Understanding Counseling Theory.

Counselling and Psychotherapy theories ……….
Unit R/601/7575
.The 1940’s and 50’s………a   very brief History
The 1940's and 1950's marked an important expansion in the field of counselling. The US psychologist Carl Rogers (said to be influenced by Alfred Adler and Otto Rank) established the person centred approach, which is at the heart of most current practice. The person centred approach is now listed under the 'humanistic' branch of psychotherapy. There are now thought to be three general types of psychological therapies;
  1) Behavioural therapies,
  2) Psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies
  3) Humanistic therapies
It is the last type, the humanistic therapies that I want to concentrate on and in particular the Rogerian (Carl Rogers) influenced “Person Centred Approach” but before I do, a quick comment on the humanistic approach

Humanistic Therapies

Humanistic therapy emerged in the 1950's and although behavioural therapy and psychoanalytic methods were available, a humanistic approach offered individuals another alternative. This approach focuses on recognising the human capabilities in areas such as creativity, personal growth and choice. Two major theorists associated with this approach are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Carl Rogers being the better known publicly and Abraham Maslow defining his work under the heading of Transpersonal Psychology this had strong echo’s and structures of the TA model often attributed to Maslow.
The main goals of humanistic psychologies are to find out how individuals perceive themselves here and now and to recognise growth, self-direction and responsibilities. This method is optimistic and attempts to help individuals recognise their strengths by offering a non-judgemental, understanding experience.

Three therapeutic approaches……….

1) Person-Centred (also known as “Client-Centred” or “Rogerian” Counselling)

This approach to counselling and psychotherapy sees human beings as having an innate...