Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)

CBT aims at changing people’s attitudes and their behavior by focusing on the thoughts, and
beliefs an individual has about his/her problem and how these thoughts are relating to the way a
person behaves or copes with his/her problem. It is used to help treat a wide range of issues in a
person’s life, from sleeping difficulties or relationship problems, to drug and alcohol abuse or
anxiety and depression.
The client describes specific problems and set goals that they want to work towards. These
problems may be symptoms such as sleeping issues, inability to socialize, or difficulty
concentrating. They could also be life problems in general like marital issues, child rearing or
money issues. The upcoming sessions revolve around solving these problems by forming a goal.
Typically, the client and therapist will jointly decide on the main topics they want to work on this
week. The client also discusses progress made in the previous sessions and progress made with
the homework  the client set for him- or herself last time. At the end of the session, they will plan
another assignment to do outside the sessions.
Working on homework assignments between sessions is an integral part of the therapy. What this
may involve will vary. For example, at the start of the therapy, the therapist might ask the client
to keep a thought diary, so that they can examine thoughts surrounding different incident. Other
examples of homework could be practicing deep breathing or any other method of relaxation.
The therapy is very effective as it aims to change the thought process that governs the underlying
behavior thus targeting the root cause of the behavior. When the therapy targets and transforms
the thought that governs the behavior the behavior is also indirectly transformed thus removing
any maladaptive behaviors the client might have.

Client-centered therapy
The only techniques used by client-centered therapy is to listen unconditionally. In fact, many
client-centered therapists and psychologists view a therapist’s reliance on “techniques” as a
barrier to effective therapy rather than a boon. The Rogerian standpoint is that the use of
techniques can have a depersonalizing effect on the therapeutic relationship (McLeod, 2015).
While active listening is the only client-centered therapy, there are many suggestions for a client-
centered therapist to conduct a successful therapy session.
The suggestions are as followed:
 Set clear boundaries for the therapist and client avoid the relationship becoming
inappropriate or ineffective.
 The client knows best as he/she know themselves, and are the best sources of knowledge
and insight about their problems and potential solutions.
 Act as a sounding board, this is the process of reflecting back what the client is saying so
that the client can further clarify his/her thoughts.
 Don’t be judgmental as the client is already dealing with a lot of negative feelings.
  Don’t make decisions for your clients because therapy is like a journey for the client and
he/she is the only one that can decide on its destination. He therapist only works like a
guide.
 Accept negative emotions as it helps the client work through their issues and heal, it is
vital to let them express their emotions.
This therapy is extremely effective with smaller issues like relationship issues but may not be
very effective with clients that are not responsive or are facing bigger issues like schizophrenia
or bipolar disorder.

Empty chair therapy

The empty chair technique is usually used when a client is confused about his/her emotions or is
not ready to face his/her emotions on their own. The therapy uses imagination or role-play
techniques to create circumstances in which one can communicate his/ her feelings and
experience the emotion of a certain situation that might be painful for the client to recall on its
own.
The therapist places two chairs next to each other. The client either places an emotion or a person
on each chair. In the case of a person the client usually places himself in one of the chairs and the
person on the other and if it is the case of an emotion the client may place two conflicting
emotions on either chair. The client now sits on a chair and starts to converse with the emotion or
person in the next chair. The therapist may control when the client switches his/her chair or what
the client converses about.

Top dog-underdog technique

This technique is typically utilized when the therapist notices two opposing emotions or feeling
in the client. The client has to distinguish between the two opposing emotions. Once this is
achieved the client now associates the title of top dog to an emotion that is dominant and
demands that things be a particular way whilst other emotion is associated to the underdog that is
like the disobedient child that also wants to achieve what he/she wants. This creates a dissonance
between the two emotions. The therapists goal now is to create a path to channel the energy
created by the dissonance and to guide the client to resolve this dissonance.

Fantasy
Fantasy is used in Gestalt Therapy to increase clients’ self-awareness of their thoughts and
emotions and to bring about closure to unfinished business (Seligman, 2006). The therapy helps
the client to confront his/her deep thoughts or fantasies and to come to a logical conclusion to it.
If the client has residual fillings about a dead relative or an ex-boyfriend the therapist will use
guided imagery and ask the client to imagine a situation where the client has residual or
unfinished conversations. The client can now imagine the situation or conversation and with the
help of the guided imagery can play out the situation or conversation to get closure on the
situation. After the completion of the guided imagery the client feels more in tuned with his/her
feelings about the situation or conversation. In the guided imagery the client will say and do
things that help resolve his/her negative feelings about self or the person in question thus
achieving a sort of closure.

Locating emotions in the body and identification

Locating emotions in the body and identification allows the client to be more in tune with his/her
feelings as the therapy allows the client to confront their negative feelings for example if a client
feels angry and there is no reason for that anger, allocating a body part where the client feels the
anger makes it easier for the client to sense this anger the next time he/she feels it.
The client asks the client to identify the emotion for example anger and then the therapist ass the
client where in the body he/she feels the emotion for example behind the ears and in his/her
arms. This causes the client to be more aware of his/her emotion and sensations thus making it
easier for them to manage it.
The therapist can also notice changes in the bodily movements of the client for example the
client is constantly moving his/her leg. Now the therapist asks the client to “Become your leg and
give it a voice?” The resulting conversation not only identifies the emotion but also makes the
client more aware of the emotion the next time he/she feels it.

Free association
Free association may be the single most important tool used in psychodynamic therapy. In
reference to free association there are two different types, one is formal free association and the
other is informal free association.
In formal free association the therapist asks the client to say the first thing that comes into his/her
mind. The therapist then proceeds to read a list of words and the client has to respond
imminently with the first thing that pops into his/her head.
In informal free association the client is instructed to start talking about anything he/she wants to
talk about. The therapist does not lead the client anywhere in particular and that the client is
moving authentically from one subject to the next.
Free association is used to uncover hidden content of the unconscious. It taps into the underlying
thoughts and feeling of the client that might be causing the client to behave in a certain way but
free association may not be very effective on clients that are resistant. It may also cause the
emergence of a an especially intense or vivid memory of a traumatic event, called an abreaction.
This can be extremely distressing for the client, but it can also lead to a healing experience of
catharsis if the client feels like it helped them work through a significant problem (McLeod,
2014).

Crisis intervention model

The crisis intervention model is used to deal with clients that have undergone a traumatic
experience like a car accident. It is a six step model that involves elevation of extreme emotional
distress due to a traumatic incident.
The six steps are as followed:
1. Defining the problem from the perspective of the victim.
2. Make sure the victim is safe from any further danger.
3. Giving emotional support.
4. Helping the victim to identify coping mechanisms.
5. Making a plan led by the victim, which is very detailed and outlines the persons, groups
and other referral resources that can be contacted for immediate support.
6. Obtaining commitment. Control and autonomy are important to the final step of the
process, which involves asking the victim to verbally summarize the plan.
This therapy model is integral in the treatment of people that have been through a traumatic
experience. It aims at confirming the victim is out of danger and then providing him/her with
the tools to cope with the traumatic experience. It can be very effective against experiences
like accidents, fire and plane crashes.