Theoretical Orientation Paper

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THEORETICAL ORIENTATION PAPER

Theoretical Orientation Paper

Emily James

Drake University

BengErgner Tekinalp

December 7th, 2013

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While reading about and researching the different types of theoretical models of

counseling, I discovered I was unable to connect with just one of them. Instead, I found

myself liking bits and pieces of a few different ones, pulling them together to create my

own theory of counseling. Therefore, I think an eclectic approach to my theoretical views

of counseling would suit me as a person and a professional the best.

World View

When considering a persons worldview of counseling, you must first consider the

different aspects that make up a holistic worldview. Views of human nature, health

(mental, emotional, and physical), and psychopathology vs. normal behavior are all

aspects that complete a worldview of counseling. Since I do not connect with only one

theory of counseling, my holistic worldview is very eclectic. At this time, I lean towards

Adlerian Therapy, Existential Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Cognitive

Behavior Therapy.

My view of human nature mostly stems from Adlerian and Existential Therapy.

As human beings, we are motivated by social interest, goals, hierarchal needs, and

feelings of inferiority or superiority. Adlerian Therapy touches on all of these aspects,

and adds that, human behavior is not determined solely by heredity and environment.

Instead, we have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events (Corey, 104).

However, regardless of what motivates us, I believe as human beings we have a duty to

take responsibility for ourselves and for our actions. In order to do so, we must accept the

fact that all humans make mistakes; it is in our nature. Fortunately for us, our world and

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its people are mostly good and forgiving. Second, third, or even fourth chances can be

granted to redo something in our lifetime. It is up to us to capitalize on the opportunities

given to us. Existential Therapy touches on this idea, through its views of human ability

to discover self-awareness, and the freedom to choose and decide ones fate. Finally,

Person-Centered Therapy shapes my view of human nature through Carl Rogers belief

that, people are trustworthy, resourceful, capable of self-understanding and self-

direction, able to make constructive changes, and able to live effective and productive

lives (Corey, 178). Rogers belief ties into the ideas of Existential Therapy, that humans

are innately good.

Health is another aspect of a persons worldview of counseling. Health is defined

as the state of being free from illness or injury, and is usually split into three parts:

mental, emotional, and physical. Each category varies for different individuals, but all

three are needed to make up the overall health of a person. These three categories also

combine to affect how an individual lives his or her day-to-day life. Mental health can be

defined as a psychological state of mind where an individual functions at a satisfactory

level of emotional and behavioral adjustment. However, it is deeper than that. A persons

mental health considers how they function on a cognitive level with other individuals,

physical surroundings, and problems or unlikely circumstances that may arise. A persons

mental health determines much more about them than what can be assumed by their

physical appearance.

Emotional health refers to how an individual is able to manage and cope with

their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. It can also refer to how emotionally

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stable a person is in comparison to others of the same age, race, gender, ethnicity, and so

on. Whereas, physical health is the general condition a persons actual body is in.

Physical health correlates with the results of an individuals exercise and nutrition habits.

When combined, all three health categories make up an individual, and decide how they

will behave. Whether or not this behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies

dramatically.

As humans, not a single one of us is 100% alike. Although twins may share the

same genetic features, their personalities are never exactly the same. Therefore,

psychopathological behavior versus normal behavior is a hard concept to grasp. What

may seem as normal behavior to one person may be abnormal behavior to another.

When we consider someone to be different from us, we often term them and their

behavior as abnormal. However, this is not a correct assumption. Behavior is learned and

is directly related to an individuals cultural upbringing. It is important that we take into

consideration a persons culture and background before terming them as abnormal and

potentially even diagnosing them from theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental

Disorders.

Definition and Personal Goals for Counseling

The word counseling is a very vague term. Counseling can mean anything from

giving a friend advice to seeking help from a professional to solve personal issues.

However, I like to think of my definition of counseling as somewhat more concise.

Through reading about the different counseling theories and completing a little research

on the internet, I have come to define counseling as the act of giving assistance and

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guidance to another individual or group in order to help resolve any personal, social, or

psychological problems and difficulties they may have. This definition leads me to a few

personal goals for counseling, which are based off of my eclectic approach.

