Theories INTRO Flashcards
what does the Corey book say about the theories models
No single model can explain all the facets of human experience
-Each theory has own strengths and comes in with own perspectives, no one theory can explain psychopathology perfectly (most therapists integrate the theories now)
how many approaches to counseling and psychotherapy are discussed
11
what does the book assume
Students can begin to acquire a counseling style tailored to their own personality
- We will be reflecting on what theory applies to personal style
- The process will take years
- Different theories are not “right” or “wrong”
what is an important component of effective counseling
therapeutic relationship
what needs to be true about the therapeutic alliance
- Therapeutic alliance needs to be present and strong (client feels safe and understood and client feels they can take some risks-not just sharing positive things)
- Don’t challenge someone in the beginning because the relationship/alliance is not there yet (get to know the client)
what is a key part of the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments
the therapist/clinician as a person
what two things are important for the clinician to be
Be authentic
- The stereotyped, professional role can be shed
- If you hide behind your role the client will also hide
Be clear about who you are:
-Be willing to grow, to risk, to care, and to be involved
what is true when trauma is experienced
When trauma is experienced people are not willing to trust you even if you are the psychologist (have to come out of your role to really understand the person)
is feedback important
yes, be able to receive it and change from it
importance of making job as therapist personal
relate readings to your own experiences
- reflect on your own needs, motivations, values, life experiences, and learn from them
- Apply key concepts and techniques to your own personal growth
- Develop a personalized style of counseling that reflects your personality
importance of therapy for therapist
Get your own therapy before and during providing therapy (you cannot open doors for clients that you have not opened for yourself)
- Research shows many therapists who seek counseling find it professionally and personally beneficial
- This also limits the possibility of burnout
what is important as a therapist to ask another therapist
1) What is your motivation for being a therapist?
2) What supports do you have in place to take care of your self?
3) What thoughts do you have on managing countertransference?
what is countertransference
the emotional reaction of the analyst to the subject’s contribution
what are issues faced by beginning therapists
- Dealing with anxieties
- Self Disclosure/Being a person
- Accepting your limitations while simultaneously acknowledging your strengths
- Managing difficult and unsatisfying relationships with clients
- Developing a Sense of Humor
- Developing healthy helping relationships with clients
- Developing healthy personal boundaries in your professional life (Supervision is helpful with this)
explain “know thyself” when being a therapist
- Develop self-care strategies and a plan for renewal
- Know what causes burnout
- Know how to recognize and remedy burnout
- Know how to prevent burnout through self-care
what is important to know about your values
- How your values influence your interventions
- How your values may influence your client’s experiences in therapy
are therapists value neutral?
no and we need to recognize that we are not
is “color blind” a good approach
“Color blind” is not a good approach to have, not everyone is the same. People have different experiences and you have to see these different experiences
-Question people who say they do not see color, what are they trying to not see
are you supposed to impose your values on clients?
NO
- Your job is to assist clients in finding answers that are most congruent with their own values
- Find ways to manage value conflicts between you and your clients
- Begin therapy by exploring the client’s goals
what are the ways to become proficient in multicultural counseling
- Become aware of your biases and values
- Become aware of your own cultural norms and expectations
- Attempt to understand the world from your client’s vantage point
- Gain a knowledge of the dynamics of oppression, racism, discrimination, and stereotyping
- Study the historical background, traditions, and values of your client
- be open to learning from your client
- Challenge yourself to understand and to explore your client’s ways of life that are different from your own
- Develop an awareness of acculturation/identity models
what is important about studying historical backgrounds of clients
Do not generalize, there is intersectionality
is there ever cultural competence
no, you are always learning and continuing to grow
what is multicultural competency in the therapy world
you need
1) knowledge (knowing about client’s background, history, and intersectionality)
2) skills (are you implementing and cultural sensitive interventions with the client)
3) awareness (own self-awareness, you have to know who you are and what biases and values you have, as well as your cultural identities, how that might impact clients)
what is cultural humility
we are not the expert, the client is the expert and we are constantly learning from them
what is a cultural immersion experience
going into the communities and seeing people from a certain culture in their environment
how should you respond when someone calls you out for being culturally insensitive
humble yourself and listen to this and adapt from it (be open to hearing these things)
what is acculturation
the process of someone immigrates/migrates to a host country or culture, and how values from culture of origin are integrated into host culture
what is assimilation
a person takes on values of host culture and rejects culture of origin
what is marginalization
both cultural values of origin and host are rejected
what is separation
an individual rejects the host culture values and really embodies culture of origin
what is integration/bicultural identity
a person is able to navigate both, integrate both cultures
what are ethics codes and how are they applicable to counseling
Ethics codes are a fundamental component of effective counseling:
- Guidelines that outline professional standards of behavior and practice
- Codes do not make decisions for counselors
- Counselors must interpret and apply ethical codes to their decision-making
what are therapists ethics principles that underlie our professional codes
Help us make ethically sound decisions, there are ethics codes as well as principles:
- Benefit others, do no harm, respect other’s autonomy, be just, fair and faithful
- Not playing favorites
what is the role of ethics codes
Identify the problem, review relevant codes, seek consultation, brainstorm, list consequences, decide and document the reasons for your actions
clients in decision making process?
