Introduction to Counseling Theories

There are many different terms used across the world in the field of careers

Guidance and counseling. For the purpose of this guide each of the terms

is defined below.

  Counseling is a profession that tailors the approach to the needs of the client, presenting issues and the

personality of the individual.  A counselor’s approach is also unique based on belief systems and personal

values.  Counseling is an activity where personal values are an important part of the development of the

individual and the community at large.  Counselors are in a unique position to be able to affect the society

in which we live, guiding clients in decisions that often have a dramatic life changing impact. 

Counseling can also be defined as;

Actively listening to an individual’s story and communicating understanding, respect and

empathy; clarifying goals and assisting individuals with the decision-making process.

Counseling is a mutual relationship between a counselor (a professionally trained helper) and a

client (a consumer of counseling services).

Career counseling

A largely verbal process in which a counselor and counselee(s) are in a dynamic and

collaborative relationship, focused on identifying and acting on the counselee’s goals, in which

the counselor employs a repertoire of diverse techniques and processes, to help bring about self-

understanding, understanding of behavioral options available, and informed decision-making in

the counselee, who has the responsibility for his or her own actions (Herr & Cramer, 1996).

Career

The interaction of work roles and other life roles over a person’s lifespan including both paid and

unpaid work in an individual’s life. People create career patterns as they make decisions about

education, work, family and other life roles.

The individual theory

Values in Counseling and Integration of Individual Theories

Individual theory approach is founded on understanding of irrational beliefs and the implication of this on

thinking, feelings and behavior.  Combining the rational therapy process with a focus on emotions creates

a personalized approach to therapy.  This focus complements the three components of personality,

thinking, feelings, and behavior by providing depth to the reason behind our thoughts.  Individual’s

feelings are the first indicator that something is not right in the individual “system”.

Values and Feelings in Counseling

            In this perspective on individual counseling is the behavior link between feelings and thinking. 

Feelings of sadness, apprehension, and anxiety create the desire for a response that exhibits in behavior,

either socially or privately.  Behavior is motivated to produce a change in the operating system.  If the

responsive behavior based is on faulty emotions and irrational beliefs it can manifests with negative and

possibly harmful results.  In some instances, this negative behavior may be a symptom that triggers

awareness of the need for change.  The counselor needs to be prepared to suggest or explore patterns as a

part of the larger picture.  It is important the counselor remain alert to emotions and behaviors that present

themselves from the individual as potential insight into thought patterns and interpretations of events. 

The symptom is generally a “door” to the other issues in counseling and not the focus, the causes are. 

There is great importance, therefore, on the role of  values in counseling.

            An understanding of the emotions and behaviors that no longer function for the individual provide

the counselor a basis for assessing the underlying belief systems, schemas, and assumptions.  With this

technique, emotional health can be restored through changing maladaptive thinking, removing negative

biases and distortions in thoughts, and moving the individual towards greater balance in their personality

and functioning.  These three approaches: understanding belief systems, irrational thoughts, and

behavioral responses provide significance to the change process.  Through self-awareness and insight

gathered through understanding thinking, about how the “puzzle fits” provides insight and goals for

change in the feeling and behavior.

Counseling Relationship

            There are specific personal characteristics necessary in the counselor to establish a healthy and

therapeutic helping relationship with the client.  Clients who enter counseling have issues that may be

unknown to them; or they may have awareness of a problem, but cannot see it with a clear perspective. 

Every issue can be boiled down to: 1) You know what you want, but not how to get it, or 2) You do not

know what you want.  Providing empathetic understanding through the initial stages of the developing

relationship and during difficult periods of change provides the client with a feeling of compassionate

understanding during a process where there may be little support elsewhere.  Counselors must remain

genuine and congruent consistently providing genuine and open feedback to the client without becoming

sympathetic for the sole reason of giving comfort or feeling with the client.  Pain and discomfort are not

necessarily negative and are a potential source of insight ready for discovery. 

            Providing clients with respect for their pain and suffering, and offering positive regard in areas of

worth and potential, are important components for the counselor to affirm an individual’s optimistic sense

of self and provide hope for the future.  Counselors help to clarify and reduce ambiguity by providing an

unbiased and balanced view.  Addressing the needs of the client in the “here and now” and possessing

sensitivity to immediate needs, provides acknowledgment to the client’s current situation.  For example, it

is important for the counselor to take an active role in understanding the common cultural perspectives of

a wife in Islamic culture and how counseling may be modified to produce change.  These characteristics

form the individual uniqueness in the counselor and are a significant component to the counseling

relationship. 

