Theories of Counseling
Introduction
Counseling is defined as a professional interaction that facilitates the optimal development of
people, couples, and groups towards optimum psychological functioning. The profession of
counseling has most definitely come a long way over the course of the last one hundred years,
embracing any number of theoretical frameworks. Every theory provides the basis for a different
approach toward explaining people’s behavior and applying change. Counseling theories are the
concepts that help to define the nature of the client’s problems and are the criteria for choosing
the applicable respective approaches.
Theories in counseling are more than simply ways of explaining the way people behave, but are
there to support sound, empirically justified method of working. Whether used to understand and
treat anxiety, depression, relational issues or an existential crisis, theories assist the counselor in
understanding a client’s experience, determining how to intervene, and evaluate the effectiveness
of the chosen approach. Experience shows that a good counselor might use elements from more
than one theory while advising their clients.
Theories in counseling are also a product of the philosophies which prevailed when the theories
were developed; and in many ways, these theories are mirrors to the social paradigm of given
epoch. This essay looks at the eight traditional categories of counseling theories and discusses
their history, their concepts, where they are used, and what the future holds fro counseling.
Historical Foundations of Counseling Theories
The historical background and the development of the counseling theories can be dated back at
the end of the XIXth and at the beginning of the XXth century, since the psychological science
itself started its way then. In its infancy, counseling was defined and based on founding pioneers
such as Wilhelm Wundt, Sigmund Freud and William James and was grounded in science. These
comprise of the early models were coined from the medical science in that mental disorders are
analyzed and diagnosed like any other disease.
Freud’s psychoanalysis belongs to the first generation of psychotherapeutic models, despite it
was initially presented as a clinical method of psychoanalysis. They aimed at discovering the
latent psychical processes, which were, in most part determined by the past childhood
experiences. Freud’s work laid the foundation to what was to become a more deterministic
approach regarding the man’s actions and behaviors as driven by some Interior mechanism of the
mind. Jung divided the mind into three parts including the id, ego, and superego and gave
important information on the conflicts which manifest in subjects clinically.
At the same time, another movement was taking place: psychology school is behaviorism headed
by the scientists like John B. Watson and further by B.F. Skinner. Behaviourism dismissed
introspective approaches of psychoanalysis they concentrated on the observable actions and
learnt behaviour. This approach was based on the assumption that all behavior – constructive and
/ or pathological – develops due to conditioning. The behaviorists presided over the argument
that it was possible to alter certain undesirable behavior patterns into desired kinds of behaviors
by using a range of methodologies including positive reinforcement, punishment and behavior
modification.
The principles of counseling also changed with the advancement in the counseling theories as
psychology progressed. The structural-humanistic and rational approaches of the middle of the
twentieth century are currently regarded as a revolution in the field. These approaches paid great
attention to personal control, self-observation, and decision making stemming from the other
cultural trend towards individualism and identity. Post-war humanistic psychology with such
luminaries as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow spoke of the inherent possibility of people’s
positive development. The cognitive revolution, however, looked for ways through which
thinking patterns determine feelings and behavior to alliances for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
These seven theoretical paradigms remain relevant to modern counseling processes both as
individual theories or as interdisciplinary syntheses based on the successes of each.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Of all of the schools of thought in psychology and counseling, psychoanalytic theory is perhaps
one of the oldest and most lasting. Its founder, Sigmund Freud, changed the focus on how human
mind works, and stressed the concept of people’s unconscious. Fundamentally psychoanalysis is
an endeavor whose objective is to bring forward ‘the unconscious content’ in patient’s mind,
which is believed to be the cause of their affliction.
One of Freud's key contributions was his structural model of the psyche, which divided the mind
into three components: or, in other words, the irrational part of the human mind-the id, the
rational part – the ego, and the moral part – the superego. The id consists in the biological urges
including aggressive and sexual impulses, the ego controls the instincts and manages their
relation with the environment, the superego is the equivalent of the conscience and contains
standards of what is right or wrong. Psychoanalytic therapy aims at understanding the opposition
between these elements of the psyche since defeated conflicts result in mental disease.
