PSYC 508: Counseling & Personality Theories Flashcards
1st and 2nd Order Cybernetics
Systems theory (Norbert Weirder)
Study of communciation and the regulating feedback mechanisms within systems.
**1st order **- counselor observes system from an external perspective to gain understanding of the family dynamic and how the system opperates (as an expert observer).
2nd order - counselor no longer expert observer and is now a participant observer/therapist becomes a part of the familt system.
Widely used in therapy to conceptualize relationships and interactions within families and groups.
Ex: In a couples therapy session, the therapist has moved from 1st order to 2nd order cybernetics, assuming an active role in the dynmatic relationship as the couple and therapist co-create meaning and solutions. The therapist might say: “What I hear Marc saying is ….. . Are you hearning that Sarah or how is this landing for you?”
Adlerian Therapy
Alfred Adler (he’s German, think kindergarden)
1st generation - after Freud
Psyco-analitic and goal-oriented approach emphasizes importance of social context and social groups, feelings of inferiority/inclusion, and the drive for self-improvement (striving for superiority).
Adler introduced idea that people are not solely driven by unconscious drives but are goal-oriented and motivated by a desire to achieve personal goals and contribute to society.
- Widely used to help clients explore and change maladaptive behaviors, foster self-awareness, and develop healthier social relationships.
4 stages:
1) Forming the therapeutic relationship
2) Lifestyle assessemnt + analysis
3) Interprestation + Insight
4) Reorientation
Ex: Client feels the need to excel in every aspect of life to gain approval. Adlerian therapist might explore client’s early memories and family dynamics to uncover how their beliefs about success and self-worth developed and how they can interpret and realign those goal in a healthy and postive way for their own future self.
Automatic Thoughts
Beck’s theory of Cognitive therapy
Conditioned, spontaneous (reflexive, habitual) thoughts (schemas/core beliefs) that appear plausible in response to a particular stimulus
- May consist of dichotomous reasoning (always and never), personalization, and emotional reasoning
- The downward arrow method is used to explore what intermediate and core beliefs underlie automatic thoughts
- May be negative in nature and serve a purpose of protecting the client in some way from stressful events
Important to identify and explore automatic thoughts, especially negative automatic thoughts, to challenge core beliefs and improve a client’s self-image, thus increasing confidence and cognitive flexability.
Ex:
Behavioral Activation
Skinner’s Behavior theory that depression results from a lack of positive reinforcement, and is maintained by isolation behaviors.
- Primary treatment for depression
- Therapy involves activation of pleasing activities that are positively reinforcing with the goal that those behaviors lead to positive psychological and emotional changes as well.
Ex: A freshmen student makes an appointment at their college counseling center. The student tells the therapist that they “just don’t have motivation” and that instead of going to class or socializing, the student lays in bed in their dorm. The therapist utilizes behavioral activation therapy by brainstorming how the client could engage on campus in ways that felt tolerable. Some examples may include going to at least one class a day, going to the dining hall a few times a week, or just walking around the dorm building once a day to get outside. The hope is that fighting the isolation behavior will help improve the depressive symptoms.
Behavioral Therapy
1st generation therapy / Skinner and Watson
Therapeutic approach rooted in classical and operant conditioning
- Present focus and consists of relearning and modifying observable behaviors through systematic techniques and strategies
- Treatment includes exposure therapy, systematic desensitization, token economies, and behavior modification throuth the uses or positive rewards and removal of negative conditioned reinforcers
- Highly effective for anxiety disorders, phobias, addictions, behavioral issues in children
Ex: Your client is a six year boy with impulsive behavior that is very distruptive at school. The school couselor works with the teacher to implement of a token economy where the child earns extra minutes of playground time for every day he does not kick the teacher and his classmates.
Big Five Personality Model/Traits
Model that breaks personality down into 5 trait components (OCEAN):
Openness curious, flexible thinking
Conscientiousness responsible, strong work ethic
Extroversion enthusiastic, soically comfortable
Agreeableness coorperative, kind, empathic
high/low Neuroticism ability-inablity to manage stress, emotional stability, resiliant or easiely overwhelmed
- Each trait exists individually on a spectrum offering insight and predicability of behaviors, tolerance and coping mechanisms.
- Traits thought to be stable over time and greatly influenced by cultural norms
Important to understand personality traits that serve as a reliable framework for psychological assessments and treatment approches that offer greatest impact for success.
