Description
The theories that you studied this quarter have many similarities and differences. The task of the therapist is to decide how to integrate certain features of each theory in order to work effectively with clients. Review the basic philosophies and key concepts of all the theories found on pages 432–434 of your Corey text. For this discussion, think about how you might integrate theories. In your post, answer the following questions:
- In developing your integrative approach to counseling, what factors would you most consider?
- What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the integrated approach?
- How can you integrate multicultural issues and spirituality and religion in counseling and psychotherapy?
Corey, G. (2017). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. (10thed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage. ISBN: 9781305263727.
TABLE 15.1 The Basic Philosophies
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Adlerian therapy
Existential
therapy
Person-centered
therapy
Gestalt therapy
Behavior therapy
Cognitive
behavior therapy
Human beings are basically determined by psychic energy and by early
experiences. Unconscious motives and conflicts are central in present
behavior. Early development is of critical importance because later
personality problems have their roots in repressed childhood conflicts.
Humans are motivated by social interest, by striving toward goals, by
inferiority and superiority, and by dealing with the tasks of life. Emphasis is
on the individual’s positive capacities to live in society cooperatively. People
have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Each person at
an early age creates a unique style of life, which tends to remain relatively
constant throughout life.
The central focus is on the nature of the human condition, which includes a
capacity for self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide one’s fate,
responsibility, anxiety, the search for meaning, being alone and being in
relation with others, striving for authenticity, and facing living and dying.
Positive view of people; we have an inclination toward becoming fully
functioning. In the context of the therapeutic relationship, the client
experiences feelings that were previously denied to awareness. The client
moves toward increased awareness, spontaneity, trust in self, and innerdirectedness.
The person strives for wholeness and integration of thinking, feeling, and
behaving. Some key concepts include contact with self and others, contact
boundaries, and awareness. The view is nondeterministic in that the person
is viewed as having the capacity to recognize how earlier influences are
related to present difficulties. As an experiential approach, it is grounded in
the here and now and emphasizes awareness, personal choice, and
responsibility.
Behavior is the product of learning. We are both the product and the
producer of the environment. Traditional behavior therapy is based on
classical and operant principles. Contemporary behavior therapy has
branched out in many directions, including mindfulness and acceptance
approaches.
Individuals tend to incorporate faulty thinking, which leads to emotional and
behavioral disturbances. Cognitions are the major determinants of how we
feel and act. Therapy is primarily oriented toward cognition and behavior,
and it stresses the role of thinking, deciding questioning, doing, and
redeciding. This is a psychoeducational model, which emphasizes therapy as
a learning process, including acquiring and practicing new skills, learning
new ways of thinking, and acquiring more effective ways of coping with
problems.
Choice
Based on choice theory, this approach assumes that we need quality
theory/Reality
relationships to be happy. Psychological problems are the result of our
therapy
resisting control by others or of our attempt to control others. Choice theory
is an explanation of human nature and how to best achieve satisfying
interpersonal relationships.
Feminist therapy Feminists criticize many traditional theories to the degree that they are based
on gender-biased concepts, such as being androcentric, gendercentric,
ethnocentric, heterosexist, and intrapsychic. The constructs of feminist
therapy include being gender fair, flexible, interactionist, and life-spanoriented. Gender and power are at the heart of feminist therapy. This is a
systems approach that recognizes the cultural, social, and political factors
that contribute to an individual’s problems.
Postmodern
Based on the premise that there are multiple realities and multiple truths,
approaches
postmodern therapies reject the idea that reality is external and can be
grasped. People create meaning in their lives through conversations with
others. The postmodern approaches avoid pathologizing clients, take a dim
view of diagnosis, avoid searching for underlying causes of problems, and
place a high value on discovering clients’ strengths and resources. Rather
than talking about problems, the focus of therapy is on creating solutions in
the present and the future.
Family systems The family is viewed from an interactive and systemic perspective. Clients
therapy
are connected to a living system; a change in one part of the system will
result in a change in other parts. The family provides the context for
understanding how individuals function in relationship to others and how
they behave. Treatment deals with the family unit. An individual’s
dysfunctional behavior grows out of the interactional unit of the family and
out of larger systems as well.
Despite the divergences in the various theories, creative syntheses among some models are
possible. For example, an existential orientation does not necessarily preclude using techniques
drawn from behavior therapy or from some of the cognitive theories. Each point of view offers a
perspective for helping clients in their search for self. I encourage you to study all the major
theories and to remain open to what you might take from the various orientations as a basis for
an integrative perspective that will guide your practice.
In developing a personal integrative perspective, it is important to be alert to the problem of
attempting to mix theories with incompatible underlying assumptions. Examine the key concepts
of various theories as you begin to think about integration (Table 15.2). By remaining
theoretically consistent, but technically integrative, practitioners can spell out precisely the
interventions they will employ with various clients, as well as the means by which they will
select these procedures.
