Exploring Approaches in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Christian V. Cruz

Theories of counseling and psychotherapy are almost the same theories studied in

personality psychology. These courses are actually inseparable. Theories of personality are used

to explain individual uniqueness, while counseling and psychotherapy theories are applied as

interventions to people’s psychological problems. Nonetheless, they are the same theories.

Thus, it is noteworthy to evaluate each theory based on their applicability on individual cases.

After all, there is no one-size-fits-all therapy for all conditions.

In personality psychology, a theory’s value is based on parsimony, concreteness,

falsifiability, ability to generate research, validity, consistency and etc. Essentially, it must have a

comprehensive explanation of the human nature, development and abnormality; as it is intended

to be a method of intervention and treatment.

For instance, Hamrah and Nazari (2011) inferred some principles of psychotherapy based on the

comparative analysis of existential philosophers about human being and psyche. They have

discovered that the principles of psychotherapy are geared for self-awareness, freedom and

responsibility, personality, search for meaning and authenticity (Nazari, 2011). However, the

findings are limited to philosophical reflections.

Empirical and scientific bases make a theory more valuable not just in academic parlance but as

well as in practice. Literatures support the idea that clients have preference the way

psychotherapy is conducted.
According to the study of Farell and Deacon (2015), clients look for the relational and scientific

characteristics of psychotherapy. In their study, 200 community members and 199 therapists

completed the survey on the importance of the relational and scientific characteristics of

psychotherapy both for anxiety disorders and disorders non-specific issues. It showed that

community members valued the relational over the scientific characteristics for the disorder-non

specific group. It also turned out that practitioners undervalue scientific characteristics to the

community members. Hence, counselors and therapist who were not research-oriented were

more likely to underestimate community members. So this is a call especially for counselors and

therapists to have a well grasp and consideration in the empirical foundation of theories in

counseling.

Second important aspect in exploring a theory in counseling and psychotherapy is about

its effect especially in address clients’ psychological problems and disorders. Since these

theories have been designed to explain human behavior and personality dynamics, it is certain

that these can influence and facilitate changes. It is general knowledge that psychotherapy can be

an effective treatment for psychological disorders. Recent literature reviews and meta-analyses

provided relevant supports. For instance, Steenkamp and Litz (2013) conducted a review on

various studies about psychotherapy and military-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The findings reported that 20% of the two million troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan needs

to undergo treatment for PTSD. But nonetheless, many of those who have undergone benefitted

well from psychotherapy. Similarly, in the meta-analysis conducted by Cuijpers et al. (2014),

they examined the extent of the actual improvement of patients with major depressive disorder

(MDD). The analysis covered 91 studies with 181 conditions and a total of 6937 participants
were involved. The reported results showed that majority of the patients no longer met the

criteria for MDD in the psychotherapy conditions.

More than that, psychotherapy may have effects on brain functions based on the review

by Barsaglini, Sartori, Benetti, Yeo and Mechelli (2014). In their investigation, longitudinal

studies addressing the impact of psychotherapy on the brain were selected and analyzed.

Findings revealed that the effect of psychotherapy depends on the disorder. The effects on the

brain are: normalization of abnormal patterns, the effects of psychotherapy were comparable to

medication for some disorders and neurobiological changes have been associated to treatment

outcomes. Therefore, if a theory can lead to these outcomes then it is a good theory to use in

psychotherapy.

Lastly, it is also important to consider the theory’s compatibility with the counselors or

therapists who are practicing it. Literature supports that therapist’s professional and personal

characteristics are good predictors of outcome in a long term psychotherapy treatment.

According to the quasi-experiment conducted by Heinonen, Knekt, Jaaskelainen and Lindfors

(2014), therapists who are professionally less affirming, personally more forceful, and less aloof

predicted fewer symptoms in psychoanalysis (PA) than in long-term psychodynamic

psychotherapy (LPP). Symptom reduction was predicted by a more relational style and

skillfulness of the therapists. It means a theory must be compatible with the style of the

therapists; although the review focused only on PA and LPP.

In conclusion, in exploring a theory of counseling and psychotherapy, it is important to

consider its basic assumptions on human behavior and personality dynamics, its capacity to

influence change, and its compatibility with the professionals’ personal characteristics.
 References:

Barsaglini, A., Sartori, G., Benetti, S., Yeo, W. P., & Mechelli, A. (2014). The effects of

psychotherapy on brain function: A systematic and critical review. Progress in

Neurobiology , 114: 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2013.10.006.

Cuijpers, P., Karyotaki, E., Weitz, E., Andersson, G., Hollon, S. D., & vanStraten, A. (2014).

The effects of psychotherapies for major depression in adults on remission, recovery and

improvement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders , 159: 118-126.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.02.026.

Farrell, N. R., & Deacon, B. J. (2015). The relative importance of relational and scientific

characteristics of psychotherapy: Perceptions of community members vs. therapists.

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , 50: 171-177.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.08.004.

Hamraha, S. Z., & Nazari, A. M. (2011). Investigating the principles of psychotherapy based on

comparative analysis of views of existence philosophers. The American Journal of

Family Therapy , 30: 2668-2674. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.521.

Heinonen, E., Knekt, P., Jaaskelainen, T., & Lindfors, O. (2014). Therapists’ professional and

personal characteristics as predictors of outcome in long-term psychodynamic

psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. European Psychiatry , 29: 265-274.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2013.07.002.

Steenkamp, M. M., & Litz, B. T. (2013). Psychotherapy for military-related posttraumatic stress

disorder: Review of the evidence. Clinical Psychology Review , 33: 45-53.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.10.002.