Ex:
Client Centered-Person Centered Theory
Carl Rogers
Humanistic approach that emphasizes unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness when helping clients reach their full potential and live authentically.
- Therapists provide a nonjudgmental environment, allowing clients to explore emotions freely, fostering self-growth, self-acceptance, and personal development through their own experiences and choices.
- Unlike traditional therapies, Rogers believed clients are the experts on their own lives so the therapist’s role is to provide guidance without directing or giving advice, enabling clients to find their own solutions.
Ex: Mary is presenting to therapy with low self-worth and a history of staying in verbally abusive relationships with men. Her therapist patiently and actively listens as Mary reveals how her thoughts and behaviors towards dating typically result in these unhealthy and unproductive relationships. Her therapist does not rush her or fill in awkward pauses, listening and creating space for Mary to share without judgement as she explores her own reasons for repeating this beahvior in romantic relationships.
Cognitive Therapy
Beck and Ellis
- Cognitions directly impact an individual’s feelings, behaviors, and overall functioning and maladaptive thoughts are the root of all psychological suffering.
- Challenges distorted and maladaptive beliefs to challange automatic thoughts and change them to more rational and adaptive thoughts
- CBT is effective for treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and even chronic pain by helping clients recognize and challenge cognitive distortions, such as catastrophizing, black-and-white thinking, overgeneralization.
Ex: Client comes into therapy with depression. He has thoughts of “No one likes me”. The therapist employs cognitive therapy to test hypotheses of if these thoughts the client has are true. They refute the negative thought that no one likes me after they review evidence of people liking him. They replace these negative thoughts with more positive, adaptive thoughts.
Common Factors in Psychotherapy
Created by Lambert
- Identified four common factors and estimates how much each factor typically accounts for therapeutic change:
Client factors (40%) client assests, motivation, support systems
Therapeutic relationship (30%) – rapport , using unconditional positive regard, empathy
Expectancy (15%) – Hope for positive outcomes, growth-mindset,
Techniques (15%) – treatments for specific disorders including accurate identification of and therapist skills to treat
- Important bc ……………
Ex: Mark, a former armed forces member who has gained 50+ lbs since his medical discharge, is anxious and isolating himself, causing him to worry about his mental state. Mark presents to therapy with the hope of creating healthy habits that will impact his mindset and mood. Mark knows he is capable of hard work and commitment from his time in the military, and the tolerance and respect shown toward him by his therapist (also former military) encourages him to stay committed to his goals. Given these factors, Mark is likely to have positive outcomes from therapy.
Conditional vs Unconditional Positive Regard
Carl Rogers Person-Center Thearapy
Conditional Positive Regard: offering acceptance or approval to someone based on their actions or behavior meeting certain conditions. Placing value on what they accomplish or offer.
Unconditional positive regard: accepting and vauling someone completely, regardless of their behavior or actions. Essentially showing love and support without any strings attached.
Within the theraputic relationship, unconditional positive regard accounts for 30% of treatment outcomes where the client feels valued for who they are rather than for what they achieve.
Ex: A therapist might express approval when a client makes progress, such as saying, “You’re doing so well now that you’re keeping a consistent routine,” but become less supportive or even critical when the client regresses or struggles with keeping a consistent routine.
Conditions of Worth
Rogers Peron-Centered Therapy
Describe standards placed on an individual by society/family/friends that tell the individual that they’re only worthy of love/acceptance when they meet certain guidelines/conditions.
- Developed in childhood and in other stages of life depending on biopsychosocial factores
Important to understand bc when conditions of worth are placed on a person, this leads to incongruence and an inauthentic existence which may lead to psychopathology such anxiety, depression, EDs and impacts identity achievent when living an incongruent life.
Ex: Alex is a straight-A student, a member of the student council, and a start track athlete. She studies 7 days a week and volunteers at her church. Alex is an only child with parents who divorced when she was young. Never wanting to upset her usually stressed-out mother, Alex learned to be agreeable and pleasant no matter how she was really feeling inside. Now, regardless of having a wide range of friends, Alex struggles with self-worth and believes that it is only because she is so agreeable that she has any friends at all.
Countertransference
Freud
Countertransference is when the counselor unconsciously redirects feelings, or is triggered by something the client has said, has done, or in the way they present themselves
- A projection of roles, expectations, or emotions
- Not necessarily good or bad but must be aware”
Ex: Therapist finds themselves distracted and annoyed by their client who remindes them of their own mother. Therapist grew up viewing their mother as a martyr who used the church as an excuse to never live a joy filled life. Therapist finds herself growing frustrated with her client who is staying in an emotionally abusive marriage bc is concerned about how divorice will make her look within her church community.
