Theory and Key Principles of Counselling

This document explores the theories and key principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic counselling, and humanistic counselling. It discusses the methods and tools used in each approach, including journaling, cognitive restructuring, interoceptive exposure, and progressive muscle relaxation.

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Counselling
Theory and Key Principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
During counselling, the counsellor builds a relationship that aims to help the client
overcome a psychological issue. There is no one counselling approach that is universally
applicable to all clients (Luyten, Mayes, Fonagy, Blatt and Target 2017). Rather, counselling
is tailored to meet the needs of a specific client. Cognitive behavioural therapy model of
counselling hypothesizes that thoughts and emotions are not determined by situation in which
human beings find themselves. Rather, it is the interpretation and construction of the situation
that one finds themselves in that determines their feeling and emotions. Therefore, if a person
could learn to construct and interpret situation is a positively, then can develop positive
emotions and feelings that are good for health and wellbeing. There are certain theories and
core principles that underlie cognitive behavioural therapy. One of these is that cognitive
behavioural therapy requires a therapeutic alliance that is sound in nature. This is achieved
through proper communication and being empathetic. The counsellor should show the client
that they are listening to them through such mechanisms as summarizing what the client has
said. In addition, the counsellor should be empathetic to the client. This will help create a
helping relationship and will contribute to a faster healing process. Another principle of
cognitive behavioural therapy is collaboration and active participation. The counsellor should
help the client view the counselling process as one that involves team work. The team work is
between the counsellor and the client. For instance, the counsellor should decide together
with the client the days that they will meet and what they shall discuss. This has been shown
to greatly improve the healing process.
Cognitive behaviour is both goal oriented and problem focused. It is important for the
client to help the client identify where the problem lies. After this has been identified, the

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clients can then be guided through the process of making specific goals that are aimed
towards improving the situation. Another principle and theoretical concept behind cognitive
behavioural therapy is that counselling therapy should focus on the problems/ challenges that
the client is experiencing at the present. This has been shown to facilitate the process of faster
recovery. There are two instances however, where therapy should focus on what the client
experienced in the past. One is where the client expresses a strong desire to do so. The second
instance is when failure to do so would significantly affect the therapeutic care in a negative
manner. Historically, cognitive behavioural therapy has been used to help clients identify
their thought processes and the counsellor would recommend the best strategies to help the
client recover. In the modern days however, there has been a shift towards team work
between the counsellor and the client. The client is treated as the most important party and
everything is done to ensure that they are helped to overcome their conditions. In the modern
days, there has been numerous research that has helped to greatly improve the quality of
cognitive therapeutic care. The future of cognitive therapeutic counselling seems even more
promising due to ongoing research.
Theories and Key Principles of Psychodynamic Counselling.
Psychodynamic therapy is also referred to as global therapy. This is because it focuses
on offering holistic care to the client. This is unlike most other approaches to counselling
because they are problem based. For instance, cognitive behavioural therapy aims at
correcting specific negative behaviours. Psychodynamic counselling focuses on
understanding what the client has underwent since they were a child until the present. With
this kind of history, it is possible to offer care that eliminates all possible underlying
psychological conditions so that the client can lead a more fulfilling life. There are several
theoretical and key principles behind psychodynamic theory. The main theory behind
psychodynamic counselling was developed by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century. The

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theory proposes that the human mind is composed of three levels. The first is the
unconscious. This level contains the deep beliefs and philosophies that people have about
life. Although a person may not be aware of the unconscious memory, it is shaped from when
an individual was a child and greatly determines what they do. It is this level of the mind that
greatly determines who we are. The second level of the mind is the subconscious. This is a
level of thinking that is between the unconscious and the conscious. It is possible for an
individual to retrieve information from the subconscious memory because it is just beneath
the conscious memory. However, such a move would require substantial effort from the
individual.
The third level is the conscious memory. This is the level at which human beings are
fully aware. Therefore, an individual can easily retrieve any information that is in the
conscious memory. Although one may assume that the is the level that contains the bulkiest
information among the three, Freud argued that it is the one that contains the least
information. The conscious mind is analogous to the tip of an iceberg. We see only about 7 to
10 percent of the ice berg while more than 90percent is covered in water. The theory suggests
that to fully understand and solve psychological problems, it is important to dig up to the
unconscious memory. This way, the client will be in a position to help the client eliminate
most or all the factors that are leading to psychological problems. There are different
approaches within psychodynamic counselling. There is brief psychodynamic counselling
that aims to help a single individual in relatively few sessions. There is also psychodynamic
family therapy. This aims at helping solve psychological issues that may develop in a nuclear
family set up. Traditionally, the main approach of psychodynamic counselling was to help
and individual dig all relevant information and then certain therapies aimed at leading to
behaviour change would be administered. In the modern days, this type of counselling has
evolved to include more therapies. One example of these is the psychodynamic art/music