A central part of psychoanalytic therapy, therefore, is the defense mechanism known as
repression. Freud posited that memory results in the psychological distress; memory that
originates from a child’s experience can be repressed and later surface as a symptom in later life.
For instance, if a man develops anxiety for no apparent reason, then the man might have
mentally locked the traumatic childhood episode. Generally, psychoanalytic therapy focuses on
enlightenment of the repressed thoughts and feelings related directly to childish experience by
employing tactics such as focusing on patient’s associations, dream, and transference.
The following are some of the criticism has been made by critics of psychoanalysis; First of all,
it is typically lengthy and expensive since the course of analysis encompasses years during which
the analyst helps the patient work through vicissitudes of unconscious conflicts. Further, Freud
excess of sexual and aggressive drives has been condemned as reductive. However, these
criticisms do not deny the key contribution of psychoanalysis to the field especially in formative
of the contemporary dynamic therapy. Unlike Freud’s model of therapies, these are less
structured, and less immersive, but the core of them revolves around the concept of analyzing
supposed unconscious patterns and development phases for the purpose of personal
development.
Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Theories
Behavioral theories differ greatly from psychoanalysis theories in that the former is based on
what the actors actually do and the consequences that they have experienced, as opposed to
Psychoanalysis which is based on instincts and forces of which the subject is often unaware.
Behavioral theory was formulated in reaction to the previously used subjective methods, which
have emerged to be comparative to the scientific method in the analysis of human behaviours.
Behaviour therapy flourished from two initial principles namely Classical conditioning by Ivan
Pavlov and Operant conditioning by B.F. Skinner.
Classic conditioning occurs where behaviour is acquired through association. According to
Pavlov’s experiment with dogs, the physiologic significance of a stimuli, like bells, was jump-
started into condition to release the automatic response like salivation, if paired to food. Such
formulation of learning through association provided basis for the treatments such as systematic
desensitization where an individual with a phobia is exposed to the object or the situation that
caused the phobia while they are in a relaxed state, thus the fear reaction is wiped out out.
Operant conditioning is centred on the effects that a behaviour has on the outcome. Skinner’s
study showed Ideal learning can be achieved by increasing or decreasing subsequent behavior
due to reinforcer or punisher. For example, in behavioral therapy, a client is ‘given’ something,
like a candy or a token for engaging in positive behavior such as socializing with other people
but doesn’t get it for negative behavior such as avoiding people. This is particularly helpful with
conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorder as well as autism
spectrum disorder.
Behavioural treatments were successful for treating particular peculiar abnormal behaviours, but
the lack of dealing with the inner mental processes that control behaviour led to criticism. This
critique form what is known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which work in conjunction
with both behavior and cognitive theories. CBT is rooted from the notion that the way that
people think greatly affect their feelings and actions. For instance, a person who uses negative
thoughts which trigger the fear response will surely suffer from chronic anxiety or become
depressed for ever and ever. CBT is conformed to changing these mental bias and substituting
them with positive bias.
Empirical support for the use of CBT is one of the main advantages of the approach. The studies
indicate that CBT yields good results when applied to diverse mental illnesses such as
depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD and eating disorders. Its structured and interim format is
also affordable by many clients. In addition, CBT is a flexible therapy, and the information
obtained from other models can be included in the therapy process as required for individual
clients (e.g., use of mindfulness, or acceptance-based techniques).
Humanistic Theories
Humanistic theories of counseling began to develop in the mid-twentieth century as a reaction
from two highly mechanistic models of treatment, psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humans
have free will as the humanistic psychology was developed based on existential philosophy
which major feature is self-actualization. Unlike other therapies that diagnose a client as being
sick, impaired, or in other ways not whole, humanistic counselors see people as human beings
who are capable of change and growth when they are in a proper environment.
Among the precursors of humanistic psychology, Carl Rogers, who initiated Person-Centered
Therapy (PCT) belongs to the most prominent. Rogers postulates that each person has a natural
tendency to develop, but that drive can be negated by conditions in which relationships are based
on the contingency upon prescribed criteria, or by outside pressures. He proposed that
individuals need three core conditions to thrive: These are empathy, acceptance, understanding,
and genuinenity. In practice this means that the therapist is accepting, non-condemning, of the
client and their feelings so that the clients is safe to fully discuss or think in a particular way.
