Counseling Theories and Approaches

Counseling Theories

• Theories examine how clinicians perceive and work with client behaviors

Counseling Approaches

• Approaches include Psychodynamic, Humanistic, and Cognitive-Behavioral

Psychodynamic Counseling Approach

• Originated from Sigmund Freud
• Explores how unconscious processes influence thoughts, emotions, and behaviors
• Uses talk therapy to enhance self-awareness

Humanistic Counseling Approach

• Takes a holistic perspective of the whole person and positive traits
• Encourages engagement in the present moment instead of focusing on the past

Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling Approach

• Concentrates on identifying and altering harmful thought patterns
• Promotes positive behavioral changes

Counseling Principles

• Principles include acceptance, communication, empathy, non-judgment, confidentiality, individuality, and non-emotional involvement

Principle of Acceptance

• Means accepting the client as they are
• Includes accepting their physical, psychological, social, economic, and cultural conditions

Principle of Communication

• Requires effective communication, whether verbal or non-verbal

Principle of Empathy

• Is the ability to identify with a person
• Understands the client's experiences and emotions from their perspective, sans judgment

Principle of Non-Judgment

• Means not judging a client, regardless of their concern or interpretation

Principle of Confidentiality

• Requires never disclosing private client information
• Only disclose under specific, mandated conditions, like life-or-death situations

Principle of Individuality

• Requires treating every client as a unique individual

Principles of Non-Emotional Involvement

• Means not getting emotionally involved with a client
• Maintain professional boundaries

Psychoanalysis Theory Sigmund Freud

• A therapeutic approach and theory
• Explores the unconscious mind to uncover repressed feelings and interpret deep-rooted emotional patterns

Levels of Mental Life

• Include conscious, preconscious, and unconscious elements
• Conscious: Mental elements in awareness at any given point
• Preconscious: Storehouse of memories, perceptions, and thoughts easily summoned into consciousness
• Unconscious: Contains drives, urges, or instincts beyond awareness

Structure of the Mind

• The Id: Not yet owned component of personality, reservoir for instincts and libido, and supplies energy for other components
• The Ego: Rational master of personality that helps the id obtain tension reduction
• The Superego: Strives solely for moral perfection, including conscience and ego-ideal
• Reality Anxiety: Fear of tangible, real-world dangers
• Neurotic Anxiety: Unconscious fear of being punished for impulsively displaying id-dominated behavior
• Moral Anxiety: Guilt or shame from violating personal morals

Defense Mechanisms

• Repression: Unconsciously blocking unpleasant thoughts or memories from awareness
• Denial: Refusing to accept reality or facts
• Projection: Attributing one's thoughts or feelings
• Displacement is redirecting emotions from a threatening target to a safer one
• Rationalization: Justifying behaviors/feelings with logical reasons, avoiding the true explanation
• Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities
• Regression: Reverting in behavior to an earlier stage of development in response to stress
• Introjection includes introject characteristics that are positive or valuable into their own ego that will permit them to feel better about themselves

Stages of Human Development

• Oral Stage (0-18 months): Focus on the mouth; fixation can lead to pessimism/gullibility.
• Anal Stage (18-36 months): Focus on bowel/bladder control; fixation can result in being orderly/stubborn or messy/careless.
• Phallic Stage (3-6 years): Focus on genitals
• Latency Stage (6 to puberty): Focus on dormant sexual feelings
• Genital Stage (puberty onward): Focus on mature sexual relationships
• Oral Stage (0-18 months): Focus on the mouth
• Anal Stage (18-36 months): Focus on bowel and bladder control
• Anal-retentive Traits: Orderly, stubborn
• Anal-expulsive Traits: Messy, careless
• Phallic Stage (3-6 years): Focus on genitals (Oedipus/Electra complex)
• Latency Stage (6 to puberty): Focus on dormant sexual feelings and developing social skills/friendships
• Genital Stage (puberty onward): Focus on mature sexual relationships and healthy resolution = successful adult relationships

Individual Psychology – Alfred Adler

• The final goal is that People have one: either personal superiority or success for all but goal direction to life
• Individual psychology focuses on physical inferiorities, striving for success or inferiority, striving force for compensation, and final goal
• People have the freedom to shape their own lives and are responsible for their own behaviors and choices

