Key Concepts from the Three Roots of Counselling

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There are three main approaches in counselling these are the Humanistic, Cognitive Behavioural (C.B.T) and Psychodynamic. Within this essay I want to identify and describe some of their key concepts starting with the Humanistic Approach. The Humanistic Approach or (Person Centred Therapy) began in the 1950’s due to theorists views that there were limitations within the prior two approaches of C.B.T and Psychodynamic. The two main theorists associated with this movement are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers who believed that humans were innately good and possessed a drive towards growth and fulfilment called self-actualization. Abraham Maslow based his findings of this on healthy people who had found a meaning to their life that gave them fulfilment thus achieving self-actualisation and noted that a hierarchy of needs had to be met beginning with basic needs like food, water, air etc. He believed that if a deficiency and a need cease to be satisfied the motivation to strive higher or maintain growth is lost and problems can occur. Carl Rogers although agreeing with Abraham Maslow also felt that to strive for self-actualization and be able to overcome their problems they needed to be in a genuine environment. In this environment they could open up whilst feeling unconditionally accepted and understood, here they could realize their full potential. To provide this therapeutic environment Carl Rogers states that three core conditions are needed:- • Congruence: - being transparent or genuine showing the Client that the Counsellor accepts them on an equal basis and there is no pretence, enabling openness thus allowing the Client to have a deeper insight into themselves. The Counsellor will never attempt to deceive the Clien... ... middle of paper ... ... better position to use their knowledge, resources and energy to resolve problems now and in the future. To conclude the Cognitive Behavioural Approach is educational it uses structured learning experiences that teach Clients to monitor their negative thoughts and mental images. The goal is to recognise how those thoughts and images affect their mood and behaviour making them feel depressed or anxious etc. The Counsellor teaches important coping skills, such as problem solving and making time for pleasurable experiences although it only works on the here and now problems not on problems from within the past i.e. childhood, it is time based and not open ended. Some critics argue that due to this focus it does not address the possible underlying causes such as an unhappy childhood though one approach that does look at this aspect is the psychodynamic approach.

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