TABLE 15.2 Key Concepts
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Adlerian therapy
Existential
therapy
Person-centered
therapy
Gestalt therapy
Behavior therapy
Cognitive
behavior therapy
Normal personality development is based on successful resolution and
integration of psychosexual stages of development. Faulty personality
development is the result of inadequate resolution of some specific stage.
Anxiety is a result of repression of basic conflicts. Unconscious processes
are centrally related to current behavior.
Key concepts include the unity of personality, the need to view people from
their subjective perspective, and the importance of life goals that give
direction to behavior. People are motivated by social interest and by finding
goals to give life meaning. Other key concepts are striving for significance
and superiority, developing a unique lifestyle, and understanding the family
constellation. Therapy is a matter of providing encouragement and assisting
clients in changing their cognitive perspective and behavior.
Essentially an experiential approach to counseling rather than a firm
theoretical model, it stresses core human conditions. Interest is on the
present and on what one is becoming. The approach has a future orientation
and stresses self-awareness before action.
The client has the potential to become aware of problems and the means to
resolve them. Faith is placed in the client’s capacity for self-direction.
Mental health is a congruence of ideal self and real self. Maladjustment is
the result of a discrepancy between what one wants to be and what one is. In
therapy attention is given to the present moment and on experiencing and
expressing feelings.
Emphasis is on the “what” and “how” of experiencing in the here and now
to help clients accept all aspects of themselves. Key concepts include
holism, figure-formation process, awareness, unfinished business and
avoidance, contact, and energy.
Focus is on overt behavior, precision in specifying goals of treatment,
development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy
outcomes. Present behavior is given attention. Therapy is based on the
principles of learning theory. Normal behavior is learned through
reinforcement and imitation. Abnormal behavior is the result of faulty
learning.
Although psychological problems may be rooted in childhood, they are
reinforced by present ways of thinking. A person’s belief system and
thinking is the primary cause of disorders. Internal dialogue plays a central
role in one’s behavior. Clients focus on examining faulty assumptions and
misconceptions and on replacing these with effective beliefs.
Choice
theory/Reality
therapy
The basic focus is on what clients are doing and how to get them to evaluate
whether their present actions are working for them. People are mainly
motivated to satisfy their needs, especially the need for significant
relationships. The approach rejects the medical model, the notion of
transference, the unconscious, and dwelling on one’s past.
Feminist therapy Core principles of feminist therapy are that the personal is political,
therapists have a commitment to social change, women’s voices and ways of
knowing are valued and women’s experiences are honored, the counseling
relationship is egalitarian, therapy focuses on strengths and a reformulated
definition of psychological distress, and all types of oppression are
recognized.
Postmodern
Therapy tends to be brief and addresses the present and the future. The
approaches
person is not the problem; the problem is the problem. The emphasis is on
externalizing the problem and looking for exceptions to the problem.
Therapy consists of a collaborative dialogue in which the therapist and the
client co-create solutions. By identifying instances when the problem did
not exist, clients can create new meanings for themselves and fashion a new
life story.
Family systems Focus is on communication patterns within a family, both verbal and
therapy
nonverbal. Problems in relationships are likely to be passed on from
generation to generation. Key concepts vary depending on specific
orientation but include differentiation, triangles, power coalitions, family-oforigin dynamics, functional versus dysfunctional interaction patterns, and
dealing with here-and-now interactions. The present is more important than
exploring past experiences.
One of the challenges you will face as a counselor is to deliver therapeutic services in a brief,
comprehensive, effective, and flexible way. Many of the theoretical orientations addressed in this
book can be applied to brief forms of therapy. One of the driving forces of the psychotherapy
integration movement has been the increase of brief therapies and the pressures to do more for a
variety of client populations within the limitations of 6 to 20 sessions. Short-term and very-shortterm therapies are increasing (Norcross et al., 2013). Time-limited brief therapy refers to a
variety of time-sensitive, goal-directed, efficiency-oriented methods. These methods can be
incorporated in any theoretical approach (Hoyt, 2015). Lambert (2011) believes the future
direction of theory, practice, and training will see (1) the decline of single-theory practice and the
growth of integrative therapies, and (2) the increase in short-term, time-limited, and group
treatments that seem to be as effective as long-term individual treatments with many client
populations.
An integrative perspective at its best entails a systematic integration of underlying principles
and methods common to a range of therapeutic approaches. The strengths of systematic
integration are based on its ability to be taught, replicated, and evaluated (Norcross & Beutler,
2014). To develop this kind of integration, you will eventually need to be thoroughly conversant
with a number of theories, be open to the idea that these theories can be connected in some ways,
and be willing to continually test your hypotheses to determine how well they are working.