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therapy. This method involves assisting the client express their feeling and emotions through
art or music. This method is neither directed nor structures. This allows the client to be the
leader of the session.
Theory and Key Principles of Humanistic Counselling
Humanistic counselling is an approach that aims at evaluating the whole person and
the uniqueness of every individual. The model assumes that every person on earth is very
unique and the unique factors of an individual should be addressed during counselling. The
theory and key principles behind this model are going to be discussed next. Humanistic
approach assumes that every person has free will. This means that every person has the
ability and authority to determine the choices and decisions that they will make in life.
Different people will make different decisions. In addition, every choice or decision that an
individual make has its consequences. The other key principle behind the model is that
people are innately good and have a natural tendency toward making themselves and the
world better. The approach assumes that with this innate nature, it is possible for individuals
to develop an optimistic attitude and have the capacity to overcome pain and despair. The
other key principle of the model is that people are usually motivated to self-actualize. Self-
actualization refers to the process by which an individual experience both psychological
growth and satisfaction in life. Due to this, it is possible for every person to make decisions
that favour positive growth and developments in their life. With this assumption, the
counsellor attempts to change the world view of the individual so that they employ a positive
approach to life.
The model also operates on the assumption that the subjective conscious experiences
of the individual are the most important considerations in counselling. Psychologists who
support this approach argue that the objective view of the world in not important in

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counselling. Rather, the subjective view of the world that a client is the one that is most
important when it comes to counselling. Humanistic approach also rejects the scientific
methodology. The approach emphasizes that scientific psychology is not important in
offering psychological care to a client. The most important considerations are qualitative in
nature. For instance, instead of using psychological lab to investigate the behaviour of human
beings and animals. Qualitative research such as use of diaries or open-ended questionnaires
are the most important in collecting subjective client information. The argument put forward
is that every client is unique in nature and therefore it is impossible to apply generalized
principles. The model has undergone several transformations in the course of history. It was
founded in 1958 and was focused on a more humanistic vision (McDougall 2015). Although
it was greatly used during the 20th century as an approach to counselling, it is not a main
method of counselling in the contemporary society. The counselling approaches that are
widely used in the modern societies are those that focus on identifying the specific
problem(s) that the client is suffering from and then help the client to overcome these
challenges. Humanistic counselling model has received a lot of criticism from the scientific
community. This is because it disregards the scientific method of developing theories and
guiding practice. In the modern day, it is only the scientific method that is universally
accepted as a way of carrying out research and informing practice. Therefore, this theory is
disregarded by most scientists.
Fundamental Methods and Tools Used in Cognitive Behavioural Counselling
There are numerous methods and tools that are used in cognitive behavioural therapy.
Some of these are going to be discussed in this section. One of the tools used is journaling.
This is a technique where the client records their moods and thoughts in a journal. This

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journal could record the time that the mood or thoughts are experienced, the possible trigger
and the intensity. The journal can also be used to record how the client responded to the
mood or thoughts among other factors. This method is important in helping establishing the
thought and mood patterns of the client. With this understanding, it is easier change their
behaviour so that it becomes more positive. Unravelling key distortions in another key
method that is used in cognitive behavioural therapy. This is a very important aspect of
cognitive behavioural therapy and it can be applied without the use of a counsellor. It
involves becoming aware of the cognitive distortions that an individual is most vulnerable to.
Part of this method involves identifying the challenging or harmful thoughts. This method is
usually followed by another that is referred to as cognitive restructuring. Once one becomes
aware of the distortions, then a process of eliminating them and replacing them with
important truths.
Interoceptive exposure is a key method in cognitive behavioural therapy. It is used in
treating panic and anxiety. In involves exposing the client to the substance that elicits the
panic or anxiety sensation. When exposed to the substance, the client is guided toward
unlearning the untrue perceptions that they have formed. In addition, they are helped to learn
new sensations so that they will not panic or have anxiety again in the even that they interact
with the substance that elicits the negative sensations. The last important tool that is
employed in cognitive behavioural therapy is progressive muscle relaxation. In this technique
the client is guided to relax the body muscle one by one until all the body muscles are
relaxed. This is used in treatment of a wide variety of psychological illnesses including
depression.

