Psychoanalysis 

was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that people could be cured by making
conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining insight. The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to
release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. make the unconscious conscious.
Adler was a pioneer in the area of holistic theory on personality, psychotherapy, and psychopathology, and
Adlerian psychology places its emphasis on a person's ability to adapt to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority relative to
others.

Adlerian psychology/psychotherapy was developed by Alfred Adler (1870-1937). A historically influential psychiatrist,

Alfred Adler began focusing the philosophical world’s attention on relatively new ideas in the early 20th century. He
believed that it was imperative to become intimately familiar with a person’s social context by exploring factors such as
birth order, lifestyle, and parental education. Adler believed that each person strives to belong and feel significant.

Adler believed that feelings of inferiority and inadequacy may be a result of birth order, especially if the person
experienced personal devaluation at an early age, or they may be due to the presence of a physical limitation or lack of
social empathy for other people. This method of therapy pays particular attention to behavior patterns and belief
systems that were developed in childhood.
Clinicians who use this form of therapy strongly believe that these strategies are the precursors for later self-awareness
and behaviors and are directly responsible for how a person perceives themselves and others in their life. By examining
these early habitual patterns, we can better develop the tools needed to create our own sense of self-worth and
meaning, and ultimately create change that results in healing.
The 4 Stages of Adlerian Therapy

An Adlerian therapist assists individuals in comprehending the thoughts, drives, and emotions that influence their
lifestyles. People in therapy are also encouraged to acquire a more positive and productive way of life by developing
new insights, skills, and behaviors. These goals are achieved through the four stages of Adlerian therapy.

1. Engagement: A trusting therapeutic relationship is built between the therapist and the person in therapy and
they agree to work together to effectively address the problem.
2. Assessment: The therapist invites the individual to speak about his or her personal history, family history, early
recollections, beliefs, feelings, and motives. This helps to reveal the person's overall lifestyle pattern, including
factors that might initially be thought of as insignificant or irrelevant by the person in therapy.
3. Insight: The person in therapy is helped to develop new ways of thinking about his or her situation.
4. Reorientation: The therapist encourages the individual to engage in satisfying and effective actions that
reinforce this new insight, or which facilitate further insight.

GESTALT- A psychotherapeutic approach developed by Fritz Perls (1893–1970). It focuses on insight into gestalts in
patients and their relations to the world, and often uses role playing to aid the resolution of past conflicts.
Humanistic and existential psychotherapies use a wide range of approaches to case conceptualization,
therapeutic goals, intervention strategies, and research methodologies. They are united by an emphasis on
understanding human experience and a focus on the client rather than the symptom.

Existential therapy is a unique form of psychotherapy that looks to explore difficulties from a philosophical perspective,
rather than taking a technique-based approach.

Existential therapy is very focused on self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide one's fate, responsibility, anxiety, the
search for meaning, being alone and being in relation with others, and facing the reality of death.

The existential therapist’s job is to help the client identify their values and where they came from, and focus on the
present. They help the client figure out their self worth. The main goal is to help people see that they are free and
become aware of their possibilities.

Out of all 3 of these, I find that Adlerian therapy still interests me the most. However, I feel as though I would most
benefit from existential therapy as I sometimes forget my own self worth!

Person-centered therapy, which is also known as client-centered, non-directive, or Rogerian therapy, is an approach to

counseling and psychotherapy that places much of the responsibility for the treatment process on the client, with the
therapist taking a nondirective role. The goal is for the client to achieve greater independence. This will allow the client
to better cope with any current and future problems they may face. There are four basic goals a person will achieve in
successful person-centered therapy. ... The primary technique involved in person-centered therapy is reflection.

Person-centred therapy - also known as person-centred counselling or client-centred counselling - is a

humanistic approach that deals with the ways in which individuals perceive themselves consciously rather than how a
counsellor can interpret their unconscious thoughts or ideas.
Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s, is an experiential and humanistic
form of therapy that was originally designed as an alternative to conventional psychoanalysis. Gestalt therapists and
their clients use creative and experiential techniques to enhance awareness, freedom, and self-direction. The word
gestalt comes from the German word meaning shape or form, and it references the character or essence of something.

Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s, is an experiential and humanistic
form of therapy that was originally designed as an alternative to conventional psychoanalysis. Gestalt therapists and
their clients use creative and experiential techniques to enhance awareness, freedom, and self-direction. The word
gestalt comes from the German word meaning shape or form, and it references the character or essence of something.
 Principles of Gestalt Therapy
 Focus on "Here and Now"
 Benefits of Gestalt Therapy
  Gestalt Therapy Techniques
 Resources Related to Gestalt Therapy
Principles of Gestalt Therapy
At the core of gestalt therapy is the holistic view that people are intricately linked to and influenced by their
environments and that all people strive toward growth and balance. Gestalt therapy is similar to person-centered
therapy in this way, as well as in its emphasis on the therapist’s use of empathy, understanding, and unconditional
acceptance of the client to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

According to gestalt therapy, context affects experience, and a person cannot be fully understood without
understanding his or her context. With this in mind, gestalt psychotherapy recognizes that no one can be purely
objective—including therapists whose experiences and perspectives are also influenced by their own contexts—and
practitioners accept the validity and truth of their clients’ experiences.

Gestalt therapy also recognizes that forcing a person to change paradoxically results in further distress and
fragmentation. Rather, change results from acceptance of what is. Thus, therapy sessions focus on helping people learn
to become more self-aware and to accept and trust in their feelings and experiences to alleviate distress.
Transactional Analysis
The following is an introductory description of Transactional Analysis. It is designed to be understood by the layperson,
written with approximately the same level of complexity that Berne used for  Games People Play.

Psychoanalysis before Eric Berne

While there were many theories purporting to explain human behavior before Eric Berne, the most frequently cited and
known is the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud emerged in the early 20th century with his theories about personality. Freud
believed that personality had three components, all of which must work together to produce our complex behaviors.
These three components or aspects were the Id, Ego, and the Superego. It was Freud’s belief that these three
components needed to be well-balanced to produce reasonable mental health and stability in an individual. According
to Freud, the Id functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind, the Ego functions as the rational part of the
mind, and the Superego can be thought of as the moral part of the mind, a manifestation of societal or parental values.

But perhaps Freud’s greatest contribution (and the one that influenced Berne) was the fact that the human personality
is multi-faceted.  Regardless of the classification or name given to a particular area of personality (id, superego, etc.),
each individual possesses factions that frequently collide with each other. And it is these collisions and interactions
between these personality factions that manifest themselves as an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Thus,
under Freud’s theories, an individual’s behavior can be understood by analyzing and understanding his/her three
factions. But in a point to be emphasized later in this paper, Dr. Berne believes that Freud’s proposed structures are
“concepts… [and not] phenomenological realities”1

Another scientist whose contributions impacted Dr. Berne in his development of Transactional Analysis is Dr. Wilder
Penfield,a neurosurgeon from McGill University in Montreal. Penfield’s experiments focused on the application of
electrical currents to specific regions of the brain. Penfield discovered that, when applying current to the temporal lobe
of live and alert patients, he would stimulate meaningful memories. In addition, not only were vivid pictures of that
person’s past revealed, but also thefeelings and emotions associated with that event were uncovered.These patients
would recite these events, even though in many cases they were events that the patients were unable to recollect on
their own.

Penfield carried out these and similar experiments for many years. Some of the key conclusions that he reached that
went on to influence Berne in his development of Transactional Analysis include:

 The human brain acts in many ways like a camcorder, vividly recording events. While that event may not
necessarily be able to be consciously retrieved by the owner, the event always exists in the brain.

 Both the event and the feelings experienced during that event are stored in the brain. The event and the feelings
are locked together, and neither one can be recalled without the other.
  When an individual replays his or her experiences, he or she can replay them in such a vivid form that the individual
experiences again the same emotions he or she felt during the actual experience. Or, as Berne’s student Thomas A.
Harrissaid “I not only remember how I felt, I feel the same way now” 2

 Individuals are able to exist in two states simultaneously. Individuals replaying certain events are able to experience
the emotions associated with those events, but they are also able to objectively talk about the events at the same
time.

Behavioral Therapy

 
What is behavioral therapy?

Behavioral therapy is an umbrella term for types of therapy that treat mental health disorders. This form of therapy
seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. It functions on the idea that all
behaviors are learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed. The focus of treatment is often on current
problems and how to change them.

WHO BENEFITS
Who can benefit from behavioral therapy?

Behavioral therapy can benefit people with a wide range of disorders.

People most commonly seek behavioral therapy to treat:

 depression
 anxiety
 panic disorders
 anger issues

It can also help treat conditions and disorders such as:

 eating disorders
 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
 bipolar disorder
 ADHD
 phobias, including social phobias
 obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
 self-harm
  substance abuse

This type of therapy can benefit adults and children.