This is when Rogers thought that clients are most likely to make use powers of positive and safe
inner contingencies to solve problems.
Another prominent personality in humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow talk about self-
actualization through an esteem known as the Hierarchy of Needs. The pyramid model is used to
represent the hierarchy whereby the basic needs of physiological, safety, affection and belongs,
esteem, and self-actualization needs are illustrated in that order. It is important to look at Lower
order needs before the higher order needs can be met according to Maslow, these include esteem,
belongingness, love and sexual needs, and physiological needs. Although not a specific
counselling theory per say, but more of an analysis tool in understanding motivation, the theory
of Maslow has played significant role in counseling and focus on the person, or the individual as
a whole.
Rogers and Maslow also asserted upon sincerity, autonomy and process-chemistry in therapy
from the client’s viewpoint. This is quite different from other more structured styles of therapy
like CBT where the therapist prescribes the direction of the session, by questioning maladaptive
cognitive contents or by proactively directing behavioral change strategies. In humanistic
counseling, the client holds the contrary opinion that the therapist expects the client to lead his or
her own life.
Positive psychology has grown out of Humanistic therapy that emphasizes the potential of
people to create a healthy life regardless of past pathology. Positive psychology can be seen as
standing on similar principles to humanist psychology, yet focused on the potentials of growth,
and based on more research and quantification of positive states. Now, humanistic foundations
are included in numerous therapeutic paradigms and practice such as mindfulness based
therapies and strength-based counseling.
Gestalt Therapy
Developed in the 1940s and the 1950s, gestalt therapy is a humanistic approach based on
attention to one’s awareness of self or the role of experiencing the now. Integral to this
theoretical orientation is the princiile that every person can be understood only within his or her
present environments and attachments. Gestalt therapy promotes awareness of immediate
experiences hence pressing the clients to focus on the present, ‘’now’.
A feature of the theory of Gestalt therapy is an understanding that a person has ‘unfinished
business,’ meaning a complex of emotions that were not worked through in a previous period of
life and that may continue to exert an impact on the present. For example, a man or a woman
may suffer from bitterness of the previous partner and can hardly establish any relationship or
trust people. Gestalt therapy is for such feelings to be mobilized and brought into awareness so
that such feeling can be effectively integrated and healed. This process allows the clients face
earlier traumas or conflicts that may affect present living in order to arrive at a closure.
In reality, Gestalt therapy makes use of a number of expressive activities to release and facilitate
a process of self discovery. One of the techniques familiar with its usage is the empty-chair
technique in which clients interact with a person or a part of themselves represented by an empty
chair. People are being stimulated to speak out feelings that have never been voiced and to
engage in constructive resolution of conflicts which has not been solved in the past. Because
clients verbalize their thoughts and feelings, it helps them comprehend their inner problems in
order to acquire improved understanding of themselves.
The other equally important principle of the Gestalt therapy is the principle of responsibility.
Clients are recommended to understand that they have an important and dynamic part in the
process and emotional outcome. Such a shift in the focus of one’s attention from the outside
world and other people engulfs responsibility into a person’s hands. For instance, a patient who
presented with career dissatisfaction might be encouraged to reflect over her reasons, and how
they lead her to this particular state of job discontent. This is because the constant concentration
on responsibility empowers clients to make choices and come up with consensus results that are
in accord with their values and preferences.
That said, it is for this reason that Gestalt therapy has been the subject of criticism, most
especially concerning its confrontational approach. Of course, there are aspects of CBT which
some of the clients may perceive as overly burdensome or as evoking secondary emotions. The
defects in demand associated with cognitive processes or past experiences may be criticized in so
far as they over-expose immediacy values. Still, Gestalt therapy constitutes a constructive
practice for the increasing of emotional responsiveness and the enhancement of a person’s
development. It can be very helpful to persons with communication, affect regulation and
relationship problems and is a route to healing and growth.
