Psychodynamic Counseling and Behavioral Counseling - Case Study Example

Full and section number of Psychodynamic Counseling and Cognitive/Behavioral Counseling Psychodynamic counseling is based upon the concept that past experiences and events do have a bearing on present feelings and experiences. Moreover, former relationships and fellowships (even from the early childhood) could be repeated with other people who are encountered in the later part of life (Bond, 2000, pp. 15-165). Psychodynamic counseling translates the concepts and principles of psychoanalytic psychotherapy (psychoanalysis). In this type of counseling, the counselor would take the role of a neutral figure (as far as possible) providing less information about himself, preparing a high possibility that the haunting past and present relationship do reflect in the fellowship between the client and the counselor (Howard, 2005, pp. 12-60). This relationship would shadow all the other important relationships and would be a crucial source of insight for both client and the counselor. As a result of this, the client will be able to ‘work through’ his or her problems and difficulties (Whitmore, 2004, pp. 10-111). In this type of counseling it is quite necessary that the client develop a reliable, strong and trusting fellowship with the counselor. Cognitive-behavioral counseling on the other hand is based upon the belief of the people about themselves and the way they interpret their own beliefs and experiences (Wheeler, 2006, pp. 99-145). The main goal in this type of counseling is to break off all the irrational, non-positive and irrational concepts and beliefs and to abolish all sorts of negative thinking (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). Clients would be able to recognize their true state, the cause of their emotional upsets and their real problems. They would be able to monitor their self-defeating thoughts, the true reason that triggers them, their way of behavior and the source of their feelings (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). They would also start comprehending evidence and truths regarding their beliefs and thoughts and also learn to better and positive way which is realistic and encouraging. Clients get a chance to rethink their old ways and followings in cognitive-behavioral counseling. The clients will be given home works and other small assignments to do between the sessions, by the counselor. This may include monitoring and recording their feelings, intuitions and thoughts and working out some simple tests that would give a few opinion or assumptions about themselves (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). Psychological therapies can be put into three main categories: Behavioral Humanistic Psychoanalytic (Colledge, 2002, pp. 15-133) Behavioral therapies involve conscious processes and are based on behaviors and cognitions. Humanistic therapies try to rejuvenate patients by real self actualization (Wheeler, 2006, pp. 99-145). Psychoanalytic therapies include unconscious methods and exercises at the heart of the work (Jacobs, 1998, pp. 17-77). Processes of psychodynamic counseling are taken from psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic policies analyze human growth and development and the types and nature of psychological problems. In psychoanalytic therapy counselors (they are different from analysts) work with short term as well as long term clients and they involve in broad range of settings and situations. This type of counseling makes use of the therapeutic relationship to get information about the unconscious relationship patterns that have developed in the client since his childhood (Bond, 2000, pp. 15-165). Memories, thoughts and other details about previous fellowships are analyzed to draw a picture about the current concerns. The clients would start relieving from the haunt of memories when they start comprehending the power of the unconscious and various aspects like rules of life, influencing behaviors, and instincts (Whitmore, 2004, pp. 10-111). As a result they would be able to control their behaviors, actions and responses. The therapeutic relationship in this type of counseling would be on the basis of acceptance, understanding, cognition and empathy giving emphasis to the building of a proper working alliance which would develop trust. The counselor would assess all the aspects of the behavior of the client (whatever happening in his real world); his original nature, sexual orientation, disability, cultural difference, social context and everything. The skills of the counselor would be very useful in the social and working environment and this overview of the human characters and behaviors would upgrade the life of the counselor (Bond, 2000, pp. 15-165). This understanding and fellowship would bring mutual benefit to both client and the counselor. “Psychodynamic counseling is rooted in psychoanalytic tradition. It relates to a rich wealth of material that helps us to understand the functioning of the human psyche, the stages of human development, and provides us with the potential for insight and understanding when things go wrong or when expectations are not fulfilled” (Wheeler, 2006, pp. 99-145). Psychodynamic counseling is associated with the way the person mislead himself as to his aims, beliefs and desires and the way these deceptions generate clashes between his conveyed goals and his actions (Bond, 2000, pp. 15-165). ‘Psychodynamic’ refers to the laws of mental action and explains that there are some rules that are the