Counselling in Psychology | Study

Running head: COUNSELLING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY
COUNSELLING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY
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Author Note

1COUNSELLING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY
Section 1
Counseling, in academic terms, can be defined as the method by which clients are
assisted or guided, usually by a well trained professional in order to resolve personal, social and
psychological problems and difficulties (Rowland & Goss, 2013). Counseling can also be termed
as giving “advice” to a person on social and psychological issues by a well trained mental health
professional. Every person in their life has gone through some kind or the other mental health
issues. However, since mental health is still a taboo or a stigma in the society, thousands of
victims and survivors do not open up. Therefore, counselors are needed who are trained mental
health professionals who “listen and talk to their clients empathetically and help them to find out
solutions or ways to deal with emotional and psychological issues” (Hearne, 2013). However,
there is a stark difference between counseling and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is the usage of
psychological methods, especially when based on regular personal interactions with adults, to
help a person change his/ her behavior or overcome any kind of psychological issues (trauma) in
the expected way. On the other hand, counseling is rather a “talk and listening therapy” which
uses minimum and less dominant psychological methods to deal with the issues of the clients
(Rao, 2013). Psychotherapy focuses on working with the clients for long terms and draws insight
into the emotional problems and difficulties of the clients, whereas counseling is a brief
treatment which centers on the behavioral patterns of the clients. Psychotherapy is considered to
be a proper psychiatric therapy usually done to the clients who have long- term and also
irreversible mental illness. Psychotherapy utilizes a plethora of therapies such as Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy to bring out the client from the ordeal he/she might be facing (American
Psychological Association., 2013). Often, the neuro-psychiatrists and clinical psychiatrists are
involved in such situations. On the other hand, counseling is carried out by mental health social

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workers and professionals for a brief period of time to the patients who are not in a grave
situation. The key underlying assumptions of counseling lies in the basic problem that each and
every human being faces in his/her life. People go for counseling usually whenever they are
having any kind of emotional, psychological and sentimental problem that can affect their
professional and personal life. The three basic assumptions of counseling are: Firstly, The
serious mental health epidemic which people face in the cosmopolitan, ever evolving and fast
changing competitive world, secondly, all people get mental illness of psychological problems
once in their lifetime, and thirdly, counseling is often productive for the clients as it not only
helps the clients to address their problems, but also helps them pursue growth and development
in the areas of their private life and professional life. Counseling has been evident in helping the
broken and the battered people regain their mental and emotional fitness, show improvement in
their physical health and appearance and at the same time, grow exponentially in their
professional or career domains. Counseling is also a kind of healing therapy where the clients are
made to identify, realize and solve their mental health issues with valuable suggestions and
exercises prescribed by the counselor or mental health expert who is in charge of the respective
counseling session. Counseling helps people to cope with their physical, emotional and
psychological health issues and also helps them improve their sense of well being, alleviate
feelings of distress and resolve any kind of crisis situation they might put themselves in. In the
fast changing world, people have become more competitive than ever before. The gender roles,
on the same time, are also getting reversed with new expectations building among the upcoming
generations. In such a situation, society is in a transitive turmoil. Every single person in the
society has faced some kind or the other mental illness (most commonly, depression and mood
disorder). To cope with such issues, counseling acts as a healing balm. Regular counseling helps