Other Psychology Terms

• Subjective Perceptions: Is when People act based on how they perceive reality
• Fictionalism: shapes behavior
• Social Interest: Sense of belonging and cooperation with humanity/essential for personal/societal well-being
• Style of Life: The unique way a person lives

Birth Order

• Firstborn characteristics: More responsibilities
• Second Child feels pressure to compete with their older sibling
• Middle Child: Social and adaptable
• Youngest Child: Fun-loving and outgoing
• Only Child: Mature and responsible, but struggles with sharing
• Ghost Child: Feels pressure to replace deceased sibling
• Those that are overprotected may struggle with identity and exaggerated

Factors of Maladjustment

• Maladjusted people set extravagant goals
• Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies includes maladjustment from Physical issues + strong inferiority feelings

Jungian Psychology – Carl Jung

• As known as Analytical psychology it Focuses on the relationship between the conscious and unconscious

Levels of Psyche

• Ego is known as Conscious Mind and is the Center of identity and responsible for thoughts, emotions, and awareness
• Personal and Collective Unconscious
• Personal: Stores forgotten or repressed memories and emotions
• Collective: Inherited layer of the unconscious, shared by all humans

The Ego: Attitudes & Functions

• Attitudes direct our energy and are extroversion and introversion
• Functions process information and make decisions in information gathering and decisions making
• The irrational of perceiving relays on senses and Intuition
• Extraverted Feeling: Seeks social harmony

The Unconscious Mind

• Includes personal and collective aspects Complexes: Emotionally charged themes that influence thoughts and behavior

Major Archetypes and Stages

• Major Archetypes: Persona, The Shadow ,Anima/Animus and The Self
• Stages of Personality Development: Childhood, Adolescence & Early Adulthood,Midlife and Later life
• Each stage involves a psychosocial crisis, balancing positive (syntonic) and negative (dystonic)

Three aspect of Ego

• How we see and experience our physical self

Stages of Psychosocial Development

• Stages of Psychosocial Development include Infancy, Late Infancy, Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood and Late Adulthood
• Every level has a basic strength related its psychsocial crisis, for example basic strength for the infancy stage is trust
• Infancy mode: oral
• Latency mode: Industry
• Early Adulthood: Intimacy
• Adolescence Identity Role Confusion
• Puberty and the Self fall are closely tied Moral Development Theory – Lawrence Kohlberg
• It Explains how individuals develop moral reasoning and uses moral dilemmas to assess how people or individuals or persons
• Pre-Conventional Morality between 0-9 years old are based on punishment avoiding
• Cognitive Development Theory: Focuses on children actively shape their learning

The Schema

Prior knowledge is a mental framework for understanding the world Equilibration learning is between assimilation and accommodation

Stages of Cognitive Development

• There stages for the mind: Sensorimotor Stage (Birth 2 years old), Preoperational Stage (2 - 7 years old),
• sensorimotor stage (birth to 2yrs): they learns through senses and movements
• Formal Operational Stage (11 years old onwards): The process in it is based on Abstract & systematic thinking not necessarily fact
• Formal is for abstract while the concrete is based on events and what is happening

Hierarchy of Needs – Abraham Maslow

behavior is driven by our needs as a society

• Physiological Needs: What our basic needs
• Safety Needs: Things like finances and protection
• Social Learning Theory - Albert Bandura: Learning can be observing, imitating, the environment and others
• Reinforcement (Encourages Behavior): Can be a positive or negative reinforcement
• Social System Theory - Talcott Parsons: Agil Paradigm
• Adaptation:(economy). Goal: Goal Attainment
• Integration (I): Maintains social cohesion

Feminist Counseling

Focuses on empowerment and challenging systemic gender biases

• It helps people understand structural and cultural aspects Trauma - Informed grief Gender Equality is really important and everyone has the same opportunities etc.

Different Brief Counseling Approaches

• Those include the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and more
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)(: Emphasizes strengths and past successes
• *Used CBT (Cognitive therapy which you will most common see)

Grief Counseling

Used for those who suffer major family or friendship events

Types of Grief

• Complicated Grief: If you grief for a Long-lasting, intense long time or period Maladaptive Grief: Unhealthy coping mechanisms self-destruction Gender-Responsive Counseling
• Its gender equality
• Key Concepts: • Unconscious Mind: • Hidden thoughts, and desires It focus on early childhood