Counseling Model Review and Analysis

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Theories
Basic Philosophy
Relationship Between the Therapist and Client
Therapy Goals
Techniques
The Limitations of the Model
Conclusion
References

Introduction

To achieve complex counseling goals, a therapist sometimes needs to combine several approaches to ensure the most beneficial client outcomes. When chosen correctly, the combination of several counseling theories might be an effective way to address all the issues the client is facing.

The counseling model presented in this paper covers the rational emotive behavior and gestalt theories that enable dealing with harmful behaviors and cognitive processes through the substitution of those by means of the application of beneficial experiences. The combination of the theories suggests the basic philosophy of perceiving emotional and behavioral impairments as the cause of psychological issues, which might be eliminated by means of human’s inner resources. The therapy’s goals, relationships between a counselor and client, techniques, and limitations will be discussed in detail.

Theories

The model is designed on the basis of the combination of two counseling theories, including gestalt and rational emotive behavior theories. The choice of the theories is determined by the therapeutic potential they have for a client to deal with diverse psychological problems, such as fear, anxiety, or phobias. The first theory is gestalt therapy that concentrates on the human’s potential to deal with mental issues here and now. The theory prioritizes learning from the current experiences while a client lives through a particular feeling, emotion, or behavior (Zahm & Gold, 2002). It is chosen due to the therapeutic value of the available techniques that empower a person to deal with problems on a long-term scale.

The second theory is rational emotive behavior therapy that views emotional reactions, behavior, and cognitive responses as a learned pattern that might be changed or substituted by means of restructuring and learning (Ellis, 2002). According to this approach, irrational and dysfunctional emotions and behaviors might be changed through exercises and practice. The choice of this theory is validated by the scope of techniques it provides and the specific relationship pattern between a therapist and client than give a counselor more leading opportunities to empower a client.

Basic Philosophy

The combination of these theories allows the counselor to act within the specific philosophy. The model views the mental health issues of a client as those rooted in the wrongful emotional and behavioral reactions to the experiences in life. It seeks to educate and lead the client through the process of engaging his or her human potential in dealing with psychological difficulties. The rational emotive behavior theory plays a dominant role in the foundation of the basic philosophy of the model because it prioritizes the dysfunctional feelings and behaviors as the core of therapy. However, gestalt theory is also essential since it enables cultivating a client-oriented approach that allows for finding and using inner resources in the client.

Relationship Between the Therapist and Client

The framework imposed by the basic philosophy of the model determines the way the therapist and a client will communicate and act during the counseling sessions. The model implies that the therapist will play the role of a guide who directs the process of the client’s learning of new behaviors and emotional responses using the knowledge and potential he or she has as a human. According to the rational emotive behavior theory, the client will be led by the counselor and learn how to determine adversities and construct consequences through the application of rational beliefs (Ellis, 2002).

The gestalt therapy similarly implies the leading role of a counselor, where both a therapist and client engage in role-playing to stimulate learning out of the deep experience of the present moment. Overall, the relationship between client and therapist should actively engage both actors where one is a stimulator (a counselor), and another one is a performer (a patient).

Therapy Goals

The model enables using the philosophy and relationship pattern to pursue the therapy goals, which include changing behavioral and emotive response patterns and empowering the client through the process of learning how to accept one’s feelings and use the inner resources to deal with psychological problems. In this respect, gestalt theory will be responsible for building awareness about the patient’s experiences, and rational emotive behavior theory will contribute to behavior change and cognitive restructuring. This model might be a useful framework for helping a client deal with phobias and anxiety. Through the application of a series of combined techniques and exercises, the patient will be able to acquire a solid basis not only for coping with the current issues but also for dealing with similar psychological problems in the future.

Techniques

The identified basic philosophy predetermines the possible ways, which might enable the achievement of the therapy goals. Gestalt therapy provides an array of possible exercises to apply within the model. Some of them are the empty chair and awareness practices based on focused expressive treatment. When using these techniques, the therapist can encourage a patient to be concentrated on his or her immediate emotions when living through the artificially created life situation (Zahm & Gold, 2002). Rational emotive behavior therapy introduces such techniques as modeling and role-playing. These techniques allow for learning from other people’s experiences in coping with psychological issues (as in modeling) or exercising the coping methods through acting out a life situation with a therapist (Ellis, 2002).

These techniques are oriented explicitly on the client and his or her needs through the active inclusion of the therapist that ensures the implementation of the above-mentioned relationship and achievement of therapy goals.

The Limitations of the Model

Despite the significance of the theoretical justification of the model’s effectiveness, it has its limitations concerning multicultural issues. Indeed, the model provides generalized techniques that concentrate on internally applicable theories. However, multicultural society might require more specific approaches to dealing with psychological issues on the basis of culture-specific beliefs. Since rational emotive therapy closely deals with restructuring so-called dysfunctional beliefs, it is important to investigate the client’s cultural background to ensure therapy’s consistency with his or her cultural heritage.

Conclusion

In summary, the counseling model incorporates the theoretical bases of gestalt and rational emotive behavior therapies, which provide a beneficial combination of techniques helping clients to learn behavioral patterns of dealing with psychological problems by means of their own experiences. The chosen theories blend into a beneficial model by covering a vast population of patients and apply to different mental health issues, including anxiety, phobias, or depression. The identified approaches enable building a trusting relationship between a therapist and a client through assigning a leading role to the counselor.

With the application of such techniques as an empty chair, awareness exercises, modeling, and role-play allow for achieving therapy goals of building awareness, acquiring new behavioral patterns, and restructuring emotional and cognitive reactions.

References

Ellis, A. (2002). Rational emotive behavior therapy. In M. Hersen (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychotherapy (Vol. 2) (pp. 483-487). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.

Zham, S. G., & Gold, E. K. (2002). Gestalt therapy. In M. Hersen (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychotherapy (Vol. 2) (pp. 863-872). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.

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