ASPECTS OF COUNSELING - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: ASPECTS OF COUNSELING Spiritual, Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Aspects of Counseling Module: Lecturer: submission: Abstract Counseling is a field that has existed for a long time and it is quite important in psychology and psychotherapy. The field has undergone transformation based on the changing societal needs and has taken an integrative approach that encompasses four aspects. The cognitive aspect of counseling looks into how an individual reasons and processes information. In behavioral aspect the counselor looks into a person’s overt behavior and how learning has and can affect it. In affective aspect the counselor looks into what an individual is experiencing inside themselves. The spiritual aspect deals with a person’s religious affiliations or beliefs that affect their social life, emotions and physical well-being. A counselor therefore needs to know a client’s cognitive, behavioral, affective, and spiritual aspects before taking a specific counseling approach. Spiritual, Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Aspects of Counseling Introduction Counseling has been in existence for thousands of years, but it is one of the most misunderstood concepts in psychology. In the past, counseling was performed by wise elders in the communities with the family unit at its core. These elders counseled people on the various norms that existed and how to follow them. This trend has continued to grow, but now it is parents and other community members such as teachers, coaches, and religious leaders that find themselves in the counseling field. These community leaders have the role of counseling inherently embedded in their duties. As time passed, counseling took new approaches that were more scientific although the ancient ones also depicted some level of science and ethics. The transformation of counseling has primarily been based on the need for it to suit different people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles. Ironically, as the world has become more informed and technologically savvy, the breakdown of the family unit is on the rise. This brings about a generation of people who have not developed the emotional, mental, behavioral, and spiritual skills needed in our complex and changing society. This and more reasons have contributed to the development and spread of modern techniques and theories in counseling. The misunderstanding gap in relation to counseling in the past has been also reduced with more people seeking formal counseling services. In addition, counseling today does not have the stigma it once held in the past. In actuality, many theories used today consider counseling as a process where the client and the counselor come up with solutions or plans together. Today’s counseling has taken an integrative approach with the incorporation of spiritual, affective, behavioral and cognitive aspects in treating the client through individual or group counseling. Cognitive Aspect of Counseling: Rational Emotive Behavior Theory (REBT) The cognitive domain is basically a domain that focuses on how an individual thinks and reasons. Every individual has mental processes which include knowledge, comprehension, problem solving, and critical thinking or analysis. It is crucial for the counselor to understand how the client can process information. To elaborate this, a client may have their reasoning blurred by emotions rendering them incompetent to develop conclusive, decisive or sound solutions. Clients can be illogical and can exhibit irrationality in their judgment and attitudes (Hollon, Stewart and Strunk, 2006). The counselor should in turn replace these by logic and rationality in the client’s ideas and attitudes. The client through cognitive aspect is able to gain self-actualization, thereby attaining some level of happiness (Kenardy, 2011). If a client can identify the element(s) in their environment that they struggle with, self- awareness and self-discovery may commence. Eric Berne for example developed Transactional Analysis that aimed at helping the counselor to identify the various personal difficulties exhibited by the client by sorting out their thoughts and behaviors. This mode of counseling helps the client to have day-to-day tools that assist them in developing their own solutions to the stated difficulties. This analysis is most geared for those individuals who want to enhance their cognitive development. Clients will be able to come up with new outcomes and critically look into their difficult circumstances and want to make a change for the better. Transactional Analysis is based on the belief that people have the ability to change and make sound decisions about themselves (Kathleen and Lustyk, 2009). It also involves the belief that people are responsible for the decisions they make and should be treated with respect. Looking into these principles, it is clear to see that Transactional Analysis is a form of Client-Centered Therapy. Berne defined the goal of Transactional Analysis to be that of intimacy, awareness and spontaneity. He based his development of the concept on the realization that one’s personality is made up of three egos; parent, adult and child. He further stated that each of these involves a defined system of feelings, thoughts and behaviors in an individual and his research was based on the interaction among them. It is crucial to mention that this transaction is an exchange of communication by the client and the counselor. It is the ego state being used in this interaction that the counselor will reveal for them to improve its quality (Price and Page, 2011). This in the long run enables the client to express effective communication skills which have a positive effect on behavior and one’s happiness. Transactional Analysis also brings emphasis on life scripts. Life scripts are a notion that holds