Jena Jozwicki

Bludworth

CED 522

3 December 2019

Final Essay

Prompt #1: My Approach to Counseling

Throughout the semester, the theories that I believe that I will try to learn and applicate

through my counseling sessions and practice would be dialectical behavioral counseling and

existential counseling. Dialectical behavior counseling is focused on regulating emotions that

one feels and changing behavioral patterns. It is practiced being the “need to develop skills not

only to better tolerate emotional distress, but also create a life that they will view as worth

living,” (Bludworth, 2019). I believe this approach stood out to me this above all the rest as in

my own life I struggled to “live in the moment” and regulate my emotions. This is the main

approach I would like to take up as my counseling theoretical orientation. In addition to this,

existential counseling also stood out to me while learning it. Existential therapy focuses on

“exploring themes such as mortality, meaning, freedom, responsibility, anxiety, and aloneness,”

(Corey, 2017, p.132). I believe that these are important to realize and understand while going

through the rollercoaster ride that we call life. Existential therapy stresses upon that “we are free

and therefore responsible for our choices and actions,” (Corey, 2017, p.132). Understanding that

our choices and actions are our responsibility gives us more understanding about how these

choices influence and affect our lives. These two theoretical orientations are what I hope I can

learn and integrate into my future counseling sessions.

 Within dialectical behavioral therapy or “DBT,” the key concept is that counselors help

their clients to regulate their emotions and to change unwanted behaviors. This theory was

initially created to help those with borderline personality disorder (Bludworth, 2019). This theory

was used to help people who had suicidal ideations in that it focused on the distress that a client

was feeling and how to regulate this emotion and change their behaviors so that they would not

act in suicidal attempt. Another example of DBT within counseling would be with anxiety or

anger. A counselor would help the client notice the emotion that is causing them distress and

help them regular and change their normal behaviors that normally goes along with the emotion.

As a future client, I view my role to be able to help their clients control their negative emotions

to not cause concerns and how to better help them use other coping techniques that would

replace their normal behavior that usually goes along with their unwanted emotion. An example

of this would be if one of my clients is experiencing high anxiety in certain situations then I

might promote them to try some mindfulness techniques such as counting and breathing

exercises or the 54321 senses exercise so that they are able to think more in the moment instead

of being anxious of the future. DBT has four skill modules that are taught to better help clients

regulate their emotions. These skills include: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation,

and interpersonal effectiveness (Bludworth, 2019). It is important that the counselor must

validate their client’s emotions in DBT as clients may believe their thoughts are invalidating or

that the therapist is not taking their emotions seriously (Bludworth, 2019). My goal as a

counselor practicing DBT is to be able to help my clients create new coping techniques that will

help them in times they feel their unwanted emotions. These techniques include strategies such

as: validation, acceptance, and mindfulness. Validation strategies are that of “communicating to

the patient that their responses make sense, are understood, or are, in a sense, reasonable,”
(Bludworth, 2019). Counselors should only validate emotions that are actually valid. This is up

to the judge of the counselor. My goal is to make sure my client feels that I am aware and am

validating their emotions to gain trust and build rapport. Acceptance strategies “reduces suffering

that results from telling oneself continually that a situation is not the way it should be,”

(Bludworth, 2019). People often have a certain situation planned in their head and how it should

go. By accepting themselves, others, and the way of life, clients would then be able to understand

that not all situations played out in one’s head usually goes as planned. This is usually where an

unwanted emotion of either sadness, anger, or anxiety might sprout out. My goal as a counselor

is to help my clients accept themselves and of the actions of others. People usually are upset by

the actions of others thinking that the person was going to do what one had planned in their

mind. We cannot be dependent on our thoughts of others all the time as it might not go as

planned which will then cause an unwanted emotion or behavior to occur. It is important to let

my clients know that life does not always go as planned. Mindfulness strategies are those that

help the client reconnect to life with the present moment. An example of this is that a client

experiencing anxiety should be aware that this is the emotion that they are experiencing and to be

aware of what they are experiencing in the moment. Challenging this would be to “focus at one

thing at a time with full awareness,” so that the client is focusing on their emotions in the current

moment (Bludworth, 2019). Relationship issues that I might consider when practicing DBT

would be that of making sure boundaries are present in all counseling sessions. It is also

important to not disclose information about myself as the counseling session should focus on the

client. The techniques that I would most likely to focus on with DBT would be validation,

acceptance and mindfulness strategies. I would like to practice and dive deeper into core

techniques that are able to help my clients go from “behavioral dyscontrol to control” with their
emotions (Bludworth, 2019). I would also like to focus on distress tolerance techniques as it

teaches “that pain and distress are an inevitable part of life, and unwillingness to accept this fact

often leads to greater suffering,” (May, Richardi, & Barth, 2016). Cultural diversity might also

come into practicing DBT counseling as different cultures might have their own beliefs on how

emotions are to be expressed. It is important that I am culturally sensitive to the client and their

beliefs and to only help them with regulating certain emotions that they are comfortable with

working on. Keeping up with the current research on DBT with counseling different cultures will

also help me better understand my clients. This will also help me have a more multicultural view

of DBT.

