Week 3: Counseling and Helping Relationships

Counseling Theories

• Psychoanalytic Theory (Sigmund Freud)

• Unconscious mind plays a significant role in shaping behavior and personality

• Three components of the psyche: Id, Ego, Superego

• Psychosexual stages influence personality formation

• Defense mechanisms protect the ego from anxiety

• Person-Centered Theory (Carl Rogers)

• Unconditional positive regard: nonjudgmental acceptance for self-exploration

• Empathy and genuineness are core conditions for a therapeutic relationship

• Self-actualization: facilitating clients' natural drive toward personal growth

• Gestalt Therapy (Frederick Perls)

• Focus on the "here and now": emphasizing present experiences and awareness

• Holism: considering individuals as whole entities, including mind, body, and emotions

• Techniques like empty chair and role-playing for self-discovery

• Individual Psychology (Alfred Adler)

• Striving for superiority: overcoming perceived inferiorities

• Social interest: emphasizing community and social connections

• Birth order influences personality development

• Transactional Analysis (Eric Berne)

• Ego states: analyzing transactions between Parent, Adult, and Child

• Life scripts: unconscious life plans developed in childhood

• Strokes: units of recognition or acknowledgment exchanged in social transactions

• Existential Therapy (Frankl and Yalom)

• Existential concerns: focusing on freedom, isolation, meaning, and death

• Authenticity: encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their choices

• Emphasis on the client's experience of existence

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• Developed by Marsha Linehan for emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness

• Combining cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness strategies

• Focus on dialectics, balancing acceptance and change

• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (Albert Ellis)

• ABC model: examining the relationship between Activating events, Beliefs, and Consequences

• Disputing irrational beliefs: challenging and changing irrational thoughts

• Focus on changing cognitive processes to influence emotions and behaviors

• Reality Therapy (William Glasser)

• Choice theory: emphasizing personal responsibility and choice in behavior

• Focus on the present: addressing current behaviors and choices

• WDEP (Wants, Doing, Evaluation, Planning) process for problem-solving

• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

• Future-oriented: focusing on solutions rather than problems

• Goal-setting and scaling questions: tools for exploring client goals

• Brief and goal-directed sessions

• Narrative Therapy

• Externalization of the problem: separating individuals from their problems

• Storytelling: examining and reshaping the narratives individuals use to make meaning

• Deconstructing dominant narratives to empower clients

• Multimodal Therapy

• Developed by Arnold Lazarus, integrating various therapeutic modalities

• BASIC ID: conceptual framework covering Behavior, Affect, Sensation, Imagery, Cognition, Interpersonal relationships, and Drugs/biology

• Tailoring interventions to individual needs across multiple dimensions

Counseling Skills

• Active Listening

• Attending fully to the client, showing genuine interest, and providing feedback

• Demonstrating understanding

• Empathy

• Understanding and sharing the client's feelings

• Conveying a deep sense of compassion and connection

• Reflective Skills

• Reflecting on the client's emotions and thoughts to deepen self-awareness

• Facilitating exploration

• Questioning

• Using open-ended and probing questions to encourage clients to express themselves

• Exploring concerns

• Paraphrasing

• Restating the client's words in a condensed form to clarify and confirm understanding

• Providing a concise overview

• Summarizing

• Reviewing and organizing key points in a session to enhance clarity

• Providing a concise overview

• Confrontation

• Gently challenging clients' perceptions or behaviors to promote insight and self-awareness

• Problem-Solving

• Collaborating with clients to identify and explore solutions to challenges or issues

• Cultural Competence

• Demonstrating an understanding of and respect for diverse cultural backgrounds

• Adapting counseling approaches accordingly

• Facilitation of Expression

• Encouraging clients to express themselves freely

• Fostering a non-judgmental and safe space

• Goal Setting

• Collaborating with clients to set realistic and achievable goals

• Fostering personal growth and change

• Feedback and Reinforcement

• Providing constructive feedback and positive reinforcement

• Acknowledging clients' progress and efforts