Theories Are Deficient in Studying Humans - Coursework Example

People are too complex to be adequately understood through the lens of Meta or grand theories: Good counselling is dependent on the excellence of thecounsellors’ communication abilities Name: School: Introduction This essay will explore – in a critical manner – the enquiry that “people are too complex, thus cannot be completely understood through the lens of a Meta or grand theory like psychoanalytic or behavioural theories”. This implies the necessity of developing a theoretical model of exploring the personality and the behavioural differences of different people, which have been explored using grand and Meta theories in the past (Ariely, 2008). This is the case – due to the fact that there are no theoretical models that are likely to explain issues in a holistic manner, unless they are enriched by newer models or newer information. From the fundamental conception of the goals of the different theoretical models, it is evident that different theoretical models do not pursue the same outcomes; do not address issues in a similar manner (Schwartz, 2005). For that reason, the various theoretical models cannot be explicitly effective in addressing the needs of different people or groups. Through this report, the writer will explain the differences that are evident among different people, with the aim of showing that the models developed in the past do not explain behavioural, among the other differences that are demonstrated in the real world. More importantly, this report will emphasize that the general outlook of a single theoretical model or a blend of theories cannot explain the causes and the solutions for the differences that are subjected to psychotherapeutic treatment (Corey, 2009). This is the case, mainly because the factors underlying inequality are different for different people and groups; more importantly, the dynamics of social life play an increasingly important role in the choices of the different behavioural outlooks adopted in society (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Background to the limited nature of the various theoretical models developed The Goals of the different theoretical models Psychoanalytic – “to make the unconscious conscious, through free association with help from the therapist’s interpretations” (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Behavioural – “to positively reinforce desired behaviours and negatively reinforce undesired behaviours and to use modelling for behavioural change” (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Cognitive – “to recognize cognitive distortions and underlying schemas, which are changed in order to reduce cognitive dissonance” (Brew & Kottler, 2008). From the review of the goals of the three theories, it becomes clear that they focus on different aspects of the psychology of the individual, when used in counselling and psychotherapy. For example, the psychoanalytic model relies on the unconscious experiences of the individual, which are interpreted and exposed by the counsellor (Simon, 1998). On the other hand, the behavioural model emphasizes the importance of punishments and rewards and the modelling of behaviour, so as to realize the changes desired. Still, the cognitive theory adopts a different outlook, where the emphasis is that cognitive differences lead to the adoption of negative of positive behaviours. The fundamental differences between the aspects of the individual that are targeted, which dictates the changes sought, it becomes clear that psychologists or counsellors using the different models will attain different results (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Apart from the fundamental differences in the focal points of the different models, it is important to take into account that the interpretation of the therapist plays a dominant role in the effectiveness of practice. The importance of subjective interpretations shows that one therapist will develop different sets of answers and solutions to the problems of one individual. This shows that the only solution to the problem is using a set or blend of theories to explain different aspects of the individual (Corey, 2006). The rationale behind this argument is that, when using different theoretical models, different therapists can cross-check their findings and solutions against those established from the light of a different theory. By doing that, it is much simpler to identify errors of judgement or other issues that affect the quality of the services delivered by therapist (Nelson-Jones, 2008). The real environment of counselling and therapy practice Over the past two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people administering counselling and psychotherapeutic services. Many of these people offering these services have formal backgrounds in fields like psychology, psychiatry, or social work among other fields (Egan, 2007). Some of the professionals from other minor fields administering counselling services based on the lenses of Meta and grand theories include community nurses, guidance counsellors, medial practitioners and religious ministers among others. It has only been about fifteen years since tertiary institutions started offering undergraduate courses in the field of counselling, apart from the usual professional lines (Hill & Ballou, 2005). Practice and the responsibilities of therapeutic and counselling practice Due to the fact that the practice of counselling has a single over-riding purpose, which is that of alleviating interpersonal and personal distress, the counsellor or therapist needs to have knowledge about the self, an individual’s knowledge of values, a variety of communication strategies, and the comprehension of contextual influences. This range of variables shapes the therapeutic plan adopted and the direction taken during practice. In a more particular way, the therapist/ counsellor will need to comprehend and then exploit the counsellor-client relationship, which allows the individual suffering distress can learn and then experiment using the newly acquired self and interpersonal communication (Ivey et al., 2006). The need to cause these kinds of transformations requires the counsellor to develop the skills of teaching his/ her clients the communication skills needed to overcome their areas of distress. Due to the fact that the learning of the client starts with the understanding of the self as a client being counselled, the starting point of practice is always the underlying interpersonal relations and the communication limitations