that one’s life is simply a script that unfolds as time passes. It further claims that a script’s characteristic is mostly dependent on one’s childhood permissions and prohibitions. The reason for discussing this is that these resulted in individuals making decisions later in life based on what they were permitted or prohibited to do as children. So, it is crucial for the cognitive domain to be awakened in clients in order for the client to analyze the decisions they make. The other example of therapy under cognitive aspect is the Rational Emotive Behavior Theory. This theory advances the belief that humans strive to remain alive in order to achieve happiness in their lives. It further claims that humans have beliefs and behaviors that hinder them from achieving set life objectives. They also have undesirable attitudes that include extreme musts and shoulds which are not in line with rationality in respect to their desires and wants which are also termed as extreme philosophies (Haeffel, Metalsky, Alloy, Abramson, Hankin, Joiner and Swendsen, 2008). REBT aims generally at increasing a client’s level of tolerance by avoiding from leaning towards absolutes like musts in their determination to achieve their goals. Most importantly, REBT contends that individuals have it within their own strength to alter their beliefs and philosophies greatly. REBT consists of an ‘ABC framework’ (A): something occurs, (B) our beliefs about the situation, and the (C) cognitive, emotional or behavioral consequences of our beliefs (Haeffel, Metalsky, Alloy, Abramson, Hankin, Joiner and Swendsen, 2008). This ABC model is also used in cognitive therapy as a technique to further instill in an individual the belief that they have the ability to change. Beck states that in the 1960s, the cognitive model of counseling was developed. This cognitive model was used as a way of helping clients to comprehend and modify their dysfunctional thinking which can lead to negative behaviors (depression, low self-esteem, etc.) (A. T. Beck, 1964). Beck continues to contend that the cognitive model of counseling believes that an individual’s emotional and behavioral responses to situations are shaped greatly by how the individual thinks about that situation (J. S. Beck, 1995). Having this cognitive model in place helps the counselor adjust the thought process of the client into three categories: automatic thoughts, core beliefs, and intermediate beliefs (J. S. Beck, 1995). Beck continues to state, “Automatic thoughts represent the most superficial level of cognition and usually occur outside of people’s awareness. Automatic thoughts are thoughts or images that go through people’s minds when they face stressful situations in their lives. Core beliefs are broad, generalized assumptions that people internalize” (J. S. Beck, 1995, p. 137). According to Beck, core beliefs are similar to lenses that color (i.e., influence) how individuals perceive themselves, other people, and the world. Intermediate beliefs are composed of the “rules, attitudes, and assumptions that influence how individuals cope with life events as they understand them”. By knowing the automatic, core, and intermediate beliefs of the client, the counselor will be able to use the model to better help serve the cognitive domain of the individual. Behavioral Aspect of Counseling: Reality Therapy Every human being has some form of behavioral manifestation that goes hand in hand with learning. This means that most learning comes from experience. The goal of behavior therapy is to help the client analyze their behavior, define their problems, and select their goals. Behavioral aspect of counseling encompasses the endeavor by the counselor to study a client’s overt behavior tendencies (Kazdin, 2008). It is these behaviors that lead the counselor to trying to know how the client acquired or learned them. It is important to appreciate that the counselor in most deals with elimination of undesirable behaviors and attitudes. Through this, the counselor works together with the client in changing this undesirable behavior. A specific behavior is examined, goals set on how to achieve desired behavior, treatment procedure is formulated and an evaluation is conducted to find out whether the targeted behavior change has been achieved (Keefer, Kiebles, Martinovich, and Barrett, 2010). A counselor needs to first have a defined goal which is the behavior that the client should change towards. The same should be communicated to the client by the counselor for them to be aware of the path to follow in order to reach the intended goals. The main aim of the Behavioral Aspect of Counseling is to facilitate a client’s understanding of their problems. Therefore, the relationship between the counselor and the client takes a secondary role. This approach has been seen to be successful in changing to adaptive behavior. Behavioral Aspect of Counseling has the basic belief that people are products of their environment and with proper training, behavior can be reconditioned. In respect to achieving desired or adaptive behavior, reward system is seen to present better results. Behavioral counselors prefer objective studies on their client’s behavior together with the learning processes they have undergone (Petry, Ammerman, and Bohl, 2006). Client’s ongoing behaviors are monitored together with their effects on their environment. The environment can then be restructured so that the client can learn more of the adaptable behaviors than non-adaptable ones. Every individual has needs which they set as goals. It is the level of one’s needs and goals that predetermines their behavior. The goals can be set by them or inflicted by the society. It has been seen that more specific goals trigger high desire and willingness to achieve. In this situation it is easy to predict a person’s behavior for the goals are specific (Ferrante, Balasubramanian, Hudson, and Crabtree, 2008). It is through this that one’s personality can be analyzed together with their needs and goals. After this analysis the counselor selects the best reinforcement program that will change their behavior patterns. The reinforcement used should not cause harm to others and it should be in fulfillment of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order to achieve desirable outcomes. These are in the order of physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization needs. Reinforcement is either negative or positive where the former aims at rewarding desirable behavior while the latter suppresses it through removal of aversive stimulus (Whitlock, Orleans, Pender and Allan, 2002). A strong and clear connection needs to be established between reinforcement and behavior as lack of this may not result in a complete behavior change. Glasser states, “For therapy to be successful, a therapist must be the kind of person the client would consider putting in his or her quality world. Choice theory explains that everything we do is chosen and every behavior is our best attempt to get what we want to satisfy our needs”. (Glasser, 1992). Reality Therapy’s goal is to assist the client in learning better ways of accomplishing their needs. The processes that lead to change are based on two specific assumptions. According to Glaser, “The first assumption is that their present behavior is not getting them what they want; the second assumption is that humans are motivated to change when they believe they can choose other behaviors that will get them closer to what they want”. So in order for effective counseling outcomes in Reality Therapy, it is important of for there to be an established relationship between the counselor and the client (Wubbolding & Brickell, 1999). Corey adds, “Counselors are able to develop positive relationships with clients when they possess the personal qualities of warmth, sincerity, congruence, understanding, acceptance, concern, openness, respect for the client and the willingness to be challenged by others” (Corey, 2009). By possessing these characteristics, counselors will be able to instill a sense of hope in clients. Counselors can also lead the client in discovering the consequences to their behavior. Reality Therapy helps the clients take more control of their lives. Wubbolding clarifies, “The acronym WDEP is used to describe the basic procedures of Reality Therapy. Each letter refers to a cluster of strategies that are designed to promote change: W = wants and needs; D = direction and doing; E = self-evaluation; and P = planning”. (Wubbolding, 2000). According to Mason and Duber, some examples of the benefits of behavior therapy include but are not limited to: Learn techniques for coping with stressful life situations, such as problems at work Identify ways to manage emotions, such as anger Developing a healthy weight or lifestyle Resolve relationship conflicts and learn better ways to communicate Cope with grief, such as after the loss of a loved one Overcome emotional trauma related to abuse or violence Cope with a medical illness, such as chronic fatigue syndrome or cancer Manage chronic physical symptoms, such as pain, insomnia or fatigue (Mason and Duber 2009) In order for Reality Therapy to be successful, the client must understand that they have the ability to change their behaviors. The client needs to stay focused on the present (they can’t dwell the past), and the counselor needs to be supportive by having the individual choose behaviors that will meet their basic needs. Affective Aspect of Counseling: Client-Centered Therapy The Affective Aspect of Counseling focuses hugely on what an individual is experiencing inside themselves at a certain moment in time. An example of this is the Carl Rogers’ Client-Centered approach to counseling. In counseling there is always the issue or debate on to what extent the client is responsible in solving their problems (Sonntag, 2010). Rogers explained that human beings can solve their issues but appropriate conditions need to be available. The counselor is, therefore, left with the role of offering the client positive environment for them to discover themselves and solve their problems. In addition, it is imperative to mention that this approach has more emphasis on a counselor’s communication skills and the relationship they have with the client than on the counselor’s knowledge or method of delivering therapy. The approach aims at enhancing personal growth through showing the client that they are valued unconditionally and their problems are understood (empathy). Rogers stated that human beings have actualizing tendencies that trigger other motivations and survival tactics (Shechtman, and Nir–Shfrir, 2008). It is also the desire for all people to make the right choices in life and have the potential to attain emotional growth. The actualization tendencies can be suppressed but cannot be destroyed. Rogers also stated that human beings are driven to do their best and this is an innate character in them. All human beings need to be loved and approved by others and this encircles the need for positive regard. A human being also needs to accept, love and approve themselves, a case referred to as positive self regard (Wonderlich, Engel, and Carol, 2008). The Client-Centered Therapy states that an individual’s experiences are more important than the notion of reality. The objectivity and truth of a situation are second to the beliefs that an individual holds. A human being’s self-concept is determined primarily by one’s experiences. The characteristics of an individual attributes to incongruity is the difference between ideal self-concept and self-concept (Shearer, Branton, and Darrell, 2009). This incongruence results in maladjustment in an individual where the gap between the two is huge. People with related conditions tend to be defensive and feel others are trying to manipulate them. A client at this point has low self-esteem and exhibits anxiety problems and thereby resulting to conformity to many issues without much regard of whether they have the answers or solutions to their situations. So, Rogers approach tends to lay the burden of healing on the client more than on the counselor. This Person-Centered approach places the two parties in the same level since the counselor acts as a mirror that reflects the client’s feelings (Shireen, Rizvi, Vogt, and Patricia, 2009). In this case unlike in the Behavioral Aspects of Counseling, the counselor does not offer goals to the client and refrains from concrete decision making regarding the direction of therapy. Affective Aspect of Counseling aims at driving the client into deciding on the direction therapy will take and the goals to be achieved leaving the counselor as the facilitator of the therapy process. As mentioned last semester, “Client-Centered Therapy is a dance in which the client leads…” Spiritual Aspect of Counseling: Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) A person’s spirituality affects their social life, emotions and physical well-being. For a counseling session that aims at promoting constructive change to an individual, consideration of a client’s spirituality is essential. Multicultural counseling initiatives and bodies stipulate that counselors should offer counseling that caters for a client’s human diversity which incorporates their spirituality for the process to be effective (Morrison, Clutter, Pritchett and Demmitt, The date the document or article was published.2009). Counseling associations like the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD), advocate for the integration of spiritual beliefs of a client since this offers an essential support at achieving set goals. Although spirituality itself raises debate on what it entails, there is no doubt that it is based on a client’s beliefs and values regarding the world around them. Furthermore, it is more of an affective and personal issue which tries to offer meaning and connection to things in one’s environment. Spirituality is stated to form part of a client’s identity and meaning of life events and therefore an important facet of their lives (Pargament and Saunders, 2007). It is with this understanding that the client’s religions views and affiliations should be put into consideration during a counseling session. For counseling to be effective it needs to focus on the body, mind and spirit but the spirit aspect has taken root only recently in the counseling circles. In assessing a client and in treating them, their spirituality holds a big role (Ellsworth and Ellsworth, 2010). In instances where the counselor fails to dwell on spiritual matters, a client easily makes an assumption that such issues have little, if any, effects on the outcomes of the process. It should be appreciated that a client’s spiritual life can be a cause of problem just as it can be a solution making usefulness of such information crucial to ensuring success in counseling. There are many studies which have proven to the fact that spiritual well-being or soundness has a correlation with physical and psychological well-being. In this respect it is the responsibility of the counselor to make the client aware of how their spirituality is affecting their behavior which at times may lead to reevaluation of values and/or beliefs. Due to the presence of many paths leading to spirituality, the counselor is not to offer any direction. It should be based on the spiritual aspect the client has based a foundation on. In order to for counselors to be competent in dealing with spiritual issues of their clients, they need to first respect the client’s values. Spirituality often offers a deeper sense of purpose in people’s lives thereby ensuring they lead meaningful lives (Richards, Bartz, Jeremy and O'Grady, 2009). With this realization the modern day counselor needs to ask thorough questions that uncover a client’s values and beliefs during the assessment periods. A client’s spirituality boosts their thinking and acting thereby incorporating the aspect of decision making which as mentioned earlier, will promote a client’s ability to define and set achievable goals (Lambie, Keith, and Miller, 2008). The reason for this is that many clients may find strength in their spiritual life meaning that religion or spirituality can easily promote healing and their well-being. Conclusion Based on the views on the various aspects of counseling, a counselor has many avenues and ways of dealing with clients’ problems. However, the counselor needs to first access the client’s cognitive, behavioral, affective, and spiritual domain in order to apply the appropriate theory or technique that will be beneficial to the client. I do not believe that that focusing on just one domain in isolation should be sought out because the domains are like pieces of a puzzle. Alone the pieces may not make sense, but together the pieces reflect the wholeness of the individual we are trying to serve. Therefore, in counseling today there is a need to incorporate integrative counseling (all domains) in order to achieve maximum benefits to the client. The counseling process should incorporate all levels of functioning: behavioral, affective, cognitive and spiritual domains; thus leading to more effective counseling techniques and outcomes. References Beck, A. T. (1964). Thinking and depression: II. Theory and therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 10, 561–571. Beck, J. S. (1995). Cognitive therapy: Basics and beyond. New York: Guilford Press. Ellsworth, R. B. and Ellsworth, J. B. (2010). Editorial: Special issue on spirituality, mental health and wellbeing. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 7(2), 99 101. Ferrante, J. M., Balasubramanian, B. A., Hudson, S.V., and Crabtree, B. F. (2008). 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