Theory Building Ingredients

            This paper covers eight aspects of individual counseling.  Structure and basic understandings of

the theory that differentiate it from the foundation are compared with the applied therapeutic approaches. 

Motivation and the involvement in goal setting is detailed along with development of personality over the

lifespan.  Individual differences are reviewed to illustrate the unique attributes addressed in the

counseling process.  This perspective outlines individual health and dysfunction.  Finally, techniques

specific to the integrated theories in this perspective are provided to enhance understanding.   

Structure

            The foundation of this integrative perspective of individual counseling begins with observing and

dialoging of problem feelings.  What has brought the client to counseling now?  The “now” is the focus at

this stage in counseling.  An individual may not have insight into what the issues are that need to be

addressed, but may have an awareness of what does not feel right in their environment and daily living. 

Emotions are viewed as the result of thoughts and belief systems held by the individual.  Feelings of

resentment and anger may be present with behavior that is both conditioned and learned in response to

these feelings.  The counselor needs to acknowledge and affirm these feelings as genuine.  This is one

aspect of positive regard and respect for the experiences that shaped the client.  As dialogue continues and

rapport is built, the counselor works to uncover the thought processes that maintain the disruptive

behavior and feelings.  Thoughts based on faulty learning result in an irrational belief structure for the

individual’s development.  Ultimately, the counselor’s role in this perspective is to address these faults in

programming that maintain the dysfunctional system. 

            Man is designed as a uniquely rational and goal oriented individual (Ellis, 1996).  Man also

develops, learns and conditions from observing the environment and his interpretations (Bandura, 1997). 

Individual emotions are therefore highly complex and personalized and formulating a biased component

to thinking which results from the unique life experiences and belief system generated from events. 

When an individual enters into counseling, something in their current system is not working.  Something

is causing distress motivating the client to attend.  Through an understanding of an individual’s feelings,

behaviors, and thoughts, the counselor is challenged to uncover in the client the specific beliefs that are

determining the individual’s emotions and actions.  This structure combines the three theories of

development and expression, which form the foundation of this integrative perspective to individual

counseling.   

Motivation

            Common among the theories in this integrative approach is the view that individuals are motivated

in their emotions, behaviors, and thoughts to achieve a result.  When looking at an individual’s goals,

factors to consider include asking the individual what they are trying to achieve and how they are

expecting to achieve this.  This elicits goals and processes that are incongruent with the desired reward,

pleasure, or avoidance of pain.  Discussing this develops the partnership with the client towards resolving

the issues.  Integrating the structured approach discussed in the previous section, the counselor begins

with an analysis of the feelings the individual has about their goal.  What is motivating the feelings of the

individual to attempt to produce these desired benefits?  A man “seeks” continuously throughout life to

fulfill his short term needs when focus needs to be redirected to a long term outlook.  This long-term

focus is the key to success.  This is where counselors “lose” most clients without focus on the benefits of

long-term goals.  Trying to find enjoyment in self, social groups, sexual expression, work and leisure

activities, and the counselor requires an understanding of distorted beliefs to work towards changing

maladaptive thinking that may be motivating the individual. 

Dysfunction can be caused by a combination of biological, environmental, and social factors.  Individuals

are motivated to adapt to these factors to reduce perceived distress.  Behavior motivated to alter negative

or painful experiences (repression of assault) provides an opportunity to assist the individual in working

through the feelings (e.g. anger, shame), the behavior (e.g. repression), and the thinking (e.g. I am a bad

person).  This assists in redeveloping emotions, actions, and thoughts that are healthy and positively

motivated.   In the example of an individual whose thinking is pragmatic (e.g. I am a bad person),

regarding a physical attack, the counseling process may involve changing the maladaptive thinking to

‘this was not my fault’.  This possibly includes moving behavior from passive to active through a group

setting for assault victims, and moving through feelings of anger to forgiveness and personal growth.

            Counseling that assists individuals to clarify the perceived reward based on realistic expectations

and cognitive understanding is the desired result of integration in the area of motivation.       

Compare / Contrast to Other Approaches

                This integrative perspective is comparative to other theories of personality and counseling in

terms of goals of therapy and some basic concepts.  Gestalt therapy has as its goal individual awareness

leading to growth, responsibility, and maturity.  A difference in these theories is the focus for the

individual.  Gestalt therapy uses the concept of contact boundaries and relations to objects, similar to the

object relations theory as the emphasis for resolving and establishing health. 

            Comparing cognitive, REBT, and behavior therapy, which are focused on present belief systems

to psychoanalytic theory, based on unconscious drives, we see the significant difference in perspective of

problem resolution.  Freud’s psychoanalytic theory works to change personality and character structure

through the reconstruction and reinterpretation of childhood experiences.  In cognitive therapy, the

counselor works with the client to understand belief systems and challenge these with knowledge and

goals rooted in the present.  Whereas psychoanalytic therapy typically requires more than two years to

produce desired results; cognitive (thoughts), rational emotive behavior therapy (beliefs and emotions),

and behavioral therapy have the ability to produce change in as short as six to eight sessions. 

            Another comparison is the assessment techniques utilized in therapy.  Adlerian therapy looks at

lifestyle, birth order, family dynamics, and early recollections in establishing personality and health.  The

integrative perspective outlined in this paper looks at consequences to behavior, goals, and thoughts

observed through interviews with the client.  Where the Adlerian theory looks at nurturing issues and

lifestyle choices, the cognitive, rational emotive behavior therapy, and behavioral integration looks at

current behavior, emotions, and thoughts as understood by the client.  It also looks to prioritize these to

actively work with the client on redirecting these aspects to align with their goals.

            Various theories are available to integrate and add value to approaches applied by counselors. 

Congruence in the theories integrated creates a counseling environment where both therapist and client

have a process that works together towards the determined goals.  Integration of theories versus a

commitment to only one theory of counseling allows a specific, unique application to the client’s needs

and level of ability.

Person centered theory

Underlying Theory of Person-Centered Counseling. The person-centered approach views the client as

their own best authority on their own experience, and it views the client as being fully capable of

fulfilling their own potential for growth. It recognizes, however, that achieving potential requires

favorable conditions and that under adverse conditions, individuals may well not grow and develop in the

ways that they otherwise could. In particular, when individuals are denied acceptance and positive regard

from others — or when that positive regard is made conditional upon the individual behaving in particular

ways — they may begin to lose touch with what their own experience means for them, and their innate

tendency to grow in a direction consistent with that meaning may be stifled.

One reason this may occur is that individuals often cope with the conditional acceptance offered to them

by others by gradually coming to incorporate these conditions into their own views about themselves.

They may form a self-concept which includes views of themselves like, "I am the sort of person who must

never be late", or "I am the sort of person who always respects others", or "I am the sort of person who

always keeps the house clean". Because of a fundamental need for positive regard from others, it is easier

to ‘be’ this sort of person — and to receive positive regard from others as a result — than it is to ‘be’

anything else and risk losing that positive regard. Over time, their intrinsic sense of their own identity and

their own evaluations of experience and attributions of value may be replaced by creations partly or even

entirely due to the pressures felt from other people. That is, the individual displaces personal judgments

and meanings with those of others.

Psychological disturbance occurs when the individual’s ‘self-concept’ begins to clash with immediate

personal experience i.e., when the evidence of the individual’s own senses or the individual’s own

judgment clashes with what the self-concept says ‘ought’ to be the case. Unfortunately, disturbance is apt

to continue as long as the individual depends on the conditionally positive judgments of others for their

sense of self-worth and as long as the individual relies on a self-concept designed in part to earn those

positive judgments. Experiences which challenge the self-concept are apt to be distorted or even denied

altogether in order to preserve it.

Therapeutic Approach of Person-Centered Counseling

The person-centered approach maintains that three core conditions provide a climate conducive to growth

and therapeutic change. They contrast starkly with those conditions believed to be responsible for

psychological disturbance. The core conditions are:

1. Unconditional positive regard

2. Empathic understanding

3. Congruence

The first — unconditional positive regard — means that the counselor accepts the client unconditionally

and non-judgmentally. The client is free to explore all thoughts and feelings, positive or negative, without

danger of rejection or condemnation. Crucially, the client is free to explore and to express without having

to do anything in particular or meet any particular standards of behavior to ‘earn’ positive regard from the

counselor. The second — empathic understanding — means that the counselor accurately understands the

client’s thoughts, feelings, and meanings from the client’s own perspective. When the counselor perceives

what the world is like from the client’s point of view, it demonstrates not only that that view has value,

but also that the client is being accepted. The third — congruence — means that the counselor is authentic

and genuine. The counselor does not present an aloof professional facade, but is present and transparent

to the client. There is no air of authority or hidden knowledge, and the client does not have to speculate

about what the counselor is ‘really like’.