My main goal of counseling is one that aligns with the view of Person-Centered

Therapy. As a counselor using this therapy I hope to provide a safe, open environment for

all of my clients. This environment will be conducive to clients self-exploration,

allowing them to continually learn and grow as an individual. It will also allow my clients

to discover and experience aspects of their personality or life that they were unaware of

before entering counseling. Person-Centered Therapy also calls for counselors to enable

clients to learn to trust themselves and to find meaning in their life, while at the same

time experiencing it fully. Using this therapy, my clients will become self-directed, well-

rounded people that have confidence in themselves.

The second goal I have for counseling is for my clients to discover and accept

responsibility for their own actions and behaviors. Like Existential therapy touches on, I

believe counseling should challenge clients to discover whether or not they are living

fully authentic lives. Once this discovery has taken place, clients can then learn to make

choices that will lead them to becoming what they are capable of being. This goal for

counseling includes having clients practice taking responsibility for their incorrect ways

of thinking and behavior as a result of that thinking outside of therapy sessions. Having

clients practice what they learn in therapy outside of their sessions will only strengthen

their learning and chances of correcting inappropriate behavior.

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The third goal I have for counseling is for my clients to learn to engage in more

realistic thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy touches on this idea, and expands upon

it with the concepts of catastrophic thinking and overgeneralization by clients. When

clients tend to get caught up in catastrophic thinking or overgeneralizing a situation, they

begin to create self-defeating thoughts. These self-defeating thoughts only grow to other

aspects of their life, creating a never-ending circle of self-doubt and negativity. As a

counselor, this is something I want to avoid with clients. My goal is to help them discover

their self-defeating thoughts and behaviors and to transform them into more realistic

thinking. Having clients do so should greatly improve their outlook on certain situations

and life in general.

Counselor Role and Therapeutic Relationship

While each counseling theory has a different idea of what the counselors role and

therapeutic relationship should look like, I tend to agree with Adlerian Therapy, Person-

Centered Therapy, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In all three theories, the counselor

plays an important role. In Adlerian therapy, the counselors main role is to make a

comprehensive assessment of a clients functioning. This assessment involves learning to

understand the goals and motivations of the client, as well as discovering their major

mistakes in their thought process and value system. I think this is a huge responsibility on

the counselors part, but if completed correctly the client will greatly benefit from the

process.

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In Person-Centered Therapy, counselors use themselves as an instrument for

change. Through the therapists attitude of genuine caring, respect, acceptance, support,

and understanding, the clients are able to loosen their defenses and rigid perceptions and

move to a higher level of personal functioning (Corey, 180). As clients continue to

experience higher levels of personal functioning, they are then able to transfer what they

learn in therapy to other relationships and the outside world. If therapists are unable to

accomplish this, clients may have a hard time changing their behavior outside of his or

her therapy sessions.

Like the other two therapies, Cognitive Behavior Therapy calls for the therapist to

be a teacher and role model. The counselor teaches his or her client to change their

cognitions through therapeutic techniques and homework assignments. In order for

clients to make changes, they must focus on maintaining a collaborative relationship with

their counselor. Doing so will foster a trusting environment and allow clients to

understand how their beliefs and attitudes influence the way they feel and act.

Overall, all three therapies call for a relationship between counselor and client

that showcases respect, collaboration, self-discovery, support, and open communication.

As a counselor, I want to have the type of relationship that entails all of these things.

Without mutual respect, clients will not take to the counselors suggestions and may

terminate the sessions. Collaboration is key between counselor and client as both

individuals need to work together in order to tailor the counseling sessions to the needs of

the client. The counselor and client will also need to work together in order to identify

and manage goals for every therapy session. Each therapy also calls for the client to

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eventually reach some sort of self-discovery and in some cases even become their own

counselor. I think this is a key aspect of the counselor and client relationship as it

promotes deeper learning for clients. Open communication is also important in the

relationship so that everything flows smoothly during and between sessions. Clients

should feel like they can trust their counselor and be willing to share any information that

may be helpful in reaching their goals of therapy. Both the actions of the therapist and

client will affect the outcome(s) of therapy.

Theory of Behavior Change

Behavior can change due to a number of factors.Not only can behavior change

because of ones genes and the environment, but can also change because of how one

interprets, influences, and creates events within their life. According to Adlerian Therapy,

behavior is purposeful, goal oriented, and conscious. Adlerian Therapy also states that,

generally, people fail to change because they do not recognize the errors in their

thinking or the purposes of their behaviors, do not know what to do differently, and are

fearful of leaving old patterns for new and unpredictable ones !"orey, ###$. %ithout

being taught how to correct their behavior, clients will continue to be reluctant to change.

&owever, in order for change to be possible, the client must first recognize what needs to

be changed about their behavior.

'ehavior can also be changed through the ideas of "ognitive 'ehavior Therapy.

This therapy believes that certain things individuals do causes them to think or behave in

inappropriate ways. Overgeneralizai!ns" #alse !r im$!ssi%le g!als !#

se&'ri(" mis$er&e$i!ns !# li#e an) li#e*s )eman)s" minimizai!n !r

)enial !# !ne*s %asi& +!r," an) #a'l( val'es- &an all &a'se %e,avi!r

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! ei,er &,ange !r remain &!nsan 'nil ,e in)ivi)'al &laiming ,ese

%e,avi!rs is a'g, ,!+ ! &,ange ,em /C!re(" 1170 T,r!'g,

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An!,er +a( e,avi!r &an &,ange is ,r!'g, s!&ieal $ress'res

an) e$e&ai!ns (ocial norms tend to dictate whether or not an individuals

behavior is termed normal or abnormal. )f society disagrees with an individuals

behavior or performance, pressure will be applied until the individual does something to

change or to please those around him or her. )n this way, an individuals behavior can be

altered through the positive and negative reinforcement or punishment surrounding them.

)n order for a changed behavior to be maintained, warmth, empathy, authenticity,

permissiveness, and acceptance are all needed in con*unction with many other things

from an individuals counselor. )n order for a negative behavior to change, the clients

must be able to recognize it themselves and be willing to make an effort to change the

problematic behavior. )f the client is unwilling to change their problematic behavior, they

will have a hard time reaching their goals in therapy. &owever, if an individual is willing

to change their behavior, the change will be maintained when the individual is able to

uphold the new behavior and incorporate it into their every day life. )mplementing a new

behavior into ones life is not an easy task. Therefore, individuals attempting to do so will

need continuous reinforcement from their counselor and outside factors. %hile there are

many factors that can also be incorporated into whether a behavior change is continued,

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maintained, or even effective, clients will not be successful in completely changing

unless concrete goals are set and accomplished along the path of change.

Indicators of Effectiveness

As I have stated before, clients and the counseling process vary greatly. Not one

person is alike; therefore it is hard to compare one client to another. Conversely, it is

equally as challenging to test the effectiveness of the counseling process and an

individuals behavior change. In order to lessen this challenge, concrete, manageable

goals should be determined and set throughout the counseling process. Both short-term

and long-term goals can be used to aid in distinguishing whether or not the counseling

process is working.

I will consider my client to be effectively using their time with me if he or she is

able to accomplish the three goals I have listed in the Definition and Personal Goals for

Counseling section of this paper. In this section I talked about providing a safe and open

environment for my clients, teaching clients to accept and hold responsibility for their

actions, and for clients to develop more realistic thinking during the therapeutic process.

Providing a safe and open environment for clients is an easier goal to measure. If a client

were comfortable and relaxed in his or her sessions with me, then they would feel safe

and willing to share information. Should a client be anxious and unwilling to discuss

certain things with me, my goal and practices would not be effective. Together the client

and I would need to address how to achieve the goal and make the client comfortable

during counseling.

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My second goal of teaching clients to take responsibility for their actions and

encouraging them to life a fulfilling life is also measureable. Through talking with my

client I will be able to decide if they are indeed taking responsibility for their actions,

thoughts, and behaviors, or if they are still blaming others. Conversations between the

two of us would also lead the client to a self-realization of whether or not they are living

a fulfilling lifestyle. If they do not believe they are, we will reconsider their thinking and

determine how to achieve the goal.

Finally, teaching clients to hold a more realistic belief system than the one they

currently use is measureable as well. As the counselor, I will need to work with my client

to help them change their thinking to entail a more positive belief system. Until this has

been accomplished, my goal for my client will not be met. Should my clients walk away

from therapy feeling as though they accomplished these three goals, I would view our

time together and my teachings as effective. However, if my clients cannot end therapy

feeling as though they accomplished these goals I wouldnt be able to consider our

sessions effective.

Another way to measure whether or not counseling if effective and worthwhile

would be to use homework assignments with clients. The purpose of homework

assignments is for clients to be able to practice what they learn in their therapy sessions

outside of the counseling office. Practicing homework and other assignments outside of

the counseling office allows for the client to make more rapid gains towards their goals. It

also enables clients to test their beliefs and experiment with different behaviors in daily-

life situations. Homework is flexible and individualized, making it easier to follow and

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discuss with counselors. While using therapeutic techniques, such as homework, is

beneficial to the client, I think concrete goals should accompany the technique to further

its effectiveness. Using techniques and goals hand-in-hand will allow clients and

therapists to measure and monitor the effectiveness of the counseling process as they

proceed further and further into it. Therapeutic techniques and goals will also allow

counselors and clients to revisit an idea or learned behavior should the client have a

relapse.

Integration of Philosophy

Through taking a theories course and thinking critically about each of the theories

and how they apply to my life, I have discovered my own personal beliefs and values

align with each one of the theories I have discussed thus far in this paper. One of the

values I hold dear to my heart is that I believe people are innately good and mean well by

other people. I also believe in and value second chances and the fact that people make

mistakes. Not a single person in this would is perfect, no matter how hard they try to be,

which is what makes the seven billion people living in our world unique. We are all

individuals. While I know I am not alone in sharing this value, I was pleasantly surprised

to see aspects of it throughout Person-Centered Therapy.

Another belief and value I hold is that human beings are free to make their own

decisions and choose their own fate. This value can be seen in Existential Therapy.

During my first year of college, being able to be my own person became important to me.

As an undeclared student, it was comforting to know I could pick any major I wanted and

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had the freedom to study whatever interested me. No one was telling me what to study or

who to become, and to this day I appreciate being able to make my own choices as an

adult. I know not everyone is afforded the same opportunities that I was, but I still believe

people are able to choose who they want to become, what they want to do, and are able to

shape their fate as they see fit, they just have to be willing to put in a little effort.

The third belief I hold brings Adlerian Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy

together into one. Adlerian Therapy believes that humans are motivated by social interest,

personal goals, and feelings of inferiority or superiority. While Cognitive Behavior

Therapy believes that individuals tend to incorporate faulty thinking into their belief

system, which leads to emotional and behavioral disturbances in their lives. I agree with

both of these therapies. Human beings are very motivated by what is around them. Every

day we face societal pressures and are asked to conform to social norms. The social

interest that motivates us is also what leads us to develop and believe self-destructive

thoughts. If an individual believes he or she does not live up to what society expects of

them or chooses to act differently than what society demands of them, they may begin to

incorporate faulty thoughts into their belief system.

For example, not everyone in this world accepts being homosexual as normal. To

show their disapproval, people have taken to bullying and violating the rights of

outwardly homosexual people. This harsh disapproval has caused some homosexual

individuals to believe what critics say about them, to seek counseling, and has even cause

certain people to take their own lives. The effects of societal disapproval towards the

homosexual population, such as these, have caused both emotional and behavioral

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disturbances in the lives of many people. So while most people seek to gain approval

from society and are motivated by what others say and think about them, Cognitive

Behavior Therapy shows us that these actions can actually cause more harm than good.

Although I only discussed three of my personal values and beliefs, I continually

see more of myself in the different counseling theories. They have helped me to not only

become a better person and graduate student, but will shape the counselor I become and

will continually cause my theoretical orientation to change. The eclectic approach to

counseling I have taken thus far in my career is not finalized. I know it will continue to

be shaped by many factors, and I couldnt be more excited to see what my future holds as

a counselor.

While I am passionate about my beliefs and how they relate to the different

counseling theories, I understand it is not my place to push my views on others, but most

importantly not to push them on my clients. My overarching goal as a counselor is to

remain unbiased at all times, and to allow clients to tell me as much information about

themselves and their situations as they wish to. Judgment will not be passed on my

clients. I aim to provide them with an environment they feel will help lead them to

success, not one that will be punishing and restricting of their life goals. Even though I

may not agree with the views of one of my clients, it is my job to respect them as fellow

human being, as well as their opinion, while giving them the best counseling experience

possible that will lead them to success.

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References

Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy(9thedition).

Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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Documents

Theoretical Orientation Paper