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Fundamental Methods and Tools Used in Psychodynamic Counselling
Psychodynamic counselling relies less on exercise techniques than most other types of
therapies. One of the tools used is the psychodynamic diagnostic manual. This manual has
mainly focused on the observable characteristics and tends to overlook subjective experiences
of the client when diagnosing. To solve this problem, a new manual was released in the year
2006 to help solve this (Copson and Grayling 2015). Freudian slip is another important tool
in psychodynamic counselling. Although, it is not widely used in the modern day, it has been
used greatly in the past. In addition, there are some psychologists who still use it today.
Freudian slip refers to a situation where an individual intends to say something but
accidentally says it in a way that they did not intend. Therefore, it is a slip because the
listening person may get a very different message than that which was intended. The
counsellor is careful to observe any such slips. This is because it is assumed that such slips
are a way of what is in the unconscious memory finding its way into the conscious.
The last method that will be discussed concerning cognitive behavioural therapy is
free association. This may be the most important tools that psychodynamic psychologists
have access to. There are two main meanings that are attached to the term free association.
One is the more official therapy and the other is the general method. The more formal
technique is where a counsellor reads some words in a list and the client responds
immediately (Sternberg and Sternberg 2016). This is used to bring information from the
unconscious that may be important in helping the client. This exercise may not be effective in
situations where clients are unwilling to provide intimate details. Where the client is willing,
this method could aid in providing very important information about the client. The less
formal method of free association is the tendency to allow the client to lead discussions. This
procedure is usually done in a relaxed and non-structured manner. This ensures that the

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counsellor is guiding the client in any way. Therefore, the client moves from one subject to
the next.
Fundamental Methods and Tools Used in Humanistic Counselling
One of the main methods used in humanistic counselling is a focus on positive traits
and behaviours. Rather than focusing on the negative attributes of an individual, the
humanistic model of counselling focuses on the positive attributes. The counsellor choses to
view a person as one with the ability to lead a life that is full of positivity and enthusiasm.
Therefore, the counselling is geared towards ensuring that the negative traits of an individual
are replaced by positive ones. The humanistic model is based on the assumption that any
learned behaviour can potentially be unlearned and replaced by new ones.
The other method used in humanistic counselling is application of human intuition to
solve problems. Humanistic therapy assumes that every person has inborn knowledge that
can be used to solve the problems that a person is going through (Cooper and Dryden 2015).
Therefore, the therapist aims at helping the client overcome their condition through
application of this wisdom. The third main method applied in humanistic counselling is
focusing on the goals of the client. This is an approach where the counsellor helps the client
achieve self-actualization. Self-actualization is defined as the ability of a person to have
positive goals and work towards these goals. In addition to this, humanistic counsellors
acknowledge that self-actualization is a goal that a person must accomplish by themselves.
Key Elements of The Relationship Between Counsellor and Client in Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy
One of the key elements this relationship is that the counsellor does not judge the
client. This approach is adopted to ensure that the client feels free to share all the appropriate

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information. If a client is judged by the counsellor, the counselling relationship would not
achieve any progress. Counselling can only occur if the counsellor employs an empathetic
rather than a judgemental approach. This means that no matter the information that the client
shares, the therapist should ensure that they maintain a positive. Another key feature of the
relationship is that the counsellor should review progress of the counsellor. Cognitive
behavioural therapy does not involve one sitting only. It revolves around a journey that the
counsellor and the client walk together in an attempt to help the client overcome a
psychological challenge (Thibaut, 2017). In order for this journey/ relationship to be effective
and achieve the intended results, the counsellor should ensure that they evaluate the progress
of the client.
The relationship also ensures that confidentiality is maintained. One of the key ethical
principles for a cognitive behavioural therapist is that they maintain confidentiality (Payne
2015.). It is not only unethical but illegal to breach confidentiality. In case it is important to
breach confidentiality, the counsellor must first discuss the issue with the client. Sometimes it
may be important for the client to reveal information about another party, for instance a
medical professional, for the wellbeing of the client. In such cases, the client must be
consulted and it must be for the wellbeing of the client. Another important feature of the
relationship is that it should not lead to formation of friendships. Although the counsellor
should establish a helping relationship with the client, they should maintain the relationship
as that. Creating friendships with the counsellor is discouraged because it may affect the
objectivity of the counselling. There are several similarities that exist between cognitive
behavioural therapy, humanistic counselling and psychodynamic counselling. These are
confidentiality and ensuring that friendships are not created. There are some differences too.
For instance, humanistic and psychodynamic models do not focus on creating journey with
the client.

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Key Elements of The Relationship Between Counsellor and Client in
Psychodynamic Approach
The psychodynamic approach is based on the principle that the unconscious mind
harbours deep rooted feelings and emotions that are capable of influencing a person’s
behaviour. Psychodynamic therapists are guided by this principle when offering care to their
clients. Therefore, although the care process is structured in such a way that it considers the
needs of unique clients, the core principle behind all care is to retrieve important information
from the subconscious mind and relate this to the present situation. This makes the
psychodynamic approach very different from the cognitive behavioural therapy and the
humanistic model. This is because it focuses on the subconscious mind while the other two
are focused on what is happening in the present and changing that. Therapists using the
psychodynamic model seek to establish a relationship where the counsellor is equal to the
client. The main aim of the therapy is to create trust between counsellor and client. If there is
trust, it is possible for the client to share their intense feelings and experiences. In addition,
they are also likely to cooperate with the client.
Therapists using the psychodynamic mode adopt unconditional acceptance to their
clients and their situations (Feldman 2016). Therefore, the client is not discriminated against
or judged. This helps encourage the client to open up and reveal important conflicts that exist
in their unconscious mind. There are several techniques that the therapists then use to help the
clients discover the disturbances that exist in their unconscious mind. These include free
association, therapeutic transference and interpretation. Psychodynamic therapists aim at
unleashing the information that is contained in the unconscious mind. Once this information
is established, the client is then guided on how to change the negative emotions or behaviours
that they harbour. As noted above, the main difference between psychodynamic and other
approaches is the principle used. The other two methods, humanistic and cognitive

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behavioural therapy are concerned with what is happening at the present. Psychodynamic on
the other hand focuses on establishing any psychological defect that might have occurred at
any stage in life.
Key Elements of The Relationship Between Counsellor and Client in Humanistic
Approach
The most common therapeutic approach that humanistic counsellors employ is
referred to as gestalt therapy (Burman 2016). The main focus of the therapy is to help a
person become more aware about themselves. Therefore, counsellors work towards ensuring
that their clients become more self-aware, self-responsible and aware of their needs. The
counsellor works to create a good relationship. Although they do this, counsellors do not rely
on this relationship alone to produce the needed change. The counsellor is both active and
directive in nature. The counsellor ensures that the relationship between them and the client
focuses on the what is happening at the present moment. Although this is the case, the
counsellor may require the therapy may focus on past events on some circumstances. The
counsellor must be very creative and ensure that they tailor the counselling session to suit the
needs of the client. There exists a similarity between humanistic approach and cognitive
behavioural therapy. That is, both focus on the present. The key difference between this
model and others is that is focuses mainly on subjective individual about the person.

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References
Burman, E., 2016. Deconstructing developmental psychology.2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
Cooper, M. and Dryden, W. eds., 2015. The handbook of pluralistic counselling and
psychotherapy. 3rd ed. New York: Sage Publications.
Copson, A. and Grayling, A.C. eds., 2015. 2nd ed. The Wiley Blackwell handbook of
humanism. Los Angeles: John Wiley & Sons.
Feldman, R.S., 2016. Understanding psychology. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.
Luyten, P., Mayes, L.C., Fonagy, P., Blatt, S.J. and Target, M. eds., 2017. Handbook of
psychodynamic approaches to psychopathology. 3rd ed. San Diego: Guilford Publications.
McDougall, W., 2015. An introduction to social psychology. 3rd ed. Los Angeles:
Psychology Press.
Payne, M., 2015. Modern social work theory. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press.
Sternberg, R.J. and Sternberg, K., 2016. Cognitive psychology. 4th ed. California: Nelson
Education.
Thibaut, J.W., 2017. The social psychology of groups. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.

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