Counseling Theory

Value Imposition

The act of a counselor imposing their own values, beliefs, or judgments onto a client, which can influence the client's ability to explore their own feelings and decisions. counselors

Counselors directly attempting to define a client’s values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Countertransference

Our projections that influence the way we perceive and react to a client. When counselors react emotionally, defensively, or from a space of individual experience that takes us out of the present.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Theory of conflict- developed by Freud, posing that humans have a natural inclination to seek pleasure and avoid pain

Freud’s concepts of the Structure of The Mind

1. ID (instinctual desires)

2. The Ego (the rational mediator)

3. The Superego (internalized moral standards)

There is conflict when any of these structures are in opposition

What is the goal of psychoanalytic theory?

To bring the unconscious into the conscious so people can make rational choices; Blending humanistic reflection and scientific inquiry

Techniques such as free association, dream analysis, and exploration of transference and resistance within the therapeutic relationship

Defense Mechanism Categories (Freud)

• Prevent expression of an impulse (e.g., repression)

• Escape expression of an impulse (e.g., denial)

• Disguise expression of an impulse (e.g., projection)

• Modify expression of an impulse (e.g., sublimation)

Analytical Psychology (Jung)

The assumption that occult (hidden) phenomena can and does influence the lives of people

Jung believes personality is based on what nine elements?

• Ego

• Personal Unconscious

• Collective Unconscious

• Archetypes

• Persona

• Shadow

• Animas

• Anima

• Self

Jung’s Four Functions of Personality

1. Thinking: Comprehending the world intellectually

2. Feeling: A valuing system (i.e. Does the world make us feel good or bad?)

3. Sensing: Looking at the world concretely or descriptively

4. Intuition: Perceiving through unconscious or subliminal sense (i.e. “I can’t put it into words.”) 

Jung’s Four Elements of Therapy

1. The confession of a pathologic secret—catharsis. (Effective for patients who need to express their secrets)

2. Interpretation, explanation, and elucidation. (For clients who gain insight but who are unable to solve their social problems)

3. The education of patients as social beings (may leave the client merely socially adjusted if this is the only element of therapy)

4. The transformation of the therapist into a healthy human being with an established philosophy of life unJ(Only then is the therapist able to move patients toward individuation, wholeness, or self-realization)

Jung’s Four Guidelines for Good Health

1. Follow your true inner nature but don’t use this as an excuse to trample on the rights of others.

2. Bring the shadow to light and accept your dark side.

3. Avoid the dangers of an excessive, stifling, or underdeveloped persona.

4. Be aware of the extreme one-sidedness that constitutes pathology.

Four Types of Attachment

1. Secure

2. Avoidant

3. Ambivalent (Resistant)

4. Disorganized

What is Secure Attachment?

Balanced system where caregiver and child form “dyadic states” that operate as a flexible and integrated system.

A regulated flow of both novelty and predictability, fostering resilience and exploration

What is Avoidant Attachment?

Emotionally distant interactions, minimal soothing, and an absence of repair following relational rupture. Caregivers who are emotionally unavailable or rejecting.

What is Ambivalent Attachment?

Inconsistent and sometimes overwhelming caregiving. Children in these dyads may experience either intrusive contact or neglect of their need for emotional space.

Parents may mis-attune to cues, overstimulating rather than soothing the child.

What is Disorganized Attachment?

Frightening or abusive caregiving. Caregiver is simultaneously a source of distress and potential comfort, creating an unsolvable paradox for the child.

Adlerian Therapy

Insight-oriented, action focused. Primary dynamic force behind human behavior is the striving for significance, success, or superiority.

Once clients gain insight into their lifestyle patterns and private logic, they are encouraged to make deliberate changes.

Foundational Assumptions of Adlerian Therapy

1. Subjective Perception (Fictional Finalism)

2. Unity and Consistency of Personality

3. Social Interest

4. Style of Life and Creative Power

What are six Adlerian Techniques?

1. Acting “As If”: Act as if they are already the person they wish to become. This allows experimentation with new behaviors and perspectives.

2. Task-Setting and Paradoxical Intention: Clients are given manageable tasks that they can choose to complete or sabotage. These tasks provide immediate feedback about motivation and resistance. Paradoxical intention—asking clients to do the very thing they fear—was later derived from this principle and remains effective in treating anxiety (Clark, 2016).

3. Creating Images: Visualization as a tool for imagining more adaptive responses and outcomes. This technique helps shift emotional and behavioral patterns by creating a more empowered narrative.

4. Catching Oneself: Recognizing the onset of old behavior patterns. With practice, this awareness allows them to anticipate and interrupt these patterns, often with humor and self-compassion, rather than self-criticism.

5. Push-Button Technique: Regulating emotions by consciously focusing on a different thought or memory. This process empowers clients with a sense of emotional control and self-determination.

6. The “Aha” Experience: Adler described moments of insight or clarity that spark confidence and optimism in clients. These breakthroughs often signal readiness for meaningful behavioral change.

What is Free Association in Psychoanalytic Therapy?

Clients are encouraged to say whatever comes to mind; clients try to flow with

any feelings or thoughts without censorship

A basic tool used to open the doors to unconscious wishes, fantasies, conflicts, and motivations. Often brings up past experiences and feelings.

Goal: Uncover hidden/repressed emotion locked in the unconscious

Dream Analysis in Psychoanalytic Therapy- What are the two main levels? What is dream work?

Latent: symbolism, unconscious motives, hidden wishes and fears

Manifest: the dreams meaning from the perspective of the client

Dream work: latent content of a dream is transformed into the less threatening manifest content; a counselors task to uncover disguised meanings by studying the symbols in the manifest content