Psychotherapy's Integrative Approach: Skills, Factors, and Techniques

The essay provides an overview of the integrative approach in psychotherapy, defining it as an effective counseling strategy that combines various elements of psychological therapies to address a client's needs. It emphasizes the integration of affective, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological aspects of personality. The essay highlights crucial skills such as communication, health and social care, counseling, and training and development, illustrating how they facilitate effective therapist-client relationships and improve client outcomes. It also discusses various influencing factors, including the therapist-client relationship, emotional release, therapist qualities, social factors (family, peers), psychological factors (personality, self-esteem), and biological/behavioral factors. The references include books and online resources that support the concepts discussed, providing a comprehensive understanding of the integrative approach and its practical application in healthcare.

Integrative Approach

Integrative approach of psychotherapy can be defined as an effective form of counselling.
It is also known as a strategy which helps in successful completion of different therapy of
psychology. It integrate the different elements of psychotherapy at the time of treatment of client.
It integrate the different aspects of personality such as affective, cognitive, behavioural,
physiological system of a person. It is generally used by health care professional as per the needs
and requirements of the clients (Entwistle, 2015).
Major skills which are used in integrated approach are communication, health and social
care skills, counselling, training and development skills, etc. Communication skill is used by
health care professionals for developing effective relation between client and therapist. Generally
psychotherapist uses effective listening skills without ant per-suppositions which helps in
making good understanding between different clients (Borsboom and Cramer, 2013). Along with
this, health and social care skills are required for integration of different approaches such as
humanistic therapies, psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies, cognitive and behavioural
therapies. These play important role in improving physical and mental health of individuals.
Besides, for providing better services counselling skill is also required which will plays
important role in providing best services to client. In addition, using the training and
development skills health care professional can train their client for better care. Therefore, all
these skills and knowledge are generally used by psychotherapist for better understanding
(Integrative therapy, 2016).
On the other hand, there are number of factors which can influence integrative approach
in different manner so, these factors are also considered by health care professional. As per the
common factor theory there are some general attributes which are useful in each and every
therapy. These are therapist/client rapport, the emotional release or catharsis, therapist qualities
such as attention, positive regards, empathy, and congruence, confronting difficulties, social
skills training, clarification, desensitisation and time as a precious element in counselling.
Relationship between client and therapist plays very important role in success of integrated
approach of therapy (Lepper and Greene, 2015). Along with this emotions and needs and
requirements of daily life activities of clients are also considered by professionals for providing
better services. In addition, there are different other factors such as social factors which includes
family, peer, school, neighbours, society, romantic and sexual relationship are also considered by
psychotherapist for providing better counselling for different health care problems. In addition,
2 | P a g e

there are some other factors such as psychological factors that include personality, temperament,
verbal aptitude, affect, learnings disabilities and future expectations, self-esteem are also
considered as significant factors which may affect the overall counselling and health of client.
So, these are also considered by health care professionals (Rubin, 2016). In addition, there are
number of biological and behavioural factors which are also used by therapist at the time of
providing counselling. Therefore, as pre the current research number of skills and factors are
used by health care professionals at the time of using integrative approach of psychotherapy.
3 | P a g e

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Borsboom, D. and Cramer, A. O., 2013. Network analysis: an integrative approach to the
structure of psychopathology. Annual review of clinical psychology. 9. pp.91-121.
Entwistle, D. N., 2015. Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An introduction
to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration. Wipf and
Stock Publishers.
Lepper, M. R. and Greene, D., 2015. The hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on the
psychology of human motivation. Psychology Press.
Rubin, J. A., 2016. Approaches to art therapy: Theory and technique. Routledge.
Online
Integrative therapy. 2016. [Online].Available through: <http://www.counselling-
directory.org.uk/integrative-therapy.html>. [Accessed on 4th November 2016].
4 | P a g e