Narrative, My Favorite Approach

Narrative Approach

    My favorite approach is Narrative therapy. I love to hear other people's stories because you know they are talking from their heart. When you hear their story, even if things are negative or messed up, you are still getting to know that person and their feelings. How a person responds to the world around them is very interesting to me. I'm a people person. That is why I want to do counseling. I want to help those that somehow can't see anything positive in their lives. I want to help them re-write their story.

   Michael White, (1949-2008), was the cofounder of this therapy along with David Epston. It was their friendship and bonding of ideas between these men that evolved into Narrative therapy. They were both family counselers that would meet after all day sessions with families and ask each other " what are you doing differently?" They were both avid readers so they would also ask each other, "what book are you reading?" Their stimulating challenges due to their different ideas would inspire each other. They offered each other intellecutal discussions and a powerful bond. Neither Michael or David would claim ownership of the narrative approach. They decided that their ideas would blend into this new and unique-type therapy. They were only interested in offering their ideas to a world that was looking for new ways of therapy that worked. Both these men were also involved in the feminist issues at that time. These men shared political philosophies and set out together on what became a most remarkable journey. They were quoted as saying,“One of the aspects associated with this work that is of central importance to us is the spirit of adventure. We aim to preserve this spirit, and know that if we accomplish this our work will continue to evolve in ways that are enriching to our lives, and to the lives of those persons who seek our help”, 

Family Systems Therapy

 

• FST is a combination of a variety of approaches and theories
• The theories and approaches focus on relational problems within the family
• Who;
• Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937)
• First therapist to use the family therapy
• Founded the Alderian therapy
• Later used family as a tool
• Used Alderian therapy as a family therapy tool
• Murray Bowen (1913 - 1990)
• Worked with schizophrenic individuals in families
• Believed that families could be understood better if you studied families from a three generation perspective
• Virginia Satir (1916 - 1988)
• Developed conjoint family therapy
• Intergenerational model that focuses on emotional experiences and communication
• Carl Whitaker
• Creator of symbolic - experimental family therapy
• Helped families open channels of interaction
• Helped clients develope individual autonomy
• Saw therapist as a coach and participant
• Shares with family creativity
• Applied pressure to clients to promote change
• Salvador Minuchin
• Developed structural therapy
• Worked with deliquent boys living in poverty
• Believes changes in the family needs to be worked out before addressing individual problems
• Taught clients to set boundaries
• Jay Haley (1923 - 2007)
• Founded the Washington School of Strategic Family Therapy
• Worked along side Salvador Minuchin for a brief time
• Blended concepts of hierarchy, strategic interventions and power
• Cloe Madanes
• Contributed to the development of brief, solution-oriented therapy
• Worked with Haley to reframe family directives
• Focused on solving problems in the present
• Treated problems as "real" and not a symptom for deeper problems
• Goals of Approach
• Help family members become aware of problems where the present solutions aren't working
• Help client by realizing his strengths and weaknesses
• Key Concepts
• Look for problems that have been passed down from generation to generation
• Relay the fact that the present is more important than the past
• Power coalition
• family oriented dynamics
• functional versus dysfunctional interaction patterns

• Techniques
• Change-talk with emphasis on clients lives when the problem did not exist
• Creative questioning
• The Miracle question
• Scaling Questions
• Help client discover cluse to compatence
• Assist client to find others that will support their change and new story
• Links;
• www.genopro.com/genogram/family-systems-theory

Postmodern Approaches

Postmodern Approaches

• Postmodern approaches believe in concentrating on the strengths of the client
• Do not like diagnosing
• Concentrate on creating solutions for the present and future
• 
  
• Who;
• Insoo Kim Berg (1935 - 2007
•  -co-developer of the solution-focused approach
• 
  
• Steve Shazer (1940 - 2005)
• Another contributor and pioneer of the solution-focused brief therapy
• Director of Research at the Brief Family Therapy Center
• 
  
• Michael White (1949 - 2008)
• Along with David Epston developed Narrative therapy
• Worked with families and communities
• Attracted international interest
• Founded the idea that the client needs to tell their story
• 
  
• David Epston
• Worked along side Michael White to develope Narrative therapy
• Has written several books
• Works with people that have eating disorders




• Goals of Approach
• Help client figure out how to handle concerns
• Establish clear, specific, realistic and concrete goals
• Establish observable goals that increase positive change
• Help client create a grounded self identity
• Help them become more competant relying on their own resources to solve problems
• Help client view their life as positive versus problem ridden
• 
  
• Key Concepts
• Sessions are brief
• Addresses the present and future
• Relays the idea the person is not the problem
• The problem is the problem
• Uses collaborative dialogue
• Therapist and client co-create solutions
• Help client to tell that story with emphasis on the positive
• Techniques
• Take client back to a time when the problem was not there
• The Miracle question
• Scaling questions
• Narrative therapy
• Help client find an others that will support their new story and changes
• 
  