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the clients regain their mental fidelity and carry out their day to day activity with success and joy
(Pearson, 2012).
Section 2
Psychodynamic theory can be defined as an approach to psychology that emphasizes and
highlights systematic study of the psychological forces that shapes human feelings, behavior and
emotions and how they might get related to early experience by the humans (Guntrip, 2018).
Psychodynamic theory is the study of dynamic relations between constant motivation and
unconscious motivation. There are four major disciplines that underlies in the psychodynamic
theory in psychology, which are psychodynamic, cognitive- behavioral, biological and
humanistic. Psychodynamic theory delves deep into the paradigm of mind in an organically
complex brain. According to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, the
unconscious mind is considered as an ocean of thoughts, ideas, feelings, memories and urges that
are relatively cut off from the conscious aware mind by which the human beings carry out their
day to day activities (Guntrip, 2018). However, it would be interesting to know that most of the
contents that get stored and recorded in the unconscious mind are unpleasant, such as feeling of
pain, injury, conflict and desolation. To understand the conscious mind, one has to understand
the unconscious mind as well. In psychodynamic theory, the personality of a human being is
always explained in terms of his/ her conscious and unconscious mind. According to Sigmund
Freud’s psychodynamic theory, personality consists of id, the super ego and the ego. The origin
of aggression, according to Freud, is deep rooted in the psychodynamic theory proposed by him.
The psychodynamic theory, according to Sigmund Freud and other eminent psychologists,
assumes the human behavior to be a product of the unconscious interaction of drives and forces
that play in the margins of the mind of any individual. In psychodynamic theory, the defense

4COUNSELLING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY
mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously utilized to protect a person from
anxiety arising from any kind of unacceptable thoughts or feelings. Every individual intrinsically
as well as instrumentally needs ego defenses in order to survive on the planet with dignity and
equilibrium. When superego of an individual becomes demanding, the defense mechanisms
operate to throw negative feelings off. Ego defenses are natural and normal. There are a plethora
of defense mechanisms such as repression, denial, projection, displacement and sublimation. In
psychodynamics, attachment theory highlights on the centrality of mental representations of self
identity and others in the path of personality development and the journey of metamorphosis or
development from social dependence to matured autonomy. The attachment theory is based on
the different levels of parental care and maternal deprivation a child or an individual faces that
triggers issues of attachment within him/her in his/her unconscious mind. The unique concept of
psychodynamics, which focuses on the roots of the human behavior with the implications of the
part played by unconscious mind, can help the counselors understand the condition of his/ her
clients in a better way. Even though psychodynamic theory seems experimental and avant garde,
there are scopes in the respective psychological approach. Psychodynamic theory involves the
interpretation of mental and emotional processes rather than focusing on only “behavioral
characteristics” of the patient. Psychodynamic theory delves deep into the psychoanalysis of a
person in order to find out the root cause behind his/her mental illness (Fotopoulou, Pfaff &
Conway, 2012). It is often termed as the most scientific way of psychological analysis or
counseling as it helps the counselors provide his/ her clients with finding patterns in their
emotions, thoughts and beliefs so that they themselves can get a clear picture or an insight into
their current self. With the help of such deep observations and insights, the clients themselves
can find solution and solace in their life and would be able to regain their mental and emotional

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health all over again. Counselors utilize one of the most popular forms of psychodynamic
therapies, which is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The respective therapy helps in interpreting
the mental and emotional problems in a more scientific way, which includes the client’s
childhood incidents (happy and traumatic) along with other past experiences that can also be the
reason for his/ her mental sickness (Colarusso & Nemiroff, 2013). Therefore, it is a reliable
counseling therapy which helps the counselors immensely in doing their jobs better.
Section 3
Cognitive behavioral therapy can be defined as a short term, objective focused
psychotherapy treatment that involves a practical approach to problem solving carried out by a
trained counselor or psychologist to his/her client (Hofmann et al., 2012). The main objective of
cognitive behavioral therapy is to change the patterns of thinking and behavior that are the
reasons for the difficulties faced by the clients and urges the clients to change the way they feel
and perceive different aspects of life. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a psycho-social
intervention which has the sole purpose to improve the mental health conditions of the patients.
Cognitive distortions are treated and are made to change within the client in order to relieve the
client of his/ her mental turbulence (Ehde, Dillworth & Turner, 2014). Cognitive behavioral
therapies improves regulation of emotions and help the patients develop personal coping
strategies that target the current mental crisis the person might be going through and encourages
him/her to solve them by his/her own. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also increases self-
confidence and gives way for self realization and self actualization among the patients. Such
mental exercises build positive aspects in the mind of the patients and also play a huge role in
healing them. The key therapeutic principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are: Firstly, CBT
is an ever evolving formulation of patient and his/ her problems in cognitive terms, which means

