The Field Of Psychotherapy Has Undergone Sensational Change.

Based on my past experience and a review of this week’s reading, I believe the theories that best fit with my personal philosophies are the Person-centered therapy and Existential therapy. As Experiential and Relationship-Oriented Therapies, these theories share some key concepts that really fit with how I see my role in the therapeutic relationship and what I believe about personal power and change.

A phenomenological focus in existential counselling relates to the degree in which a therapist attempts to stay with the lived experiences of the client (Spinelli, 1989). The phenomenological method, as explained by Spinelli (1989), has a foundation of three main rules to guide the therapist. The first rule of ‘epoche’, recommends putting aside any prejudices and biases, as well as expectations or pre-conceived judgements that may arise when interacting with a client (Spinelli, 1989). This often requires the use of bracketing. Spinelli, highlights that completely bracketing perspectives is impossible (Cooper, 2003), However, the main factor relates to a willingness to bracket perspectives. For example, in the “Love’s Executioner”, Yalom (2012, p. 3) describes having disbelief that his client of seventy years could be in love but attempts to bracket this thought by maintaining objectivity throughout the encounter. The second rule called description, involves a focus on description over explanation (Cooper, 2003). Therapists are recommended to avoid theories and explanations of the experience, instead making a focus of staying with the lived experience as it actually is (Spinelli, 1989). For example, in “The Wrong One Died”, Yalom (2012, p. 90) avoids an explanation of what his clients dream means, in favour of asking the client to describe the feelings that arose throughout the

1. How do therapists using each of these perspectives view the client and client's problem?

Counselling and psychotherapy are very different areas of speciality than psychiatry or psychology. Yet it is from these two health practices that counselling and psychotherapy practice emerged. The emergence and beginning of this takes us back initially to 1887, when the specialism of psychotherapy emerged in psychiatry. In the nineteenth century there was a general shift towards science and

Firstly, one strength of the counselling relationship which makes it the most important factor is its effectiveness. The counselling relationship allows client and counsellor to agree on tasks and goals (Colin Feltham 2010). Through the relationship the client can become aware of their problems and work with the counsellor to find solutions. The relationship works well in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as it combines interpersonal and technical factors to result in a favourable outcome (Glovozolias 2004). CBT is action orientated therapy used to change faulty thinking patterns to help clients overcome mental disorders such as depression. (Whisman 1993) Discussed five studies that looked at the relationship and CBT in cases of depression; three studies found the therapeutic relationship significant for positive outcome. Unfortunately, in CBT value is placed on technique and therefore there is not much research on the effect of the counselling relationship in this therapy. Although, the relationship is vital in person centred therapy, as it emphasises the importance of the therapeutic relationship between counsellor and client. In person centred therapy the counsellor must find ways of using the relationship to highlight issues in the clients functioning. Person centred therapy was introduced by Carl Rodgers and is one of the most widely used therapies as it focuses on the client's thoughts, feelings, behaviours and needs.

They both have a “positive view of human nature and view the individual as not necessarily being a product of their past experiences, but acknowledge that they are able to determine their own futures” (Holder, 2013). They both attempt to improve their client’s wellbeing by implementing a two-way therapeutic relationship where both client and therapist collaborate to enable the clients coping mechanisms (Holder, 2013). CBT and PCT both instil the three core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence but in CBT it is used mainly in the establishing of the working alliance (Holder, 2013). In both methods, the relationship between client and therapist is congruent and they both use the skills of reflection, paraphrasing and

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.

Among these therapeutic approaches are the psychodynamic approach and the existential approach. An example of existential approach psychotherapy is the person-centred therapy that was introduced by Carl Rogers in the 1940s. Person-centred therapy (PCT) focuses on the quality of the person-to-person therapeutic relationship; it places faith and gives responsibility to the client in dealing with problems and concerns (Corey, 2009, p. 30). On the other hand, for the psychodynamic approach, Sigmund Freud, the core founder of this approach developed psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a therapy aimed to treat mental disorder. It is a set of techniques for treating the unconscious causes of mental disorders; as well as to explain the underlying factors of how human personality and abnormality develop from childhood (Corey, 2009, p. 30). This paper examines the similarities and differences between psychoanalytic therapy and

There quite a few similarities and differences between each of the two theories that I’ve introduced above. The main similarities include:

The practice that assist a therapist in determining a client diagnosis and the proper treatment plan that would resolve the issue surrounding the clinet’s diagnosis is Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning. The clinet’s treatment plan must be appropriate and relational and this will alow any type of medication and adaptions to be adjusted if needed so that modifications and adaptations can be adjusted as needed (Altman, Briggs, Frankel, Gensler, and Pantone, 2002). The ultimate goal of case conceptualization and treatment planning is to discover complete findings in relation to the client. One approach is Existential Therapy. The human

In clinical setting, the case formulation guides a therapist how to structure the sessions and by prioritising the client’s core problems, give rise to a plan and choice of intervention. Case formulation is an element of an empirical hypothesis testing approach to clinical work and has three main elements which are assessment, formulation and intervention. The process of case formulation starts with an unstructured ‘problem list’ (Persons, 1989), then proceeds to look for common themes which could suggest underlying beliefs, schemas and early life experiences. This supports CBT in standing up against criticisms made by psychodynamic theorists which states that CBT deals only with symptom reduction, having no underlying rationale (Persons et al., 1996).

CBT is an integrated approach using various combinations of cognitive and behavioral modification interventions and techniques (Myers, 2005). The aim is to change maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving that impact clients in the present (Weiten et al., 2009). From a cognitive behavioral perspective Jane would be diagnosed as having faulty thinking and dysfunctional behavioral issues suffering from depression, and anxiety in the form of Agoraphobia (Weiten et al., 2009).

Dr. D, Irvin Yolam the author of 'The Gift of Therapy and over ten (10) other books, is a million copy best selling author who is a world known and recognizable therapist who has gain recognition for his contribution to the field of therapy. Having done a magnitude of work in the field of therapy, the scholar who was once a professor at the Stanford University has written and dedicated the book "The gift of Therapy to his wife Marilyn for over fifty years and fellow therapist and clients, whom he tries to encourage and educate about the possible dos and don'ts of the profession. The book The Gift of therapy was first published in 2002 by HarperCollins publishers.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy or CBT is representative of the integration of behavioural therapy and cognitive therapy. It encourages the empowerment of an individual to be able to change how they think (cognitive) and how awareness of particular problematic patterns may impact upon our consequent responses (behaviour) (R ch7). Pivotal to our understanding of such mental health problems from a CBT perspective is Beck’s ‘Cognitive theory of emotion’. It purposes that events and situations are not responsible for emotional responses. Instead it is the ‘meanings’ we attach which reflect the complex interaction between an individual’s history, mood and the context of experience. These