Existential Therapy
Existentialism is a kind of psychotherapy that comes from existential philosophy and focuses on
life’s few inevitable givens – freedom, death, and the nature of existence as lonely. Based on the
existentialist concepts of Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger and Viktor Frankl this therapeutic
modality seeks to deal with psychological problems that stem from rejection of life’s inherent
risks and existential questions.
One of the primary concepts of existentialism that is definitely present in existential
psychotherapy is existential angst, which originates from existence as an condemnable affair,
death, and almighty(ontic) freedom. Although such anxiety may be unpleasant, existential
therapists consider it as a growth and actually existential. Focusing on these questions can
ultimately lead to far greater insight into who people are and why they make the decisions that
they do. This awareness makes clients emancipate themselves to be fully responsible to their
lives and hence gain a worthwhile living.
Existential therapy is a school of counselling that has been influenced by some of the most
famous personalities of the current world such as Viktor Frankl, and Irvin D. Yalom. While
logotherapy was developed by Viktor Frankl the cornerstone of this model is the concept of ‘will
to meaning.’ Frankl’s finding in this case reveals the fact that to achieve a primary psychological
need man must find meaning in life. His experiences within the Second World War as a survivor
of the holocaust are reflected in his work to stress that people could always have a job even
within the worst conditions. Logotherapy assists the clients to seek positive values, meaningful
goals and the outcome of experiences they are afforded hence promoting optimism.
Yalom has provided a significant number of ideas to existential therapy such that the therapeutic
relationship offers an avenue for addressing existential concerns. According to him the
therapeutic relationship involves rendering clients engulfed and most comfortable in order to
face their fears and anxiety. Yalom outlines four ultimate concerns that every individual must
grapple with: of which are death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. Thus, talking about
these things, clients can get better understanding of their lives and make decisions which are
more life enhancing.
That is why there main techniques which are used in existential therapy and its main
interventions are rather general. It only encourages a client talk which helps them remember their
experiences and answer existential questions. Reflecting question is also another common
technique employed by therapist to help their clients analyze values and beliefs. It helps clients
accept who they are, and makes them understand that they have command over their destiny.
Perhaps the best suited population for existential therapy is the one that experiences some sort of
transition in their lives, the LOS or crisis of identity or any case that involves loneliness or
classic dread to be referred as as existential anxiety. Existential individuals have discovered that
assisting clients to address these basic issues promotes growth as well as understanding.
Family Systems Theories
Family systems theories appeared to redefine the currents of counseling by dint of their emphasis
on the relational context of the family. These theories emerged in the course of twentieth century
and proffer insights to assert that people are greatly shaped by their familial relationships, and
psychological disorders stem from unhealthiness in the familial relations more than personal
pathology.
The Bowenian Family Systems Theory, named after Murray Bowen, a founder of the family
systems theory equates the family to an emotional system. Bowen stressed that one cannot
remain an independent self; rather they behaviour and emotional process is determined chiefly
by their family scripting. Certainly, Bowen devotes much attention to functioning within family
systems, one of its concepts being differentiation of self which deals with a person’s to ability to
be detached from the system but at the same time being a part of it. Those with low level of
differentiation often experience high level of emotional triangulation, where clients have blurred
boundaries between own self and the members of the family, and they often have problems with
their identities.
triangles: Bowen also made reference to the triangles; these are the triangular working models
that involve three people in a relationship. This is usually established by force since two
individualities in a family quarrel, and a third individuality joins between them in order to
equalize the arguments. Triangles have been described as being beneficial in that they offer
support; however, it just as readily serves to illustrates how a triangle in the family is capable of
sustaining sick patterns. Bowen’s concept focus on multigenerational transmission process which
looks at how emotions and behavior are transmitted in a family over time. With these dynamics
respected therapists can assist their clients to ‘step out’ of family models that they live in and
follow.
