Counseling Methods
Counseling methods abound. But which will work best for you? This list may help
you understand your counselor's approach to counseling:
Adlerian
Adlerian psychotherapy was founded by Alfred Adler (an ex-associate of Freud
who rejected Freud's notion that sex is the root of all psychological problems.) It
takes a positive view of human nature: We are all goal-oriented creatures who are
striving for social connectedness, and we are in control of our destiny. Many
personal difficulties, Adler believed, stem from feelings of inferiority—he in fact
coined the term "inferiority complex."
An Adlerian therapist will identify, explore, and challenge a client's current beliefs
about their life goals. He or she will gather family history and will use information
about a client's behavior patterns to help the client set new, socially satisfying,and
attainable goals. These could relate to any realm of life and could include
developing parenting or marital skills, or ending substance abuse. Once these
healthier objectives are set, the therapist may also assign homework, set up
contracts with the client,and make suggestions on how the client can reach his or
her new goals.
Art Therapy
It may look like a craft class, but art therapy is a serious technique that uses the
creative process to help improve the mental health of clients. Art therapy can be
used on children and adults to treat a wide range of emotional issues, including
anxiety, depression, family and relationship problems, abuse and domestic
violence, and trauma and loss.
Commonly found in hospitals and community centers, art therapy programs are
based on the belief that the creative process is healing and life-enhancing. As they
paint or draw, a skilled therapist can use the client's works of art and her approach
to the process as springboards to help her gain personal insight, improve her
judgment, cope with stress, and work through traumatic experiences.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is simply using signals from you own body to improve your health. If
you've stepped on a scale or taken your temperature, for example, you've received
"feed back" information that you then perhaps acted on.
A therapist may use more advanced biofeedback techniques to help clients
suffering from anxiety, stress, or tension headaches. One such technique uses a
machine that picks up electrical signals in the muscles. As the client tries to relax
her muscles, she can get an immediate progress report by watching the speed of
the signals, and thus learn how to better control her mind and body.
Christian/Bible-Based
Christian therapy seeks to help clients work through psychological issues using
both traditional therapeutic methods and a philosophy based on the Christian
religion and the teachings of the Bible. Christian therapists guide their clients'
emotional and spiritual growth simultaneously.
Client-Centered
Developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s, the client-centered method is based on the
empowering idea that the client holds the answers to her problems--not the doctor
in the white coat. The client-centered therapist's job, then, is to carefully listen and
strive to understand the client, so that she can tap into her natural ability to grow
and improve. Client-centered therapy helps the client live in the moment and focus
on personality change, rather than on the origins of her personality structure.
Coaching
Life coaching is an increasingly popular profession that has no specific licensing or
academic requirements. Though psychologists also often consider themselves life
coaches, these therapists don't focus on treating mental illness. Instead, they help
individuals realize their goals in work and in life. An executive coach, for example,
may be enlisted to help a chief executive become a better manager, while a "love"
coach may map out a plan to help a client find romantic fulfillment.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what
we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause
our negative feelings. The therapist assists the patient in identifying, testing the
reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying his or her thinking. The
therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow
from them. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and
often calls for homework assignments. CBT has been clinically proven to help
clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders,
including depression and anxiety.
Dream Analysis
While not commonly used as a stand-alone technique, therapists using a variety of
methods may incorporate dream analysis into their practice. Exploring the
meaning of dreams through symbols, myths, free association and memories may
help clients process and understand their psychological issues. There are a variety
of philosophies and approaches for analyzing dreams including Adlerian (where
dreams are projections of a person's current concerns), Gestalt (where every
person and object in a dream represents an aspect of the dreamer), and
psychoanalytic (where dreams are a key to what is happening in a person's
unconscious.)
Eclectic
Many practitioners now take an eclectic approach to therapy, drawing upon
various aspects of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic methods to create their
own custom-made approach. Such therapists often work with their clients to
create a treatment plan that encompasses different techniques to best address the
client's particular problems and to appeal to her sensibility.
EFCT
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, or EFCT, is a structured approach to
relationship revival. EFCT is a nine-step, three-event process for couples and
families dealing with depression, post-traumatic stress, chronic illness, and other
disorders. This therapy is proven to expand emotional response and initiate new
cycles of interaction. EFCT presents a clear understanding of marital challenges
and adult attachment. Research studies find that 70-75 percent of couples move
from distress to recovery and 90 percent show improvement overall.