• Links;
• plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

Feminist Therapy

Feminist Therapy

• Who:
• This type of therapy does not give credit to one single person. There are several. The doctors that are recognized are:
• Jean Baker Miller, MD.
• Wrote several books dealing with the Feminist theory
• Wrote "The Healing Connection
• "How Women Form Relationships In Therapy"
• "Growth Connection"
• Carolyn Zerbe Enns, PhD
• has put a lot of time, concentration and work in the Feminist theories
• Had huge impact on Feminist theory
• Oliva M Espin, PhD
• One of the first to work with the Feminist theory concerning Women of culture and different back grounds
• Did extensive teaching, research and training on these issues
• Laura S. Brown, PhD
• Wrote several books
• Recognized for starting the Feminist Therapy Institute
• Supports the advanced practice of feminist therapy

                                                                       

• Goals of Approach:
• To help clients with acknowledging and using their own power
• To free theirselves from the thinking that there are limitations to what they can or cannot do because of their gender
• To rise up against policies that discriminate or oppress certain genders or cultures
• .
• Key Concepts
• Therapists have a commitment to uphold social change
• Hear what women have to say
• Find ways to ensure Women are valued and experiences are respected
• Focus on strengths and pyschological distress
• Oppression of any kind is recognized

             

• Techniques
• Gender - role analysis and intervention
• Power analysis along with intervention
• Journal writing
• Assertiveness training
• Reframing
• Relabeling
• Cognitive restructuring
• Group work
• Social action
• Challenge and test beliefs
• Role playing
• Bibliotherapy
• Links:
• www.jbmti.org/
• people.cornellcollege.edu/cenns

Cognitive Behavior therapy/ Reality Therapy

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Who: Developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck, Cognitive Therapy (CT), or Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

form of psychotherapy

•   Therapists use the Cognitive Model to help clients overcome their difficulties by changing their thinking, behavior, and emotional responses.

• 

  Who:  Donald Meichenbaum, Born 1940 

• Founder of Cognitive Behavior Modification

• Expert in the treatment of PTSD

• Elected by his peers as one of the most influential psychotherapists of the century

• Developed therapy aimed towards cognition and behavior

•  

• Goals of Approach

• Help clients confront faulty beliefs and reduce them

• Find evidence contradictory to those beliefs

• learn to recognize faulty beliefs and confront them

• be aware of automatic thoughts and change them

•  

• Key Concepts

• even though problems may stem from childhood, they are reinforced by present ways of thinking

• the clients belief system is primary cause of disorder

• what a client thinks has a lot to do with what he believes

• Client focus should be on faulty ideas and misconceptions then replace those ideas with correct or effective beliefs

• 

  Techniques     

• A variety of techniques have been successful such as cognitive, emotive and behavioral.

•  needs to be designed to fit individual needs

• therapy needs to be active, directive, person-centered, time limited, psychoeducational and structured

• Client needs to keep records of activities at home and then form alternative thinking.

• help client learn new coping skills

• confront faulty or irrational beliefs and change thinking

• teach client how to perform self-instructional training along with stress reducing techniques

• Links;

• www.beckinstitute.org/

   

 

Reality Therapy

• Who:    William Glasser
• Developed Reality therapy in 1960's
• Rejected Freudian model and held people responsible for their behavior
• Believed in talking to the sane side of a client
• Client controls behavioral choices
• Robert E. Wubbold
• Extended reality therapy with the concept of WDEP system
• Attended workshops by William Glasser
• Introduced Reality and Choice theory in Europe, Asia and Middle East
• 
  Goals of Approach  
• To help client become effective in meeting all of their psychological needs
• Help client to re-establish relations with people they consider important
• Teach client choice theories
• 
  Key Concepts  
• teach client how to evaluate present activities and actions to see if they are working for them
• Do not dwell on the past
• Learn the five basic needs and evaluate if client is able to meet those needs successfully
• Help client have a workable plan in place
• Techniques 
• Skilled questioning 
• Use active and directive dialogue to help client evaluate actions and choices
• teach clients how to design a specific plan for changes and commitment to follow through
• Links;
•     www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/Psy460_Ch11_Handout2_ppt.pdf

 

 

  

 



Gestalt and Behavior Therapy

Gestalt Therapy

 

  

• Who?  Fritz Perls & Laura Perls
•    Husband and Wife Team
•    He focused on awareness and was the main developer
•    She concentrated on contact and support
• Together they created the theoretical foundations of Gestalt Therapy                 

• Goals of Approach          
•    Help the client strive for wholeness 
•    Integregation of thinking, feeling and behaving
•   Assist clients to help gain awareness of moment to moment    experiences
•    Help them to see that earlier influences are related to present difficulties
• 
     Accept all aspects of themselves          
•    Deal with unfinished business 
 