Other variant of family systems therapy is Structural family therapy which was developed by
Salvador Minuchin. In this approach, attention is paid to the organization as well as the
boundaries in the family system. In Minuchin’s view, the families are most effective when there
is clear leadership and proper functions assignment. For example, parents should remain in
charge while assessing children to respond to their wants and feelings. It was ascertained that
Woods’ families involving enmeshed boundaries known to be well involved with each other
where individual self-rule often lacks and families of disengaged boundaries tend to lack
emotional closeness or feel isolated. Structural family therapy seeks to change these boundaries
and bring balance to the family setting so that they can be healthy to the other.
The family systems therapy or treatment has also been found to work well for relationship
problems, parenting problems and substance abuse in as much as these problems are rooted in
family issues. It is possible for therapists to understand problematic conduct and interactional
dysfunctions within an individual family by looking at the family as an entity. This broad
approach allows the clients to receive information on their relationships, escape from
Maladaptive Patterns, and establish new functional ways of interacting with their families.
Relational context not pathology is the focus common in Family Systems approaches resulting in
change at the family level being addressed.
Feminist and Multicultural Counseling Theories
Postmodern feminist counseling/therapy appeared as a response to psychological theories in the
mid-1970-ies that ignored or downplayed the role of women and other minorities. This approach
focuses strictly on the political perspective of mental illness, given the fact that a person’s issues
usually arise from political injustice, such as discrimination based on gender or color among
others.
One of the major purposes of Feminist therapy is to eliminate power inequalities and
androgynous imbalances in the female clients and the counselor. Of the various approaches,
feminist therapists integrate their client’s viewpoints and help them make conscious decisions
regarding the influence of specific aspects of social and cultural, including male dominance,
female oppression, and conventional gender roles. For instance the same lady may be having
anxiety due to the societal roles that have been set for instance women roles. In doing so,
feminist therapy seeks to assist clients in understanding these outside pressures, so that they can
develop the tools for resisting oppressiveness in their own lives.
Others are: The understanding of the world for the woman, that means recognition of
intersectionality, based on the view that to oppress persons in social relations occurs not singly
but in various aspects due to race, class, and sexual orientation. It is the opinion of the writer that
intersectional approach should be adopted in assessing the plight of individuals because it is
complicated. That is because feminist therapists are aware of these intersections and ensure that
the environment they create is safe for the client.
Alongside with the feminist counseling, multicultural counseling which has also become the
main focus as a significant work that embraces cultural background as appropriate for receiving
the necessary focus within the process of understanding personal development and mental health.
Autonomous models of counseling, which stem from the individualistic culture of the West may
be insufficient inasmuch as the desires of clients from collectivistic nations where family and
community are valued are concerned. Multicultural counseling implies that a counselor should
be culturally sensitive, it means that a therapist should be aware of his/her cultural and client’s
biases.
Culturally sensitive therapists adjust their experiences to the cultural requirements of certain
clients because culture plays a tremendous role in the mental health of the client. For instance, in
dealing with their client, a therapist has to adhere to the cultures of collectivism rather than be
enthralled with individual achievement. It was made an understanding that clinicians able to
adapt their work to reflect the culture of this population developed better trust and thus rapport
with the clients, and the clients would engage more on the therapeutic process.
While both multicultural and feminist counseling theories have been instrumental in the addition
of culture and power as well as gender in counseling theories. Both of these viewpoints stress,
that mental health is not just an issue of the individual, but of the social structure and culture.
Therefore, for multicultural and feminist perspectives, counselors can be helpful in providing
better and more appropriate treatment or therapy to those people who belong to the categories
underrepresented.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective and used counseling methods
since before 1960s pioneered by Aaron T. Beck. It stands for the proposition that dysfunctional
thinking—that is, thinking which is irrational or Which is unhealthy—causes emotional
dysfunction and maladaptive behaviours. CBT seeks to assist the clients detect and transform
such thoughts, so they can embrace more appropriate thoughts into practice. It is thought that
these alterations in the way that you think result in more effective emotions responses and
behavioral patterns.
CBT is highly directive, time limited, and action focused that is why it is usually applied to
disorders such as depression, anxiety, PTSD and OCD. It is based on the end product of the
cognitive model that an individual’s thought processes, emotions, and actions are all linked.