that are evident from them (McMahon, Palmer & Wilding, 2009). Taking into account, the practice points explored earlier, it becomes clear that communication skills are not the only determinant of the successfulness of a person’s practice. This is the case, taking into account that effective communication skills will enable them to understand the underlying behavioural elements limiting the different levels of communication (Jordan, Walker & Hartling, 2004). The role of understanding the problems underlying the problems of a client is the main focus of the different theories, including the psychoanalytic and behavioural model. However, apart from understanding the problems of the client, using the frameworks based on the various theories, the counsellor is required to have the training needed to guide them in communicating the issues and the solutions within an applicable framework. The framework adopted should be one that allows the counsellor the opportunity to focus on the client solely, paying special attention to their areas of vulnerability and then formulating the plans that can enable them to overcome the problems. The areas of counselling that are not accommodated by Meta and grand theories During the counselling sessions held between a counsellor and a client, many variables will arise when exploring their problem and one or more of the variables are usually the cause of the dysfunction. This fact leads to questions related to the applicability of theories like the behavioural and psychoanalytic models, in helping the counsellor to address the real problems, and not secondary ones (Mikulas, 2002). In particular, the counsellor is required to focus on the aspects of the client’s context, which are most relevant to the problem. The identification of the aspects to focus on, helps the counsellor to adopt the concepts and the skills that are most pertinent to cope with the situation in question most effectively, or addressing it entirely. The therapist will need to develop a conceptual map about the personal life of the client, if he/she is going to teach him the skills that will help him to address the situation (Brew & Kottler, 2008). In particular, the therapist is required to take into account the interpersonal skills of the client – evaluate his strengths, and then aid him in restating the problem, when making the concepts relevant and meaningful in a cognitive manner, all through the process. By doing that successfully, the therapist helps the client in acting towards improving their communication abilities and skills, at the personal and the interpersonal level (Miller & Stiver, 1998). The actions taken by the counsellor and the client requires a proper understanding of the situation, and that calls for more input than that covered and expressed through theories of counselling. The concepts not accommodated by different theoretical models During the course of practice, the counsellor is supposed to determine – at an early stage – the level of cognitive complexity required by the case of the client, so that he can facilitate him in looking at his problems differently and the ways they can develop new coping mechanisms. However, there is a limitation of many of the theories proposed, which is that they are less likely to provide the concepts and the language needed to express the problem of the client – in many cases, the client is not aware of the problem (Neimeyer & Mahoney, 1999). Through incorporating these issues, which are not accommodate in the theoretical models developed, the counsellor is able to deal with the complex responses of the client. The limited outlook of the various theoretical models requires the counsellor to consult a variety of theories, in order to address the problems that come into the picture. For example, the problems of one client undergoing counselling may call for the use of a highly directive behavioural approach during the beginning of the counselling sessions. On the other hand, the case of another – suffering from problems that are highly existential in nature – will be more adequately addressed using a more Rogerian “hands off” model (Seligman, 2005). In order to clearly understand the problems of the client, more is called from the counsellor than that which is addressed and supplied by the various theoretical models. For example, effective counsellors are required to be comfortable in addressing the problems of their clients, which calls for the development of an intuitive capability to respond in an appropriate manner, at the required level of simplicity and concreteness during sessions. Firstly, a counsellor is supposed to develop an in-depth understanding of concepts like unconditional regard, empathy, the power of confrontation, respect and immediacy (Okun, 2007). It is more important for a counsellor to develop an understanding of the various ways of expressing genuineness, taking into account that, despite the importance of making meaningful statements, it is very possible for a client to see through pretence, during communication (Corey, 2008). For example, depending on the case being handled, it may be important for the counsellor to evaluate the personality of the client, and establish that disclosing all their feelings can be inappropriate to the success of the session. However, after the therapeutic process is well-developed, it becomes more possible for the counsellor and the client to explore their feelings in a more in-depth manner (Walker & Rosen, 2004). These practice-specific success points are either not explored, or covered in a shallow manner, through the theories of counselling practice, and that proves that they are limited as tools of creating an understanding about the client. From the practice of psychotherapy and counselling, counsellors often need to have a solid understanding about human personality. Freud’s and Jung’s notions of the unconscious in the deep comprehension of the significance of myth, ritual and symbol in everyday life must be combined with the understanding of the different forms of psychopathology, social and the medical problems that often accompany the problems of clients. The outlook of the traditional theories can be informed and their scope expanded by the concepts based on the various schools that have adopted a procedural outlook, including rational emotive therapy and behaviour therapy. Through the incorporation of the concepts of other models, as opposed to limiting the description of an individual to Meta and grand theories, the practice of counsellors can be improved – especially where the specific case calls for