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)is an information
processing therapy that helps clients cope with trauma, addictions, and phobias.
During this treatment, the patient focuses on a specific thought, image, emotion,
or sensation while simultaneously watching the therapist's finger or baton move in
front of his or her eyes. Then the client is asked to think of new thoughts, while
again simultaneously focusing on the external stimulus. EMDR practitioners
believe that the treatment loosens one's traumatic memories and allows them to be
reprocessed with positive ones.
Existential
Existential psychotherapy is based on the philosophical belief that human beings
are alone in the world, and that this aloneness can only be overcome by creating
one's own meaning, and exercising one's freedom to choose. The existential
therapist encourages clients to face life's anxieties head on and to start making his
own decisions. The therapist will emphasize that along with having the freedom to
carve out meaning comes the need to take full responsibility for the consequences
of one's decisions. Therapy sessions focus on the client's present and future rather
than his past.
Family Systems Therapy
Family Systems therapists view problems within the family as the result not of
particular members' behaviors, but of the family's group dynamic. The family is
seen as a complex system having its own language, roles, rules, beliefs, needs and
patterns. The therapist helps each individual member understand how her
childhood family operated, her role in that system, and how that experience has
shaped her role in her current family. Therapists with the MFT credential are
usually trained in Family Systems therapy.
Family/Marital Therapy
Family and Marital therapists work with families or couples—both together and
individually—to help them improve their communication skills, build on the
positive aspects of their relationships, and repair the harmful or negative aspects.
Feminist Therapy
Feminist therapy focuses on empowering men and women and helping them
discover how to break free from traditional molds that may be blocking their
growth and development. Feminist therapy tends to be focused on improving
one's effectiveness in areas such as communication, assertiveness, self-esteem, and
relationships.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to the criminal
justice system. Forensic psychologists offer expert testimony in criminal and civil
cases and may perform psychological autopsies and evaluate a person's
psychological competency to stand trial. They may also consult and train law
enforcement, criminal justice, correctional, and mental health officials.
Gestalt
Gestalt therapy seeks to integrate the client's behaviors, feelings, and thinking, so
that her intentions and actions may be aligned for optimal mental health. The
therapist will help the client become more self aware, to live more in the present,
and to assume more responsibility for taking care of herself. Techniques of gestalt
therapy include confrontation, dream analysis, and role playing.
Humanistic
The humanistic method takes a positive view of human nature and emphasizes the
uniqueness of the individual. Therapists in this tradition, who are interested in
exploring the nature of creativity, love, and self-actualization, help clients realize
their potential through change and self-directed growth. Humanistic therapy is also
an umbrella term for gestalt, client-centered therapy, and existential therapy.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy focuses on hypnosis, the Greek term for sleep. The practice uses
exercises that relax people, bringing them to an altered state of consciousness.
This process focuses on mastering self-awareness. Through trance-like analysis,
hypnosis decreases blood pressure and heart rate, putting one's physical body at
ease. Working with memories, hypnotherapy helps a person to reframe, relax,
absorb, dissociate, respond, and reflect. The process reconstructs healthier
associations with a person's past events. Dealing with a wide range of conditions,
such as anxiety and depression, people become responsive to new solutions that
can lead to personal development through hypnotherapy.
Interpersonal
IPT is a short-term psychotherapy in which therapist and client identify the issues
and problems of interpersonal relationships. They also explore the client's life
history to help recognize problem areas and then work toward ways to rectify
them. There are also specific therapies, such as Imago therapy, which focus on
intimate relationships. In addition, interpersonal therapy is not to be confused with
transpersonal psychology, which is the study of states in which people experience
a deeper sense of who they are, or a sense of greater connectedness with others,
nature or spirituality.
Jungian
Jungian or analytical therapy, developed by Carl Jung, seeks to help people access
their unconscious to develop greater self-realization and individuation. Jung, a
psychoanalyst, sought to understand the psyche via dreams, art, mythology, world
religion and philosophy. The Jungian therapist helps the patient find more
meaning in her life, with respect for the mysterious nature of the soul.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
For patients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other
health issues such as anxiety and depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy,
or MBCT, is a two-part therapy that aims to reduce stress, manage pain, and
embrace the freedom to respond to situations by choice. MCBT blends two
disciplines--cognitive therapy and mindfulness. Mindfulness helps by reflecting on
moments and thoughts without passing judgment. MBCT patients pay close
attention to their feelings to reach an objective mindset, thus viewing and
combating life's unpleasant occurrences.
