Psychodynamic and Humanistic Approaches to Counseling - Solution

This assignment explores the application of psychodynamic and humanistic approaches in counseling, specifically in the context of a client contemplating suicide. The psychodynamic approach, originating from Sigmund Freud, focuses on the unconscious mind and past experiences, helping clients articulate and understand the roots of their mental distress. The humanistic approach emphasizes the present, fostering positivity and empowering clients to overcome challenges. The assignment details how these approaches can be used in private counseling sessions, building trust, exploring past experiences, and providing support and affirmation to address suicidal ideation. The assignment also includes the importance of energizing the client’s mind, highlighting the consequences of suicide, and emphasizing the possibility of finding solutions and peace. This assignment offers valuable insights into the practical application of these counseling techniques in a real-world scenario.

Running Head: THE PSYCHODYNAMIC AND HUMANISTIC APPROACHES TO
COUNSELING
Using the Psychodynamic and Humanistic approaches to counseling
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation.

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC AND HUMANISTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING 2
How I would use the psychodynamic and the humanistic approaches to respond to a
client contemplating suicide.
There are various approaches that can be used in counseling. The cognitive behavioral
approach, the psychodynamic approach and the humanistic approach are some but a few. The
psychodynamic approach originated from Sigmund Freud who suggested that some emotions
and behavior in human beings are as a result of past memories and experiences that exist in the
unconscious mind. This approach works by bringing the unconscious mind into consciousness, in
order to help affected individual to articulate and understand the feelings from their past that
deter their mental well-being, enabling them to solve the chaos in their minds. The humanistic
approach works by focusing on the present and spreading positivity in the client’s mind. We will
look at the psychodynamic and humanistic approach to help a young woman who is
contemplating suicide.
Using the psychodynamic approach, I would hold private counseling sessions with the
client and create an environment of trust and warmth between us. Slowly but timely, I would
enquire of her past, since childhood all the way to adulthood in the aspects of school, family,
friends among others. This would help me to understand the thoughts and experiences in her
unconscious mind. I would then help her overcome a particular issue that makes her think of
suicide, while assuring and affirming that things will be okay.
Using the humanistic approach, I would hold private counseling sessions to assure the
client that she is strong and can fight through the problem. I would energize her mind; tell her the
consequences of suicide and the possibility of finding solutions and peace to the problem at
hand.