MY TREATMENT APPROACH
I. My integrated counseling approach is centered on the humanistic/person-centered philosophy of Dr. Carl Rogers. He once said, “It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried.”
According to many academic scholars, since Dr. Rogers’ appearance on the scene in 1942, the overall landscape of the counseling profession has become more client-focused as opposed to the former psychoanalytical and analysis focus of Dr. Sigmund Freud.
“In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?”
~Carl Rogers
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II. Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that is centered on increasing a person’s awareness, freedom, and self-direction. It’s a form of therapy that focuses on the present moment rather than past experiences. It is based on the idea that people are influenced by their present environment.
A key method used in Gestalt therapy is the Empty Chair Technique.
This simple approach is designed to allow you to work through interpersonal or internal conflict. It helps you see the situation from a different perspective and gain insight into your feelings and behaviors.
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“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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III. Cognitive Neuroscience is an integral element of my counseling philosophy
- Neuroscience explores how the brain controls thinking, behavior, and emotions and how the brain reacts to such things as physical or mental illness, trauma, and substance misuse.
- Neurocounseling, a term not yet in widespread use, is the integration of neuroscience into the practice of counseling.
How do Counseling and Neuroscience overlap?
Figure 1: Key Forces in Counselling
Six Key Forces in Counseling
- Psychoanalysis focuses on helping clients develop understanding and insight regarding the origins of their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Heavy emphasis is placed on exploring the unconscious.
- Behaviorism looks at human behavior as a product of learning and the environment, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy & Cognitive Behavior Therapy.
- Humanism, with Dr. Carl Rogers at the forefront, is based on the philosophy that people are innately driven toward growth and fulfillment. Core conditions (empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard) are seen as “necessary and sufficient” qualities needed by counselors to help clients manage problems and emotions.
- Multiculturalism involves framing counseling interventions in the context of our clients’ cultural worldviews.
- Social justice recognizes the importance of counseling professionals working to help establish more equity regarding the distribution of wealth, resources, and opportunity. Social justice accepts that client problems may be the unfortunate outcome of oppression, poverty, and marginalization.
- Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system,
which includes the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord). Neuroscience explores the electrical and chemical activity of the brain using a variety of experimental and brain imaging techniques.
