Three Different Approaches to Psychotherapy - Essay Example

Reflection on Psychotherapy Perspectives Today, therapeutic counselling presents quite a broad area that allows for the choice of approaches that would suit both a therapist and a client and lead to the best outcomes possible. Therefore, this is essential for a professional to be able to make sense of the variety of the existing theories and know their practical application. In the following journal I reflect upon the three approaches to therapy: psychoanalytic, Adlerian, and person-centered which I found the most educational, interesting and such that enable to view personality from different angles: the past, the future, and present. My interest in the psychoanalytic therapy stems from the fact that today it encompasses a variety of schools with each suggesting a different approach to the therapy, but all sharing a common ground that was formulated by Freud. Therefore, making an insight into the psychoanalytic theory is of the great use. Since this was not my first acquaintance with Freud’s ideas concerning human personality and development, I had a certain vision of what to expect from a theory that grew out of the thoughts of a famous scientist. Therefore, the pre-chapter self-inventory coincides with my final thoughts at almost all points. However, the noticeable difference is that I became more confident about the aspects of the psychoanalytic therapy and, of course, considerably deepened the realization of its features and ultimate tasks. A crucial aspect is the stress on the unconscious that cannot be studied directly but only analyzed through the behavior, actions, and desires of a person, often hidden, that are the results of the unconscious. (Corey, 2013) The theory is of the great importance as far as it laid the ground for the developmental psychology, providing a paradigm for studying the variety of forces that contribute to the formation of a personality. It aims at making an insight into developmental problems that could resulted in the appearance of different issues that prevent one from a healthy functioning. An important point in this regard, which I managed to learn, is the great value of transference for the success of a therapy. This is what helps a practitioner to really make an insight into the feelings experienced by a client at an early stage of development that still have a significant influence on patient’s life, his/her opinions, and current feelings. By the repetition of the past into the presence the old problems are detected and their resolution becomes the goal of the therapy. (Corey, 2013) An important detail, which I believe should be stressed, is that the signs of those early conflicts are not likely to be erased, but a patient should fully realize them, know how take them under control and make sure that their influences would not pose a threat for the present relationships and well-being. My thorough acquaintance with the psychoanalytic therapy helped to conclude that a great role in the successful work of a therapist plays interpretation, the ability to read between the lines and make sense of dreams, present and past events, and other unconscious material that is explored in the process. (Corey, 2013) Clearly, the following is not an easy task to be accomplished since it demands not only thorough planning, knowledge, and devotion from a therapist, but a set of personal skills, such as critical thinking, and imagination. Moreover, flexibility is also of the great importance as far as every person is unique and supporting interventions that work for one can appear of little use for another one. Subsequently, I managed to make a conclusion: in order to be able to connect the learned theory to the current case and particular person, one should be fully aware of the structure of the personality as well as the dynamics with which it has been developing. Without diminishing the value of the psychoanalytic theory, I would also like to point on the Adlerian approach to therapy, which I found particularly engaging and educational. In contrast to the Freud’s view, it puts a significant emphasis on conscious motivations and regards a person a central figure that influences the development of personality and the goals to which one strives. A strong side of the Adlerian therapy is that it offers a logical explanation of the forces that encourage one to act in a certain way, which can be traced and explained. (Corey, 2013) As for me, prior to studying the basics of the Adlerian therapy I was curious of the qualities that could explain why one person becomes a constant doer, who often changes places, strives for the best and is seemingly never satisfied with what he/she has at the moment while another can be satisfied with little. Adlerian theory partially satisfied my interest by holding that inferiority feeling is a powerful source of motivation that is born to overcome this feeling. As a whole, I am not aimed at arguing that heredity and genes play their roles in conditioning one’s behavior and personality, but, rather more inclined to believe that a person is a creator of self. In this context, Adlerian approach suggested a framework through which this fact can be explained. It, in fact, empowers individuals by making them active creators of future in which their views of self and environment determine desires and, thus, help to formulate goals that are to be achieved in life. Subsequently, subjectivity of experiences is what has to be studies as a key to understanding one’s behavior, attitudes, and one’s facets of personality. (Corey, 2013) Indeed, viewing goals as determinants of behavior, to my mind, can bring benefits for counseling since they are more on a surface than the unconscious inclinations, for example. The material of the given week taught me that the aim of the therapy can be to facilitate a change in a person that would help one to overcome the obstacles to a more satisfactory, full and happy life. This implies that a counselor should firstly make an assessment of a patient, focusing on current aspects of thinking, assumptions, attitudes, expectations, that can be responsible for a failure and difficulties one faces. (Corey, 2013) I agree that such pattern of gathering information is likely to bring fast changes for the best since the therapist would focus on a particular problem and alter patient’s perception to address it. Thus, a therapy becomes more concrete: problems are detected and eradicated. The third topic which I have a desire to discuss is the person-centered therapy that puts a client central in the process of self-change and growth. Its approach is creating a climate that would facilitate self-actualization, which is living up to personal needs and desires, up to personal views on the life and feeling comfortable about it. (Corey, 2013) The way I understand it is that the aim of the therapy is to make a person positive about different aspects of his/her personality and remain comfortable with self. Learning about the person-centered therapy I became fully absorbed in it because it offers a good alternative to the conventional methods, such as Psychoanalytic and Adlerian theories. It’s the most powerful assumption is that a person can live a full and satisfied life when follows the genuine self without any impositions of the society, fears, and wrong expectations. (Corey, 2013) This is why giving too much power to a therapist would be a wrong idea since his/her pieces of advice, interpretations, and teachings can again distract patients from their own (right for them) approach to life, living up to which is a marker of a successful individual. Such kind of therapy is attractive for me since it presupposes releasing people from the conventions of society that dictates people certain ideology and, then, makes them feel inferior when they do not correspond to what is being expected from them or when they realize that the strive for correspondence did not make them happy at all. Apart from that, I find it advantageous that the person-centered therapy develops positivism in people. In my opinion, it focuses on the formation of the core qualities that distinguish a successful and satisfied person from the one who does not apply efforts to open personal potential. As it is explained in the book, these are: openness to experience, trust in self, self-evaluation and desire to further grow. Often these are the lacking pieces of a puzzle that makes up a healthy individual. In general, an important lesson which this theory helped me to learn is that people can know themselves what they are lacking, what they want, and what makes them miserable. In such context, a therapist’s own ideas can be of little value as far as he/she is not capable of looking deep at someone’s inclinations, talents, and wishes that are hidden from direct observations. Therefore, creating an environment supportive for their unveiling by a patient is a key. Reflecting upon the learned material, its benefits and implications, appeared to be beneficial since I managed to structure the information and delimit its core points – essentials that differentiate theories and therapies from one another. The following convinced me that therapy has not a rigid structure that would similarly work for everyone. Instead, this is flexible process that can have multiple goals and multiple means of their achievement. The three theories that were discussed help to reveal different problems and aspects of personality that can be addressed while counselling, thereof, a combination of them can bring more profound change for the best. References Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (9 ed.). Belmont: Cengage Learning. Read More