Play Therapy
Generally for children ages 3 to 11, play therapy is a form of counseling that relies
on play to help therapists communicate with children and diagnose their mental
health. Because children develop cognitive skills before language skills, play is an
effective way to understand a child. The therapist may observe a child playing with
toys--such as playhouses and dolls--to understand the child's behavior and
diagnose the problem.
Psychoanalytic
Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy wherein the patient explores his patterns of
thinking and behavior--often originating in various childhood developmental
phases--through free-association and identification with the analyst. Psychoanalysts
treat patients intensively. Modern adherents of psychoanalysis may treat patients
less frequently, and may take a more interactive approach, whereas traditional
psychoanalysists rarely reveal their own views or feelings during therapy.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic therapy, also known as insight-oriented therapy, evolved from
Freudian psychoanalysis. Like adherents of psychoanalysis, psychodynamic
therapists believe that bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness
promotes insight and resolves conflict. But psychodynamic therapy is briefer and
less intensive than psychoanalysis and also focuses on the relationship between the
therapist and the client, as a way to learn about how the client relates to everyone
in her life.
Psychological Testing
Psychological testing refers to assessments of a client's mental, emotional, and
intellectual health. Neuropsychological testing, for example, addresses a patient's
problems with cognitive functioning and can require hours of examination.
Nonprofessionals, such as potential employers or educational institutions, now
commonly administer achievement or aptitude tests to evaluate potential
candidates. Intelligence tests and personality tests are offered through Internet
sites, though their quality varies widely.
Rational Emotive Therapy
Rational Emotive Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, was
developed by Albert Ellis and was one of the first cognitive-behavioral therapy
approaches. RET posits that our emotions result from our beliefs, many of which
are irrational, and thus cause us to suffer unnecessarily. The RET therapists will
question the client's beliefs to help use her natural ability to think clearly. The
therapist will then encourage her to change her actions to align with her new,
rational beliefs to relieve her emotional problems. This active approach often
includes homework assignments.
Relational Therapy
Relational life therapy offers strategies to combat marital dysfunction and restore
harmony in relationships. Couples--those recovering from affairs, traumatic events,
or a lull in passion--can find RLT helpful. To repair discord, the therapist
identifies the main conflict upsetting the couples' emotional intimacy. Once the
partners see how they both contribute to the problem, the therapist teaches them
skills to improve the ways they relate to each other. Couples may see a change in
their relationship within three to six months.
Self-Psychology
Self-psychology is a mode of psychoanalytic treatment founded by Heinz Kohut.
It posits that each individual's self-esteem and vitality derive from and are
maintained by the empathic responsiveness of others to his or her needs. The self-
psychology practitioner will thus emphasize the role of empathic listening in
treating clients.
Social-Learning Therapy
Social-learning therapy is an active teaching approach to helping clients improve
relationship and social skills. The therapist models desirable behavior for clients,
who then mimic the behavior.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution-focused therapy, sometimes called "brief therapy," focuses on what
clients would like to achieve through therapy rather than on their troubles or
mental health issues. The therapist will help the client envision a desirable future,
and then map out the small and large changes necessary for the client to undergo
to realize her vision. The therapist will seize on any successes the client
experiences, to encourage her to build on her strengths rather than dwell on her
problems or limitations.
Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis focuses on cognitive and behavioral functioning. The
therapist helps the client evaluate her past decisions and how those choices affect
her present life, in the belief that greater awareness will lead to better decision-
making and judgment calls in the future.
Transpersonal
Transpersonal therapy emphasizes the transcendent or spiritual aspects of a client's
development. A transpersonal therapist may help the client cultivate a greater sense
of connectedness with others, with nature, and with a higher spirit.
Counseling methods abound. But which will work best for you? This list may help
you understand your counselor's approach to counseling:
Adlerian
Adlerian psychotherapy was founded by Alfred Adler (an ex-associate of Freud
who rejected Freud's notion that sex is the root of all psychological problems.) It
takes a positive view of human nature: We are all goal-oriented creatures who are
striving for social connectedness, and we are in control of our destiny. Many
personal difficulties, Adler believed, stem from feelings of inferiority—he in fact
coined the term "inferiority complex."
An Adlerian therapist will identify, explore, and challenge a client's current beliefs
about their life goals. He or she will gather family history and will use information
about a client's behavior patterns to help the client set new, socially satisfying,and
attainable goals. These could relate to any realm of life and could include
developing parenting or marital skills, or ending substance abuse. Once these
healthier objectives are set, the therapist may also assign homework, set up
contracts with the client,and make suggestions on how the client can reach his or
her new goals.
Art Therapy
It may look like a craft class, but art therapy is a serious technique that uses the
creative process to help improve the mental health of clients. Art therapy can be
used on children and adults to treat a wide range of emotional issues, including
anxiety, depression, family and relationship problems, abuse and domestic
violence, and trauma and loss.
Commonly found in hospitals and community centers, art therapy programs are
based on the belief that the creative process is healing and life-enhancing. As they
paint or draw, a skilled therapist can use the client's works of art and her approach
to the process as springboards to help her gain personal insight, improve her
judgment, cope with stress, and work through traumatic experiences.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is simply using signals from you own body to improve your health. If
you've stepped on a scale or taken your temperature, for example, you've received
"feed back" information that you then perhaps acted on.
A therapist may use more advanced biofeedback techniques to help clients
suffering from anxiety, stress, or tension headaches. One such technique uses a
machine that picks up electrical signals in the muscles. As the client tries to relax
her muscles, she can get an immediate progress report by watching the speed of
the signals, and thus learn how to better control her mind and body.
Christian/Bible-Based
Christian therapy seeks to help clients work through psychological issues using
both traditional therapeutic methods and a philosophy based on the Christian
religion and the teachings of the Bible. Christian therapists guide their clients'
emotional and spiritual growth simultaneously.
Client-Centered
Developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s, the client-centered method is based on the
empowering idea that the client holds the answers to her problems--not the doctor
in the white coat. The client-centered therapist's job, then, is to carefully listen and
strive to understand the client, so that she can tap into her natural ability to grow
and improve. Client-centered therapy helps the client live in the moment and focus
on personality change, rather than on the origins of her personality structure.
Coaching
Life coaching is an increasingly popular profession that has no specific licensing or
academic requirements. Though psychologists also often consider themselves life
coaches, these therapists don't focus on treating mental illness. Instead, they help
individuals realize their goals in work and in life. An executive coach, for example,
may be enlisted to help a chief executive become a better manager, while a "love"
coach may map out a plan to help a client find romantic fulfillment.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what
we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause
our negative feelings. The therapist assists the patient in identifying, testing the
reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying his or her thinking. The
therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow
from them. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and
often calls for homework assignments. CBT has been clinically proven to help
clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders,
including depression and anxiety.
Dream Analysis
While not commonly used as a stand-alone technique, therapists using a variety of
methods may incorporate dream analysis into their practice. Exploring the
meaning of dreams through symbols, myths, free association and memories may
help clients process and understand their psychological issues. There are a variety
of philosophies and approaches for analyzing dreams including Adlerian (where
dreams are projections of a person's current concerns), Gestalt (where every
person and object in a dream represents an aspect of the dreamer), and
psychoanalytic (where dreams are a key to what is happening in a person's
unconscious.)
Eclectic
Many practitioners now take an eclectic approach to therapy, drawing upon
various aspects of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic methods to create their
own custom-made approach. Such therapists often work with their clients to
create a treatment plan that encompasses different techniques to best address the
client's particular problems and to appeal to her sensibility.
EFCT
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, or EFCT, is a structured approach to
relationship revival. EFCT is a nine-step, three-event process for couples and
families dealing with depression, post-traumatic stress, chronic illness, and other
disorders. This therapy is proven to expand emotional response and initiate new
cycles of interaction. EFCT presents a clear understanding of marital challenges
and adult attachment. Research studies find that 70-75 percent of couples move
from distress to recovery and 90 percent show improvement overall.
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)is an information
processing therapy that helps clients cope with trauma, addictions, and phobias.
During this treatment, the patient focuses on a specific thought, image, emotion,
or sensation while simultaneously watching the therapist's finger or baton move in
front of his or her eyes. Then the client is asked to think of new thoughts, while
again simultaneously focusing on the external stimulus. EMDR practitioners
believe that the treatment loosens one's traumatic memories and allows them to be
reprocessed with positive ones.
Existential
Existential psychotherapy is based on the philosophical belief that human beings
are alone in the world, and that this aloneness can only be overcome by creating
one's own meaning, and exercising one's freedom to choose. The existential
therapist encourages clients to face life's anxieties head on and to start making his
own decisions. The therapist will emphasize that along with having the freedom to
carve out meaning comes the need to take full responsibility for the consequences
of one's decisions. Therapy sessions focus on the client's present and future rather
than his past.
Family Systems Therapy
Family Systems therapists view problems within the family as the result not of
particular members' behaviors, but of the family's group dynamic. The family is
seen as a complex system having its own language, roles, rules, beliefs, needs and
patterns. The therapist helps each individual member understand how her
childhood family operated, her role in that system, and how that experience has
shaped her role in her current family. Therapists with the MFT credential are
usually trained in Family Systems therapy.
Family/Marital Therapy
Family and Marital therapists work with families or couples—both together and
individually—to help them improve their communication skills, build on the
positive aspects of their relationships, and repair the harmful or negative aspects.
Feminist Therapy
Feminist therapy focuses on empowering men and women and helping them
discover how to break free from traditional molds that may be blocking their
growth and development. Feminist therapy tends to be focused on improving
one's effectiveness in areas such as communication, assertiveness, self-esteem, and
relationships.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to the criminal
justice system. Forensic psychologists offer expert testimony in criminal and civil
cases and may perform psychological autopsies and evaluate a person's
psychological competency to stand trial. They may also consult and train law
enforcement, criminal justice, correctional, and mental health officials.
Gestalt
Gestalt therapy seeks to integrate the client's behaviors, feelings, and thinking, so
that her intentions and actions may be aligned for optimal mental health. The
therapist will help the client become more self aware, to live more in the present,
and to assume more responsibility for taking care of herself. Techniques of gestalt
therapy include confrontation, dream analysis, and role playing.
Humanistic
The humanistic method takes a positive view of human nature and emphasizes the
uniqueness of the individual. Therapists in this tradition, who are interested in
exploring the nature of creativity, love, and self-actualization, help clients realize
their potential through change and self-directed growth. Humanistic therapy is also
an umbrella term for gestalt, client-centered therapy, and existential therapy.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy focuses on hypnosis, the Greek term for sleep. The practice uses
exercises that relax people, bringing them to an altered state of consciousness.
This process focuses on mastering self-awareness. Through trance-like analysis,
hypnosis decreases blood pressure and heart rate, putting one's physical body at
ease. Working with memories, hypnotherapy helps a person to reframe, relax,
absorb, dissociate, respond, and reflect. The process reconstructs healthier
associations with a person's past events. Dealing with a wide range of conditions,
such as anxiety and depression, people become responsive to new solutions that
can lead to personal development through hypnotherapy.
Interpersonal
IPT is a short-term psychotherapy in which therapist and client identify the issues
and problems of interpersonal relationships. They also explore the client's life
history to help recognize problem areas and then work toward ways to rectify
them. There are also specific therapies, such as Imago therapy, which focus on
intimate relationships. In addition, interpersonal therapy is not to be confused with
transpersonal psychology, which is the study of states in which people experience
a deeper sense of who they are, or a sense of greater connectedness with others,
nature or spirituality.
Jungian
Jungian or analytical therapy, developed by Carl Jung, seeks to help people access
their unconscious to develop greater self-realization and individuation. Jung, a
psychoanalyst, sought to understand the psyche via dreams, art, mythology, world
religion and philosophy. The Jungian therapist helps the patient find more
meaning in her life, with respect for the mysterious nature of the soul.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
For patients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other
health issues such as anxiety and depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy,
or MBCT, is a two-part therapy that aims to reduce stress, manage pain, and
embrace the freedom to respond to situations by choice. MCBT blends two
disciplines--cognitive therapy and mindfulness. Mindfulness helps by reflecting on
moments and thoughts without passing judgment. MBCT patients pay close
attention to their feelings to reach an objective mindset, thus viewing and
combating life's unpleasant occurrences.
Play Therapy
Generally for children ages 3 to 11, play therapy is a form of counseling that relies
on play to help therapists communicate with children and diagnose their mental
health. Because children develop cognitive skills before language skills, play is an
effective way to understand a child. The therapist may observe a child playing with
toys--such as playhouses and dolls--to understand the child's behavior and
diagnose the problem.
Psychoanalytic
Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy wherein the patient explores his patterns of
thinking and behavior--often originating in various childhood developmental
phases--through free-association and identification with the analyst. Psychoanalysts
treat patients intensively. Modern adherents of psychoanalysis may treat patients
less frequently, and may take a more interactive approach, whereas traditional
psychoanalysists rarely reveal their own views or feelings during therapy.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic therapy, also known as insight-oriented therapy, evolved from
Freudian psychoanalysis. Like adherents of psychoanalysis, psychodynamic
therapists believe that bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness
promotes insight and resolves conflict. But psychodynamic therapy is briefer and
less intensive than psychoanalysis and also focuses on the relationship between the
therapist and the client, as a way to learn about how the client relates to everyone
in her life.
Psychological Testing
Psychological testing refers to assessments of a client's mental, emotional, and
intellectual health. Neuropsychological testing, for example, addresses a patient's
problems with cognitive functioning and can require hours of examination.
Nonprofessionals, such as potential employers or educational institutions, now
commonly administer achievement or aptitude tests to evaluate potential
candidates. Intelligence tests and personality tests are offered through Internet
sites, though their quality varies widely.
Rational Emotive Therapy
Rational Emotive Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, was
developed by Albert Ellis and was one of the first cognitive-behavioral therapy
approaches. RET posits that our emotions result from our beliefs, many of which
are irrational, and thus cause us to suffer unnecessarily. The RET therapists will
question the client's beliefs to help use her natural ability to think clearly. The
therapist will then encourage her to change her actions to align with her new,
rational beliefs to relieve her emotional problems. This active approach often
includes homework assignments.
Relational Therapy
Relational life therapy offers strategies to combat marital dysfunction and restore
harmony in relationships. Couples--those recovering from affairs, traumatic events,
or a lull in passion--can find RLT helpful. To repair discord, the therapist
identifies the main conflict upsetting the couples' emotional intimacy. Once the
partners see how they both contribute to the problem, the therapist teaches them
skills to improve the ways they relate to each other. Couples may see a change in
their relationship within three to six months.
Self-Psychology
Self-psychology is a mode of psychoanalytic treatment founded by Heinz Kohut.
It posits that each individual's self-esteem and vitality derive from and are
maintained by the empathic responsiveness of others to his or her needs. The self-
psychology practitioner will thus emphasize the role of empathic listening in
treating clients.
Social-Learning Therapy
Social-learning therapy is an active teaching approach to helping clients improve
relationship and social skills. The therapist models desirable behavior for clients,
who then mimic the behavior.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution-focused therapy, sometimes called "brief therapy," focuses on what
clients would like to achieve through therapy rather than on their troubles or
mental health issues. The therapist will help the client envision a desirable future,
and then map out the small and large changes necessary for the client to undergo
to realize her vision. The therapist will seize on any successes the client
experiences, to encourage her to build on her strengths rather than dwell on her
problems or limitations.
Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis focuses on cognitive and behavioral functioning. The
therapist helps the client evaluate her past decisions and how those choices affect
her present life, in the belief that greater awareness will lead to better decision-
making and judgment calls in the future.
Transpersonal
Transpersonal therapy emphasizes the transcendent or spiritual aspects of a client's
development. A transpersonal therapist may help the client cultivate a greater sense
of connectedness with others, with nature, and with a higher spirit.
| Terry McVannel Erwin, Ph.D. Dr. Erwin is a General Practitioner With a Special Interest in Working with Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Qualified Supervisor, FL Certified in Clinical Hypnosis National Certified Counselor #78891 Licensed Mental Health Counselor #MH8591 |
| HOME DR. ERWIN'S SPECIALTIES IS COUNSELING RIGHT FOR YOU? PERSONAL STATEMENT ABOUT CLINICAL HYPNOSIS COST OF SERVICES CONTACT DR. ERWIN PLEDGE TO LGBT CLIENTS AFFIRMATIONS AND MORE PAPERWORK FOR NEW CLIENTS DOWNLOADS FOR CURRENT CLIENTS DIRECTIONS TO OUR OFFICE 2504 Del Prado Boulevard South Cape Coral, FL 33904-4750 Ph. (239) 242-0545 TErwin1@yahoo.com Don't have insurance? We offer limited-session sliding scale fees that are comparable to insurance co-pays! Call today for more information! |