Together, these three core conditions are believed to enable the client to develop and grow in their own

way — to strengthen and expand their own identity and to become the person that they ‘really’ are

independently of the pressures of others to act or think in particular ways.

As a result, person-centered theory takes these core conditions as both necessary and sufficient for

therapeutic movement to occur — i.e., that if these core conditions are provided, then the client will

experience therapeutic change. (Indeed, the achievement of identifying and articulating these core

conditions and launching a significant programme of scientific research to test hypotheses about them

was one of the greatest contributions of Carl Rogers, the American psychologist who first began

formulating the person-centered approach in the 1930s and 1940s.) Notably, person-centered theory

suggests that there is nothing essentially unique about the counseling relationship and that in fact healthy

relationships with significant others may well manifest the core conditions and thus be therapeutic,

although normally in a transitory sort of way, rather than consistently and continually.

Finally, as noted at the outset, the person-centered approach takes clients as their own best authorities.

The focus of person-centered therapy is always on the client’s own feelings and thoughts, not on those of

the therapist — and certainly not on diagnosis or categorization. The person-centered therapist makes

every attempt to foster an environment in which clients can encounter themselves and become more

intimate with their own thoughts, feelings and meanings.

Criticisms of Person-Centered Counseling

A frequent criticism of the person-centered approach is that delivering the core conditions is what all

good therapists do anyway, before they move on to applying their expertise and doing the real work of

‘making clients better’. On the face of it, this criticism reflects a misunderstanding of the real challenges

of consistently manifesting unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding and congruence. This

is especially true of congruence: to the extent that some therapeutic techniques deployed in some other

traditions depend on the counselor’s willingness to ‘hold back’, mentally formulate hypotheses about the

client, or conceal their own personal reactions behind a consistent professional face, there is a real

challenge in applying these techniques with the openness and honesty which defines congruence. It may

also demonstrate something of a reluctance to take seriously the empirical research on counseling

effectiveness and the conclusion that the quality of the client-counselor relationship is a leading predictor

of therapeutic effectiveness — although this is somewhat more controversial, since one might argue that

providing the core conditions is not the only way to achieve a quality relationship.

At a deeper level, however, there is a more sophisticated point lurking, which many expositions of

person-centered theory seem to avoid addressing head-on. Namely, given that the self is the single most

important resource the person-centered counselor brings to the therapeutic relationship, it makes sense to

ask: what (if anything) is it important that this self has, apart from the three core conditions? I.e.,

manifesting of the core conditions does not by itself tell us what experiences or philosophies the

counselor is bringing to the relationship. It tells us that the client will have transparent access to that self

— because the counselor is congruent — but it doesn’t tell us anything else about that self. Whether or

not that self should be developed in any particular way, or whether that self should acquire any particular

background knowledge, seems to me a question which is more often side-stepped than answered within

the person-centered tradition.

Best Fit with Clients

Clients who have a strong urge in the direction of exploring themselves and their feelings and who value

personal responsibility may be particularly attracted to the person-centered approach. Those who would

like a counselor to offer them extensive advice, to diagnose their problems, or to analyze their psyches

will probably find the person-centered approach less helpful. Clients who would like to address specific

psychological habits or patterns of thinking may find some variation in the helpfulness of the person-

centered approach, as the individual therapeutic styles of person-centered counselors vary widely, and

some will feel more able than others to engage directly with these types of concerns.

Other theories include:

In Client Centered (Rogerian) counseling, the counselor provides the growth-promoting climate and

the client is then free and able to discover and grow as she / he wants and needs to. Prevailing

characteristics of the session are active listening, empathy, acceptance (unconditional positive regard) and

genuineness.

Holistic Health (Biopsychosocial) asserts that we have physical, intellectual, social, emotional,

vocational and spiritual needs -- the neglect of which reduces the ability of one to withstand the effects of

stress. And we live in socio-economic conditions that can enhance or demean our long-term well-being.

