Transformative Counseling Approaches for Teachers

Transformative Counseling Approaches for Teachers (Handout- Counseling Approaches Used in Schools)

Dr. Eirini Gouleta George Mason University

Presentation at the 9th Conference on Learning Differences and INNOVATION SUMMIT, “Teaching for Transformation: Empowering All Learners�

Contemporary Counseling Models • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Psychoanalytic Therapy Adlerian Therapy Existential Therapy Person-Centered Therapy Gestalt Therapy Reality Therapy Behavior Therapy Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Rational Emotive Therapy Feminist Therapy Family Systems Therapy Postmodern Approaches Integrative Therapy

Counseling Theories Commonly Used with Students and Parents

• Adlerian Therapy • Person-Centered Therapy • Gestalt Therapy • Reality Therapy • Behavior Therapy • Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy

Adlerian Therapy (Alfred Adler)

• • • •

A phenomenological approach Social interest is stressed Birth order and sibling relationships Therapy as teaching, informing, and encouraging • Basic mistakes in the person’s private logic • The therapeutic relationship-a collaborative partnership

Adlerian Therapy (Encouragement) • Encouragement is the most powerful method available for changing a person’s beliefs – Helps build self-confidence and stimulates courage – Discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from functioning – Individuals are encouraged to recognize that they have the power to choose and to act differently

Person-Centered Therapy (Carl Rogers)

Emphasizes: • Therapy as a journey shared by two fallible people • The person’s innate striving for self-actualization • The personal characteristics of the therapist and the quality of the therapeutic relationship • The counselor’s creation of a permissive, growthpromoting climate (congruence-genuineness, unconditional positive regard, and accurate empathic understanding) • People are capable of self-directed growth if involved in a therapeutic relationship

Gestalt Therapy (Fritz Perls) • Existential and Phenomenological-it is grounded in the person’s “here and now” • Initial goal is for individuals to gain awareness of what they are experiencing and doing “now” • Promotes direct experiencing rather than the abstractness of talking about situations • Our power is in the present • Contact-interacting with nature and other people without losing one’s individuality • Rehearsal exercise, reversal technique

Reality Therapy (William Glasser) • Emphasis is on responsibility and keep therapy on the present • We often mistakenly choose misery in our best attempt to meet our needs • We act responsibly when we meet our needs without keeping others from meeting their needs • Basic needs: belonging, power, freedom, fun, survival • Procedures that lead to change: wants, doing and direction, evaluation, planning • Doing (active behaviors), Thinking (thoughts, selfstatements), Feelings (anger, joy pain, anxiety), Physiology (bodily reactions)

Behavior Therapy (Arnold Lazarus) • A set of clinical procedures relying on experimental findings of psychological research • Based on principles of learning that are systematically applied (treatment goals are specific and measurable) • Focusing on the person’s current problems (to help people change maladaptive behaviors) • The therapy is largely educational-teaching individuals skills of self-management • Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Social Learning Approach, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Techniques: Relaxation Training, Modeling, Assertion Training, Self-Management

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (Albert Ellis)

• Stresses thinking, judging, deciding, analyzing, and doing • Assumes that cognitions, emotions, and behaviors interact and have a reciprocal cause-and-effect relationship • Is highly didactic, very directive, and concerned as much with thinking as with feeling • Teaches that our emotions stem mainly from our beliefs, evaluations, interpretations, and reactions to life situations • A-B-C theory [Activating event-Belief-Consequence (emotional and behavioral)-Disputing interventionEffect (an effective philosophy is developed)-new Feeling

References

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. (9th ed.).

Cengage Learning