• Key Concepts
•           Contact with self and others
• Contact Boundaries
• Awareness, personal choice, responsibility
• Grounded in the here and now
• Avoidance
• Energy
• Unfinished business
• holism
• figure formation process

                                                                            

• Techniques
• experiments that intensify experiencing and integragate conflicting feelings
• therapist and client design experiments to develope I/thou dialogue
• work with dreams to help client re-live the dream as if it were happening now
• Guided fantasy to visual an experience client shares and ask how they feel in that moment
• Exaggerate movements of person such as a wife acts like she's mimicing her husbands conversation and then ask client to move like they would. Helps intensify clients feelings

Links: www.ehow.com/list_6907094_gestalt-counseling-techniques.html



Behavior Therapy



 

• Who? B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
•  Skinner was called the Father of  Behavioral approach to Psychology
•  Emphasis on effects of environment on behavior
•  He said humans do not have free choice
•  He also stated that environment can be directly changed and observed but it is harder to see into the minds and motives of behaviors.
• Albert Bandura - Social cognitive theory...how we function as self organization, proactive self, reflective self. Forces that motivate behavior
• Arnold Lazarus - contributed to develpment of behavior therapy

• Goals
• Eliminate maladaptive behaviors                     
• learn more effective behaviors
• Find out how to change problamatic behavior
• Get client to help actively participate in development of treatment goals and how well these goals are being met

• Key Concepts
• product and producer of the environment
• Focus on overt behavior
• Present behavior is given attention
• Based on principles of learning theory
• Normal behavior - learned through reinforcment and imitation
• Abnormal behavior - result of faulty learning

• Techniques
• Reinforcement, shaping, modeling, systematic desensitization
• Relaxation methods
• Flooding
• Eye movement and desensitization reprocessing
• Cognitive restructuring
• Assertion

Links: depts.washington.edu/brtc/links/dbt

            www.behaviorlinks.org/therapyprograms.html

 

 

 

Existential Therapy

.

Who:   Viktor Frankl - responsible for making Existential therapy popular in Europe and bringing it to the United States. He developed therapy through meaning.

Rollo May – the key figure in bringing this therapy to the United States

Irvin Yalom – developed individual and group therapy where existential therapy was popular

·         Goals of Approach

o   This therapy builds on the basics concerning the human condition and how shaping your

o   own life is a responsibility and you have the freedom to do so. Self-determination and the right choices will enable you to shape your own existence. This therapy is also considered therapeutic because it focuses on person to person relationships

o   .

·         Key Concepts

o   The key concept would be focusing on the present and with self-awareness, you zero in on what you are becoming.

o    This therapy is an experimental approach to counseling but you need to concentrate on self-awareness before taking action.

The capacity for self-awareness

Freedom and Responsibility

Striving for Identity and Relationships to others

The search for meaning

Anxiety as a Condition of living

Techniques

Technique is not as important in this type of therapy as getting the client to understand the issues and addressing them.

1.      First help them become aware of the issues and get them to understand that with freedom comes great responsibility.

2.      Guide them towards finding their identity and the how to develop relationships with others.

3.      Get them to search for purpose to their lives.

4.      Help them to work through anxieties which comes from the responsibility of making their own choices

Person Centered Therapy

Who:    Carl Rogers developed a person centered therapy in the 1940’s that gets the client that gets the client to decide what he needs to do. Rogers let the clients know he accepted them just like they are. He encouraged them and let them know they have what it takes to make their own decisions. Rogers found that clients would change when the therapist was empathetic, genuine and conveyed non possessive warmth.

Natalie Rogers (Carl’s daughter) furthered his therapy by adding in expressive arts which expands the client centered therapy. Those techniques involved writing journals, using music to express feelings, visual art, sounds and creative movement.

Goals of Approach

            The goal is to get the client to explore their feelings.

            Learn to trust themselves.

            To unblock thoughts and feelings they had been denying.

            Experience life to the fullest.

Have a life that is more open.

Direct their own steps.

Key Concepts

            To help the client give attention to the present

            Give them encouragement and accept them as they are

            Help them realize they have the ability to choose their own direction.

The ability to handle issues as they arrive.

The counselor creates a safe and healing climate.

Express their feelings and decipher the difference between what they are and what they

want to be.

Healing begins with self and this causes growth.

Techniques Used

            Techniques used were the stages of change

1.      Precontemplation Stage – no intention of changing client’s behavior immediately.

2.      Contemplation Stage – client is aware of problem but no commitment to take action yet.

3.      Preparation Stage – prepare to take action immediately.

4.      Action Stage – in the process of taking measures to change or modify behavior. Changing behavior to solve problems.

5.      Maintenance Stage – client works to maintain the progress they’ve made and do what’s necessary to not backslide into old habits and problems.

Links;

Claessens, M. (2009). Existential analysis. Journal of the society for the existential analysis, 20(1), 109-119.

Bozarth, J. D. (1985). Quantum theory and the person centered approach. Journal of counseling and development, 64(3), 179.