Strengths Based counseling focuses on what is going right in a person’s life. The counselor and client

work together to find past and present successes and use these to address current and future challenges. Its

first cousin, Positive Thinking or Learned Optimism, is about learning a positive perspective –

focusing on what can go right.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ABC Method) could be described as “as I think, so I feel (and do)!” In

any given situation you have:

A. Activating Event – the actual event and the client’s immediate interpretations of the event

B. Beliefs about the event – this evaluation can be rational or irrational

C. Consequences – how you feel and what you do or other thoughts

Solution Focused Therapy (Where do I want to be?!) focuses on what clients want to achieve through

therapy rather than on the problem(s) that made them seek help. The approach does not focus on the past,

but instead, focuses on the present and future. The client is asked to envision how the future will be

different when the problem is no longer present.

The Existential approach (Why Am I Here?!) is also known as “Meaning Therapy.” As Viktor Frankyl

put it, “He who knows the ‘why’ for his existence, will be able to bear almost any ‘how.’” Therapy is

concerned with creating one’s identity and establishing meaningful relationships with others.

Advantages of career counseling

There are many benefits of career counseling to consider. It's easy to feel confused when it comes to

what type of career path to choose. With so many choices in jobs today, career counseling can be a

step in the right direction as far as pinpointing what career to focus on. Having a professional advisor

to assist with deciding what strengths and talents can be developed into a solid career is the role that

a career counselor plays. Career counseling has many benefits for anyone who is starting out with a

new career or in the midst of a job change. Here are five benefits of career counseling.

Testing to Determine Strengths and Weaknesses

when you engage in career counseling, you will most likely be working with a trained professional

who can provide you with various aptitude and career assessment tests. These tests are designed to

match your natural skills, strengths and abilities with key components of specific careers. You will

also be able to determine what weaknesses you may have so that you can avoid working towards a

career that will only lead to frustration. Having this information ahead of time can be invaluable

when choosing what career path to take.

Goal Setting for Greater Results

A large part of the career counselor's job is to guide you through the process of goal setting in your

career endeavors. The career counselor can help you identify the steps needed to reach important

goals along the way as you explore new career options or make changes in the career you already

have. This can be a major benefit for you if you struggle with reaching goals or making changes, as

you will be accountable not only to yourself, but to another person.

Identifying Choices in Careers

Whether you are new on the job market or have been going through the process of switching careers

mid-life, you may be amazed at the full range of career options available today. While this may be

positive, it can also be overwhelming. A career counselor can assist you with focusing on one area of

a career path that works best for you so that you save time and efforts by working on realistic career

goals that are right for you.

Educational Support and Guidance

As you start working with a career counselor, you may encounter many careers that require specific

training or education. This process can be made more pleasant by sharing the experience with a

supporting career counselor who can help you along the way with support, resources and tools to

help you achieve the training you need to be successful in your new career path.

Job Search Support

If you are ready to start looking for a new job, a career counselor can be an invaluable source of

support and encouragement. Career counselors often offer cover letter, resume and interviewing

services in conjunction with their counseling services. A good career counselor will be able to

provide you with the tools, feedback and resources you need to be successful in your job search.

Conclusion

            Eclectic therapeutic integration provides a unique opportunity for the counselor to create a

distinctive healing relationship specific to the individual in need.  With a cognitive foundation looking at

thoughts, I have integrated the theories of rational emotive behavior therapy with the focus on beliefs and

emotions and the behavioral model to provide a comprehensive perspective to individual counseling.  In

each of these theories, there are common factors that must be included in an eclectic approach.  The

relationship between client and therapist is important for progress and paramount is the client’s

perception of the relationship.  Counseling provides an opportunity for clients to express themselves

emotionally, experience catharsis, and discuss problems.  Clients learn new behaviors and have an

opportunity to practice these behaviors.  Additionally, counselors explain clients problems and how to

resolve issues.  Individuals in this perspective have an opportunity to change behaviors, emotions, and

thoughts through the healing relationship and hope for resolution to their problems. 

Taking the view that every individual has the internal resources they need for growth, person-centered

counseling aims to provide three ‘core conditions’ (unconditional positive regard, empathy and

congruence) which help that growth to occur.

References:

William Crain Theories of development: August 2010

Judy harrow: working models 1996

Google scholar essays

Gerald Corey: Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy: 1990

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA

DEPARTMENT:

MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT

UNIT:

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

QUESTION:

COUNSELLING THEORIES

LECTURER

MR.THOMAS NGUI

PRESENTED BY:

NAME OF STUDENTS REG NO:

SOLOMON NGARE 1021421

PENINAH NJUGUNA 1009953

KEVIN KAHIGA 1011675

ANITTA AWUOR 1011443