Existential therapy is of another theoretical orientation in which I have high interest of

practicing. “Being in the world” is the key concept that existential therapists focus on

(Bludworth, 2019). There are three levels of focus on how this is accomplished: being in nature,

being with/for others, and being for ourselves (Bludworth, 2019). Being in nature focuses on the

physical aspects and forms of the world. For example, one could be aware of their surroundings

either within their home or work life or whether one lives in a city or rural area. Being with/for

others focuses on social aspects like a person’s social relationships and how social relationships

impact life. Being for ourselves, lastly, is the focus of the relationship that we have with our self.

People should be aware of how they feel about the way they are as a person. As a counselor

practicing existential therapy, my role is to help my clients with their meaning of their life,

identity, the relationship of freedom and responsibility, and the acceptance of death. These are

also the goals that I would like to practice in existential therapy. How I could help clients with

meaning is to help them create a value system that “provides the foundation for a meaningful

life,” (Corey, 2017, p.143). Value systems are based upon how the client’s way of living is.
Existential therapists help their clients create their personal identities through the discussion of

aloneness. To do this, people must trust themselves to find their own answers to the questions

they might have about themselves, this is called “the courage to be,” (Bludworth, 2019). People

who are creating their personal identities need to be aware that the answers they are looking for

can only be found with the help of themselves. Clients must also understand the importance of

aloneness in existential therapy. Counselors help clients realize that they alone must decide on

how they should live their lives (Corey, 2017). This helps create their personal identity. The

understanding with the tie between freedom and responsibility is also stressed upon. Existential

therapy centers upon that there is the freedom to become what one wants to become and there is

the freedom of choice, but “living an authentic existence requires that we assume responsibility

for our choices,” (Corey, 2017, p.139). Lastly, I have a goal of helping my clients be accept

death in the existential practice. “Those who fear death will fear life,” and will be unable to live

how they would like. The acceptance that death is a part of life will help clients reduce the

anxiety they might have around it and might be able to live life more freely. Some relationships

issues to consider when practicing existential therapy with my clients that might arise is my

client not trusting the process. People who may be skeptical of existential therapy might not fully

participate. It is important as a counselor that I build a strong therapeutic relationship in that my

clients are able to trust in me. The techniques that I am likely to use when practicing existential

therapy is to use consciousness raising to help my clients be aware of their life’s experiences and

how they feel about their identities. I also will practice the therapeutic skill of choosing so that

my clients are comfortable and know that it is their session to decide on what to talk about and

focus on. I will then try to implement and focus on the struggle to choose, be responsibility,

generate meaning, and freedom (Bludworth, 2019). Cultural diversity might arise in practicing
existential therapy as people of different cultures may not believe in certain focuses on

existential therapy. For example, one may not believe in creating a personal identity, or the

responsibility of choice that it has on a person. It is important for me as a counselor to be

culturally sensitive so that my clients are able to feel comfortable working with me and that I do

not impose on any theories of existential counseling that they are in disagreement with.

As a counselor in training, I hope to learn the skills and implement the theories of DBT

and existential counseling within my sessions. I would like to grasp onto and acquire the skills to

help my clients regulate their emotions, create new behavioral techniques and coping strategies,

help them create their personal identities, and to find their meaning in life.

Prompt #2 How Theories Apply to Me Personally

Throughout the semester, a theory that I believe would help me understand myself more

would be with Adlerian therapy. Within Adlerian therapy there is the focus that “all dimensions

of a person are interconnected components, and how all of these components are unified by the

individual’s movement toward a life’s goal,” (Corey, 2017 p.100). This thought that everyone is

interconnected reminds me that my actions or words could possibly affect other people. In my

life, there were many times that I wish I could have done or said something different. With the

focus that everyone is interconnected, it reminds me that there are times that I should choose my

actions and words carefully to not accidentally hurt other people. Adlerian therapy also

concentrates on a person’s lifestyle and how people think, act, feel, perceive and live within it

