Advanced Counselling Theory

During this assignment I will critically evaluate two contrasting articles in order to recognise and evaluate the important relationship between the therapeutic approach and the intended client outcomes. I also aim to understand through this assignment, and be able to justify, ways of evaluating the effectiveness of counselling on clients in primary care. I will also explore and evaluate how this affects me as a practicing counsellor.


For this assignment I have chosen two articles to critique, both of which focus on the effectiveness of counselling. The two articles both seek to evaluate how effective the counselling experience was but by using different methods to record the client’s outcome. The first paper I critiqued was Gibbard & Hanley’s (2008) research article titled ‘A five-year evaluation of the effectiveness of person-centred counselling in routine clinical practice in primary care’ focuses it’s article on the use of Core Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). Where as in the second research article by Levitt, Butler & Hill (2006) ‘What Clients Find Helpful in Psychotherapy: Developing Principles for Facilitating Moment-Moment Change’ the clients were interviewed for personal feedback on what they found helpful throughout the counselling process as a whole.

It is my hope through completing this assignment I will have a deeper understanding of how research can serve to facilitate learning and professional development. Both articles are relevant to my current counselling practice, and as a Person-Centred Counsellor I would focus primarily on client feedback, other counsellors within the organisation advocate the use of forms like CORE-OM. As a reflexive counsellor I am aware of the current environment of evidence based evaluations and its importance for future employment within the primary care setting. Reflexive practice is generally accepted by many modalities of therapy as a way of counteracting the unique assumptions which lie in all individuals. These...