Therapeutic Styles of Counselling

The decision to take this course was rooted in a deepening interest in psychotherapy, self–development, the welfare of other people and in a desire to gain a theoretical base to enrich my current arts and health practice.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely short-term and concentrates on enabling clients to deal with very particular problems. Often six weeks to six months sessions of course depending upon the problem it is pacifically goal directed and places great weight upon self-help as a long term coping tool that the client can take away with them and successfully use. Cognitive-behavioural therapy believes that clients can learn the wrong ways of developing and making sense of information during their cognitive development. This can often lead to distortions in the way they identify reality, it’s the job of the therapist to enable them to work this out.

al., 2001). REBT theory views individuals as ‘responsibly hedonistic’ in the implication that they attempt to live and reach contentment. Conversely, REBT theory maintains that clients are inclined to embrace irrational beliefs and behaviors that prevent them from achieving their goals and purposes (Weinrach, 1996). REBT theory accepts that clients contrast rational desires with wishes, preferences, and wants. Additionally, the existence of extreme philosophies make the difference between healthy negative emotions and unhealthy negative emotions (Weinrach, 1995). REBT theory asserts that clients have the ability to change their beliefs and philosophies profoundly and thus can change unreservedly their state of psychological health (Corey,

identifying the causes of the client feeling. Gestalts therapy focus on the here and now of the

The following essay will aim to explore two developmental theories. It will also look at how they have become relevant in counselling and psychotherapy practice, how they should be helpful and offer support when a presenting issue occurs from a client, and how the counsellor will work in partnership with the client. The chosen theories are based on John Bowlby’s attachment theory and David Winnicott’s developmental theory.

This therapy begins by teaching the patients to notice any dysfunctional thoughts and inaccuracies in their ways of thinking, then the therapist encourages their patients to think rationally, leading to the encouragement of their patients to reconsider their current beliefs about themselves, the trauma, and the world. The earlier sessions’ main focuses are to help the patients recognize what they have thought and to calculate those thoughts by probabilistic reasoning, Socratic questioning, and to have the patients provide pros and cons of those thoughts. In later sessions, patients were able to identify, evaluate, and change inaccurate beliefs about the trauma, self, world, and future (Marks et al., 1998). They ended the sessions with a new, positive way of thinking. The only downfall of cognitive restructuring is that its treatment is spread out over a period of

Gestalt therapy, which was founded by Fritz and Laura Perls in the 1940s, teaches the therapists and their clients the phenomenological awareness method, where feeling, perceiving and acting are differentiated from interpreting and rearranging the pre-existing attitudes. Gestalt therapists and clients’ dialogue, thus communicating their phenomenological perspectives, and their differences in perceptions form the basis and focus of experimentation and continued dialogue. The desired outcome of the therapy process is for the client to become aware of their actions, how they are acting, and the ways they can change their actions and learn to accept and appreciate themselves. Here, the emphasis is mainly on the process rather

My personal philosophy of life and my philosophy of counseling has been deeply affected by my life experiences as a young child and also as an adult. I am fortunate that my life has been a good life and I consider myself to be fortunate to have to have good parents and many loving family members. I do not recall having any events in my childhood that I would consider to be abusive or neglectful on the part of my family, and for that I consider myself to be lucky. I know several people who were abused as a child and it seems to have impacted them in many aspects of their lives even into adulthood.

The aim of this assignment is to compare and contrast two theories or theorists of counselling from psychodynamic, humanistic or cognitive behavioural traditions and also to assess their strengths and weaknesses. This essay will focus on exploring the contrasting ideas and approaches of Carl Rogers who is a key figure associated with the person-centered approach and Fritz Perls who developed Gestalt therapy. Although they are both regarded as humanistic counsellors, they share a very different approach when working with clients. I have chosen to analyse these two theorists because of their contrasting styles, in particular my curiosity was sparked after viewing both Perls and Rogers sessions with Gloria. I found it fascinating how such different styles could still be successful in therapy. In particular fritz perls style really grabbed my attention as at first, I was really put off by his seemingly rude demeanour. However, after reading information on gestalt therapy and the ideas behind it I started to understand how it works.

Dr. Perry talked to this lady regarding her husband many affairs; she looked at these affairs as only a hobby of her husband’s. After Dr. Perry reframed the situation and gave his emotional views on the affairs, only then did she see that her husband’s affairs were hurtful. I am wondering did the women grow up in a household where affairs were just hobbies. Or was this kind of lifestyle normal for both of them in their relationship? This question about what was a normal lifestyle in her marriage could have been an important issue in this situation. I kind of feel sorry for the therapist that put these thought into this women’s head, because she may blow up at her husband and he might come looking for the

This paper sets out to describe a theory known as Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory (REBT) which is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which I used with my client. Readers will discover detailed information about this theory, including the basic beliefs of this theory, the interventions of this theory that I utilized, and how changes occur in my client’s life by using this form of therapy. Readers will also discover how I monitored my client’s progress throughout the intervention stages. Along with this information, readers will also be informed of how I held myself accountable as my client’s social worker by having my work evaluated. The final information, that readers will learn, is how I would terminate counseling services with this client according to REBT.

Cognitive restructuring is a primary component of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which was coined by Albert Ellis (Spiegler, 2010). REBT works to alter erroneous thoughts that cause psychological dysfunction through cognitive restructuring. REBT is typically used to treat anxiety, depression, anger, and guilt. One central belief of REBT is that individuals’ views and perceptions of things are more important than the actual things. In other words, an individual’s irrational thoughts of a harmless situation can cause psychological problems. Furthermore, the process of this phenomenon follows a sequence: a person experiences an event, from that event an irrational belief arises, which has negative consequences. Irrational beliefs are

Gestalt therapy is an organized category of therapy that is founded upon the Gestalt ideology. Conceptualized by Frtiz Perls, it is facilitated through the basic principle of relational theory which deems every individual as whole. This means that they are made up completely of body, mind and spirit. Subsequently, they can be clearly understood in conjunction with their present situation through the eyes of their own experiences. Considering these factors, this approach is an infusion of the concept of relational theory with the current state (Arnheim, 1945). It provides essential insight that focuses intensely on self-awareness as well as what is going on in the present moment. The root of concern, in regards to the present moment, is the events of what will happen from one juncture of time until the next. My major theoretical orientation, now, is rooted in the Gestalt Theory and form of practice.

In order for the Gestalt therapist to be well grounded and remain ethical, they must run the therapy by using self-awareness, acceptance, authenticity, and the here and now and being present (Spillman & Rosen, 2014, p. 204-205). Gestalt therapy focuses on all aspects of an individual and is able to do so through dialogue. Dialogue is an essential part of Gestalt theory, therefore Gestalt therapists emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the therapist and the client (Yontef, 1993, p. 127). As previously mentioned, one characteristic that sets Gestalt therapy from other therapies is Gestalt Dialogue.

Gestalt therapists (Sabar, 2013; Yontef, 1993) state that the client is viewed within his/her field, in which each component cannot be understood without reference to the whole. The client’s field consists of all past experiences he/she has had, his/her current physiological and emotional experiences, memories, meaning systems, thoughts available to his/her awareness, as well as external variables (Burley, 2013; Macaluso, 2015). A client’s past may have influence on the present because it is the source of old habits and unfinished business which influence his/her experience in the moment (Sabar, 2013). The client’s current experiences are in interaction with his/her past experiences, which are in interaction with the present therapeutic moment