it. For example, when dealing with the case of a client affected by confusion in some area, the confusion should be interpreted in a way that is clear to them, which fosters his understanding of their problems, after they are reframed (Brew & Kottler, 2008). During the current day and age, it is increasingly important for counsellors to understand the importance of context, and the wide array of the contexts from which their clients could come from (Arredondo & Perez, 2003). Incorporating this outlook into the conception of a person’s issues and problems, which is the main focus of counselling theories, counsellors will be more in a position to understand the systemic view that the client identifies with and the way of describing the world (Watts, 2004). For example, a client may be suffering from a problem triggered by their abuse during childhood, and another may be suffering from a distress arising from the loss of an investment or a pending bankruptcy. In the different cases, the clients will be expressing their distress using the jargon that is relevant to the context of their problem – and in the different cases – the counsellor should be able to respond appropriately (Worrell & Remer, 2002). More importantly, a counsellor’s ability to perform in the field of counselling requires from them, more than the different theories offer guidelines about, noting that a counsellor is often required to deal with an array of problems and contexts of the same problem. For example, during the course of counselling a teenager suffering from drug addiction, the counsellor may need to counsel the parent on how to deal with the addicted teenagers, despite the fact that they are different cases and contexts of practice. In order to fit into the different situations and contexts, the counsellor will need to refer to a variety of information bases, including those related to juvenile addictions and parentage (Bimrose & Bayne, 1995). In the case mentioned before, the counsellor will need to have a solid foundation in the areas of communication, domestic violence; the dynamics of addiction, lifestyle changes, and the issues of power. The wide array of demands presented by one case calls on the counsellor to consult a wide variety of fields, many of which are not related to Meta and grand theories, but all of which may be critical in solving the addiction problem of the teenager. Many of the Meta and the grand theories of counselling and psychotherapy focus on the identification of the problems, and often focus on the development of congruent solutions, without paying much attention to the underlying causes of the problems (Frisz, 1999). In order to do this, counsellors require more than the input of these theories, and that enables them to travel with the emotions of their clients, so as to understand the roots of the problems. For example, through developing a clear outlook of the causes and the effects of the problem and its context, they are more likely to relate with their clients more effectively. The skills of experienced communicators are combined with the knowledge of other fields, during the development of an action plan for addressing the problems presented by their clients (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Meta and grand theories are inadequate in offering the platform required to understand a client and their problems, including that little emphasis is offered to the importance of the skills of the counsellor. Among many of the theories, including the psychoanalytic and the behavioural models, emphasis is offered to the association and the behavioural modelling of the counsellor (Brew & Kottler, 2008). Some of the skills that are very important to a counsellor, apart from the designations made by the various theories, include the understanding of the self and the impact of interpersonal relations; listening skills, problem solving, negotiation skills and self-disclosure (Egan, 2007). Other skills that are very important to counselling, but which are not accounted for through the traditional theories include conversation skills, assertiveness and self-monitoring. Taking into account that the counsellor’s responsibility requires them to have this wide array of the skills integrated into the practice, proves the limited outlook of Meta and grand theories, and that calls for the upgrade of these theories, so that they can meet the changing needs and the situations of different people (Egan, 2007). Conclusion This essay explored the statement that people are too complicated to be fully understood using Meta and grand theories, including the psychoanalytic and the behavioural model. From the evaluation of the goals of the different theories, differences were evident in their areas of focus, including that some emphasize the judgement of the counsellor while others emphasize the interrelations between the counsellor and the client. From the exploration of the environment of counselling and therapy practice, it was found that the theories do not cover the entire scope of the services delivered. The responsibilities of the counsellor are shaped by contextual influences, and little is covered by traditional theories, including that the communication skills of the counsellor are complemented by others, including those of fashioning the theoretical model for different individuals. The paper also showed that Meta and grand theories failed to accommodate some areas that are sensitive to counselling, including the process of uncovering the root cause of the distress of a client. Some of the important concepts that were not incorporated into the theory include determining the cognitive complexity of a client’s case and developing the interpersonal capacity to deal with the challenges of practice. The weaknesses and the information gaps of Meta and grand theories show that the theories are deficient in many ways; the weaknesses make them ineffective in helping a counsellor to understand a client in totality. References Arredondo, P., & Perez, P. (2003). Expanding multicultural competence through social justice leadership. The Counseling Psychologist, 31 (3), 282–289. Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions, 1st Ed. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Bimrose, J., & Bayne, R. (1995). A multicultural framework in counselor training: A preliminary evaluation. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 23 (2), 259–265. Brew, L., & Kottler, J. (2008). Applied helping Skills. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 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