Person-Centered Therapy

                                                    

                                                                      Carl Rogers

                                                                      (1902-1987)

Founder:

The founder of the person-centered therapy approach is Carl Rogers. Rogers childhood was lonely and he sought out scholarly interests rather than social ones. He was an introvert who spent a lot of his time reading. Rogers held various academic positions. He earned recognition around the globe for his origin or the humanistic movement in psychotherapy. His groundbreaking discoveries have had major impacts in the field of psychotherapy. During the last 15 years of his life Rogers applied the person-centered approach. 

Goals of Therapy: 

Person-Centered therapy aims in the client maintaining a greater sense of independence and integration. It stems focus to the client and not the client's "problems". Rogers did not believe that the goals of therapy was to solve problems. He did however believe that the goal was to help the client grow and through the growth the client could better cope with and identify their problems. Another aim with this therapy is to help the client become better self-actualized. Rogers believed that before a client can work towards a goal they must first remove the masks they wear. Rogers was interested in knowing what kind of person his clients really were after the facades were put aside. Rogers had four characteristics that provided a general for understanding the direction he wanted to go. Does the client 1. have an openness to experience, 2. trust in themselves, 3. have an internal source of evaluation, 4. willingness to continue growing. Rogers believed that encouraging these characteristics was his basic goal of person-centered therapy. 

                           

Techniques:

Person-centered therapy is a result of evolution of 70 plus years. It continues to change and refine. There are really no technique that are basic to the practice of person-centered therapy. Being with clients and entertaining the imagination into their world of perception and feelings is helpful in aiding change. Traditional person-centered therapists will not suggest any form of a technique. What is essential, however is the therapist's presence. The therapist must be completely attentive and immersed as the client expresses feelings. This way of being is thought to be more powerful with person-centered therapy than a technique. Person-centered therapists have freedom to use a variety of responses and methods to assist their clients. 

Key Concepts:

• View of Human Nature: Basic sense of trust in the client is very important, this allows for the client to move forward. To be able to help move a client forward a therapist must have: 1. Congruence- this is genuineness  or realness, 2. unconditional positive regard- acceptance or caring, 3. accurate empathetic understanding- the ability to grasp the world of another person. 
• Actualizing Tendency: a directional process of striving toward realization, fulfillment, autonomy, and self-actualization. 

                                          Click here for more information on Carl Rogers

                                       Click here for more info on person-centered therapy

Photos courtesy of :

http://www.fractale-formation.net/rogers-carl/

http://www.primarygoals.org/models/rogers/

Videos Courtesy of Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdhuLZNdaiA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY51IZKq-9I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0neRQzudzw

Information courtesy of:

Gerald Corey from Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy 9th ed. 

Existential Therapy

         
             Viktor Frankl                                 Rollo May                               Irvin Yalom
              (1905-1997)                              (1909-1994)                                (1931-)

Existential Therapy is more so seen as a way of thinking or an attitude about psychotherapy rather than a style of practice. It is not clearly defined with models or techniques. Existential therapy is best described as a philosophical approach that influences a therapist's approach. This therapy focuses on things like; morality, meaning, freedom, and responsibility.


Founders:

The existential therapy movement was not founded by any one particular person. However there were many whom lead the way and had heavy influence on what we see today. Some of these key figures in existential therapy seen today include Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, and Irvin Yalom.

Viktor Frankl: (1905-1997) Frankl was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp from 1942-1945. During this time period he lost his wife, children, parents, and brother. While these horrible experience from his past haunted him he was able to use them constructional and not let them ruin his life. He still loved and enjoyed life very enthusiastically. Frankl received his PhD (1949) and his MD (1930) in philosophy. His works have been translated in 20 different languages. Frankl believes that the highest goal humans can aspire is love.

Rollo May: (1909-1994) May was a very unhappy child in regards to his home life. He continued his unhappiness with two failed marriages later in life. He graduated in 1930 and went on to be a teacher in Greece. He decided that the best was to reach people was through psychology rather than the theology that he was teaching. The greatest personal influence to May was Paul Tillich who became his friend as well as his mentor. He believed that psychology should be aimed at helping people discover the meaning of their lives.

Irvin Yalom:  (1931-) Yalom's parents immigrated here from Russia after WWI. Yalom grew up in the inner city of Washington D.C. and lived very poor. He was an avid reader and made trips to the library to stock up on material frequently. He tuned the love of reading into a love of writing and has written several teaching novels. Yalom's work has been translated into 20 different languages and is Wiley read by therapists.


Goals of Therapy:

The goal of existential is to help clients recognize the ways in which they are not leading authentic lives. And to help the client make choices in which they are capable of being. Moving clients towards some authenticity and making them aware of where in life they are deceiving themselves. Existential therapy also aids in helping clients face anxiety and engaging in creating a worthy existence. Existential therapists are mainly concerned with helping people reclaim their own lives. Clients come to realize that they can make changes in their world.