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that the practices and policies of CBT keeps on changing and evolving according to the growing
needs of the clients. Secondly, CBT requires a positive and optimistic client and therapist
relationship, which means the client and the therapist should cooperate with each other in order
to get the best results out of the therapy. Such results can only happen if the therapist and the
client collaborate and adjust with each other. Thirdly, CBT is highly goal oriented and problem
focused with minimum or no digressions in its approach. Therefore, the therapist should know
what exactly the client wants and the client (irrespective of his/her age, sex) also should
acknowledge what exactly is expected from the counselor (Bass, van Nevel & Swart, 2014).
Fourth, CBT sessions are structured, which means that Cognitive Behavioral therapies are not
haphazard; it has a particular pattern by which the therapy is carried out in order to heal and
stabilize the clients (Dobson & Dobson, 2018). The therapies are time bound therefore, limited to
its outcomes. Lastly, it has to be mentioned that CBT utilizes variety of techniques to change
mood, thought process and other cognitive distortions among the clients. It has to be understood
that every client is different in terms of his/her thoughts and mentality; therefore, counselors
have to deal with different clients in a different manner. Thus, the therapies vary according to the
types, needs and preferences of the respective clients. The main areas of focus of CBT are: its
short termed and goal oriented approach towards the respective clients. The therapies taken up
under the umbrella of CBT are practical and pragmatic with no places of digression or going out
of the track. The CBT has a problem solving approach which includes a plethora of cognitive
exercises for the clients to come up with new sets of thoughts and ideas in order to get
themselves internally and externally healed out of their mental illness. The third wave of CBT by
Hayes (2004) is defined as reformulation of previous generations of behavioral and cognitive
therapy to carry them forward into questions, issues and domains previously addressed primarily

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by other psychological traditions in order to improve the outcomes. CBT helps the counselors
understand the specific needs and expectations of the clients with minimum or no digressions in
their approach of therapy. CBT helps the counselors realize the immediate needs of the client and
also help them save time and resources as CBT is highly goal oriented and has time limits in it.
Therefore, CBT is one of the best practices counselors can take up for immediate and quick
solutions of the clients’ issues (Parks & Szanto, 2013).

8COUNSELLING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY
References:
American Psychological Association. (2013). Recognition of psychotherapy effectiveness.
Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.), 50(1), 102.
Bass, C., van Nevel, J., & Swart, J. (2014). A comparison between dialectical behavior therapy,
mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and
commitment therapy in the treatment of adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral
Consultation and Therapy, 9(2), 4.
Colarusso, C. A., & Nemiroff, R. A. (2013). Adult development: A new dimension in
psychodynamic theory and practice. Springer Science & Business Media.
Dobson, D., & Dobson, K. S. (2018). Evidence-based practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Guilford Publications.
Ehde, D. M., Dillworth, T. M., & Turner, J. A. (2014). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for
individuals with chronic pain: efficacy, innovations, and directions for research.
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Fotopoulou, A., Pfaff, D., & Conway, M. A. (Eds.). (2012). From the couch to the lab: Trends in
psychodynamic neuroscience. Oxford University Press.
Guntrip, H. Y. (2018). Personality structure and human interaction: The developing synthesis of
psychodynamic theory. Routledge.
Hearne, L. (2013). Ethical research in guidance counselling. available: ncge. ie/document-
detail/Ethical-Research-in-Guidance-Counselling/4,[accessed 2 February 2017].

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Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of
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Pearson, M. (2012). Building bridges: Higher degree student retention and counselling support.
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Rao, S. (2013). Counselling and guidance. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
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