Phychotherapy Case Study

Our text book, Systems of Psychotherapy, describes psychotherapy as “…the informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpersonal stances derived from established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirable.” (Prochaska & Norcross, 2010, pg. 3). Who would have thought this general description could apply to so many different types of therapy? This textbook gives 15 different examples of psychotherapies, and most of these psychotherapies have two or more different versions. I found this a little overwhelming. While reading each one, I thought to myself, “oh yes, this makes sense, and I can see that working” so all in all I feel much more aware of the complexity of deciding what therapy would work with a particular client because so much information needs to be taken into consideration first. And I also became aware that I will never master them all.
Our other textbook, The Essential Counselor, was extremely helpful in explaining the skills I will need as a therapist. It covered everything from who becomes a counselor to how to be an effective one. (Hutchinson, 2012).
As this book points out, and what I found interesting, the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client, can be even more important than how the therapy sessions are conducted. A therapists needs to be congruent. This is important because a client needs a sense of stability. To know what is expected from him or her while being in this transitional period of change. In some cases this congruency may be the only stability in his life, and without it, there is no way of him trusting in his t...

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...class, as well as most of my other classes, is how EVERYTHING needs to be considered. Who the client is, their background, what they believe, their roles in life, what they want to change, why they sought help, as well as, how much time we have for the change to take place, and the resources available to them are really only a few examples of things needing to be considered.
I am looking forward to learning even more on how to be an effective counselor. I have a long way to go, but even with all my self-doubts, the obstacles that may present themselves, I will make it. I will help others. And I will be good at it.

References
Hutchinson, D. (2012). The essential counselor. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA.Sage Publishing.
Prochaska, J.O., & Norcross, J.C. (2010). Systems of psychotherapy. A transtheoretical analysis. (8th ed.). Stamford, CT. Cengage learning.