Cultural Self-Awareness
Refers to a clinician’s or client’s understanding of their own cultural identity, values, biases, and how these influence thoughts, behaviors, and interactions.
For therapists, its crucial to providing culturally competent care, reducing biases, and fostering an inclusive, empathetic environment that acknowledgs its impact on mental health and well being.
For clients, developing cultural self-awareness can promote self-understanding, identity exploration, and healing by integrating cultural strengths/assests/values into therapy.
Important to understand and recogizing that culture self-awareness is an inescapable component of being a fully recognized self the role of culture in shaping one’s worldview.
Ex: Client is a female, asian-american client. As a female euro-american therapist, I want to practicing cultural humility and self-awareness by cknowledging my own limitations and making it know that I am open to learning from my clients’ experiences in order to provide her with the best quality care.
Defense Mechanisms
Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory // pre-cognitive // automatic
Unconscious strategies to cope with unpleasant feelings or situations that the mind has classified as unacceptable but in fact serve as negative reinforcers of a problem.
- Ego balancing the desires of the ID, SuperEGO and Reality
- Defense mechanisms lead to pathology when they show up as denial, repression, deflection and rationalization
Important to be able to recognizing when a client is using defense mechanisms and approach with curiosity, not criticism, to ehanse self-awareness, improve communication, tailor a treatment and reduce defense/avoident behaviors.
Ex: Your client lost another job and denies that its even a problem by saying, “I’m too smart for that job anyway. Those guys are all losers and my boss was just jealous of me. I’m pretty sure thats why he fired me.” You work with you client to ……..
Externalizing Conversations
Michale White
Used in Narrative therapy to separates the person from the problem.
THE PROBLEM IS THE PROBLEM.
- Explores what influences the problem by encouraging the client to see themselves separate from the problem, allowing the client to “take charge” and gain power over their problem.
Ex: Client: Everyone says I am angry all the time. I guess I am an angry person!
Therapist: It sounds like anger has been showing up a lot in your life lately. If anger were a separate thing from you, how would you describe it?
Client: It’s like a fire inside me. It just flares up, and I can’t control it. Its like I’m surrounded by its hot flame and just want to throw it at people.
Therapist helps clients redefine their relationship with the problem of anger. Therapist: Instead of saying I am an angry person, try saying: Anger is affecting me. How does that feel diffrent?
Fixation
Freud and Erickson : a *dysfuntional internal working model *
used in Psychoanalytic Theory
- Describes when individuals get stuck at a certain stage of development due to unresolved conflict affecting discontinuous human growth and development.
- Important because it helps therapists understand how past experiences shape present behaviors and emotional challenges
and is especially relevant for populations dealing with childhood trauma, attachment issues and addictions.
Ex: Jake is a 21yr old man who did not graduate highschool and is incapable of maintaining a job that supports him. Rather then working, Jake prefers attending electronic-dance music festivals which require taking long weekends off from work. Missing school for these festivals is the reason Jake did not graduate. Recently, Jake’s boss rejected his request for vacation. Jake responded by throwing a tantrum in the offce, hiding in the employee bathroom and refussing to return to work. When he does return to work, Jake sits at his desk chewing his nails while giving everyone the silent treatment.
Gemeinschaftsgefuhl / Social Interest
Alfred Adler - German “Community Interest”
- Social interest must be nurtured through relationships, parenting, and life experiences.
- Adlerian psychology states that individual’s innate desire is to connect with and contribute to society which creates greater mental well-being, self-fulfillment, and life satisfaction.
- Inverse of this is true where Low social interest (self-centeredness) leads to isolation, competitiveness and feelings of inferiority.
Therapists help clients cultivate social interest by fostering connection, purpose, and belonging.
Clients are encouraged to reframe challenges as opportunities to engage with others and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Ex: Your client struggling with depression and self-worth but is learning to find meaning by volunteering and forming deeper relationships which requires actively shifting the focus from themselves and their self-doubt to contribution and acts of service for others creating a sense of connection.
Genogram
A visual representation of a family tree used in therapy to explore family dynamics, relationships, and patterns across generations.
Useful when considering genotype/phenotype relationships and when a history of substance use is a presenting problem.
