It is my belief that in order to be a successful counselor, you must have the skills and ability to listen; especially without judgement. My desire is to work mainly with adolescents and their families inside and outside of schools; I will focus on resolving the identity versus role confusion conflict. I have enjoyed learning about the different techniques and theories of counseling; I am sure each theory is very useful in many ways. I can see myself using different parts of each in my future career as a Mental Health Counselor. However, there are particular theories and techniques that seem to fit into the practice of counseling in the schools more than others. I am particularly drawn to the practicality of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, …show more content…
60). He also acknowledges the power of the past and early traumatic childhood experiences in preventing people from living happy, healthy, well-adjusted lives. (Corey, 2013, p. 63) I agree more with Erikson’s psychosocial perspective than Freud’s psychosexual stages in that people continue to develop socially throughout their lives and that there are specific events to be resolved in each stage of life (Corey, 2013, p. 63). As each client is different, I will apply the concepts accordingly to each individual. I believe Adolescents are in their genital stage and they at this point in their lives are going through a lot of changes, not only within their social circle, but in their family circle as well. During this stage, they are testing limits, breaking dependent ties and trying to establish an identity. My clients are focused on finding their identity, figuring out their life goals, and life’s meanings. But instead of having my clients lie on a couch and tell me all about their dreams, goals, and life experiences, I would use Adler’s life style assessment to learn about their family background and early childhood experiences which may have played an important role in their lives. Adlerian Therapy I would incorporate Adlerian Therapy into my practice to guide how I counsel my clients. Unlike Freud, Adler stresses choice and responsibility, meaning in life and the striving for success, completion and perfection (Corey, 2013,
I particularly enjoy communicating program progression, behavior changes and therapeutic interventions with Senior Therapists and parents to discuses the next steps in the children’s treatment plan. While working to meet the needs of the children for whom I provide therapy, I realized that each of them had an interesting story and a need for personalized interaction, education and compassion. I am enthusiastic about working hard to help meet students’ psychological needs, and I feel the best way to do this is to pursue an education in School Psychology.
Adolescence describes the transitional stage in a teenager’s life, from childhood to adulthood, where an individual evolves physically, psychologically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. It is a defined social category that is expressed through immaturity and unpredictability and allows an individual to learn and discover their sense of self and identity. The idea of adolescence came into perspective after children were expected to take on adult roles as soon as they were mature enough to, going straight from puberty to adulthood. As society changed and moulded, so did the ideas about life stages, which is evident in Erikson’s theory.
Erikson was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.
Mental Health Counselors are some of highest interacting people in the career industry. Having the highest ability to communicate with peers, you are faced with new challenges every single day. Many different types of people bring many different problems to the table. They are not expected to close the door due to the fact of not knowing how to help one. You will need a very high comprehension of the world around you, to be able to achieve high success rates in this career.
It is my goal to become a school counselor in a local high school. As a school counselor, it is also important to try and understand the different experiences that children go through in order to get through to them. After studying the different counseling theories, I have discovered that each theory is valid and there are ideas and techniques that I would use out of each of them. However, there are some theories more than others that I would use to guide me daily as a school counselor. Modern day counseling is equipped with a wide variety of therapies, techniques and approaches. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast three approaches of therapy. Also in this essay the views of the person and the Therapeutic process will be
As a mental health counselor in training, I look forward to continuing the process of being aware of my own beliefs and biases. I also recognize that I am human and anticipate some life issues presented by clients will present challenges that I encounter.
When discussing the timeline of Erik Erikson, we will discover how he formed his theory of psychosocial developmental, along with explaining what stage my friend and I are currently in within his timeline. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was a German born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, whom formed a theory of psychosocial development on the human life cycle. Erikson’s major innovation was to take Freud’s psychosexual stages of the libido and transform them into a developmental model of psychosocial tasks, which identified eight stages of human development and their corresponding psychosocial tasks. (McAdams, 2009, "Chapter 9, Developmental Stages In Childhood ") To really determine which stage I’m currently in I had to
Mental Health Counselor is the career I have decided to go for. It took me forever and a lot of thinking to decide exactly what I want to do with my life. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, self harming all within myself. I also dealt with watching my father abuse alcohol, and getting cancer and passing. My daughter is ADHD, ODD and suffers with anxiety. I also work in a group home taking care of mentally challenged people. Altogether I've dealt with a lot and I think experiencing everything I have, would make me understand and be a good mental health counselor.