Rational emotive behavior therapy, also known as REBT, is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by
psychologist Albert Ellis. REBT is focused on helping clients change irrational beliefs.

Rational emotive behavior therapy, also known as REBT, is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by
psychologist Albert Ellis. REBT is focused on helping clients change irrational beliefs.

Let's take a closer look at how rational emotive behavior was developed and how it works.

History of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

As a young man, Ellis found himself longing for companionship yet experienced a severe fear of talking to women.

In order to tackle his fear, Ellis decided to perform an experiment. For a month, his visited a nearby park and forced
himself to talk to 100 different women. Over time, Ellis found that his fear of speaking to women had diminished
considerably. Ellis later explained that this experience served as a basis for developing his approach to therapy,
combining behavioral strategies with assessing underlying thoughts and emotions.

Ellis had trained as a clinical psychologist. As he treated patients, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the results
offered by the traditional psychoanalytic approach to therapy that he was using at the time. He noted that while his
patients were able to become aware of their underlying problems, their behavior did not necessarily change as a result.

By the 1950s, Ellis had started experimenting with other types of psychotherapy and was heavily influenced by
philosophers and psychologists including Karen Horneyand Alfred Adler as well as the work of behavioral therapists.

Ellis's goal was to develop what he viewed as an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy designed to produce results
by helping clients manage their emotions, cognitions, and behaviors.

According to Ellis, "people are not disturbed by things but rather by their view of things." The fundamental assertion of
rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is that the way people feel is largely influenced by how they think.

When people hold irrational beliefs about themselves or the world, problems can result. Because of this, the goal of
REBT is to help people alter illogical beliefs and negative thinking patterns in order to overcome psychological problems
and mental distress.

Rational emotive behavior therapy was one of the very first types of cognitive therapies. Ellis first began developing
REBT during the early 1950s and initially called his approach rational therapy. In 1959, the technique was redubbed
rational emotive therapy and later rechristened rational emotive behavior therapy in 1992. Ellis continued to work on
REBT until his death in 2007.

Reality Therapy
Home > Our Approach > Reality Therapy
Reality Therapy is the method of counseling that Dr. Glasser has been teaching since 1965. Reality therapy is firmly
based on choice theory and its successful application is dependent on a strong understanding of choice theory. Reality
therapy training is available to anyone…the first step in learning this tool is to enroll in a Basic Intensive Training.

Since unsatisfactory or non-existent connections with people we need are the source of almost all human problems, the
goal of reality therapy is to help people reconnect. To create a connection between people, the reality therapy
counselor, teacher or manager will:

 Focus on the present and avoid discussing the past because all human problems are caused by unsatisfying present
relationships.

 Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints as much as possible since these are the ways that counselees choose to
deal with unsatisfying relationships.

 Understand the concept of total behavior, which means focus on what counselees can do directly – act and think.
Spend less time on what they cannot do directly; that is, change their feelings and physiology. Feelings and
physiology can be changed, but only if there is a change in the acting and thinking.

 Avoid criticizing, blaming and/or complaining and help counselees to do the same. By doing this, they learn to avoid
some extremely harmful external control behaviors that destroy relationships.

 Remain non-judgmental and non-coercive, but encourage people to judge all they are doing by the choice theory
axiom: Is what I am doing getting me closer to the people I need? If the choice of behaviors is not working, then the
counselor helps clients find new behaviors that lead to a better connection.
 Teach counselees that legitimate or not, excuses stand directly in the way of their making needed connections.

 Focus on specifics. Find out as soon as possible who counselees are disconnected from and work to help them
choose reconnecting behaviors. If they are completely disconnected, focus on helping them find a new connection.

 Help them make specific, workable plans to reconnect with the people they need, and then follow through on what
was planned by helping them evaluate their progress. Based on their experience, counselors may suggest plans, but
should not give the message that there is only one plan. A plan is always open to revision or rejection by the
counselee.
 Be patient and supportive but keep focusing on the source of the problem – the disconnectedness. Counselees who
have been disconnected for a long time will find it difficult to reconnect. They are often so involved in the symptom
they are choosing that they have lost sight of the fact that they need to reconnect. Help them to understand,
through teaching them choice theory and encouraging them to read the book, Choice Theory: A New Psychology of
Personal Freedom, that whatever their complaint, reconnecting is the best possible solution to their problem.