Different Models of Counselling

PSYCHODYNAMIC COUNSELLING

The psychodynamic model is founded on the premise that our behaviour, coping mechanisms and ways of relating to people are determined by experience which is often held in the unconscious.

Psychodynamic Counselling will:

• Stress the importance of the unconscious and experience in shaping current behaviour
• Encourage clients to explore unresolved issues and conflicts
• Examine effects of past relationships with parents and peers
• Help clients make sense of feelings, thoughts and associated memories
• Provide a trusting base from which the client can safely explore areas of personal difficulty
• Increase insight and self- awareness.

Psychodynamic Counselling is used in:

• Marriage and Couple Counselling
• Family Counselling
• Psychosexual Counselling
• Individual Relationship Counselling
• Personal Development Counselling

Exploration of issues, memories and everyday experiences occurs through active listening and reflecting. The client is given an opportunity to bring to the surface their true feelings which leads to greater self-awareness and self-esteem.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a goal-oriented therapy based on the idea that thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interconnected. If our perception of a situation is negative, this will result in negative emotions and negative behaviours. This treatment focuses on changing patterns of thinking or behaviour that are behind people’s difficulties in order to generate alternative, more balanced ones.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will:

• Examine individual patterns of thoughts, emotions and actions
• Help clients make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts
• Examine ways to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours
• Explore strategies to deal with problems
• Provide ‘homework’, in which clients can practice strategies in their everyday life
• Aim to achieve explicitly agreed therapeutic goals within a time-limited framework
• Equip clients with life-long skills which they can continue to practice and develop even after the sessions have finished, making it less likely that their symptoms or problems will return.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is used in:

• Stress
• Depression
• Addictions
• Anxiety and Panic Disorder
• Anger Management
• Trauma
• Compulsions
• Phobias
• Low mood
• Low Self-Esteem
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

How you think about a problem can affect how you feel physically and emotionally. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help you to break this vicious circle of altered thinking, feelings and behaviour. CBT aims to get you to a point where you can ‘do it yourself’ and work out your own ways of confronting problems.

GESTALT COUNSELLING

The aim of Gestalt Counselling is to help the client identify where they have become stuck emotionally or in their thinking and beliefs and how this is affecting their lives in the present. The counsellor will then help the client to change beliefs and fixed patterns of unresolved feelings that get in the way of the client living an enjoyable and rewarding life.

Gestalt Counselling will:

• Help the client identify where they have become stuck emotionally or in their thinking and beliefs
• Examine how fixed patterns are affecting the client’s life
• Explore new and creative ways to resolve their difficulty
• Support clients to discover their own solutions to problems and to live their lives more fully

Gestalt Counselling is useful in:

• Anger management
• Stress control
• Sexual orientation
• Shyness
• Building confidence
• Relating to others

Becoming more aware of our feelings, emotions and thoughts and finding the most effective way to express them is the key aim of Gestalt Counselling. Through this process a person can become more able to tune in to their thought processes and gain control. The desired outcome will enable the client to meet their own needs and the needs of others.

INTEGRATIVE COUNSELLING

Integrative Counselling has evolved from the belief that no single model of counselling is able to provide for the immense complexity of each individual human being. Integrative Counselling enables a counsellor to draw on a variety of models of counselling to suit the client’s needs. Individuals think, feel and react in different ways. By integrating different ways of helping people bring about change in their lives, an Integrative Counsellor can work with each client to produce a unique therapy adapted to suit what that client wants and needs.

An Integrative Counsellor will:

• Examine the client’s experience and apply the appropriate theory and technique to suit them therapeutically
• Work with the client to build a personal counselling program
• Respond personally, effectively and with flexibility to the client’s whole experience
• Draw on a variety of theories and techniques
• Provide clients with ‘homework’ and worksheets, where helpful, to effect change

An Integrative Counsellor recognises and values the knowledge, skills and insight from all main models of counselling. If, however, the counsellor feels you would be best served by some focused work in a model of counselling they will ensure you are placed with the appropriate practitioner for a time.

PERSON-CENTRED THERAPY

The success of this therapy is not based on the skills of the counsellor, but rather on his/her attitude towards the client. Person-centred therapists believe the client has all the answers and by using the three core skills of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, the client will get to a better place on their own.

Person-Centred Therapy will:

• Recognise that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the most important factor
• Provide a safe environment with an empathic, accepting and non-judgemental therapist
• Support clients to realise their own resources, strengths and self-understanding
• Help clients to develop a more positive relationship with themselves and others

Person-Centred Therapy is useful in:

• Abuse
• Eating disorders
• Bereavement
• Trauma
• Children

The client determines the general direction of the therapy while the counsellor seeks to increase the client’s insights and self-awareness through a variety of clarifying questions.

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

Transactional Analysis recognizes that the human personality is made up of 3 “ego states”: Parent, Adult and Child. At any given time, a person experiences and manifests their personality through a mixture of behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Typically, according to the TA model, people consistently use all three ego-states. For example, in the Parent ego-state people behave, feel and think in response to an unconscious mimicking of how their parents (or other parental figures) acted out. Learning to strengthen the Adult state is the goal of TA.

Transactional Analysis will:

• Explore thoughts and behaviours that result in personal difficulties for the client
• Explore which ego states people are relating to others from
• Help the client identify what they wish to change and support them to achieve their chosen goals
• Provide the client with day-to-day tools for finding solutions to their problems
• Improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.

Transactional Analysis is useful for:

• Changing patterns of behaviour
• Relating in a different way
• Improving communication skills
• Improving our relationships
• Parenting our children
• Personal growth and self-development in business and educational contexts

Transactional Analysis recognizes the value and worth of every person. It is a goal orientated therapy where the therapist strives to empower the client, thus initiating a new direction in life.