Clinicians can use in marriage and family therapy, substance abuse treatment, and trama counselors when helping clients gain insight, break negative cycles, and develop healthier relationship patterns.
Ex: At a recovery center, the therapist has a client fill out a genogram. While doing so, the client realizes a history of addiction as well as depression in her family. By bringing awareness to this fact, it provides the client with hope knowing that certain aspects of her dependency and mental health may be hereditery.
Narrative Therapy
Whtie // Collaborative and Client-centered
Used to empower clients to take control of their stories, challenge limiting beliefs, and construct more meaningful, hopeful narratives that align with their values and preferred identities.
Externalize the problem (the problem is the problem?
> Reauthorize (rewrite an alternative narrative)
> > Thickening the Narrative (now add in assesst and values)
> > > Deconstructing Social & Cultural Influences
Effective in treating trauma, depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues bc it helps individuals reshape their identities and break free from maladaptive core-beliefs.
Ex: A recently divorced father feels like a failure bc he couldn’t make his wife happy and save his marriage. The therapist helps him build an alternative story that during a very difficult time in his life, he worked to repaire his marriage and even while that did not successed, he is showing resiliance and has maintained being a wonderful father and friend throughout this difficult time.
Person-Situation Debate
Debate between personality theorists as to whether personality traits or situational factors play a greater role in shaping human behavior.
**Person based perspective ** suggests that individuals have stable personality traits that influence thoughts, emotions, and behaviors across different situations. (cognitive distortions, emotional regulation, nuroticism)
**Situation-Based Perspective ** suggest that environmental and situational factors largely determine behavior. (family dynamics, adolescent peer presure, stressful environments)
Modern therapy integrates both perspectives, recognizing that
while personality traits shape long-term patterns of how we behave, situational triggers can impact immediate behavior.
Important in CBT, systems therapy, behavioral therapy, and trauma-informed therapy bc it allows the clinician to understand how a client’s unique personality will adapt or remain steady in response to treatment and necessary when creating a treatment plan.
Ex: Marc is generally introverted, however he behaves differently in a professional setting taking on a strong, almost dominate leadership role, due to the influence of the situation. In this case, the situation demands confidence, and thus the person behaves in a way that fits the context, even if their typical behavior is more reserved.
Potentially Harmful Treatments
- Treatments that can cause harm, worsening symptoms, reinforcing negative behaviors, or even leading to physical or psychological distress.
- It is unethical for clinicians to use PHT because they lack evidence and instead must use empirically supported treatments (ESTs) that have been rigorously tested for effectiveness and safety, such as CBT, ACT, and trauma-informed care.
Ex: A homosexual teen is treated with conversation therapy and receives mild electric shocks while looking at images of men in hopes of creating an aversion to his same-sex attraction.
Psychodynamic Theory
Descendent from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory > further developed by theorist such as **Adler and Erickson **
Focused on root causes of dysfunction and how early childhood experiences, unconscious processes, and relationships with caregivers shape attachment styples, temperment and personality.
Therapist serves as a guide, facilitator and interpreter to bring the unconscious impulses causing problems to the surface
- Critizied for being too focused on childhood experiences and lacking empirical evidence it does
Important bc the idea that mental health issues often have deep, underlying causes rooted in the unconscious aims to help clients understand the source of their conflicts, leading to greater self-awareness and creating change in maladaptive behavior patterns such as defence mechanisms.
Ex: During therapy, a man recalls misconduct by a Priest at his church and assocites that time period to when he started disliking school and displaying anti-social behaviors. Therapist works to create a safe space for the client to explore these feelings of distrust and anger as he bring unconscious material into awareness of how these experiences created patterns of behavior that still impact him today.
Psychoeducation
- Process of educating a client about psychological concepts, your diagnoses, the relationships between cognition-emotion-behaviors and suggested treatment options.
- This is important for forming a collaborative atmospher and the foundsation for a strong theraputic-relationship
- Psychoeducation can provide hope for the future and tap into client assest leading to positive treatment outcomes.
Ex: Colleen presents to therapy for generalized anxiety experiencing constant worry about her health and friendships. Therapist teaches Colleen that anxiety can serve a purpose in protect her but when left unfiltered may lead to fixating thoughts and catastrophizing situations. The therpist goes on to expaine that the process of learning to recognize these feelings takes time and how by working together to create a plan that feel safe to Colleen, she will grow to feel more in control of her daily outcomes.
Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Ellis / used in CBT
Distress is not caused by events themselves, but what we believe and think about the events (Irrational beliefs) can cause emotional distress.
- Goal is to challenge irrational beliefs and replace them with more rational beliefs.
ABC Model – The foundation of REBT:
A (Activating Event): A situation that triggers a response.
B (Belief): The person’s irrational belief about the event.
C (Consequence): Emotional and behavioral reaction.
D (Dispute): Challenging the irrational belief.
E (Effective New Belief): Replacing irrational thoughts with rational ones.
- Considered to be a brief and blunt and in modern use today incorporates WEG skills to become more flexible.
Ex: Your client had an argument with boss and believes she will lose her job and have to move in with her parents. You practice REBT and challenge Lisa’s thought about why her boss would fire her over this arugement (identify and dispute irrational thoughts).
Outside of disagreeing on this one topic, do you believe you are a valued employee? (replace them with logical, adaptive beliefs).
And even if you did lose this job, you are a skilled person who is capable of finding another job so its unlikely that you would have to move in with my parents” (reduce emotional distress and promote resilience)
Schema or Core Belief
Deeply held cognitive framework that shapes how individuals interpret the world, themselves, and others
- Often the underlying belief that sparks an automatic thought
- Schemas are important in therapy bc identifying and modifying (negative) core beliefs helps clients develop (healthier) perspectives and coping strategies
- Humans tend to seek out information that support previously constructed schemas making Schema Therapy useful for clients with depression, anxiety and trama-focused intervention.
Ex: Liz, 45 yr old woman, seeks therapy due to intense anxiety in romantic relationships leading to aggressively clingy behaviors and intense emotional distress. Liz shares that her mother died by suicide when Liz was a teenager and her father was gone a lot with the military. Every romantic relationship Liz has had ends with her partner cheating or walking out. Liz believes she is unlovable which is why everyone always leaves her.
Self-Actualization
peek of Maslow’s Higharchy of Needs.
Self-Actualization is becoming the best version of yourself and reaching your ultimate potential.
- Journey of becoming the best version of yourself through authenticity, personal growth, self-expression, and creativity. It is about living in alignment with your true self and fulfilling your unique potential.
Ex: Client explains that as she approaches her 50s, she no longer feels the need to compair herself to others or compete for attention and praise. She feels a sence of pride and is content with her place in the world. She reprots having close friendships, a career that challenges her and several hobbies that allower her to be creative and connect with the earth. She feels a sens of purpose, life satisfaction and an alignment with her authentic self.
Self-Concept
Basis of Person Centered Therapy developed by Carl Rogers
Refers to how individuals perceive and understand themselves, including their beliefs, values, and identity.
- Shaped by personal experiences, relationships, cultural influences, and social interactions and developes over a lifetime
Includes components such as:
- self-esteem (how one values oneself)
- self-identity (who one believes they are)
- self-efficacy (belief in one’s abilities).
- Self-concept plays a critical role in mental health and well-being. A positive self-concept can foster confidence, resilience, and healthy coping strategies, while a negative self-concept may
contribute to issues like anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
Ex: Aclient struggling with low self-esteem might view themselves as “unworthy of love” or “incapable.” In therapy, the counselor might explore these beliefs, challenge negative self-talk, and work to reframe the client’s self-concept. This could involve helping the
client recognize their strengths, achievements, and unique qualities, ultimately working to build a more positive and realistic self-view.Understanding and addressing self-concept is vital for promoting mental health, enhancing self-acceptance, and
fostering positive change in therapy
Self-Efficacy
Albert Bandura
Refers to our belief in our ability to perform specific tasks or achieve specific goals.
It’s situation-specific, meaning it relates to a specific challenge (e.g., “I can solve this math problem” or “I can lead a team”).
Develops through personal experience, feedback, and social modeling. It’s influenced by past success or failure in tasks and can be improved by setting achievable goals and receiving encouragement.
- Self-efficacy is crucial in mental health treatment because it influences how individuals approach problems, cope with difficulties, and persist in the face of setbacks. Increasing self-efficacy promotes a growth mindset and can encourage perseverance, even in the face of challenges.
Ex: Your client is a former athlete who presents to therapy with depressive symptoms and perscription pill abuse following an accident that left him in a wheelchair. Therapist works with them to tap into his assets as an athlete setting small, achievalbe goals such as attending physical therapy with an open-mindset. While the client at first felt hopeless and thought ever trying was a waste of time, over time he gains confidence that with hard effort he may be able to walk again. In therapy your work fosters empowerment, motivation, and healthier coping stratgies which will be essential for overcoming future challenges and achieving personal growth.
