Counseling Theories - Coursework Example

Counseling Theories Student’s Name Course code and name Instructor’s name Learning Institution City, State Date of submission Introduction During client-centered counseling, the counselor is involved I provision of growth promoting environment and the client has the freedom to discover his or her needs when success is attained in the counseling process. Generally, it is required that the counselor engages in active listening, acceptance of the limitations of the client and is flexible to cope with a number of challenges experienced during the counseling process (Abbass, Henderson, Kisely & Hancock, 2006). In addition, the counselor is required to apply qualities such as emotional control and accept any disappointment caused by the client and also cooperate with the client for the purpose of finding the past and present successes and focus on these capabilities to address the present difficulties. The counselor is also required to think positively and focusing on what can be done right. In order to achieve these counseling needs, the therapist is required to apply a number of therapies. These therapies provide a guide on methods in which the therapist needs to perform his or her tasks, the goals that the therapist should focus on, and evidence-based practices that the therapist should observe. Examples of widely used theories of counseling are behavioral theory and psychoanalytic theory. In this paper, an investigation is done on the roles of these theories in achievement of counseling goals. 1. Behavioral therapy 1.1. Historical development According to the practitioners who formulated this therapy, it was belied that bad habits or undesirable behaviors were learnt and thus could be un-learnt. This therapy is based on methods that can be used to unlearn undesirable behaviors through the use of strategies formulated for that purpose (Ablon & Jones, 1998). This is achieved by observing the affected individual and noting any contributing factors that result into that behavior. This is followed by formulating strategies of overcoming that behavior and making the affected individual have a positive behavior. 1.2. Concepts and Assumptions This therapy is based on the possibility of unlearning a particular behavior by subjecting the affected individual to certain conditions which makes the individual unlearn the undesired behaviors. It is assumed that through learning the factors that drives the individual to develop certain types of behaviors, there is a high possibility of having alternative methods that includes both coercive methods and persuasive methods to overcome the undesired behavior (Addis & Krasnow, 2000). This results into development of initial good behaviors and avoidance of undesired behaviors. Another assumption of this theory is that the behavior of the person affected by the condition is as a result of previous experiences which resulted from lack of guidance from the relevant people such as parents, thus it tries to implement concepts of monitoring and corrective measures to provide therapy to the affected individual. 1.3. Therapeutic goals The therapeutic goal of the therapy is based on making the affected individual unlearn a particular behavior by subjecting them to conditions which result into elimination of the undesired behavior (Ajzen, 2007). Another goal is that it ensures the affected individual is not affected by the counselor through indirect involvement of the counselor, thus the possibility of holding the counselor accountable for what has happened to the person can be reduced. 1.4. Therapists functions In order to apply, this therapy, the therapist can be involved in a number of ways. An example of a way in which the therapist can be involved is by subjecting the affected individual to positive reinforcement, punishment or change of behavior such as the use of toke. This is where the therapist can offer the client a toke which can be exchanged for privileges or when the client displays a desired behavior (Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksema & Schweizer, 2010). It is a strategy required to be used by parents and teachers when trying to improve good behaviors among children. Another method in which the therapist can be involved is through contingency management. This is where the therapist provides the client with conditions of goals, rewards and punishments in case of a demonstration of a particular kind of behavior. As a result of having this kind of clear agreement, it is possible to change the behavior of the affected person and bring accountability to the individual. Furthermore, the therapist can participate in this therapy through modeling (Alford & Beck, 1997). This is where the therapist provides the client with a role model through whom the client learns good behaviors and making them abandon the undesired behaviors. This role model can be the therapist or another person already known by the client. Lastly, the therapist can participate in the therapy by subjecting the client to extinction of factors resulting to the undesired behavior. When the situation is removed, it is expected that the behavior can be stopped. 1.5. Main techniques of application of the theory Behavioral theory can be applied in a number of ways in order to bring behavioral change. An example of application of this therapy is flooding technique. This is where a person with phobias and anxiety is exposed to conditions which contribute to their anxiety or phobias in an intense manner (Allen, McHugh & Barlow, 2008). For instance, if a person is afrai9d of dogs, the person can be exposed to a place where there are a number of dogs within a longer period of time. When the person observes that nothing bad happens, the person becomes less fearful. This is a process which is aimed at equipping the person with the quality of confronting the situation head-on whenever it appears. In addition, behavioral therapy can be applied through systematic desensitization. This is where the therapist asks the client to provide a list of things h or she is afraid of in the order of the ones that contribute to fear the most. This will be followed by providing the client with relaxation methods for the far contributing factors. This is done by following the list from the bottom in a relaxed manner (Arnkoff, Glass & Shapiro, 2002). For instance, if a person is afraid of small spaces, the therapist will start by guiding the client on how to overcome the fear of small spaces until the larger spaces are reached. When the fear inducing item is related to another inducing item that has been covered, the client learns to confront the phobia or anxiety in a gradual manner. In addition, aversion process is an example of a method in which this theory can be applied. For instance, if a person is an alcoholic, the person can be provided with a drug which induces nausea, anxiety or headache when the person uses alcohol while also uses the drug. Thus, each time the person takes alcohol and the drug, these conditions are exhibited (Arnow & Castonguay, 1996). As a result, the person is discouraged from drinking as a result of the negative impacts observed. 1.6. Extent of evidence-base This form of therapy has been successful in providing therapy to people with mental illnesses which result into undesirable behaviors. For instance, it may be addiction or phobias. This has been achieved through subjecting the affected individuals to conditions which enable them overcome their phobias such as desensitization methods (Asay & Lambert, 2002). In certain cases, it has been possible to apply behavioral therapy on its own, but it can also be integrated with other therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to achieve therapeutic functions. 2. Psychoanalytic Therapy 2.1. Historical development Theories based on psychoanalysis are based on contributions of Sigmund Freud, who contributed to a study in this field with Jean-martin Charcot while in Paris. Jean-Martin was a neurologist who was involved in the use of hypnosis during treatment of women who were infected with hysteria. It was discovered that when the patients were talked to about their past experiences with trauma, there was a reduction in these symptoms (Castonguay & Beutler, 2006). Freud continued to develop on the discovery of Charcot by developing a talk therapy. This was achieved by developing therapeutic methods that include free association, analysis of dreams and transference that are important techniques being used by psychoanalysts today. There has been controversy over Freud’s theories such as those related to sexuality and women, but his work has continued to play a significant role in understanding psychotherapy. 2.2. Concepts and Assumptions It is important to know that the assumptions of psychoanalytic theory can be operational on the basis of the nature of the therapy. While each therapy has a different approach on the basis of the needs of the affected individual, main therapies are based on the assumption that psychological problems result from unconsciousness, are causes by hidden disturbances, result from psychological disappointments such as unresolved problems in the earlier stages of life and efforts to bring cure to the situations are usually overcome by conflicts to the surface where it is possible to deal with the situation (Castonguay et al 1996). When the conflicts are learnt and understood, this therapy can contribute towards changing the participant to a deeper level. 2.3. Therapeutic goals The main goal of this therapy is to look at past experiences of the affected person such as during early childhood and seeing the impacts of these experiences on the person’s life or current conditions that the person is undergoing (Castonguay, et al 2005). Another goal of the therapy is to come up with long-term choice that can be made for a number of weeks, months or years based on the need being investigated. In addition, this therapy has the goal of keeping deep-seated changes in personality and also improvement emotions of an individual. 2.4. Therapists functions The therapist needs to get into personal contact with the client in an area where their conversation cannot be interrupted such as an open field away from streets and noises or scotching sunlight. This should be followed by asking the client to explain his or her past experiences and present problems. The therapist can then explain to the client how the past experiences are related to the current problems that the client is facing. This should be followed by advising the client on methods in which past experiences can be avoided in the future so that they do not contribute to similar problems in the future (Chadwick, Birchwood & Trower, 1996). Another function that the therapist can perform is to associate with the client by allowing the client to talk freely about the problems he or she is undergoing. This is aimed at enabling the client return to their initial emotional status before the current experiences the client is undergoing. In addition, the therapist is expected to listen to the problems being explained by the client and advising the client on how to cope with them as they are narrated. This involves interjections in a case where a solution has been identified until all the issues affecting the client are addressed. The therapist is also expected to monitor the progress of the client from the previous session of therapy so that when the condition of the client does not improve, alternative methods of psychoanalytic therapy can be provided. 2.5. Main techniques of application of the theory Psychoanalytic therapy is based on insight thus aims at fostering change by enabling the affected person understand the past and the impacts of past events on the current life. There may be a variation in the sessions based on the location of an individual and the nature of the therapy being undertaken. However, a better part of the time involves free talks to the therapist in a safe and in an environment that is less judgmental (Abbass, Henderson, Kisely & Hancock, 2006). The psychoanalytic therapists’ listens to the difficulties faced by the client and determine patterns that are important. The belief of this therapy is that unconscious feelings and past experiences contribute significantly to the current feelings. A part from listening, there are other techniques that can be used by a psychotherapist to identify potential contributing factors to the present concerns of an individual. An example of such a s process is Free association method. This is where the person involved is allowed to talk about anything they think of without censoring the manner in which memories or ideas flow. The therapist encourages the client to speak freely so that the individual can be helped to return to initial emotional state to enable understanding of the present patterns of conflict they are undergoing. Another approach used is therapeutic interference which implies methods in which feelings and thoughts are transferred to influential people in a person’s life such as parents and the therapist. Despite low possibility of this happening in most cases, it enables the therapist discuss interference with the client so that the client is able to have the knowledge on the manner in which they can deal with people in their lives. In addition, psychoanalytic therapy can be applied through interpretation. This is where the therapists listen to the narrations of the clients and occasionally interjecting by contributing his thoughts or ideas of the topics under discussion (Ablon & Jones, 1998). In certain situations, the psychoanalyst will ask the client about their dreams. This provides the client with an idea of how to live and overcome the stressful situations he or she may be undergoing. 2.6. Extent of evidence-base Psychoanalytic therapy is applicable in a situation where a person has emotional concern in addition to those who need to get better understandings of them. When a person understand the way in which he or she is, a sense of well-being is created and the person has a strong sense of self. When psychoanalytic therapy is used, it provides one of the long-term approaches but it is less important when a person needs quick recovery and solutions to problems raised during the therapy (Addis & Krasnow, 2000). It is also believed that as a result of the nature of the therapy, psychoanalytic therapy can be applicable for more general concerns such as relationship problems, anxiety, issues with having sex and self-esteem issues. Other problems that can be addressed by applying psychoanalytic therapy include phobias, social shyness and sleeping difficulties. 