(Corey, 2017). A person’s lifestyle shows how they are in the world and how they are when they

are alone. The Adlerian theory with the focus of lifestyle, how we perceive certain events shape

our personality (Corey, 2017). Thus, how I perceive what happens in my life, help shape who I

am as a person and how I choose to live my life. In my life, I thought of myself to be always
thinking of the negative first then thinking of the positives to a certain situation. If I always think

the negative, I will then start to believe it more and doubt the positive aspects of a situation. This

will then influence my life. I would live worrying about the unfavorable possibilities that could

happen then focusing on the positives. This influenced my personality to where people may not

have wanted to be around me. This negative energy I held around me affected the social groups I

had. The Adlerian approach to lifestyle and personality teaches me that if I want to become a

more positive person for myself and others, I need to change how I start thinking about

situations. I need to focus more on the good and less on the bad.

How this theory applies to me is that it teaches me to be more considerate of others. I

would like to be more considerate of others with the actions that I take and the words that I

choose. Throughout middle and high school, I had always wanted to be accepted by others. This

is linked to the bullying that I had experienced both in my home and school life. In high school, I

developed social anxiety that caused me to fear that I was not important in a group setting. I

thought that people did not care about me and I compared myself to others in a group. I also felt

very uncomfortable walking into rooms knowing that people would have their eyes on me. A

therapeutic goal that counselors have with their client’s is to develop a “sense of belonging and

to assist in the adoption of behaviors and processes characterized by community feeling and

social interest,” (Corey, 2017, p.105). How this apples to my personal development is that I need

to remind myself to not be discourages and feel inferior. People who feel inferior feel that they

are not worthy or good enough to accomplish something. If my goal is to feel better in group

settings I should let myself know that I am an important person and that I am not the lesser in a

group. Courage is what Adlerian therapists say is needed to overcome inferiority (Corey, 2017,

p. 105). With practicing courage in all aspects of my life, I can develop a sense of feeling
comfortable with my surroundings. This will then improve not only the perceptions I have when

it comes to experiencing social anxiety but also my lifestyle. I will be less fearful of situations

and have reduced anxiety.

Another aspect of Adlerian therapy that I believe will give growth to my personal

development is the attention that theorists have on early recollections of memory. Early

recollections are “stories of events that a person says occurred before he or say was 10 years of

age,” (Corey, 2017, p.106). Through early recollections, a therapist can grasp a better

understanding of their client. They may also detect patterns of a client’s personality that the

client might not be aware of. Early recollections though may not be 100% accurate as they are all

before the age of 10 but it is what is perceived by the client that matters. Some of my earliest

memories was around the time I was in attending pre-school. I never liked leaving my mom and

was afraid to be alone. I have a memory of meeting a new girl in pre-school. She was all alone so

I decided to talk to her, we then left the play room to hang out in a more quieter room away from

all the other children. To me, I believe this memory is important in that I feel I was anxious even

as a small child. I would not really play on the playground with other children or engage in group

activities but only hang out with one other person away from the group. The therapeutic concept

of early recollections helps me see the behavior and emotional patterns that I might still hold

now. With this memory, along with many others, I am able to reflect on what I did during those

scenarios and how I even perceive them now. How I acted shows how I might still be now as an

adult. How I perceive these memories might help me shape myself and grow stronger from the

unwanted emotions I may have.

The theories and concepts of Adlerian therapy is important for my personal development

as I believe that a person’s perceptions of life and earliest memories shape who they are. People
are unaware of these aspects. Adlerian therapy helps clients realize how to better expand

themselves as community members in their society and to achieve their personal goals on how

they want to be within their social context.

Prompt #3 Challenges I May Face and How I Would Address Them

Within practicing counseling, there are going to challenges that arise. In my counseling

career, the challenges that might arise could be how to handle a client’s resistance or apathy, how

to apply my theoretical orientation when appropriate with the contexts my clients give me, how I

plan to use my theories with treatment, and how I plan to address multicultural limitations that

might arise. I plan to address on how I would handle situations that might arise when practicing

DBT and existential therapy.

Within counseling there are going to be clients that may seem they do not want to be in

therapy. Clients may not do their homework, be late to the sessions, cancel, or not communicate

with the therapist. As a therapy goer myself, I have been guilty on doing some of these examples

in which probably made it look like I did not care a little. Clients might be apathetic at times and

not communicate with the counselor on how they are really feeling or withhold stories they

should tell that will be benefit to their therapeutic process. How I would address this is to ask the

clients if they feel comfortable sharing with their stories. I want them to know that I am here to

help but if they would like to seek help elsewhere that is okay. I will address apathetic clients by

going over their initial goal and why they first went into counseling. It is also important to note

that the client is still showing up to counseling sessions meaning there is still an interest to reach

their goal. DBT focuses on regulating emotions and changing behavioral patterns. Clients may

be resistant to this process as it may be uncomfortable to change from the behaviors they

normally exhibit. Validating my client’s feelings so that they know I understand and am aware of
what they are feeling might help them be comfortable. Encouraging and going slow with the

processes of change when using DBT skills will also reassure the client that changes of

behaviors take time. There also may be resistance as well while practicing existential counseling.

