Counseling theories are interrelated principles that describe, explain, predict, and guide the actions of the counselors within different situations.
Analytic approaches • Psychodynamic theory, or
psychodynamics, involves personality and how it can be analyzed in order to more fully understand the client's presenting problem and quality of life. Both psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches to counseling include analyzing or conceptualizing personality, developing and fostering insight on behalf of the client, and then using those insights to create interventions or take action. • Jungian analytic theory is based on the idea of a collective unconscious, which is a storing of history, stories, fairy tales, and other experiences that make up the psyche which, in turn, can be used in therapy for psychological healing. The ultimate goal of counselors who utilize this theory is to combine the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self in order to foster a connection with the universe that is whole and complete. See also
Analytical psychology. •
Adlerian individual psychology is used by counselors who believe that each individual develops their own style of life, which helps to make sense of the world around them. Adlerian counselors direct their clients to choose a new lifestyle when the old is faulty or no longer serves its purpose for the client. This approach is brief and directive, with the aim of helping clients develop insight and self-understanding.
Humanistic-existential approaches • Person centered is an influential theory in counseling. The founder of this theory, Carl Rogers, stated that three conditions are necessary for therapeutic change to occur: a) congruence or genuineness, b) accurate empathy, and c) unconditional positive regard. Many counselors consider therapeutic presence to be a necessary condition, as the goal of
person centered therapy is to allow clients to become more fully themselves and experience this through the counseling relationship. • Existential theory focuses on the meaning of life, identity crises, confronting lonesomeness, and other anxieties involving "big picture" ideas. Counselors who utilize
existential therapy focus on existential roots and emphasize the idea that human beings are ultimately responsible for the choices they make and the actions they take. • Gestalt theory involves helping clients become aware of their true selves. This includes present moment awareness of self and environment.
Gestalt therapy techniques include active and experiential methods and the main goal of this approach to counseling is a reintegration of the self, including parts that have been metaphorically cutoff.
Action-based approaches • Behavioral approaches to counseling include techniques such as
classical conditioning,
operant conditioning, and
social learning theory.
Behavior therapy oriented counselors tend to conduct their interventions on behaviors that are both observable and measurable. • Cognitive-behavioral theory combines both cognitive and behavioral approaches to counseling. In addition to
cognitive behavioral therapy, there are numerous other forms of this approach including
Multimodal therapy,
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy,
Reality therapy, and
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. • Systemic/family approaches to counseling focus on the importance of the larger relational system, such as the family of origin, family of procreation, and other societal groups and communities. Counselors who utilize this theory view client's presenting problems as related to the systems that they are involved in and view symptoms with neutrality in order to help clients create new relational patterns within
family therapy and systemic therapy.
Postmodern and multicultural approaches • Solution based counseling theory is related to systemic family counseling and involves encouraging clients to make small consistent changes in their lives. Solution based theory views the counselor and clients are collaborators in order to create goals and bring about measurable change. This type of theory involves
solution focused brief therapy and it is utilized in schools, and managed care environments, among other time-limited environments. • Feminist theory is often misinterpretation as being used by counselors who work only with female clients. However, this theory focuses on multiple aspects of identity, such as gender, culture, race, sexual orientation, to name a few. Feminist theory counselors hold the belief that human beings seek connections with others in order to establish growth. This theoretical orientation labels disconnection as the root of the client's presenting problems and the ultimate goal of
feminist therapy is to create growth-fostering relationships. • Narrative theory involves the idea that each individual operates from a dominant discourse, which is the societal expectations by which human beings live. The purpose of
narrative therapy is to focus on separating the person from the problem and guiding clients to choose alternative ways to act and interact with others throughout their daily lives. • Collaborative theory is an approach that involves counselor and clients working together to explore and create an understanding of the presenting problems. Counselors with this theoretical orientation use the
collaborative therapy technique of mutual puzzling, which is shared inquiry of discovering how the problem occurs and also how to move forward. • Reflecting teams are not so much a theory as they are a technique utilized by postmodern counselors. Guidelines for reflecting teams are as follows: client must give permission, client can choose to listen or not to listen to the teams' conversation, conversation should focus on what is seen or heard, conversation should stem from a questioning, speculative perspective, the reflecting team should not address the client or clients directly, and the reflecting team should listen for what is appropriately unusual. == Ethics in counseling ==