base for the coordination between the mind and action and all these rules can be interpreted according to the therapeutic intervention (Whitmore, 2004, pp. 10-111). Previously, the ideas of psychodynamic counseling were taken from the concepts of Sigmund Freud’s (psychoanalyst, neurologist and doctor) psychodynamic school. However, the present psychodynamic counseling has derived its points from different types of theoretical concepts. One of the most basic tenets is that people are not really aware of their original motives. If they are aware of this ‘original intentions’ they would be able to make better and more fruitful choices (Whitmore, 2004, pp. 10-111). But people are often found to be a failure in recognizing their true internal hidden motives. These motives are ‘unconscious motives’ according to psychodynamic theorists, and are unchangeable. Everybody has a tendency to repeat their old practices and behaviors. It is because of the memories of the earlier experiences, in which the person’s behavior helped him to repress or ignore the past difficult feelings. Psychodynamic counseling would find answers for how this incapability came up in the patient, how this problem affected his life, and why he finds it difficult to change (Whitmore, 2004, pp. 10-111). Psychodynamic counseling is based on interpersonal patterns, insensible thoughts, beliefs and feelings. Psychodynamic counseling includes various interpersonal approaches to psychotherapy that would analyze relational patterns to renew the person’s actions, thoughts, and feelings (Jeff Brooks-Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry, 2006, pp. 88-117). These approaches may include Relationships themes Honoring resistance Childhood experiences Interpersonal interpretations Working through past Therapeutic relationship Attachment styles Subjective responses Modifying interactions Resolving conflicts Interpreting dreams New relationships Interpersonal losses/disputes Termination (Jeff Brooks-Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry, 2006, pp. 88-117). Cognitive behavioral counseling is typical therapy (an active mode pf psychotherapy) in which the patient and practitioner (therapist) interact (talk), act, and try together to attain the agreed and expected therapeutic goals (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). In this type of counseling, the clients would work actively throughout the sessions and would actively complete all the guided assignments that are the part of the therapy. These assignments, sessions and work outs include behavioral exercises, reading exercise and several other simple assignments (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy would highlight the perceptions, thoughts, beliefs and interpretations which would decide the moods, interests, perceptions and feelings of the client. Cognitive behavioral counseling would thus help the client to understand, recognize, and revise his belief systems and also would help him get rid of his self-defeating and negative behaviors, making his life more happy and successful. The cognitive behavioral counseling formulated by Horwin (2006) include Assisting a client in recognizing, analyzing and managing their beliefs; Allowing the client to rely on his or her memory, and validate that memory; Placing a large emphasis on the client’s belief in who they are and what their purpose and place is in this world; Keeping the focus on increasing “satisfaction with life” rather than on decreasing negative emotions; Teach, Educate, Teach-giving them the opportunity to re-examine what they have been told (e.g., “you aren’t going to amount to much”) to what in reality is true about themselves; Identifying and practicing skills (e.g., including goal-setting and problem-solving); Continuing to do this work on a long term basis after the counseling process is over (Horwin, 2006).  Professional psychologists and counselors use cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce the emotional distress of the client by finding and treating the ‘hidden’ worries and the underlying psychological problems. Cognitive behavioral counseling is proved as very effective for treating today’s common problems like depression, stress, anxiety disorders, anger, extreme worry and coping with loss (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). The therapy can be conducted in a one-to-one basis including few people like family members or friends according to the nature of the issue and the way the person feels most comfortable (National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, 2006, pp. 2-6). Behavioral and cognitive therapies are based upon the concept of ‘here and now’, the present situation, the present feeling. But the therapy does not ignore the person’s past experiences completely even though the client and the counselor together attempt to deal with the present problems (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). The counselor and the client would develop a positive encouraging fellowship for growing a shared outlook of the problems and issues that are required to be solved. This special relationship between the person and counselor can set goals and can try for attaining these goals. Clients are often given home projects and assignments to make the new skills into practice (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). This type of counseling would consider the feelings, worries, unusual, behavior, thoughts and feelings directly and would solve it by finding out the factors that bring this recurrent thoughts. The approach considers all the past happening, but gives emphasis to the present events that influence the person’s behavior (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the important role of thinking in how we feel and what we do.  