3. Comparison and contrast between the two therapies The comparison between behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic therapy is that both therapies deal with conscious mind, with the focus on present problems experienced by the client. In addition, both methods consider human nature to be positive and an individual is considered to be separate from their experiences, and focuses on the need to enable them determine their own future (Ajzen, 2007). They are also focused on enabling the affected individuals improve their well-being through collaborative relationships which equips them with have coping methods among clients undergoing psychological problems and disharmony in their lives. In addition, both methods of providing therapy focus on the part of the nature of psychology that does not get better attention. They represent internalized rules that have been imposed upon us by other people who have influence in our lives. However, there are contrasts between behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic therapy. For instance, psychoanalytic therapy focuses on uncovering past experiences such as during childhood of an individual to bring memory of the present events in the life of the individual. On the other hand, behavioral therapy focuses on the current events that are taking place here and now and focus on achieving particular goals (Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksema & Schweizer, 2010). The other contrasts is that psychoanalytic approach observes that we are driven by past events which we are not conscious about while behavioral therapy sees our behaviors as one that we learn and respond to. Another contrast between psychoanalytic and behavioral therapy approaches towards provision of therapy is that psychoanalytic approach focuses on emotional issues that contributed to the problems we are undergoing at present while behavioral therapy focuses on clinical issues that need to be addressed so that solutions to the problems they are undergoing can be solved through change in behavior which involves a change in the nature of physical activities performed. In addition, psychoanalytic method of providing therapy is dependent on the willingness of the client to provide information about the problems he or she is undergoing and the extent of help from the therapist depends on the level of explaining the problems (Alford & Beck, 1997). However, behavioral therapy is based on observation of the behaviors of the client and does not require the client to explain the problems he or she is undergoing. Thus, the therapist develops a method of overcoming the problem faced by the client without the client necessarily explaining the nature or the problem. 4. Conclusion This study shows that behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy can play a significant role in ensuring recovery of individuals suffering from psychological problems. The findings also provide considerable support for the need to include psychoanalytic approach when the client is willing to cooperate with the therapist in provision of therapy. However, it s recommended that when providing therapy to younger children, behavioral therapy should be used because it ensures the therapist provides a therapy based on observation of the behaviors of the child. However, for adults who are able to explain themselves, it is important to use psychoanalytic approach so that the client is helped in the area of his or her desire while ensuring confidentiality of the communication with the therapist. There have also been responses from various experts that psychoanalytic therapy performed by skilled therapists can be effective towards solving a number if problems encountered in the daily lives of people. This is because, focus on long-term impacts contributes significantly to positive outcomes compared with short term gains which result from the use of other methods of providing therapy. Many surveys have resulted into strong support for psychoanalytic therapy and many people have demanded for services of psychoanalytic therapists. 5. References Abbass, A. A., Henderson, J., Kisely, S., & Hancock, J. T. (2006). Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies for common mental disorders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 18(4). Ablon, J. S., & Jones, E. E. (1998). How expert clinicians' prototypes of an ideal treatment correlate with outcome in psychodynamic and cognitive-behavior therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 8(1), 71-83. Addis, M. E., & Krasnow, A. D. (2000). A national survey of practicing psychologists' attitudes toward psychotherapy treatment manuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(2), 331-339. Ajzen , I. (2007). Attitudes, Personality and Behavior (2 ed.). Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill International. Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(2), 217-237. Alford, B. A., & Beck, A. T. (1997). The integrative power of cognitive therapy. New York: Guilford Press. Allen, L. B., McHugh, R. K., & Barlow, D. H. (2008). Emotional disorders: A unified protocol. In D. H. Barlow (Ed.), Clinical handbook of psychological disorders: A step-by-step treatment manual (4 ed., pp. 216-249). New York: Guilford Press. Arnkoff, D. B., Glass, C. R., & Shapiro, S. J. (2002). Expectations and preferences. In C. J. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients (pp. 335-356). New York: Oxford University Press. Arnow, B. A., & Castonguay, L. G. (1996). Treatment goals and strategies of cognitive- behavioral and psychodynamic therapists: A naturalistic investigation. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 6(4). Asay, T. P., & Lambert, M. J. (2002). Therapist relational variables. In D. J. Cain (Ed.), Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice (pp. 531-557). Washington: American Psychological Association. Castonguay, L. G., & Beutler, L. E. (Eds.). (2006). Principles of therapeutic change that work. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Castonguay, L. G., Goldfried, M. R., Wiser, S., Raue, P. J., & Hayes, A. M. (1996). Predicting the effect of cognitive therapy for depression: A study of unique and common factors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(3), 497-504. Castonguay, L. G., Newman, M. G., Borkovec, T. D., Holtforth, M. G., & Maramba, G. G. (2005). Cognitive-behavioral assimilative integration. In C. J. Norcross & M. R. Goldfried (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy integration (2 ed., pp. 241-260). New York: Oxford University Press. Chadwick, P., Birchwood, M., & Trower, P. (1996). Cognitive therapy for delusions, voices and paranoia. Chichester: Wiley Read More