Neukrug (2016) reminds us that “the ability to assimilate techniques from varying theoretical
perspectives takes knowledge, time, and finesse” (p. 139).
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
Cengage. ISBN: 9781305263727.
TABLE 15.1 The Basic Philosophies
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Adlerian therapy
Existential
therapy
Person-centered
therapy
Gestalt therapy
Behavior therapy
Cognitive
behavior therapy
Human beings are basically determined by psychic energy and by early
experiences. Unconscious motives and conflicts are central in present
behavior. Early development is of critical importance because later
personality problems have their roots in repressed childhood conflicts.
Humans are motivated by social interest, by striving toward goals, by
inferiority and superiority, and by dealing with the tasks of life. Emphasis is
on the individual’s positive capacities to live in society cooperatively. People
have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Each person at
an early age creates a unique style of life, which tends to remain relatively
constant throughout life.
The central focus is on the nature of the human condition, which includes a
capacity for self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide one’s fate,
responsibility, anxiety, the search for meaning, being alone and being in
relation with others, striving for authenticity, and facing living and dying.
Positive view of people; we have an inclination toward becoming fully
functioning. In the context of the therapeutic relationship, the client
experiences feelings that were previously denied to awareness. The client
moves toward increased awareness, spontaneity, trust in self, and innerdirectedness.
The person strives for wholeness and integration of thinking, feeling, and
behaving. Some key concepts include contact with self and others, contact
boundaries, and awareness. The view is nondeterministic in that the person
is viewed as having the capacity to recognize how earlier influences are
related to present difficulties. As an experiential approach, it is grounded in
the here and now and emphasizes awareness, personal choice, and
responsibility.
Behavior is the product of learning. We are both the product and the
producer of the environment. Traditional behavior therapy is based on
classical and operant principles. Contemporary behavior therapy has
branched out in many directions, including mindfulness and acceptance
approaches.
Individuals tend to incorporate faulty thinking, which leads to emotional and
behavioral disturbances. Cognitions are the major determinants of how we
feel and act. Therapy is primarily oriented toward cognition and behavior,
and it stresses the role of thinking, deciding questioning, doing, and
redeciding. This is a psychoeducational model, which emphasizes therapy as
a learning process, including acquiring and practicing new skills, learning
new ways of thinking, and acquiring more effective ways of coping with
problems.
Choice
Based on choice theory, this approach assumes that we need quality
theory/Reality
relationships to be happy. Psychological problems are the result of our
therapy
resisting control by others or of our attempt to control others. Choice theory
is an explanation of human nature and how to best achieve satisfying
interpersonal relationships.
Feminist therapy Feminists criticize many traditional theories to the degree that they are based
on gender-biased concepts, such as being androcentric, gendercentric,
ethnocentric, heterosexist, and intrapsychic. The constructs of feminist
therapy include being gender fair, flexible, interactionist, and life-spanoriented. Gender and power are at the heart of feminist therapy. This is a
systems approach that recognizes the cultural, social, and political factors
that contribute to an individual’s problems.
Postmodern
Based on the premise that there are multiple realities and multiple truths,
approaches
postmodern therapies reject the idea that reality is external and can be
grasped. People create meaning in their lives through conversations with
others. The postmodern approaches avoid pathologizing clients, take a dim
view of diagnosis, avoid searching for underlying causes of problems, and
place a high value on discovering clients’ strengths and resources. Rather
than talking about problems, the focus of therapy is on creating solutions in
the present and the future.
Family systems The family is viewed from an interactive and systemic perspective. Clients
therapy
are connected to a living system; a change in one part of the system will
result in a change in other parts. The family provides the context for
understanding how individuals function in relationship to others and how
they behave. Treatment deals with the family unit. An individual’s
dysfunctional behavior grows out of the interactional unit of the family and
out of larger systems as well.
Despite the divergences in the various theories, creative syntheses among some models are
possible. For example, an existential orientation does not necessarily preclude using techniques
drawn from behavior therapy or from some of the cognitive theories. Each point of view offers a
perspective for helping clients in their search for self. I encourage you to study all the major
theories and to remain open to what you might take from the various orientations as a basis for
an integrative perspective that will guide your practice.
In developing a personal integrative perspective, it is important to be alert to the problem of
attempting to mix theories with incompatible underlying assumptions. Examine the key concepts
of various theories as you begin to think about integration (Table 15.2). By remaining
theoretically consistent, but technically integrative, practitioners can spell out precisely the
interventions they will employ with various clients, as well as the means by which they will
select these procedures.
TABLE 15.2 Key Concepts
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Adlerian therapy
Existential
therapy
Person-centered
therapy
Gestalt therapy
Behavior therapy
Cognitive
behavior therapy
Normal personality development is based on successful resolution and
integration of psychosexual stages of development. Faulty personality
development is the result of inadequate resolution of some specific stage.
Anxiety is a result of repression of basic conflicts. Unconscious processes
are centrally related to current behavior.
Key concepts include the unity of personality, the need to view people from
their subjective perspective, and the importance of life goals that give
direction to behavior. People are motivated by social interest and by finding
goals to give life meaning. Other key concepts are striving for significance
and superiority, developing a unique lifestyle, and understanding the family
constellation. Therapy is a matter of providing encouragement and assisting
clients in changing their cognitive perspective and behavior.
Essentially an experiential approach to counseling rather than a firm
theoretical model, it stresses core human conditions. Interest is on the
present and on what one is becoming. The approach has a future orientation
and stresses self-awareness before action.
The client has the potential to become aware of problems and the means to
resolve them. Faith is placed in the client’s capacity for self-direction.
Mental health is a congruence of ideal self and real self. Maladjustment is
the result of a discrepancy between what one wants to be and what one is. In
therapy attention is given to the present moment and on experiencing and
expressing feelings.
Emphasis is on the “what” and “how” of experiencing in the here and now
to help clients accept all aspects of themselves. Key concepts include
holism, figure-formation process, awareness, unfinished business and
avoidance, contact, and energy.
Focus is on overt behavior, precision in specifying goals of treatment,
development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy
outcomes. Present behavior is given attention. Therapy is based on the
principles of learning theory. Normal behavior is learned through
reinforcement and imitation. Abnormal behavior is the result of faulty
learning.
Although psychological problems may be rooted in childhood, they are
reinforced by present ways of thinking. A person’s belief system and
thinking is the primary cause of disorders. Internal dialogue plays a central
role in one’s behavior. Clients focus on examining faulty assumptions and
misconceptions and on replacing these with effective beliefs.
Choice
theory/Reality
therapy
The basic focus is on what clients are doing and how to get them to evaluate
whether their present actions are working for them. People are mainly
motivated to satisfy their needs, especially the need for significant
relationships. The approach rejects the medical model, the notion of
transference, the unconscious, and dwelling on one’s past.
Feminist therapy Core principles of feminist therapy are that the personal is political,
therapists have a commitment to social change, women’s voices and ways of
knowing are valued and women’s experiences are honored, the counseling
relationship is egalitarian, therapy focuses on strengths and a reformulated
definition of psychological distress, and all types of oppression are
recognized.
Postmodern
Therapy tends to be brief and addresses the present and the future. The
approaches
person is not the problem; the problem is the problem. The emphasis is on
externalizing the problem and looking for exceptions to the problem.
Therapy consists of a collaborative dialogue in which the therapist and the
client co-create solutions. By identifying instances when the problem did
not exist, clients can create new meanings for themselves and fashion a new
life story.
Family systems Focus is on communication patterns within a family, both verbal and
therapy
nonverbal. Problems in relationships are likely to be passed on from
generation to generation. Key concepts vary depending on specific
orientation but include differentiation, triangles, power coalitions, family-oforigin dynamics, functional versus dysfunctional interaction patterns, and
dealing with here-and-now interactions. The present is more important than
exploring past experiences.
One of the challenges you will face as a counselor is to deliver therapeutic services in a brief,
comprehensive, effective, and flexible way. Many of the theoretical orientations addressed in this
book can be applied to brief forms of therapy. One of the driving forces of the psychotherapy
integration movement has been the increase of brief therapies and the pressures to do more for a
variety of client populations within the limitations of 6 to 20 sessions. Short-term and very-shortterm therapies are increasing (Norcross et al., 2013). Time-limited brief therapy refers to a
variety of time-sensitive, goal-directed, efficiency-oriented methods. These methods can be
incorporated in any theoretical approach (Hoyt, 2015). Lambert (2011) believes the future
direction of theory, practice, and training will see (1) the decline of single-theory practice and the
growth of integrative therapies, and (2) the increase in short-term, time-limited, and group
treatments that seem to be as effective as long-term individual treatments with many client
populations.
An integrative perspective at its best entails a systematic integration of underlying principles
and methods common to a range of therapeutic approaches. The strengths of systematic
integration are based on its ability to be taught, replicated, and evaluated (Norcross & Beutler,
2014). To develop this kind of integration, you will eventually need to be thoroughly conversant
with a number of theories, be open to the idea that these theories can be connected in some ways,
and be willing to continually test your hypotheses to determine how well they are working.
Neukrug (2016) reminds us that “the ability to assimilate techniques from varying theoretical
perspectives takes knowledge, time, and finesse” (p. 139).
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
Categories: