METHODS IN COUNSELING

I. Classic Theories
a. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
- psychoanalysis - a method of explaining and treating
mental and emotional disorders by having the patient talk
freely about himself or herself and especially about dreams,
problems, and early childhood memories and experiences.
- it aims to treat mental conditions by investigating the
interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the
mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into the
conscious mind by techniques such as dream interpretation
and free association.
• 3 goals of pschoanalysis:

1. to help clients gain insights about themselves

2. to help clients work unstuck issues
3. to help clients cope with the stresses of the
society
• Methods/Techniques:
1. Free association - aims to deepen self-understanding by
looking at whatever thoughts, words, or images come freely
to mind.
2. Dream analysis - explore unconscious processes using
dreams
3. Cronfrontation and clarification - feedback procedure
to determine areas for further analysis
4. Interpretation - giving insights about inner conflicts
 I. Classic Theories
b. Adler’s Individual Psychology
- a theory of human behavior and a therapeutic approach
that encourages individuals to make positive contributions
to society as well as to achieve personal happiness.
Four goals of Adlerian counseling:
1. creating an egalitarian relationship
2. analysis of client’s lifestyle
3. interpretation of client’s lifestyle that promotes insight
4. reorientation and reeducation
Four Phases of Adlerian Psychotherapy

First Phase: Establishing the relationship

- use of listening skills

- winning respect and offering hope
- encouragement
Four Phases of Adlerian Psychotherapy

Second Phase: Performing analysis and assessment

- lifestyle analysis
- dream analysis
Four Phases of Adlerian Psychotherapy

Third Phase: Promoting insight

- insight process - method that allows clients to

uderstand the dynamics of self-defeating patterns and
utilize the insights to rectify the said patterns
Four Phases of Adlerian Psychotherapy

Fourth Phase: Reorientation

- spitting in the client’s soup - exposing the hidden
agenda or goal for [the client's] self-defeating behavior.
- push-button technique - triggers; asks clients to
remember a pleasant incident that they have experienced,
become aware of feelings connected to it, and then switch
to an unpleasant image and those feelings
Four Phases of Adlerian Psychotherapy

Fourth Phase: Reorientation

- catching oneself - counselors encourage clients to learn
to laugh at their self-defeating tendencies.
- acting as-if - advances “can-do” spirit; pleasant behavior
- task setting and commitment - providing structure;
setting goals
 I. Classic Theories
c. Jung’s Analytical Psychology
- a thorough, analytical approach to talk therapy that seeks
to bring balance and union between the conscious and
unconscious parts of the mind.
- self-realization
- dream analysis
 II. Experiential Theories
Experiential - direct experience and focused reflection
a. Roger’s Person-Centered Counseling
- “if-then” approach - if certain conditions exist in the
counseling relationship, then the client will move towards
self actualization
- based on Rogers's belief that every human being strives
for and has the capacity to fulfill his or her own potential.
 II. Experiential Theories
Experiential - direct experience and focused reflection
a. Roger’s Person-Centered Counseling
- based on Rogers's belief that every human being strives
for and has the capacity to fulfill his or her own potential.
- “if-then” approach - if certain conditions exist in the
counseling relationship, then the client will move towards
self actualization
Conditions: 1. counselor congruence
2. emphatic understanding
3. unconditional positive regard
 II. Experiential Theories
Experiential - direct experience and focused reflection
b. Gestalt Therapy
- a form of psychotherapy that is centered on increasing a
person's awareness, freedom, and self-direction. It's a form
of therapy that focuses on the present moment rather than
past experiences.
- focus on the here and now
b. Gestalt Therapy
Techniques:
1. Assuming responsibility - “awareness of what is happening to
us” and “owning up to acts, impulses, and feelings.”
2. Using personal pronouns - use “I or me” in order to take
responsibility
3. Now I am aware - getting in touch with oneself
4. The empty chair technique - client conducts an emotional dialogue
with some aspect of himself or herself or some significant person (e.g., a
parent), who is imagined to be sitting in an empty chair during the session.
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories

CBT theories suggest that our thoughts,

emotions, body sensations, and behavior
are all connected, and that what we think
and do affects the way we feel.
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories

a. Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

- an approach that helps identify irrational beliefs and
negative thought patterns that may lead to emotional or
behavioral issues.
- internal cognitive dialogue or self-talk
- didactic and provoking
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories
a. Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Techniques:
• Cognitive - conquer “defeating cognitons”; reforming
ideas that are unreasonable and irrational
• Emotive techniques - focus on affective or emotional
domain
• Behavioral technique - behavioral methods such
asnassertiveness training, relaxation therapy, self-
monitoring etc.
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories
b. Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
- help clients to recognize the negative thoughts and errors
in logic that cause them to be depressed (dysfuntional
thoughts)
- does not invalidate “beliefs”, but let clients investigate
“belief’s functionality”
- client’s are led to be more practical in understanding and
expalanation of events by “projecting less (anxiety) and
generalizing less” (depression).
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories
b. Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
Techniques:
• Decatastrophizing - "what if" technique
• Redefining - rearticulation of an obstacle or a challenge
• Decentering - observe and get a practical appreciation of
other people’s response; making client’s apprehend tghat
they are not the “center of attention”
• Behavioral Techniques
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories
c. Berne’s Transactional Analysis
- Berne referred to the basic unit of social interaction as a
transaction.
- TA refers to the study of how individuals interact in social
situations.
- goal: to assist clients to reach a stage of being
“autonomous, self-aware, spontaneous and have the
capacity for intimacy”
- evaluating the “three ego state of parent, adult, and child
of each person”
 III. Cognitive-Behaviorial Theories
c. Berne’s Transactional Analysis
Techniques:
• Structural Analysis - to be conscious of the ”three ego”
• Transactional Analysis - to “learn to communicate with
complementary rransactions”
• Script Analysis - uncovering the "early decisions, made
unconsciously, as to how life shall be lived"
• Analysis of Games - determining “what games the clients play
and how the games interfere with interpersonal functioning”
Thank you for
listening! :-)