Techniques:

The existential approach is unlike many other approaches to psychotherapy because it is not technique oriented. Although many therapist do incorporate techniques from other forms of therapy. Practices often times include description, understanding, and exploration of the client's reality rather than diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Existential therapists prefer to thought of as companions or fellow travelers. one ground rule is openness to the individual creativity of not only the client but the therapist as well. The first phase of this therapy involves the client to identify and clarify their assumptions of the world. Later on the client is assisted in examining their value systems. Throughout final phases of this therapy the therapist focuses on what the client has learned and putting it into action. 

Key Concepts:

• View of Human nature: bases therapeutic practice on an understanding of what it means to be human. Significance of our existence is never fixed however we continue to recreate ourselves. 
• The Capacity for Self-Awareness: Freedom, choice, responsibility. Increase capacity to live as we increase awareness. increasing awareness increases the person and personal goals. 
• Freedom and Responsibility: people are free to choose -->shapes destiny. Freedom implies that we are responsible for our lives. 
• Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others: we strive for uniqueness yet go above and beyond ourselves to be able to relate to another human being. experience with aloneness, relatedness, and identity. 
• Search for meaning: a sense for significance and purpose in life. "why am I here?" "What is the meaning of life?"
• Anxiety as a Condition of Living: anxiety arises from one's sense of striving to survive. being confronted with the givens of existence such as: death, freedom, choice, isolation etc. 
• Awareness of Death and Nonbeing: death not viewed negatively  but gives significance for living. Grasp the future and inevitability of death. 

 

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Photos courtesy of :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Viktor_Frankl2.jpg/220px-Viktor_Frankl2.jpg
http://janestreetclayworks.com/2011/03/19/rollo-mays-the-nature-of-creativity-part-4/
http://karakaplkitap.blogspot.com/2012/03/varoluscu-psikoterapi-irvin-yalom.html
http://minimumcomics.blogspot.com/2011/05/126-existentialism.html
http://toknowbymo.com/2012/09/26/we-are-not-writing-to-a-vacuum/

Information courtesy of Gerald Corey, Theroy and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy 9th Ed. 

Adlerian Therapy

Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

Founder: 

The founder of the Alderian Therapy style was Alfred Adler. Adler did not have a happy childhood. he was from a poor family and stayed very sick throughout his childhood. These experiences had an impact on the formation of his theories. Adler had a passionate concern for the common person. He wrote a book,  Understanding Human Nature, this was the first psychology book to sell thousands of copies in the United States. Adler created several child guidance clinics in the Vienna school system.


Goals of Therapy:

The main goal with the Alderian therapist is to develop a client's sense of belonging. This is accomplished by increasing the client's self-awareness. The analyst also wants to modify the client's life goals and concepts, doing this helps the client become more self-aware. The analyst's goal also consists of gaining a relationship with their client based on a mutual respect for one another. Alderian analyst do NOT view their clients as being "sick" and in need of a "cure". Rather than being deemed sick Alderian analyst consider their clients as simply discouraged. An Alderian analyst thinks that encouragement is the most powerful way to change a person's beliefs. This helps build a client's self-confidence and courage.

Techniques:

Alderian therapists allow their client's to view things through a different perspective, however it is left up to the client to decide whether to act on this alternate perspective. Therapists work with their clients to try to help them reach goals. Therapists will gather information on a client's style of living including family information. This will give the therapist a perspective on the client's success and failures. The therapist will also use what is called early recollections (stories or events that occurred in the client's life before the age of 10). These can be very useful in getting to know the client. After the early recollections are gathered the therapist can interpret some major successes and mistakes the client may have. The process of gathering all of this early life information is called a lifestyle assessment. This helps the therapist learn goals and produce targets for the therapy. The Alderian approach is structured into four central objectives:

• Establish a proper therapeutic relationship
• Explore psychological dynamics (assessment)
• Encourage the development of self-understanding
• Help the client make new choices

Overall the Alderian therapists strives to make a difference in the client's life.

Key Concepts:

• View of Human Nature: Focuses of the person's past, how early events effect a person's present behavior. 
• Subjective Perception of Reality: Analyst view the world from the client's perspective, known as phenomenological. This is referred to as subject reality. 
• Unity and Patterns of Human Personality: Adler stressed understanding the person as a whole and the context of his or her life.Influenced by Hans Vaihinger (1965) who notes that many people live by falseness. Alderians use the term fictional finalism to refer to this imagined life goal that guides a person's behavior.
• Social Interest and Community Feeling: Individual's awareness of being part of the human community and their attitudes with dealing with the social world. 
• Birth Order and Sibling relationships: Special attention to the relationships between siblings.

POSITION	FAMILY SITUATION	CHILD'S CHARACTERISTICS
ONLY	Birth is a miracle. Parents have no previous experience. Retains 200% attention from both parents. May become rival of one parent. Can be over-protected and spoiled.	Likes being the center of adult attention. Often has difficulty sharing with siblings and peers. Prefers adult company and uses adult language.
OLDEST	Dethroned by next child. Has to learn to share. Parent expectations are usually very high. Often given resposnsibility and expected to set an example.	May become authoritarian or strict. Feels power is his right. Can become helpful if encouraged. May turn to father after birth of next child.
SECOND	He has a pacemaker. There is always someone ahead.	Is more competitive, wants to overtake older child. May become a rebel or try to outdo everyone. Competition can deteriorate into rivalry.
MIDDLE	Is "sandwiched" in. May feel squeezed out of a position of privilege and significance.	May be even-tempered, "take it or leave it" attitude. May have trouble finding a place or become a fighter of injustice.
YOUNGEST	Has many mothers and fathers. Older children try to educate him. Never dethroned.	Wants to be bigger than the others. May have huge plans that never work out. Can stay the "baby." Frequently spoiled.
TWIN	One is usually stronger or more active. Parents may see one as the older.	Can have identity problems. Stronger one may become the leader.
"GHOST CHILD"	Child born after the death of the first child may have a "ghost" in front of him. Mother may becime over-protective.	Child may exploit mother's over-concern for his well-being, or he may rebel, and protest the feeling of being compared to an idealized memory.
ADOPTED CHILD	Parents may be so thankful to have a child that they spoil him. They may try to compensate for the loss of his biological parents.	Child may become very spoiled and demanding. Eventually, he may resent or idealize the biological parents.
ONLY BOY AMONG GIRLS	Usually with women all the time, if father is away.	May try to prove he is the man in the family, or become effeminate.
ONLY GIRL AMONG BOYS	Older brothers may act as her protectors.	Can become very feminine, or a tomboy and outdo the brothers. May try to please the father.
ALL BOYS	If mother wanted a girl, can be dressed as a girl.	Child may capitalize on assigned role or protest it vigorously.
ALL GIRLS	May be dressed as a boy.	Child may capitalize on assigned role or protest it vigorously.

*(Thanks to http://www.adlerian.us/birthord.htm)

Suggested Links

http://www.adlerian.us/birthord.htm

(courtesy of Gerald Corey from Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy) 

Psychoanalytical Therapy

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Founder: 

The founder of Psychoanalytical Therapy was Sigmund Freud. Freud spent most of his live devoted to understanding and extending his theory of psychoanalysis. During his early 40's Freud experienced some numerous psychosomatic disorders (such as fears of dying and other phobias). He used his own life experiences to gain an insight on the dynamics of personality development. Many of his basic concepts are still a part of the foundation that theorists build and develop today.

Goals of Therapy:

One of the main goals in Psychoanalytical Therapy is to bring the unconscious to the conscience. By doing this the analyst can determine if things of the unconscious mind are influencing the personality and behavior of the client. Another goal of this therapy is to strengthen the client's ego. A successful analyst using this approach can attempt to modify a client's personality and character structure. The analyst also wants to help the client acquire freedom to love, work, and play. 

Techniques:

Analysts use what is called the "blank screen" approach. Thus meaning that the analyst discloses very little of themselves and relies mostly on the client for communication. The analysts also remain neutral. This allows for the client to project onto the analyst. The client must be willing to commit to a long-term therapy process. The analyst may also engage the client in free association. This is where the client may lie on a couch and say whatever may come to mind. The clients express their feelings, memories, or fantasies with no self-censorship. Lying on a couch turned away from the analyst, the client is unable to "read" the analyst expressions which allows the client to self-disclose. 

Key Concepts:

• View of Human Nature: Freud believed that behavior is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, and drives. These evolve through the key psycho-sexual stages. 
• Structure of personality: personality is constructed of three systems. ID, EGO, SUPEREGO. (see below)
• Consciousness and Unconscious: This is they key to understanding behavior according to Freud. Consciousness is like the tip of the iceberg (the portion you can see) whereas the unconscious would be like the remainder of the iceberg below the waters. 
• Anxiety: Can be considered that a state of tension motivates one to do something. 
• Ego-Defense Mechanisms: these help the individual cope with anxieties and help prevent the ego from being overwhelmed. 

The Id, Ego , & Superego:

• Id- Original system of personality, it is demanding and insistent. Seeks the pleasure principle, (avoiding pain and gaining pleasure) ie: spoiled brat 
• Ego-The executive system of personality. Regulate as a traffic cop. Ruled by the reality principle ( realistic and logical things ---> plan of action)
• Superego: The judicial system of personality. Good or bad, right or wrong. 

Psychosexual Stages:

*thanks to: http://appsychologybhs.wikispaces.com/file/view/freud.jpg/272931800/freud.jpg

Suggested Links

http://psychology.about.com/od/pindex/f/psychoanalytic-therapy.htm

(courtesy of Gerald Corey from Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy)