Counseling and Psychotherapy as a Foundation for New Therapists - Essay Example

Counseling and Psychotherapy as a Foundation for New Therapists Abstract Psychoanalytic theory, Gestalt Therapy and Behavior therapy have many things in common and many things that are different. Psychoanalytic theory sees the individual’s subconscious as being the most important aspect of who they are and what they do. Gestalt therapy sees the individual as a whole unit and understands that the individual has inside them the problem solving skills to help them resolve any problems. Behavior therapy works on the behavior of the individual and attempts to move them away from the negative behavior and thinking, to a place of seeing their problems differently. All three theories are important to the study of counseling and psychotherapy because they present a foundation for new therapists to build upon. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory is important to counseling and psychotherapy because it creates a foundation for study. It also presents a foundation for the orientation that the counselor will need when they begin their journey as a counselor or psychotherapist. Theory also presents an understanding of what counseling has done in the past and how the founding mothers and fathers of the field saw it. Each theory provides a different view point for approaching clients and ones own orientation to the field. The three theories that will be examined for this paper include psychoanalysis, Gestalt and behavior therapy. Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis begins with the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that the unconscious mind had more to say about the human condition than the patient. If the therapist could tap into the unconscious mind, it would reveal the challenges that the individual was having and present ways to “cure” any emotional problem (American Psychoanalytic Society, 2012). This provided a basis for many aspects of psychology. Freud was the first person to write about the non-biological issues such as the unconscious and personality of the individual to explain behavior (AllPsych Online, 2011). Freud was also the first person to talk about motivation and how motivation created behavior. He called this “drives” and stated that there were only two drives that people had. The first drive was for sex and the other was for aggression. He stated that these two drives motivated all behavior, thoughts and emotions AllPsych Online, 2011). Freud believed that everything that people did came back to these two drives. Specific Concepts of Psychoanalysis Freud also saw the personality as having three levels: The Id, Ego, and Superego. According to Freud, the Id is the aspect of personality that everyone is born with. The Id is shaped through all the experiences the child has in growing up and it is what babies use to make sure their basic needs are met. The Id is centered in pleasure and it allows the individual to seek pleasure at all cost. By the time the child is about three years old, the Ego begins to develop and it is more concerned about reality than pleasure. The Ego acts as the balance between pleasure and the reality of each situation (AllPsych Online, 2011). The Superego, according to Freud, brings the balance between all three personality aspects by being the conscience, or the moral compass for the individual. The Superego begins to develop at five years old and is largely developed through the parental controls that are put onto the child. Freud furthered his theory by stating that as people continued to develop, much of what they experienced in their “emotions, beliefs, feelings and impulses” (AllPsych Online, 2011, para. 12) came through their unconscious rather than their conscious mind. He believed that the individual had a very limited amount of information from their conscious mind, but drew mostly from the unconscious. The unconscious part of the personality is buried and must be searched for in order to find it. This theory provided a way for people to understand more about themselves through psychoanalysis. Gestalt Theory Gestalt theory is about the individual and their placement within the present moment. Each individual is a unique individual and has created their life and circumstances in some way. This way that they constructed it is called a “gestalt” or a form or configuration (Korb and Davenport, 2010). When working with this theory, the individual and their circumstances are more important than anything else that may be happening outside of them. The individual works towards satisfying their various gestalts (similar to Freud’s motivation theory) and sometimes this means they will use aggression to satisfy their need. According to Korb and Davenport (2010) the individual is often using aggression to mobilize them toward the satisfaction of their needs. Frederick “Fritz” Perls eventually created Gestalt therapy around the theory because he felt the theory did not go far enough (Perls, 2012). The original idea of this theory suggested that humans were not able to separate objects as separate parts, but they could organize objects in their minds through a process they called perception (Perls, 2012). Perls took this information and realized that humans noticed that “The whole is different from the sum of its parts” (Perls, 2012, para. 1), which was different from what the other psychologists thought. Gestalt theory saw the interconnectedness of the individual and their heightened awareness and thought this was how an individual decided on their behaviors. Perls understood that people needed a method of problem solving and that the individual was not alone; they had to build relationships and find ways to collaborate with others so they could be able to solve problems more quickly (Perls, 2012). Specific Gestalt Concepts Gestalt therapy focuses on the present moment and on what is happening with the individual instead of what the individual is discussing. Perls believed that the individual understood how to take care of themselves and resolve their own problems if they had the guidance to do so. Individuals are encouraged to understand their gestalts and learn to own them (Garrett, 2007). Gestalt therapy takes on the whole person instead of breaking them down into specific parts and dealing with things like the emotions, thoughts and behaviors separately; instead, these things are dealt with looking at the whole person. Dream work is also a part of Gestalt therapy. Although Freud saw dreams as some form of sexual fantasy, Gestalt therapy sees dreams as a way for the individual to understand their inner selves (Garrett, 2007). Field theory is also a part of Gestalt therapy because the person is also a part of one or more environments. Behavior happens because people bring with them a variety of issues that create barriers and that create opportunities. By understand them through the environment as well as in the present moment, they individual can find the answers they need (Garrett, 2007). Differences and Similarities of Gestalt and Psychoanalytic Theory Freud saw the individual as someone who was attempting to finish their drive for either pleasure or aggression. He saw aggression as the way to satisfy someone’s needs. He also was more concerned with the personality of the individual, seeing that the Id, Ego and Superego were there to balance the individual. The most important thing for individuals to do was to analyze their dreams, and their emotions and behaviors because these gave them entrance to their unconscious minds, where most of the information about them lived. Gestalt therapy saw the individual as the whole person and saw that looking at the past was not as important as looking at the present moment. The Gestalt process was to look at the environment that the individual was working within, and to help them solve their own problems. Although Gestalt did not talk a lot about the unconscious, it suggests an unconscious part of the individual because it says that the whole individual is important; this would mean the conscious as well as the unconscious. Behavioral Therapy Baker and Allen (2012) state that behavior theory is more involved with the behavior of the individual. Many behaviorists believed that the way an individual behaved had to do with some sort of pathology or mental issue that stopped them from behaving normally. Behavior therapy suggests a system of rewards and punishments in order to control behavior. Behavior therapy is often used with clients who have problems with alcoholism, difficult behaviors, and sometimes with eating disorders. The most prominent type of behavior therapy in use today is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). According to Warman and Beck (2003) CBT is used for a variety of problems that include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or panic attacks. CBT concentrates on the thoughts of the individual in an attempt to reframe what they are thinking. Like Gestalt therapy, CBT looks at the present moment and what the individual is experiencing, but unlike Gestalt, the individual works on their thinking as the most important component of the therapy. As with psychoanalytic theory, CBT looks at the thinking that is underlying the maladaptive thinking a person has (unconscious usually) and attempts to move them into seeing this thinking as something that is only a theory, not a reality. The individual is asked to write down their thoughts as they occur so they can find patterns in their thinking that they can change (Warman and Beck, 2003). Specific Behavior Concepts Early behaviorists only concentrated on a system of rewards and punishments. As an individual moved towards the wanted behavior, they were rewarded and as they moved towards the unwanted behavior, they were punished. Often, there was a token and reward system (used many times with children). Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is often used with people today and it provides people with the tools to look at the behaviors they have created and the maladaptive thoughts that are behind the thinking. The therapist provides homework for the individual to do between sessions. Differences and Similarities of Psychoanalytic theory, Gestalt Therapy and Behavioral Therapy Although all three therapies work with the individual, each has a different way of looking at them. For psychoanalytic, the individual is only about their personality. Their personality is the result of their behavior. This contrasts to Gestalt Therapy where the personality is only one aspect of the individual. Both Gestalt therapy and Behavioral therapy understands that the individual must work in the now moment but Gestalt therapy sees the individual as a whole person while Behavior therapy sees the individual behavior which needs to change. Gestalt and Behavior therapy see the client as capable of solving their own problems with the assistance of the therapist, while psychoanalytic expects the therapist to have he largest role in the course of the therapy. Although psychoanalytic theory sees the individual motivated by pleasure, Gestalt therapy sees people as being motivated to feel better. Also, Gestalt therapy and CBT aid the individual in finding their way back to themselves and they are not focused only on seeking pleasure. Conclusion The three therapies researched are important to the field of psychotherapy because they provide a basis for individuals to resolve their emotional and mental issues. They provide the counselor with an opportunity to help clients more effectively. References AllPsych Online. (2011). Sigmund Freud’s view of personality. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/freud.html American Psychoanalytic Society. (2012). About psychoanalysis. Retrieved from http://apsa.org/About_Psychoanalysis.aspx Baker, P., & Allen, D. (2012). Use of positive behaviour support to tackle challenging behaviour. Learning Disability Practice, 15(1), 18-20. Garrett, J. (2007, October). Chapter 10 Gestalt Therapy. Counseling Theories Blog. Retrieved from http://mucounseling603theories.blogspot.com/2007/10/chapter-10-gestalt-therapy-updated.html Korb, P. and Davenport, J. (2010). The Gestalt approach: Basic Gestalt Therapy Theory. The Gestalt Center of Gainsville. Retrieved from http://www.afn.org/~gestalt/about.htm Perls, F. (2012). Gestalt therapy. Fritzperls.com. Retrieved from http://www.fritzperls.com/gestalttherapy/ Warman, D. M. and Beck, A. T. (eds). (2003). Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Retrieved from http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Treatments_and_Supports&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7952 Read More