People argue that the negative schematic processing can be changed through the use of positive
and negative framing which in turn sorts the ways people feel and behave in different ways.
A traditional CBT session entails the therapist or counselor and the client agreeing on certain
negative tendencies, often either cognitive or behavioral, for example, catastrophizing,
overgeneralizing, rumination, or perfectionism. Clients are advised to dispute these thoughts and
avoid believing them which is illogical. For instance, a person who has Cordon code after aceing
one exam believes they are a failure and may be invited to look for counter instances such as
good performance in other tests.
Furthermore there are behavioural techniques used in CBT; for example exposure therapy for
anxiety disorder or activity scheduling for depression. These techniques enable a client to apply
new behaviors in real-life situations after changing cognition during a therapy session. CBT is
definably evidence based treatment and there presented many manipulative research proving its
efficacy in treating different mental disorders.
Another technique that was invented by a man called Albert Ellis in the 1950s it called Rational
Emotive Behavior Therapy commonly regarded as a form of CBT. REBT is based on feelings
disturbances which are attributed to irrational beliefs held by people about themselves, others
and the world. Ellis distinguished between irrational thoughts which include expectations like
“everyone must love me” or ‘life has to be always fair”.
REBT is centered on the process of focalizing the irrational beliefs and then arguing with them,
compared with the rational and less rigid and extreme beliefs. For instance, a client may hold
irrational belief that they have to perfect in everything that they do, should be corrected to a
rational thought such as ‘It is okay to make mistake and progress from them.’ Siminar to CBT,
REBT integrates cognitive and behavioral elements, although offers a more focus on beliefs in
dysphoria.
CBT and REBT are alike in the sense that the therapeutic process is very highly structured and
the therapist is very directive. However, as opposed to some forms of humanistic therapies, these
approaches seem to pay less attention to the detailed description of past affective states and more
attention to the structuring of present difficulties in terms of thought processes and actions. In
this sense, they apply well across a variety of clients, but some clients may require a more
explanatory, explorative or emotion oriented therapy with- out which they do not benefit them.
Integrative and Eclectic Approaches to Counseling
Despite a great deal of optimism for the value of a singular approach in the counselling, the best
practices of modern counselling acknowledge the value of a multiplicity of theories. Therefore,
most therapists utilize an integrative or a eclectic type of approach in which they integrate
various theories or forms of treatments and are more specific on the client.
Integrative model of therapy incorporates some aspects from each therapeutic model while
forming a single structure. Instead of embracing one or another theory and using its approach in
the process, integrative therapists choose strategies and methods in accord with the individual
client’s requirements, objectives, and desires. For instance, a therapist will incorporate both the
CBT and the humanistic approaches when adapting the therapy to a patient because problems
relate to cognition and emotion. It was important that there is use of mindfulness which is a
practice borrowed from Buddhism in that therapeutic process to enable clients have more
appreciation of their thoughts and their feelings.
One of the more famous integrative models is called Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT for
short, that was created in the early 1990s by Marsha Linehan to help treat those who suffer from
borderline personality disorders, or BPD for short. DBT builds on CBT, mindfulness, and
acceptance approaches in order to assist consumers to manage their emotional states, enhance
their ability to interact with others and withstand stress. DBT is well organized and consists of
individual therapy, skills groups, and phone consults which is why makes an adequate treatment
option.
Where integrative therapy has a more structured approach and is based on the combination of
theoretically drawn paperwork, eclectic therapy is basically less prearranged and can include any
activities ranging from doing artwork together to watching a movie. Theorists often select
strategies from different therapeutic orientations depending on situations they think will be
appropriate to treat the client. It also means that the method of counseling changes with the
change of methods that can be used depending on the situation any given client presents to the
therapist.
Integrative and eclectic treatments both mandate the therapist be erudite in a number of
therapeutic procedures and knowledgeable about several counseling theories. Although the used
approaches may provide more versatility and the opportunity to provide individualised treatment,
they are not exempted from some drawbacks such as overlapping of intervention strategies or
inconsistency in treatment. Hence, therapists who use these approaches must make sure that the
intervention they use result from practices that have been proved fit for the therapy, and must
apply the therapy depending on the client.
Contemporary Approaches: Mindfulness-Based and Trauma-Informed Therapy
More recently, counseling has adopted a number of mindfulness-based therapies, which are
rooted in eastern philosophy and especially meditation. This, therefore, entails being
consciousness of the present without making judgements on the existing feelings, thoughts and
physical sensations. Two most widely used and widely accepted theories of mindfulness
employed in counseling are Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction therapy founded by Jon Kabat
Zinn and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy which is the creation of Zindel Segal, Mark
Williams & John Teasdale.
MBSR was designed specifically for cancer outpatients suffering from chronic pain and stress;
however, the course is currently used to treat multiple mental states, such as anxiety, depressive
disorder, and PTSD. MBCT introduces a way of mindfulness and cognitive therapy to prevent
relapse of thinking pattern of people with recurrent depression. These approaches help clients
learn how to reason with their feelings without getting lost in or caught up by them. This can be
more beneficial for those with rumination, worry or problem with regulation of emotions.
Another modern treatment model is trauma- centered therapy that has come to the foreground
due to growing concern about the effects of the traumatic experience for mental health. Trauma-
focused therapy in aware of the fact that many clients will have experienced some form of
trauma distressing events in their lives including physical or sexual abuse, neglect, violence, or
loss. At some time, traumatic events in life make people develop post-traumatic stress disorder or
PTSD and some showcase other symptoms like anxiety, depression, dissociation, and
relationship issues.
Trauma-informed therapy is not a modality but a conceptual approach that directs the clinician in
building effective working relationships with clients. Trauma-Informed Care highlights the
education of the impact of trauma in the neurophysiological and somatic levels and being
conscious of specific subjects that may well cause re-traumatization. Specifically, therapists’ of
the trauma focused approach give priority to the development of trustworthy relationships with
clients, protection and safety of the clients as well as clients’ agency and strengths.
Desensitization procedures including somatic, EMDR, and other types of narrative therapies are
utilized in trauma informed work.
The application of somatic therapy is aimed at the interrelation of the mind and the body, where
a client is taught on how to discharge trauma held in the physical form through subsequent
processes such as body consciousness and motion. EMDR is designed as a protocol by Francine
Shapiro however, that involves treatment of traumatic memories through a series of eye
movements or other types of bilateral stimulation. Created by Michael White and David Epston,
narrative therapy is the practice that focuses on the rewritten stories individuals tell about the
losses of their lives while highlighting those aspects of the subject’s character that are
invulnerable to the loss.
It is also ideal for clients with multiple trauma backgrounds, including physical, emotional, and
sexual abuse during childhood, partner abuse, or basic trauma resulting from war. Thus, safety,
trust, and client’s self-control make trauma-informed strategies effective at helping a client treat
the traumatic core in a non-invasive and invasive way.
Conclusion
Here, it is proposed that theories of counseling provide a range of approaches to the assessment
of behaviour, feelings and interpersonal relationships. Indeed, starting with the humanistic
emphasis on the individual’s pursuit of self-fulfillment and telling the truth about oneself, up to
the cognitive approaches which focus on altering a client’s way of thinking, every theory in the
diagnostic table enriched therapeutics in its way. More recent orientations such as mindfulness-
based and trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapies add to the versatility of counseling by
adopting.views that are culture sensitive as well as including physiological and mental health
perceptive.
Despite the fact that no one approach can do justice to the richness of human experience,
synthesizing and pluralistic perspectives enable therapists to use an assortment of theories to
fashion unique and functional treatments for the client. Finally, it is obvious that the diversity of
the counseling theories responds to the diversity of human’s needs, and the development of the
counseling as the science and practice proceed as response to the recent requirements of the
people’s life.
This essay has taken an analysis of eight dominant classes of counseling theories; the classes are
based on psychodynamics, humanism, behaviorism, existentialism, family systems feminism,
and multiculturalism, another trend is mindfulness and trauma- informed care. All the theories in
an aspect have something different to tell about the process of therapy and have equipment that
may be helpful when working with the patients to help them change for the better.
