Advantages And Disadvantages Of Psychotherapy

The main focus of this essay has to be on the three ‘core conditions’, as utilised by the counsellor to promote a positive movement in their client’s psychology. They are intended for maintaining a focus on the client’s personal growth, and detract from the therapist’s own outside world. The three core conditions are the professional apparatus or tool-kit of the therapist, and the use of each is a skill in itself but the combined forces of all three in an effective manner requires an abundance of skill or experience. These are, as have already been mentioned, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. They are separate skills but are intrinsically linked to each other. If used correctly, they can guide the client to a state of self-realisation, which could lead to the development of a healing process.

It also enables therapists to experience therapy from the clients’ perspective and “ has a wide range of beneficial outcomes, the most important of which is the increased empathy for the client”.

The last way that psychology applies to my life is through Psychological therapies. The goal of physiological therapies is to help people function in everyday life more efficiently. Therapies are helpful for virtually anyone. Even if you do not have a Psychological problem having a therapist you can trust and talk to can be very helpful for anyone. When I was younger I was very irritable and stressed out all the time. I always felt like I was not as good as everyone else but the way I acted it seemed that I thought I was better than everyone else. Around the time of this I was on a Select baseball team and the coach was very hard on us. We would practice weekday after school for three hours. This was very stressful and mad me not have time for anything else this is what contributed to most of the stress I was under. I then went to see a Therapist which as a kid I thought was not going to help. Also I did not want my friends to know I was going to a therapist because I was afraid they would make fun of me. However, once I started going to meet with him occasionally I could talk about anything and I felt like I could trust him with whatever I said. Eventually I got to the point to where I

From the time of the advent of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and therapy until now, psychologists have searched for new and better ways to both understand and treat the human psyche. Many psychologists have spent their lives analyzing the complexities of human thought, behavior, and interactions with societal influences in order to find new ways to guide humans towards a more fulfilling human experience. Throughout time, various theories and models of therapy have emerged, each with their strengths and weaknesses in their efforts to help humanity live more fulfilling lives. Psychoanalytic, Adlerian, existential, person-centered, gestalt, behavior, cognitive, cognitive behavior (CBT), reality, feminist, postmodern, and family systems approaches have all made important contributions towards the evolution of psychological theory and therapy. One of the most widely accepted and practiced forms of theory and therapy in today’s world of psychology is CBT. Cognitive-Behavior Therapy has a rich and storied history, contains more inherent strengths than weaknesses, and provides effective treatment for a variety of psychological conditions.

However, the therapy may also look at your past and how your past experiences impact on how you interpret the world now.

“Life experience is richer than discourse. Narrative structures organize and give meaning to experience, but there are always feelings and lived experience not fully encompassed by the dominant story” (White & Epston, 1990, p. 20). Effective therapy is seen as an enjoyable experience presenting options for dialogue, rather than monologues, about the problem.

The emergence of family and systemic therapies in the latter part of the 20th century saw something of a paradigm shift in the world of psychotherapy and counseling. Those in the field during the 1960’s and 1970’s were predominantly occupied with psychodynamic, behavioural and humanistic approaches (Corey, 2009). Theories attached to these forms of therapy emphasized the autonomy of the individual, and the capacity to engage in free, independent choice. In therapeutic settings, much of the discussion would also typically be focused on ‘cause-and-effect’, in other words; seeking an explanation for why a person was thinking, feeling or behaving in a particular manner. Less attention would be focused on the context of the individuals’ experience, and the matter of how a situation came to be as it is (Bowen, 1972).

Therapy has been used for many generations as a mean to resolve dilemmas in a persons’ life. Unfortunately, due to cultural aspects, therapy is generally centered on an individual. We typically presume that any problem that one may exhibit can be solved through personal realizations. However, society and therapists alike are

Analytically trained therapists and those who work with adult children of dysfunctional families provide a needed and great service. The most fundamental purpose of psychotherapy with any adult child is to open a hidden, imprisoned, and extremely fragile part of the self, and convince it to allow itself to be touched by another person. However, these patients all fear, that if they open the door to the heart of the self, it will be crushed by the therapist, just as it was nearly crushed by the insensitivity, abuse, or betrayal of the parents. Psychology and Religion prescribe a form of psychotherapy that searches out the hidden heart of the self in order to unify the psyche and allow the spirit to begin a new period of growth. They advocate an explicit clinical

The aim of psychodynamic counselling is to increase the client’s capacity to use and accept more aspects of themselves; to free their process of thought and feeling and to remove existent damaging restrictions on them. New, better possibilities for dealing with internal and external remain after counselling ends.

A weakness is that this approach doesn’t establish the cause of abnormal behaviour. Critics say that just because abnormal behaviour can be changed by therapy, it does not mean that it was learnt. For example therapy can lead an anorexic person to put on weight, this does not mean they are cured, because they will never reach the optimum of their health due to the underlying cause of anorexia still being there. This weakness suggests that this model is not always scientific.

In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy the correlation of patients feelings and figures of thinking are linked to their feeling of distress. The patient is instructed and encouraged to participate by adapting the following approach ( Jones, Hacker, Cormac et al.,2012). a. Investigating the accustomed or habitual way of thinking b. Examining the results of such upsetting way of thinking The objective of Cognitive behavioral therapy is to change the interpretations that patients have in relation to traumatic personal experiences or dysfunctional behavior.

In discussion of my personal theory of Psychopathology I will include (a) the definition of psychopathology, (b) etiology and progression of pathology, (c) the implications of the theory of psychopathology for treatment, (d) the process of counseling and the roles the counselor and client play (e) the ethical implications of this theory of psychopathology

There are many emerging influences that shape both my professional and personal development as a practitioner. Accessing a vast array of life experiences, contributes richly to the evolution of my individual approach. Aptly noted as “Counsellors and therapists are influenced by their own experience or story as they develop or adopt their theoretical stance”(Milner and Palmer, 2001, P. 17)). Ongoing instruction at college and engagement with fellow students continue to prompt further learning, allowing for openness and shared knowledge. This facilitates an atmosphere of mutual exchange which often flows spontaneously. In addition personal research undertaken around theoretical subject matter expands and enhances understanding. Attending training and workshops in Transactional Analysis, Emotion Focused Therapy, Neurobiology of Anxiety and Trauma and Seren work with the survivors of sexual abuse, have promoted exploration, development and growth. Discovering scientific aspects of neurobiology and its positive affects, affirm the effectiveness of the therapeutic engagement in counselling. Details consolidating these findings are described

Our experience of past, present and future are seen as key factors in mental distress by