exam 2 C5 Insight Approaches Flashcards
Theory as Blueprint for Action
Counselors’ choices all flow from a theoretical model of what people are like, what defines mental health, and what conditions are likely to be most conducive in facilitating change
Counselors have quite complex and well-developed theories of:
Metaphysics (how the world works)
Ethics (how people should act)
Logic (cause–effect relationships)
Ontology (meaning of human existence)
Epistemology (how people know)
These theories guide what a counselor does with a particular client at a particular moment
TherapyPsychoanalytic
Analyst may do nothing but listen for months
Carefully thinking about everything the client says, searching for hidden meanings and clues as to what may be the client’s unconscious fantasies and desires
When confident in having figured out these secret impulses and their causal relationship to the client’s present problems, the analyst will reveal them to the client
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Explanations, called interpretations, are repeated over the course of many subsequent sessions until the client no longer fears knowledge of what lies in the unconscious, and the client’s symptoms abate
Freud and Psychoanalytical Theory
Freud introduced the concept of different levels of awareness that motivate behavior
Several regions of the mind:
Conscious mind, which contains those thoughts and feelings that are always accessible
Preconscious mind, which holds elements on the edge of awareness that, with minimal effort, can be made immediately accessible
Unconscious mind, which harbors the secrets of the soul
psychoanlytic: Stages of Personal Development
As a medically trained physician, Freud had a particular interest in neurology and the instinctual basis of behavior
Viewed the development of human personality as following a series of biologically determined stages, each an expression of the pleasure principle
Child’s insatiable urge to reduce tension and maintain psychic equilibrium by self-indulgence in oral, anal, or genital preoccupations
Structure of the Psyche
Id:
Source of all energy and instinctual drives
Often referred to as a “seething cauldron” of angry feelings, sexual desires, and infantile wishes
Unconscious
Ego:
Contact between the id and reality
Capacity for rationality and logic
Superego:
Concerned primarily with moral issues
Nature of right and wrong
Can be our conscience
Can also be unnecessarily harsh and punitive
Ego’s Job
Deals with the impulses of the id, the “critical parent” superego, and the laws and rules of society
Must enable the person to function normally while struggling with all of these forces
When the ego fails, we experience anxiety
Too much anxiety makes us sick, and in need of therapy
Theory as Blueprint for Action
Counselors’ choices all flow from a theoretical model of what people are like, what defines mental health, and what conditions are likely to be most conducive in facilitating change
Defense Mechanisms:
repression, projection
Repression
Selective exclusion of painful experiences of the past from conscious awareness
A form of censorship used to block traumatic episodes
Projection
Art of putting onto another person those characteristics unacceptable to yourself
Accusing someone of being angry when we are feeling
Defense Mechanisms: denial, sublimation
Denial
Distortion of reality by pretending truths, feelings, or events are not really happening
In contrast to repression, denial occurs on a preconscious rather than unconscious level
Sublimation
Disguised conversion of forbidden impulses into socially acceptable behaviors
Athletes may unconsciously choose their profession as a way to release aggression
Defense Mechanisms: reaction formation,rationalization
Reaction formation
Used to counter perceived threats, substituting an opposite reaction for the one that is disturbing
A mother who unconsciously feels angry at her 2-year-old daughter puts on a show of always adoring her
Rationalization
Intellectual misuse of logic to over explain or justify conflicting messages
“It doesn’t matter if I type the paper or not; I’ll probably flunk the class anyway.”
Defense Mechanisms: regression
Regression
Retreat to an earlier stage of development because of fear
Any flight from controlled and realistic thinking may constitute a regression
When we return home for the holidays and act as though we were children again, we have “regressed”
Defense Mechanisms: fixation
Fixation
Tendency to remain at one level, interrupting the normal plan of psychological development
Generally a defense against anxiety and results from the fear of taking the next step in psychological development
Attachment Theory
Emphasizes the importance of parents’ ability to provide a secure base for children to explore the world, feeling safe and secure that support and help is available as needed
The degree to which a parent can provide this consistent, available base for his or her child shapes a child’s unconscious expectations regarding interpersonal relationships in general
–Behaviors known as attachment styles
Expectations lead to predictable behaviors in close relationships of all kinds
*Reflected not only in how infants relate to their parents but in how they interact with significant others throughout their lives
Limitations of
Psychoanalytic Theory
Extremely complex and dense
–Requires years of specialized training
*Overemphasis on the role of insight and insufficient emphasis on making life changes
*Puts the clinician in a position of power over the client because of its reliance on clinician’s expertise in making sense of the client’s unconscious motives and feelings
Concepts of the various psychoanalytic therapies are difficult to research and support empirically
*Tends to ignore effects of social and cultural factors in the causes of clients’ concerns
*Not useful for persons in crisis who require immediate relief of symptoms
*Traditionally criticized as strongly culturally and gender biased in treatment approaches
Theory and techniques naturally lend themselves to personal experimentation
*Interpreting dreams helps in understanding our unconscious desires
–Other techniques include hypnosis and free association
*Crucial that we be entirely honest about our desires, wishes, and motives
Adlerian Therapy
Become aware of prejudices
*Stop being afraid of making a mistake
*Cultivate the courage to be imperfect
*Enjoy the pleasure in an activity
–All problems are basically social problems and emerge from the need to belong and find a place in the group
–Adler says “life is movement and that individuals have the power to change interactions by what they do and Behavior is directed toward goals that are inferred from the consequences of behavior
People are holistic beings and incapable of being reduced to discrete units
Gestalt Therapy
We learn to focus our attention on those events, situations, or stimuli that provide internal psychological equilibrium, even though we may thereby distort reality
*Focuses on the what and how of behavior and on the central role of unfinished business from the past that interferes with effective functioning in the present
Stuck
–The inability to resolve issues and thereby avoid dealing with the “now”
*Polarization is another key Gestalt concept
–Refers to the various partsof the self that are in conflict
Hot seat
–“What is your most common fantasy?”
