseling Theories

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Recommended: Theories of counseling and their contributions

Without theory, a counselor would be flying by the seat of their pants. “Nearly all theories of counseling currently recognize the powerful impact of the therapeutic alliance and offer clinicians ways to collaborate effectively with their clients.” ("Counseling Theories", 2010) A counselor needs to have a foundation for counseling. Studying counseling theories will help a new counselor become familiar with the different types of theories as well as how to discover a theory that works well with a counselors own personal values and beliefs. Understanding the different types of theories can help a counselor correlate it into what fits the different types of clients as well as the different types of issues at hand.

“By accepting that each theory has strengths and weaknesses and is, by definition, different from the others, practitioners have some basis to begin developing a counseling model that fits them.” (Corey, 2010) In order for this to happen, a new counselor needs to study in depth the different types of theories. Because there are so many diverse types of theories it is best for a counselor to familiarize themselves with each theory and its techniques, to decide which one fits them best, or a mixture of several theories. A counselor must also realize that just because there are many theories to utilize does not mean one is always useable.

What makes a counselor who they are is their own personal values and beliefs. It is important to apply a theory of counseling that reflects the counselor as a person. Therefore, when studying the different types of theories a counselor must be able to apply them to these beliefs. “It is probably useful to study all the contemporary theories to determine which concepts and techniques yo...

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...tude. A counselors values is a part of them and to be able to identify this allows the counselor to see their values are incorporated into their counseling. The client is the most important part of the equation so incorporating their beliefs and values into the counseling process is of utmost importance. A client is very vulnerable when seeking counseling. It is the counselor’s job to make the client feel at ease and show the client they are here to help not harm. The client needs to know the counselor is sincere and can be trusted with their most confidential secrets. Learning the different approaches a counselor has when it comes to theories is a vast majority. Nonetheless keeping an open mind and studying the different counseling theories from now and through out their career will help a counselor to become the best that they can be in their field of study.

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