Theories of Applied Psychology
In Person-Centered Therapy, the counselor is not viewed as the expert but rather as a fellow traveler in the life of the patient who is the expert in their own life. One potential advantage of this approach is that it creates an enabling environment for self-expression, self-awareness, and self-development. By enabling the client to perceive themselves consciously, PCT provides a good environment in which the client can effectively establish their true identity. The patient’s ability to reestablish their real identity helps them understand themselves for who they are. By helping a client achieve self-expression, self-awareness, and development, PCT is best suited in treating problems such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol addiction.
One major disadvantage of Person-Centered Therapy is that the counselor may fail to obtain adequate information from the client that may be useful in the therapy process. PCT is designed such that the counselor must remain passive and inactive. The counselor is not only limited in their response to the reflection but is also unable to obtain enough response from the client who has the liberty of presenting a perception to the counselor that suits them best. Many clients also feel the need for more direction, structure, and technique. While being non-directive empowers the client to achieve self-awareness clients going through a crisis need more directive than non-directive measures. Clients used to indirect communication are often not comfortable with a more direct expression of compassion or empathy or self-disclosure on the counselor’s part. Unlike other therapy theories, therefore, Person-Centered Care is overly reliant on the individual’s capacity to open up and be committed to the process.
One theme that remains consistent in Roger’s works was his optimistic or positive view of human nature that directed him to person-centered therapy. Rogers believed that human beings are naturally good and that they have an innate capacity to escape the wrath of maladjustments to achieve mental health. The fall of man in Christianity describes the transition of Adam and Eve from the state of innocent obedience to transgression and guilt. The Biblical story of the fall of man helps in understanding Roger’s optimistic view of human nature as God by not killing Adam and Eve for their transgression demonstrated not only forgiveness but also hope for them to change and rise from their state of sin.
Gestalt therapy can be defined as a therapy practice in the form of experiments and exercise. The exercises are designed to arouse emotion, action, and goals from the client. The counselor and the client in therapy are then supposed to evaluate the outcome of the exercise in an attempt to raise awareness and assist the client understand the context in terms of “here” and “now.” The empty chair is one of the most effective exercises employed during a gestalt therapy process. The exercise involves the placement of a client across an empty chair. The client is supposed to imagine that an individual they know or a part of them sits in the empty chair. The counselor is then supposed to encourage dialogue between the chair and the client during the exercise so that the latter’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are engaged. In some exercises, the roles are reversed such that the client assumes the imaginary person or a part of them in the chair. At the center of the role of the empty chair is helping the client become aware of the entire situation and disengaged parts of themselves.
Reality therapy (RT) was developed by Glasser who believed that people behaving inappropriately should not find ways of justifying their behaviors but should rather find help acknowledging their inappropriate behavior then develop ways to correct ways. Reality Therapy is founded on the basic philosophy that behavior is aimed at satisfying an individual’s need for survival, love and belonging, power fun, and freedom. This list also shows that Reality therapy is inclined to the perception that human beings create feelings from their choices and actions. The list also shows that therapy is based on the concept that human beings tend to change after determining that their behavior is not getting them where they want to go. The choice theory upon which the theory is also based attempts to explain how people try to control the world around them while trying to which ways through which needs can be satisfied in effective ways. Other needs I would add to the list include peace of mind and contentment since I believe they are essential for an individual’s mental health.
Confrontation is a technique in therapy used to identify the shortcomings and their potential implications. The technique entails extreme or attacks therapy where a confrontational interaction is created between the therapist and the client or among clients in group therapy. The interaction involves denouncing, verbal abuse, or humiliation and is meant to help the client face the issues they are afraid to discuss. Confrontation is conducted through three main steps: establishing rapport, finding the discrepancies, and confrontation of the patient’s thinking. In the first step, the counselor is supposed to develop a rapport or professional bond with the client. This entails making attempts to understand the client’s history and getting a rough idea of the patient’s issues. The counselor at this stage is also supposed to create a friendly and enabling environment for the client to open up. In the second step, the counselor explores the various factors characterized by the client’s environment in an attempt to identify the discrepancies in detail. The third and last step entails deliberating a confrontation which may be either mild or severe depending on the client’s needs.
While the confrontation technique might be effective in helping the client face their weaknesses, when poorly conducted may have an adverse effect on the therapist-client bond. Extreme confrontation when not conducted appropriately may thus eliminate the enabling friendly environment previously developed by the counselor. While the client may sometimes need feelings of empathy, the confrontation technique may push them away from such that they might feel judged rather than embraced and helped for their discrepancies. The basic considerations to be made by the therapist before conducting the confrontation technique include the temperament of the client and the weight of the issue being addressed. Mild confrontation, for example, should be conducted to sensitive clients.
Operant and classical conditioning are both essential concepts in behavioral therapy that result in learning. Classical conditioning entails the creation of a link between a neutral stimulus and a naturally existing stimulus. It entails pairing a neutral stimulus such as the sound of a bell with a naturally existing unconditioned stimulus such as the taste of food. In this case, the unconditioned stimulus automatically triggers salivation which is referred to in psychology as an unconditioned response. After the neutral and the neutral stimulus are successfully associated, the sound of the bell alone will be enough to trigger the unconditioned response, salivation, even in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, taste of food. Operant conditioning, on the other hand, is centered on the use of reinforcement to promote or discourage the behavior. The promotion of a behavior can be best achieved through reward while discouraging a behavior can be best achieved through punishment methods that may involve the infliction of pain. A good example of operant conditioning is in a class where a student is punished for sleeping in class. If the teacher consistently punishes the student for sleeping, the student eventually ceases or decreases the problematic behavior. There are several factors that may influence the efficiency of the method: the frequency of the reinforcement, the consistency, and the nature of the reinforcement.
Cognitive distortions can be described as how an individual’s mind convinces them of something that is not actually true. The mind thus often develops inaccurate thoughts that sound accurate and rational only to keep us from feelings of guilt and regret. One example of a cognitive distortion is filtering where the individual only takes the negative details while filtering out the positive ones. When a cognitive filter is applied, the individual;l only tends to see negative aspects of a situation while overlooking the positive ones. The second type of cognitive distortion is polarized thinking where the individual places situations or people in an extreme, black, or white situation. The person fails to perceive life or people in moderate situations that are defined by the complexity of the person or the situation. To such individuals, a person or situation is either perfect or a failure. The third cognitive distortion is jumping to a conclusion where the individual makes assumptions about the thoughts and feelings of others without having a clear picture or enough evidence of the actual situation.
Behavioral therapy can be defined as a collective term for a number of therapy techniques used to treat mental health issues. This form of therapy aims at helping an individual change self-destructive or unhealthy behavior. Behavioral therapy functions on the concept and philosophy that all behaviors are learned and that destructive tendencies can be changed. The Bible contains several supportive texts for behavioral therapy that also encourage me as a Christian to understand and apply behavioral therapy when needed. The Bible states that “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverb 22:6, The New King James Version). This verse emphasizes the relevance of training a child in a fashion that they will adopt the constructive behavior while avoiding the destructive ones so that they can grow to be useful members of society.
As a counselor, I would employ the use of explicit integration which views the spirituality of the client as foundational to the therapeutic process. I prefer the explicit integration approach since I believe human beings are spiritual beings. As spiritual beings, we believe in the existence of a powerful supernatural being which is directly or indirectly responsible for our growth and wholeness. The integration of the client’s faith in the therapy process not only promotes understanding between the client and the counselor but also through assistive spiritual tools such as the scripture and prayer, helps speed up the healing process. One drawback of the explicit integration approach, however, is that it is limited to a few counseling theories with theories such as the psychoanalytic theory contradicting the fundamental principles of Christianity. On the contrary, one benefit of implicit integration is that it is not limited to any theories hence the counselor is at liberty to employ the counseling theory that best suits their client. The main disadvantage of implicit integration, however, is that the counseling process may not entail the incorporation of assistive tools such as scriptures that may play a role in speeding up the therapy process such as scriptures and prayers.
Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) is a type of behavioral therapy aimed at assisting the patient change irrational beliefs. This therapy entails replacing illogical or unrealistic concepts with more realistic ones through techniques such as direct intervention and confrontation. In conceptualizing this process, Albert Ellis (1913-2007), argued that our psychological distress lies in our misinterpretation of external events around us. Ellis thus used the ABCDE model to explain this process. A stands for activating event: something happens in the individual’s environment. B stands for belief: the individual holds a particular belief about the situation or the event. C stands for consequence: the individual develops an emotional response to the belief. D stands for disputation: in the event of an unhealthy consequence, the individual has to dispute the belief turning it into rational belief. E stands for the new effect whereby the individual experiences healthier consequences after the irrational belief is turned to rational belief. Learning this model enables the counselor to help the client understand that their unhappiness may stem from some of their misinterpretations of the environment around them. The counselor is subsequently able to take the client through a series of steps that will help their client change their toxic beliefs.
Family Therapy is a theory of family therapy that perceives an issue a client is going through as a sign of a dysfunction in the family the client is from. According to the theory, therefore, an individual can be best understood within their family relationships’ context. The theory however does not aim at directing the blame to the family or the individual but instead tries to alter a faulty pattern in which the members of the client’s family have been interacting. The counselor using this model is supposed to look at the client’s family as a system that functions as a whole and that change in one member may result in a change in all other parts of the family system. The Bowenian Family Therapy was developed by Murray Bowen and is one of the models categorized under the Family therapy theory. The Bowenian Family Systems
Family therapy holds that human relationships are sustained by a couple of counterbalancing forces: individuality and togetherness. The two forces are defined by our contrasting need for independence and companionship respectively. The two opposing forces tend to lead the family members through patterns of togetherness and distancing. The “differentiation of self” according to the theory dictates the degree of success with which an individual will reconcile the two forces. The theory, therefore, focuses on helping the patient develop a deeper insight into their issues instead of taking action to solve the problems in contrast to other theories. Also according to Bowen, an individual’s family of origin has a significant impact on their ability to differentiate. He also stressed that the emotional bond between a mother and a child is enough to hold a family together and causes members of the family to react emotionally towards each other. The shifts ion the emotional tension results in a repetitive pattern of cycles of togetherness and independence or closeness and distance.
Christian integrates psychology approach can be defined as the integration of psychology theories with Christian teachings and doctrines. It involves the incorporation of the Christian faith in evidence-based therapy models such as person-centered therapy, behavioral therapy, and gestalt therapy. I believe this is the best way to reconcile psychology and Christian faith since an integral aspect of the human mind and behavior is the need to believe in a superior being or faith. Through the integration of faith with psychology, therefore, the counselor is able to understand some intricate or complex aspects of the client’s mind or behavior that may stem from their faith.
The thirteen principles of Biblical counseling are entirely based on the Christian view of human behavior. Through these principles, the counselor is expected to behave in a fashion that promotes the values and doctrines stressed in the Bible and that is Christian like. The counselor, for example, is encouraged not to perceive the patient as a mere client but as a brother who needs help. The principles also stress the focus on God and the incorporation of religious practices such as prayer in the therapy process. The first basic assumptions of these principles are that the Bible is sufficient as a counselor’s textbook. The second assumption is that the goal of change in conformity with God’s will and not the desires of the counselee. The thirds assumption is that change can only be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit. The fourth assumption is that the counselor is only qualified through individual holiness and reverence and knowledge of God. These assumptions are different from the basic assumption in the text in the sense that they are more centered on the client’s relationship with God and the teachings if the Bible while the theoretical assumptions are centered on the client and their interactions with their physical and social environment. The main similarity between the assumptions is that they are all focused on the client’s need to change and their adoption of a positive life view.
A genogram can be defined as a graphical representation of a family tree displaying detailed data on the relationships among individuals. The chart below represents Abraham’s family: who is regarded in the Bible as the patriarch of Israelites through his biological son, Isaac who he had with Sarah at old age and the father of Arabs through his biological son, Ishmael, whom he had with, Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave girl. The genogram stretches to the family’s fourth generation to Jacob’s thirteen sons.
Abraham’s genogram