–“What in your life are you most ashamed of?”
–“Which person in the group are you most attracted to and why?”
Resentment expression
–Make a list of things about which you consciously feel guilty. Change the word guilt to resentment
*“I feel guilty because I do not spend enough time with my children” becomes “I resent having to spend time with my children”
*Owning the projection
–Client is encouraged to apply his or her projections to himself or herself
*Demonstrates how we sometimes avoid our negatively perceived qualities and traits by putting them onto others
Double chairing
–Helps people experience opposite poles of the self
–Counselor explores a problem with a client and identifies the opposing feelings
–Two chairs are set up, and the client is instructed to take one and talk to the empty chair from one (specified) pole of the issue
Existential Therapy
Definiton: Existentialism: A way of being that encourages a person to use and accept anxiety constructively. Often People create bars by refusal or inability to accept responsibility for their choices and feeling trapped bc not recognizing their freedoms.
ROLE of a counselor to help the client find the meaning in their suffering and to help them to make choices which would lead them to greater freedom.
Counselor assists client in expanding their choices and freedoms to develop in new ways, and with this focus on issues of freedom and accompanying feelings of exhilaration and anxiety.
Yalom writes about death as the primary savior of humankind
bc Motivates an intense appreciation of life’s value. and by confronting our own vulnerability, we are made aware of what is truly important
Insight-oriented theory
*focuses on the main goal to help people find personal meaning in their actions, lives, and suffering
*Examines choices and consequences
*Confronts with fears of death, alienation, and aloneness
*Emphasizes on taking responsibility for actions and life
Quests for greater authenticity, honesty, and identity
*Compatibility with other, more action-oriented theories
*Search for a personal philosophy to guide daily life
Limitations Of Existential Therapy
Described as an abstract, ambiguous, mystical theory difficult to apply to the circumstances of everyday living
*Not often appropriate for clients of low to average intelligence or with severe emotional and cognitive disturbances
*Clients in a crisis or unable to meet economic needs are not concerned with existential angst or phenomenological non-being
Personal Applications for the Counselor on Existential Therapy
Thinking about death and our eventual demise is terrifying
–According to the existentialist, it is actually death that saves us and motivates us to live more intensely and passionately
–If at any moment your heart could stop beating, what choices are you making to become more intensely involved in living and to accept responsibility for your decisions?
Attachment Theory and the Therapeutic Relationship
New model for understanding and categorizing our client’s relationship issues
*Systematic approach to thinking about what goes on between client and counselor in the therapeutic relationship
*New ways to conceptualize the counselor’s role and tasks in treatment
Person-Centered Therapy
Believes human are growth oriented and tend toward self-actualization ( believes people beings are intrinsically good and trustworthy)
Focus of counseling content is on affect and the exploration of feelings
*Universal goals of counseling are to help people be more free, intentional,permissiveness, and warmth
ethical, contemplative, and human
Roger says”Every individual exists in a continually changing world of experience of which he is the center”
*An important vehicle for change is the therapeutic relationship that exudes qualities of trust, openness, and acceptance,
*Client or student has the primary responsibility for course of treatment or study
Active Listening
**Important for everyone to know bc will foster an open and honest relationship and provide an opportunity for emotional catharsis (which is releasing any pent pressure from out the body) and the definition is communication with empathetic understanding of verbal and nonverbal messages and simple to learn but the most difficult to master for a counselor*
The counselor:
–Communicates from a posture of empathic understanding
–Intently attends to a client’s verbal and nonverbal messages
–Interprets the surface and underlying meanings
–Formulates a response that demonstrates a deep-level understanding of the client’s experience
The most difficult counseling skill to master, but is relatively simple to learn
–Fosters an open and honest helping relationship
*Beginner listens carefully to the underlying feeling that is expressed and then communicates back what is heard
–Even if the reflection is inaccurate and ignores the client’s actual messages, it still encourages further self-exploration
Helps the client feel reassured that he or she is deeply understood and accepted
*Clarifies a client’s feelings so the situation may be viewed more objectively
*Provides opportunity for emotional catharsis, bringing relief of pent-up tensions and pressure
*Encourages the client to move from superficial concerns to deeper problems
Limitations of
Person-Centered Therapy
May give too much responsibility to the client and reduce the role of the counselor as expert
–Clients don’t often know what they are feeling
*May be somewhat naive in its view of clients as naturally evolving and able to pursue lofty goals that may not be possible to reach
*Does not respond to the difficulties encountered in the process of translating feelings into action
Narrow in its focus on feelings and tends to ignore thoughts and behavior
*May overemphasize the importance of relationship factors, which may be a necessary but insufficient condition for therapeutic change
*Not useful for clients who are in crisis and require directive intervention
Tends to be more useful for highly verbal clients
*May over focus on issues of freedom, autonomy, and independence
*May ignore the psychological impact of social oppression and marginalization experienced by ethnic minorities, gay men, and lesbians
Clients from non-European cultures that do not place high value on self-disclosure and insight might be uncomfortable with its nondirective approach and with the counselor’s emotional genuineness