to the degree it is possible, include the client
is supervision required when you’re licensed
As a trainee you have the luxury of supervision, because when you’re licensed supervision is not required
are dual relationships allowed?
they are not deemed inherently unethical in the ethics codes of the APA or ACA.
- You want to try and avoid them though
- You want to know if it will impact the therapeutic relationship
how to manage multiple relationships
in an ethical way to eliminate non-professional interactions and protect client well-being.
what are some helpful questions to ask about dual relationships
- Will my dual relationship keep me from confronting and challenging the client?
- Will my needs for the relationship become more important than therapeutic activities?
- Can my client manage the dual relationship?
- Whose needs are being met–my client’s or my own?
- Can I recognize and manage professionally my attraction to my client?
explain informed consent and why it should be provided
- Educate clients about their rights and responsibilities
- Clients need enough information about the counseling process to be able to make informed choices
what is the first thing you should talk about in therapy
The first thing you talk about should be the limits of confidentiality, because if not and they first disclose suicide they will start to think twice about speaking to you about things (clients have a right to know about what will be shared/disclosed)
what are the components of informed consent
- Limits of Confidentiality
- Therapy Procedures
- Risks/Benefits and Alternatives
- Right to withdraw from treatment
- Costs of treatment
- Supervision
explain limits of confidentiality
Everything they say is confidential, you only break it if they have plans of killing themselves or someone else, or if they know about suspected child abuse
explain therapy procedures
- If clients have never been to therapy, let them know the process. In the beginning questions will be asked to get to know them, but this will not necessarily happen in future questions. Some questions might not seem relevant but you can always ask why I’m asking them to see where I’m going with them
- Let group therapy participants know it may be weird in the first few sessions, so please stick it out and we can re-evaluate
explain supervision explanation in grad school
Let them know you are a doctoral student under supervision, and they can contact supervisor with their number
ethical responsibility for our biases
It is our ethical responsibility to be aware of our biases
-For example, when we give assessments- is our client a native English speaker?
when are biases reflected
- Neglect social and community factors to focus unduly on individualism
- Assess clients with instruments that have not been normed on the population they represent
- Judge as psychopathological – behaviors, beliefs, or experiences that are normal for the client’s culture
- Strictly adhere to Western counseling theories without considering its applicability to the client’s diverse cultural background
how can biases affect what we consider pathological (Examples)
- If a black client is hesitant and a therapist is not aware of culture they will diagnose them as having a paranoid personality
- Indian clients are often times less likely to seek help, and sometimes we pathologized this
- Asian males are often diagnosed as dependent personalities because they often times they go back to their families to discuss things, this is why therapists need to be culturally aware (this person is from a collectivistic culture)
culture mistrust
I am not sure what you are doing with this information I’m giving you so I am going to be hesitant in telling you something
assessment
an ongoing process designed to help the counselor evaluate key elements of a client’s psychological functioning
- Assessment practices are influenced by the therapist’s theoretical orientation
- Requires cultural sensitivity
- Can be helpful in treatment planning
diagnosis
process of identifying pattern of symptoms which fit the criteria for a specific mental disorder defined in the DSM-5
- Requires cultural sensitivity
- Counselors debate its utility in understanding the client’s subjective world
- Can be helpful in treatment planning
strengths of evidence based practices
- Counselors use treatments that have been validated by empirical research
- Treatments are usually brief and are standardized
- Are preferred by many insurance companies
- Calls for accountability among mental health professionals to provide effective treatments
criticisms of evidence based practices
- Some counselors believe this approach is mechanistic and does not allow for individual differences in clients
- Is not well-suited for helping clients with existential concerns
- It is difficult to measure both relational and technical aspects of a psychological treatment
- Has potential for misuse as a method of cost containment for insurance companies instead of a method of efficacious treatment for clients
explain strengths and criticisms of EBP with CBT and psychotherapy
CBT has been known to be evidenced based, psychodynamic has not really been considered evidence based, but CBT studies were just done on a small portion of the population
- If you did a study on just white men, you cannot say the intervention will work for other men/people
- Have to understand who is being normed on evidence based studies (is it valid / generalizable to other populations), one of the cons of it
