Chapter 11 - Humanistic Theories of Counselling Flashcards
Person Centered Counselling
Founder: Carl Rogers nondirective client centered counselling
phenomenological perspective
What is important is the person’s perception of reality rather than the event itself.
Human Nature in Person-centred counselling
people are essentially good. Humans are positive, forward moving, constructive, realistic, and trustworthy. Each person is aware, inner-directed and moving toward self-actualization from infancy on
Self actualization is the most prevalent and motivating drive of existence.
Self-theory
The self is an outgrowth of what a person experiences, and an awareness of self helps a person differentiate him or herself from others
positive regard
Love, warmth, care, respect and acceptance. How a healthy self emerges.
conditional regard
conditional acceptance if a person behaves a certain way. Person will have to deny or distort a perception when a person they depend on for approval sees a situation differently. An individual caught in such a dilemma becomes aware of incongruences between self-perception and experience. If they do not do as others wish, they will not be accepted and valued. If they do what others wish there is a gap between ideal self and real self
ideal self
what the person is striving to become
real self
what the person is. The further the ideal self is from the real self the more alienated and maladjusted the person becomes
Role of Counselor in P.C.C
holistic. Sets up and promotes a climate in which the client is free and encouraged to explore all aspects of self. The atmosphere focuses on the counsellor-client relationship.
Client is entitled to direct his or her own therapy
Goals in P.C.C
Focus on the client as a person, not on his or her problems. People need to be assisted in learning how to cope with situations, help the person become a fully functioning person who has no need to apply defense mechanisms.
More open to experience, more trusting of self-perception and engaged in self-exploration and evaluation
Techniques
- empathy
- unconditional positive regard (acceptance, prizing)
- Congruence (genuineness, openness, authenticity, transparency)
shown through active and passive listening, accurate reflection of thoughts and feelings, clarification, summarization, confrontation, general open ended leads. Questions avoided whenever possible
Empathy
may be subjective, interpersonal or objective or all 3. The counsellors ability to feel what the clients feels and convey this understanding back to them.
Unconditional positive regard
acceptance - a deep and genuine caring for the client as a person, prizing the person just for being.
Congruence
condition of being transparent in the therapeutic relationship by giving up roles and facades.
Strengths and contributions of Person centered
*revolutionized the counselling profession by linking counselling with psychotherapy and published tapes of and transcripts of counselling sessions
*applicable to wide range of problems, including labour management, leadership, career decision, international diplomacy.
* reduces stigmatization
*generated extensive research
*effective in many settings, improve psychological adjustment, learning, frustration tolerance, decrease defensiveness
*may be helpful in working with clients who have experienced tragedies, allows them to struggle through emotions and actually become less affected in time by fully realizing feelings related to the tragedies
* focuses on open and accepting relationship established by counsellors and clients and the short-term nature of the helping process
*short time to learn . Basis for several new and emerging approaches and frequent combined with other orientations
*positive view of human nature and it continues to evolve
Limitations of Person Centered
*approach may be too simplistic, optimistic, leisurely and unfocused for clients in crisis or who need more structure or directions.
*depends on bright, insightful, hard-working clients for best results. Has limited applicability and is seldom employed by severely disabled individuals or children
*ignores diagnosis, unconscious, developmental theories and innately generated sexual and aggressive drives, many say overly optimistic
*delas only with surface issues and does not challenge the client to explore deeper areas
*more attitudinal than technique based
existential counselling
founder: Rollo May & Viktor Frankly - meaning of life and dealing with anxieties
View of human nature in existential counselling
People form their lives by the choices they make. emphasizes the freedom that human beings have to choose what to make of their circumstances Focus on free will of choice and the action that goes with it. people as the author of their lives.
The meaning of life changes, but it never ceases to be.
Logotherapy
meaning goes beyond self actualization and exists at 3 levels a) ultimate meaning - order in the universe b)meaning of the moment and c) common, day to day meaning.
Can discover meaning in 3 ways
1)doing a deed - accomplishing something
2)experiencing a value - nature, culture, love
3) suffering - finding a proper attitude toward unalterable fate
Role of Counsellor in Existential Counselling
no uniform roles. Every client is unique. sensistive to all aspects of their clients character.
Counsellors concentrate on being authentic and entering deep and personal relationships, strives to be in the here and now and to understand and experience the ongoing emotional & mental state of the client.
Focus on person-to-person relationships that emphasize mutuality, wholeness and growth.G
Goals of Existential Counselling
help clients to realize the importance of meaning, responsibility, awareness, freedom and potential
Techniques of Existential Counselling
Does not limit the counselor to a specific technique or intervention
fewer techniques available then almost any other model
allows existential therpaists to borrow ideas as well as wide range of personal and professional skills
sees approaching humans with merely techniques implies manipulating them
Strengths and contributions of Existential Counselling
*approach emphasizes the uniqueness of each individual and the importance of meaningfulness in their lives
*recognizes that anxiety is not necessarily a negative condition it is a part of life and can motivate some individuals to make healthy and productive choices
*gives counsellors access to a tremendous amount of philosophy and literature that is both informative and enlightening about human nature
*offers hope to clients through therapeutic encounters with counsellor
*effective in multicultural situations because it’s view of human existence allows counsellors to focus on the person of the client
*helps connect individuals to universal problems faced by humankind such as the search for peace and the absence of caring
*combined with other approaches
*empirical support showing its efficacy
Limitations of Existential Counselling
- does not have a a fully developed model of counselling
*lacks educational and training programs. Each practitioner and counselling experience is unique
*limited for those who require techniques
*requires that counsellors have developed wisdom and deep understanding regarding their own existential questions
*difficult to implement beyond individual level because of its subjective nature - closer to philosophy than theories of counselling