Cognitive-behavioral therapist teaches that when our brains are healthy, it is our thinking that causes us to feel and act the way we do (National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, 2006, pp. 2-6). Cognitive-behavioral therapies have the following characteristics: 1) CBT is based on the Cognitive Model of Emotional Response. 2) CBT is briefer and Time-Limited. 3) A sound therapeutic relationship is necessary for effective therapy, but not the focus. 4) CBT is a collaborative effort between the therapist and the client. 5) CBT is based on stoic philosophy (National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, 2006, pp. 2-6). 6) CBT uses the Socratic Method. 7) CBT is structured and directive. 8) CBT is based on an educational model. 9) CBT theory and techniques rely on the Inductive Method. 10) Homework is a central feature of CBT (National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, 2006, pp. 2-6). The approaches of cognitive behavioral therapy explained by Jeff Brooks-Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry, 2006 include Impact of Thoughts Modifying Beliefs Self Talk Reinforcing Adaptive Cognitions Irrational Thoughts Realistic Constraints Core Beliefs Brainstorming Solutions Evaluating Evidence Psychoeducation Testing Hypotheses Bibliotherapy (Jeff Brooks-Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry, 2006, pp. 88-117) They have mentioned fourteen key strategies Impact of Actions Reinforcement & Conditioning Behavioral Baseline Target Actions Active Choices Motivation for Change Schedules for Reinforcement Assigning Homework Constructing a Hierarchy Exposure Skills Training & Rehearsal Systemic Patterns Intervening Strategically Focus on Solutions (Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry, 2006, pp. 88-117) “Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of counseling aimed at teaching the client how to become healthier and experience a more satisfying, fulfilling lifestyle by modifying certain thought and behavior patterns. It is based on the theory that thought and behavior can affect a persons symptoms and be an obstacle to recovery” (Horwin, 2006). Cognitive therapy would find out unusual thoughts and happenings that would bring unwanted worries and feelings and non-positive behavior. The therapy would finish off all these thoughts and would introduce a different outlook and a novel perspective in the person (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). All distorted feelings and thoughts would be abolished and the person would get a fresh mind (Langelier, 2001, pp. 45-99). The main objective of Cognitive therapy is to change the person’s thought process bringing emotional and behavioral development. Some of the activities included in the cognitive behavioral counseling include Coping skills Relaxation Assessments Thought stopping Challenging certain thoughts Homework projects Training in communication (Colledge, 2002, pp. 15-133) Cognitive behavioral counseling is a highly-effective, state-of-the-art, and highly focused method of psychological treatment. This type of counseling was initiated by Aaron T. Beck, M.D. in 1970s (Cognitive Therapy Associates, 2006) (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). He was totally frustrated with the conventional mode of therapies (as it had very slow processes) and developed a fast, potential and direct approach to treatment which is the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). The simple approach of cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven to be very successful and powerful and is found to be the best type of psychological treatment in the results. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has widespread popularity and is practiced by therapists and counselors around the world (Trower, 1998, pp. 25-142). Works Cited Bond, T. (2000) Standards and Ethics for Counseling in Action, Sage, pp. 15-165. Cognitive Therapy Associates (2006) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Therapy Associates, 56-99. Colledge, R. (2002), Mastering Counseling Theory Palgrave, 15-133. Howard, S. (2005) Psychodynamic Counselling in a Nutshell, Sage, pp. 12-60. Horwin, E. (2006) ‘A Perspective on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy’ Available online at http://www.4therapy.com/consumer/life_topics/article/7295/489/A+Perspective+on+Cognitive+Behavioral+Therapy Jacobs, M. (1998) Psychodynamic Counselling in Action (Counselling in Action series), Sage Publications Ltd, pp. 17-77. Jeff Brooks-Harris and Jill Oliveira-Berry (2006) ‘Advanced Microskills and Strategies: Psychodynamic Counseling and Psychotherapy’, pp. 88-117. Langelier, C. (2001). Mood management: A cognitive-behavioral skills-building program for adolescents. California: Sage Publications, pp. 45-99. National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists (2006) ‘Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy’, National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, pp. 2-6. Therapists Trower, P. (1998) Cognitive Behavioral Counseling in Action. Sage, pp. 25-142. Wheeler, S. (2006) Difference and Diversity In Counselling Contemporary Psychodynamic Counselling, Macmillan, pp. 99-145. Whitmore, D. (2004) Psychosynthesis Counselling in Action, Sage, pp. 10-111. Read More