1.4. Therapists functions In order to apply, this therapy, the therapist can be involved in a number of ways. An example of a way in which the therapist can be involved is by subjecting the affected individual to positive reinforcement, punishment or change of behavior such as the use of toke. This is where the therapist can offer the client a toke which can be exchanged for privileges or when the client displays a desired behavior (Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksema & Schweizer, 2010). It is a strategy required to be used by parents and teachers when trying to improve good behaviors among children.

Another method in which the therapist can be involved is through contingency management. This is where the therapist provides the client with conditions of goals, rewards and punishments in case of a demonstration of a particular kind of behavior. As a result of having this kind of clear agreement, it is possible to change the behavior of the affected person and bring accountability to the individual. Furthermore, the therapist can participate in this therapy through modeling (Alford & Beck, 1997).

This is where the therapist provides the client with a role model through whom the client learns good behaviors and making them abandon the undesired behaviors. This role model can be the therapist or another person already known by the client. Lastly, the therapist can participate in the therapy by subjecting the client to extinction of factors resulting to the undesired behavior. When the situation is removed, it is expected that the behavior can be stopped. 1.5. Main techniques of application of the theory Behavioral theory can be applied in a number of ways in order to bring behavioral change.

An example of application of this therapy is flooding technique. This is where a person with phobias and anxiety is exposed to conditions which contribute to their anxiety or phobias in an intense manner (Allen, McHugh & Barlow, 2008). For instance, if a person is afrai9d of dogs, the person can be exposed to a place where there are a number of dogs within a longer period of time. When the person observes that nothing bad happens, the person becomes less fearful. This is a process which is aimed at equipping the person with the quality of confronting the situation head-on whenever it appears.

In addition, behavioral therapy can be applied through systematic desensitization. This is where the therapist asks the client to provide a list of things h or she is afraid of in the order of the ones that contribute to fear the most. This will be followed by providing the client with relaxation methods for the far contributing factors. This is done by following the list from the bottom in a relaxed manner (Arnkoff, Glass & Shapiro, 2002). For instance, if a person is afraid of small spaces, the therapist will start by guiding the client on how to overcome the fear of small spaces until the larger spaces are reached.

When the fear inducing item is related to another inducing item that has been covered, the client learns to confront the phobia or anxiety in a gradual manner. In addition, aversion process is an example of a method in which this theory can be applied. For instance, if a person is an alcoholic, the person can be provided with a drug which induces nausea, anxiety or headache when the person uses alcohol while also uses the drug. Thus, each time the person takes alcohol and the drug, these conditions are exhibited (Arnow & Castonguay, 1996).

As a result, the person is discouraged from drinking as a result of the negative impacts observed. 1.6. Extent of evidence-base This form of therapy has been successful in providing therapy to people with mental illnesses which result into undesirable behaviors. For instance, it may be addiction or phobias. This has been achieved through subjecting the affected individuals to conditions which enable them overcome their phobias such as desensitization methods (Asay & Lambert, 2002). In certain cases, it has been possible to apply behavioral therapy on its own, but it can also be integrated with other therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to achieve therapeutic functions. 2.

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