Comparison between Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Coursework Example

Comparison between Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Introduction This report begins with short definition of Psychotherapy, as defined in Wikipedia free encyclopaedia. "Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. This usually includes increasing individual sense of well-being and reducing subjective discomforting experience." (Wikipedia: "Psychotherapy" 1) Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy are systems of psychotherapy. These two main topics will be discussed thoroughly in the succeeding pages and compared on the aspects of their techniques, classification and other similar approaches, their focused clients and the requirements of a therapist. Person Centred Therapy Described "Person Centred Therapy (PCT), also known as Client-Centred Therapy is used to help a person achieve personal growth and or come to terms with a specific event or problem." The therapist encourages the patient to express feelings and does not suggest how the person might wish to change, but by listening and then mirroring back what the patient reveals, helps the person explore and understand his/her feelings. Using this technique requires the therapist or counsellor to have unconditional positive regard, genuineness and empathic understanding. (Wikipedia "Psychotherapy" 3) Carl Rogers in the 1950's was the proponent of this system and he became very controversial because he used the term "counselling" to connote a softer and more positive and humanistic approach to psychotherapy. The technique used in PCT is non-directive, where the therapists use effective listening skills in facilitating the face-to-face communication. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Described "Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy based on modifying everyday thoughts and behaviours, with the aim of positively influencing emotions." (Wikipedia: "Cognitive" 1) According to Wikipedia, CBT is based on the thoughts, the emotions and the behaviour, which are, how we think, how we feel and therefore how we act as a result of the interactions of how we think and feel. In other words, how we think influence how we feel and behave on a certain situation. The problem is created because of some irrational or unrealistic thinking that gives rise to a negative a feeling and leads to a problematic behaviour. An example of which, is a child who thinks his mother does not love him because he is "dumb" therefore keeps getting his mother's attention by being excessively naughty. CBT is applied to situations like this, sometimes ranging from ordinary problems to abnormal psychological conditions and are treated through series of face-to-face sessions with a trained psychotherapist. Other Similar Approaches Person-Centred Therapy, considered "a founding work in the humanistic schools of psychotherapies" (Wikipedia "Client-Centred" 1), is a positive approach to psychotherapy that uses the concept "here and now" and self awareness. Carl Rogers patterned his works from the existentialism theories of Abraham Maslow and the hierarchy of human needs. Other approaches that were developed from this concept but branched out to more specific systems were the Feminist therapy, Somatic Psychology, Expressive therapy, Brief therapy, Systems therapy, all of which use the modern approach of valuing the client's will to heal himself. (Wikipedia "Psychotherapy" 3) The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy does not stand on its own. In other words, it is a general term for a classification of techniques, an "umbrella term for many different therapies that share common elements" (Wikipedia "Cognitive" 2). Albert Ellis in the 1950's was the first to develop the combination of cognitive and behavioural approaches, the Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) and Aaron T. Beck developed the Cognitive Therapy. Richard Heimberg based his Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy (CBGT) on CBT applying group therapy which made patients feel better when they knew that they were not alone in their sufferings. Other similar approaches included Rational Behaviour Therapy, Rational Living Therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy. CBT was also used in treating psychological disorders and used in combination with medications. Both the Patient-Centred Therapy and the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy were influenced by the psychodynamic concept of Sigmund Freud's fundamental ideas from his school of psychoanalysis. "Psychodynamic, which means anything that involve the psyche's conscious and unconscious influence on external relationships and the self." (Wikipedia "Psychotherapy" 2). But CBT and PCT were more modern in the sense, the therapies did not drag a long time as compared to the older systems which took about hundreds of sessions and over several years duration. The Clients Because of its non-directive approach and Carl Roger's prescription that the client determines the general direction of the therapy, the client base of Person-Centred Therapy had no specific limitations. They range from normal every day problems to problems on depression and anxiety, alcoholism and personality disorders. The clients of PCT may have the same problems as those of CBT, but the application of the technique would have the difference. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy was mostly applied to people with problems on anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, low self-esteem, adjustment difficulties, sleep disturbance, trauma or post-traumatic stress and other related problems. Extent of problems may range from normal everyday problems to severe anxiety and depression, which, on certain conditions may require medication and prescriptions from qualified medical practitioners. Also, for CBT clients, there had to be a willingness to overcome the current problem first for the therapy to be effective. "I believe this type of counselling is most effective with individuals who are bright, rational and desire to have passion and enjoyment in their life this counselling does not work with individuals who want to stay in a victim role or spend their time blaming others for what is not going right in their life." (E. Horwin, 2) The Requirements of a Therapist Psychotherapists are usually trained and licensed. There are different licenses and skills training required for different types of therapy. It is worthy to discuss at this section, the distinction and focus of the different psychotherapists. Psychiatrists who are medical practitioners and have license to perform medical activities such as prescribe medications, focus on the medical aspects of the mental health of the client but are required some training in the psychotherapy technique that will be used. Psychologists have ample training in research and psychological assessment including psychotherapy. Social workers focus more on the clients' relations with the community and have to have special training in psychotherapy. Licensed professional counsellors (LPCs) have special training in career, mental health school or rehabilitation counselling (Wikipedia "Psychotherapy" 4). These specialists are able to perform either CBT, PCT or other psychotherapy techniques but have to acquire special licenses to perform such. There are monitoring organizations both private and the government that assure strict adherence to these policies. What is distinct with Person-Centred Counselling is its non-directive approach that breaks the tradition of the therapist telling the patient what to do. The attitude of the therapist, the counsellor, is the most critical factor in the success of the therapy. The counsellor has to be well trained but more importantly, demonstrate a non-threatening attitude, as what Rogers prescribed. These are congruence, positive regard and empathy, the three main requirements of a PCT practitioner. The counsellor will have to earn the trust of the client to be able to draw from the client his experiences, doubts, fears and those that he keeps hidden in himself. On the other hand, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy uses a structured and directive approach. Since the approach has a goal of unlearning what was previously learned, there is the aspect of teaching which Patient-Centred Therapy avoids. CBT still requires the trustworthy attitude of the therapist but focus on the therapist's skills in teaching techniques and facilitating homework. CBT therapies assume the willingness of the client to participate actively be re-educated and practice the techniques learned. Summary Psychotherapy, therapy and counselling have been used interchangeably in this report. It is noted that it was Carl Rogers who introduced the word counselling and used it in Person-Centred Therapy, which also used the word "client" instead of "patient" giving the approach, a softer and more humanistic context. Rogers also influenced other approaches which included the Cognitive Behavioural techniques so that the terms "counselling" and "client" were also interchangeably used in these approaches. Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy have common approaches because they both detoured from the traditional psychodynamic approaches which were somehow outdated like the style where patients were made to sit in couches for sessions that took years and treated as "bad" as Freud puts in his theory of psychoanalysis. Because of the more positive approaches to psychotherapy, they are considered more modern and more humanistic. Clients range from all types, young or old, male or female, persons with normal everyday problems to those with severe depression, anxiety and trauma. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Person-Centred Therapy may be applied to these cases. The psychotherapist who diagnoses the problem should determine the best fitting and most effective technique to approach the problem. The readiness and willingness of the client to go through the tasks involved in the therapy should also be considered. Aside from the required education and license of counselling practitioners, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Person-Centred Therapy both require specialized training and proper attitude specific to this approach. CBT is focused more on the teaching skills of the therapist; the ability to make the client unlearn an irrational belief which would translate into a better feeling and better behaviour. On the other hand, PCT is focused on the attitude of the counsellor, the three attitudinal requirements, empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard for the client, which will pave the way to a trusting relationship, making the therapy effective more often than not. In the course of this research, this writer came across a number of organizations sponsoring links in the net to provide new updates on the development of CBT and PCT approaches, two of the popular psychotherapy techniques. A lot of efforts are put into psychotherapy because it is proven that the techniques and approaches are effective. Self actualization, self realization, self-awareness and self learning: these are the techniques applied by both Person-Centred and Cognitive Behavioural therapies, evidence of the truth to the saying "nobody else can solve your problem but yourself". Works Cited "Cognitive Behavior Therapy", National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, NACBT Online Headquarters 1996-2007. Retrieved from April 2007. "Cognitive behavioral therapy", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (1-8) Retrieved from Horwin, Elizabeth. "A Perspective on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy", Therapists' Perspectives, (1-3) 2007. Retrieved from Moser, Rosemarie S. "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy." RSM Psychology Center, LLC 2006 Retrieved from: "Person-centered therapy." (1-5) Retrieved from "Person-centered psychotherapy", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (1-3) Retrieved from "Psychotherapy".Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (1-11) Retrieved from Richmond, Raymond Lloyd. "Types of Psychological Treatment." A Guide to Psychology and its Practice, (1-12) San Francisco, California USA. 1997-2007. Retrieved from Read More