Clients may feel uncomfortable talking about the acceptance of death or may not even accept it

at all. They may also not feel comfortable searching within themselves to find meaning. Growing

their personal identity might also be frustrating to them. How I will handle this is by reassuring

them that diving into oneself and creating a relationship with the self is not easy. It will take time

to create one’s personal identity. I will reassure that my clients have the choice to either stop

existential therapy or to continue one. My job is to do what is best for my clients and to ensure

that they feel comfortable and safe.

DBT is a theory that can be worked with different types of patterned behaviors whether

that of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic disorder, eating disorder, and substance abuse. If I

have a client disclose that they are having symptoms of any of these behavioral patterns, it would

then be appropriate to try and use DBT on them. First, I would let them know about DBT and

how it works. Then, it is up to the client on whether they would like to participate in the practices

of DBT. It would then be appropriate to try and engage in the four modules of mindfulness,

distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation. I will then help my clients

to develop new coping strategies for when they would like to engage in their comfortable

behavioral patterns. A time that I believe I could implement existential therapy is when I have a

client who may struggle to make healthy life choices. The emphasis of meaning can be

implemented as people want to make choices that will help them reach their goals. Finding a

person’s purpose or meaning within life will help create goals. This can then help the client to

choose choices that would be healthier for their lifestyle. Existential therapy can help people who
struggle to accept the choices that they have made. Choices come with consequences that clients

may not agree with. They may be unable to handle these consequences. I would then use

existential therapy here to help clients accept the consequences to the choices that they had

made.

DBT and existential therapy also can be applied with treatments. The treatment type of

DBT is individual counseling. Through individual counseling, DBT practice can be focused on

by the counselor and the client. Individual counseling is when the counselor has their full

attention to one client. The client, as well is able to focus on themselves and give attention to one

counselor. Treatment techniques also include the four modules. Implementing mindfulness,

distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation techniques for treatments

can also benefit the clients. How I will know what technique is appropriate for the client will be

based on the symptoms that they are expressing and their stories. I will then let the client know

on what therapeutic technique I believe will be most suitable for them. Existential therapy may

also be helpful in people experiencing anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance abuse. The

techniques that I would use to help my clients using existential therapy would be consciousness

raising. I would use consciousness raising to help my clients be aware of how they are feeling.

For example, a client might be uneasy of the consequences for their actions. The technique of

consciousness raising would then help my clients be aware of their actions and how to accept the

consequences. With the technique of consciousness raising, it would open the doors to helping

clients with their concerns.

Within counseling, there will also be the challenges of multicultural limitations. Not all

therapeutic theories will be seen as acceptable in different cultures. DBT and existential

counseling may come across some of the same limitations. It is important to consider racial and
ethnic cultures when applying these theories as different racial and ethnic groups may be

uncomfortable with the techniques in DBT and existential counseling. America is known to be

more of an individualistic society. People of other racial and ethnic cultures from collectivist

societies may have a harder time talking about their emotions. Collectivist cultures view more on

what is best for the group rather than what is best for themselves. This could be challenging in

that the focus of existential therapy is centered around the self. Another multicultural limitation I

may come across is with age. Depending on the age group, DBT and existential counseling may

not be affective. Groups of adolescents and children may have a harder time with the work that

these theories require. It is important that I make sure my that clients have a full informed

competence and understanding when proceeding into doing the work of DBT and existential

counseling.

Ultimately, challenges are going to arise when I begin to practice counseling. Different

challenges will come about and it is up to me to be able to make the healthiest decision for my

client. It is important that I stay within the legal and ethical boundaries when counseling.

Remaining multi-culturally aware of other people’s differences and choosing the appropriate

therapeutic techniques will not only build rapport with my clients but also help them to reach

their therapeutic goals.

 Work Cited

Bludworth, J. (2019). CED522: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy [Lecture].

Bludworth, J. (2019). CED522: Existential Therapy [Lecture].

Corey, G. (2017). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (10th ed.). Boston, MA:

Cengage Learning.

May, J. M., Richardi, T. M., & Barth, K. S. (2016). Dialectical behavior therapy as treatment for

borderline personality disorder. The mental health clinician, 6(2), 62–67.