Self-Monitoring
Process of clients observing, assessing, and regulating one’s own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in a specific situation.
Helps you become more aware of your automatic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, by observing patterns
- Self-monitoring is important in mental health treatment because it helps individuals recongnize and track maladaptive behaviors, patterns, triggers which informs a treatment plan to promte behavior change.
- Populations that benefit from self-monitoring include those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, and impulse-control issues.
Ex: Client is an 18-year-old struggling with restrictive eating and distorted body image fears gaining weight and obsesses over calorie intake, leading to extreme food restriction and excessive exercise. Therapist introduces a self-monitoring journal where Sophie tracks her meals, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors related to eating. Through this process, she begins recognizing patterns of meal skipping after feeling anxious and how she engages in negative self-talk after eating certain foods.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Shazer and Berg
Present focus and goal oriented
- Both the therapy and the implementation of solutions occurs over a brief, limited time by focuses on identifying and building solutions rather than analyzing problems
- Important bc it empowers clients by promoting rapid problem-solving and provides a sense of hope, instead of dwelling on the causes of issues.
Ex: A client struggling with work-related stress may come to therapy seeking relief. In SFBT, the therapist would focus on what the client is already doing well (e.g., managing time, seeking support) and explore times when the stress was less overwhelming. The therapist would then help the client identify small, manageable changes to reduce stress, such as setting work assignment boundaries or practicing relaxation techniques.
Systems Theory
- Framework used in to understand how individuals function within interconnected relationships and environments and how issue are connect to larger patterns such as family roles, commuincnation styles at work or societal expectation.
- This holistic view can lead to more sustainable solutions
that address root causes rather than just symptoms. - Emphasizes that a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are influenced by their social systems, such as family, work, and community
Important bc it helps therapists view clients holistically, considering external influences rather than just individual pathology
Ex: Therapist assesses the range of interactions between all family members to understand what is maintaining the problems within the family rather than focusing on the responsibility of a single member. While dad’s drinking is upsetting, rather than focusing on dad’s drinking, the therapist focuses all relationships patterns, ie, his critical, passive-aggressive wife and children who ignore his advice and treat him like an old man which makes him want to disconnect and drink.
Trait
A predictable and stable dimension of personality that influences an individual’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors across a range of situations
The five traits in the OCEAN model are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
- Typically assessed via self-report measures
- Understanding traits is important in mental health because they influence how individuals view themsevles, others and the world as well as how they respond to stress and challenges which may indicate a treatment plan promoting positive outcomes.
- Research suggests that when clients and therapists share personality traits it results in a stronger therapeutic relationship
Ex: A mother brings her twins into therapy because one is outgoing and social and the other is shy. The mother expresses concern mainly for the shy chlid. The therapist explains that each person has a different combination of traits, even twins, explaining that one twin has a higher degree of extraversion than the other twin.
Triangulation
from Family Systems Theory and described how dysfunction is maintained in families.
- Concept in counseling that occurs when a 3rd party is drawn into a conflict between two people to reduce tension or shift dynamics.
- Commonly seen in family therapy and relationship counseling, where one person involves another to mediate, take sides, or deflect from the core issue.
- It is important in therapy to encouraging direct communication and boundary-setting to promote healthier communication, reduce dependency on third parties, and improve relational functioning.
Ex: Teenage child continuously inserts herself into preceived conflicts between her father and mother. Rather than allowing the adults to work through their conversation and resovle any conflict, the daugther jumps in with her own interprestation of events to save and stand up for a parents she feels is being treated unjustly. This interjection only creates more tension between mother and father as they now feel they need to defend themselves to a 3rd party.
Warmth, Empathy, Genuineness (WEG)
Carl Rogers
Non-negotiable therapeutic conditions
- Stands for warmth, empathy and genuineness
- Warmth refers to the therapist’s unconditional positive regard and acceptance of client’s emotion
- Empathy refers to working to fully understand a client’s internal frame of reference and “stepping into their worldview”
- Genuineness refers transparency from the therapist and all lack of judgment
Ex: Therapist: “I’m really glad you’re here today, Sarah. I can see how hard this is for you, and I genuinely want to help. Lets take our time and go at a pace that feels comfortable for you. Your feeling supported in this room and during our time together is what is most important.”