In 1905 Sigmund Freud theorized that childhood development happens in stages, which are called “Psychosexual Development Stages.” In 1950 Erik Erikson developed “Psychosocial Stages,” which are greatly influenced by Freud’s theories. Freud’s theory centers on psychosexual energy or the libido. Erickson’s theory centers on issues and tasks being met at specific ages. Even though we are sexual beings, our developmental stages do not focus entirely on sexual pleasures. Both theories do show that personality develops in stages. Although, Erickson’s theory is the better theory.
The population I want to work with once I become a counselor is adolescents. Like all developmental stages, this group has unique characteristics. Aligning my personal beliefs combined with the knowledge I have of this age group, I have chosen Adlerian for my counseling theory. Breaking down personality development, the change process, the focus of the session and personality traits of the counselor through an Adlerian kaleidoscope, I will examine how this theory aligns with my beliefs and will provide guidance in my counseling career.
An Adlerian approach aims to empower children who believe they have insufficient control over their circumstances. Adler believed that people are socially embedded, goal-oriented, creative beings that develop social interest through interactions (Kottman,2001 ). A child's private logic reveals a subjective view of self, others, and the world. Additionally, it encompasses the basic convictions that motivate the child to behave in certain ways and because they do not yet possess abstract thought, they may rely on faulty or mistaken convictions (Evans, 2011).
Adler's goals for the client were to help them develop a healthy, complete lifestyle, and to help them overcome feelings of inferiority. He developed a 12 stage process to help a client reach his or her goals. These stages are:
This quarter’s course of “theories of counseling” felt like a whirlwind of theories, theorist, therapeutic techniques, and proper application of theoretical framework to help counsel students. As the course continued each new theory and therapy style I learned about seemed more appealing and useful than the last. In deciding which therapy styles I would favor using I have to take into account the general demographic of the students and communities I wish to work in. I plan to work with middle school to high school students that are from urban low social economic status and are recent arrivals to the country. Some of the characteristics of obstacles these students and families face daily are, single parent home/income, past/recent trauma, history of low family education level and legal trouble. I am fortunate to live in the community and society I want to help and that I have grown up in. I am equally blessed to be raised and have the opportunity to give back to my community and society the best way I know how by giving back in a positive manner.
Impacting the lives of children must be approached from a team perspective to address all aspects of the child’s environment and relationships including caregivers, peers, teachers and school. Behavioral Counselors must collaborate with school counselors to understand the impact that school and teachers have on the child’s life. To appreciate School Counseling a review of the specialization’s history is important. School Counselors have evolved from vocational guidance and job-orientated counseling following World War I to educational guidance following World War II due to the passing of the GI bill as veterans were given right to education counseling (Minkoff, 1985). Today School Counselors support a wide variety of needs from a wide variety of student populations including but not limited to depression, college guidance, anxiety, oppositional disorder and developmentally delayed due to change in access to mental health care being more privatized (Lockhart & Keys, 1998). Lockhart states that because of the restructuring in access to care school counselors have been pushed to handle a wider variety of needs within mental health (1998).
School counseling as always caught my attention. When I started my higher education, I had a focus on studying Elementary Education. However, after completing a college assignment for one of my psychology course, I found a very interested area in Psychology which is counseling. Since then, I have falling in love with counseling, and have spent a lot of time researching the career. I have conducted different interviews and have engaged in different counseling events that have helped me get to know the career. Therefore, when given this assignment, I felt more than prepared because I have spent a lot of time researching this career. However, I used the given source, ONET, to have more of a broad understanding about School Counseling.