QUESTION CHAPTER TWO

COUNSELLING THEORIES I
1. Patterson and Watkins (1996) suggested that modern approaches can be arranged on two
approaches. Describe the counsellor who focus on non-directive and directive approaches.

(a) non-directive approaches

Generally, counsellors who are nondirective focus on affections and view clients as able to direct
themselves with the help of counsellors..

(b) directive approaches:

In contrast, counsellors who adopt the directive approaches tend to be more prescriptive and
view themselves as the experts giving directions to their clients

2. Describe briefly the following

(a) The Analytic Approaches:

These are counselling approaches focusing on analysing unconscious motivation, personality

development and childhood experiences. Included under this category are:

(a) Psychoanalytic therapy by Sigmund Freud (b) Adlerian therapy by Alfred Adler

(b) The Experiential and Relationship-Oriented Approaches:

These approaches focus on creating a good relationship between counsellor and client, as well as
having good and positive views of human nature. Included in this category are;

(a) The existential approach by Viktor Frankl, Rollo May and Irvin Yalom (b) Person-centred
approach by Carl Rogers (c) Gestalt therapy by Frederick and Laura Perls

(c) The action Therapies:

These approaches focus on clientÊs current behaviour and developing a clear plan for changing
unproductive behaviour with a new one. Included here are; (a) Reality Therapy by William
Glaser (b) Behaviour Therapy by B. F. Skinner, Arnold Lazarus and Albert Bandura (c) Rational
Emotive Therapy by Albert Ellis (d) Cognitive Therapy by A. T. Beck

(d) The System Perspectives

1
These approaches stress on the importance of understanding clients in the context of the
surrounding, environment, or system. Included in this category are; (a) The Feminist Therapy
and (b) Family System Therapy

3. Psychological Defence Mechanisms as a Way of Coping with Stress, Corey,(2005).

Explain how a person copes with anxiety in a stressful situation using types of defence
mechanism below

Mechanism Cause Of Anxiety Means Of Coping Example

Compensation Anxious about Emphasise desirable Failing to impress the
one’s real or traits or try to excel in football coach, Amin strives
imagined area of weakness or in to excel in badminton
weakness other areas
Denial Faced with Refuse to perceive or A woman refused to accept
painful or accept reality her husband’s untimely
unpleasant reality death
Displacement Unable to express Shift or let off the Unable to express anger at
emotions to a emotions to a substitute her husband, Mei Ling
person person or object shouts at her children
Intellectualisa- Anxious about a Think or talk about the Doctors and nurses avoid
tion stressful problem situation in impersonal being overwhelmed with
and technical or emotions by explaining to
intellectual terms patients and family
members about illness and
death using intellectual
terms
Rationalisation Anxious about Justify the behaviour Kumar blamed the traffic
committing a by giving a rational and jam as the reason for
behaviour reasonable, but often arriving late for class
false reason

4. Describe the Goal of Counselling in psychoanalysis, and what is the role of the counsellor and
explain also the technique used by the counsellors

(a) Goal of Counselling in psychoanalysis

The goal of psychoanalytic counselling is to help clients become aware of their unconscious
thoughts and emotions that have affected their behaviour or action. The counsellor may also help
clients identify unresolved developmental issues, either personality or psychosexual aspects, so
that clients can continue with their development in a healthy way. In addition, through
counselling, clients will also be able to recognise ineffective ways of coping with stress they had
previously adopted. The counsellor can teach clients how to cope positively with anxiety and the
demands of living.

2
(b) the role of the counsellor

The counselllor role acts as an expert who aims to find the underlying roots of the client’s
current problems. The counsellor encourages clients to talk about whatever comes to mind,
especially their childhood experiences. In order to make the client feel comfortable, the
counsellor sits slightly out of the client’s view while the client lies down comfortably on a couch.
Talking freely about any issues often leads to the recall of related thoughts or emotions.

(c) technique

Various techniques that the counsellor can use as a tool to help clients work out their problems.
In free association, the client feels free enough to say or express whatever comes to his or her
mind, however silly, irrational or painful the thoughts are.

Through dream analysis, the counsellor is able to understand a client’s unconscious thoughts and
emotions by interpreting the manifest content and latent content (the hidden, symbolic meaning)
of the dream.

By analysing transference, Freud believed that the counsellor would be able to interpret the
positive or negative feelings expressed by the clients.

5. Discuss the Basic Assumptions of Human Nature stated by Alfred Adler :

(a) Holistic :

People’s actions, thoughts and feelings had to be seen as a whole. He held that “no life
expression can be viewed in isolation, but must always be regarded in relation to the total
personality”. The lifestyle of people and how they behave in the world are determined by the
ideas and beliefs they have chosen. Alfred did not place importance on genetic factors but more
importantly on how the person used what he or she inherited in responding to the environment.

(b) Social :

People were social in nature. so, their behaviour had to be interpreted in a social context. humans
are mainly motivated by social interest, meaning people feel a sense of belonging as well as
connected to a society that treats them as equal. People who possess social interest are
responsible for themselves and those in their society. They have an opportunity to change their
beliefs and their behaviours

(c) Birth Order :

Birth order is the ordinal position an individual is born into his or her family. Adler proposed that
people who share the same ordinal birth positions share similar characteristics. This is because

3
the psychological situation of each child is different from each other depending on his or her
birth order. Adler focused on five positions with each sharing similar unique characteristics: the
oldest, the youngest, the second born, the middle, and the only child

6. What are the technique used and role of counsellor in Alfred Adler counselling. Discuss.

(a) technique:

(i) Establishing a Relationship The counsellor establishes an equal partnership with the client in
terms of equal respect, rights and responsibilities. The counsellor accepts the client without any
conditions and encourages the person to point his or her strengths and abilities. Focus is on the
fact that the client can make a change if he or she wishes to. The client must feel safe, especially
if he or she is to reveal his or her inner thoughts. The counsellor should be serious with the client
and not “play games”.

(ii) Gathering Information. The counsellor gathers information about the client by observing the
way he or she enters the room, sits, speaks and behaves during the counselling sessions. The
counsellor will analyse the client’s lifestyle by examining his/her birth order and family
environment,

(iii) Giving Insight. The Counsellor will help clients gain an insight into their present behaviours.
Adlerian counsellors use mainly verbal techniques to assess, evaluate and interpret his clients
lifestyles. The counsellor can use confrontation where he challenges the client’s private logic.
Asking the “what if”questions encourages clients to explore possibilities.

(iv) Encouraging Reorientation. This is the most difficult phase where the counsellor guides and
encourages the client to find a way to change. The counsellor will point out the client’s strengths
and encourage him/her to find a way to move on.

(b) role of counsellor :

The role of the counsellor is to diagnose, teach, and model the desired behaviours. The main task
of the counsellor is to assess his clients’ level of functioning by gathering information on their
family constellation, including birth order, their parents, siblings and others living at home.
Clients’ early life experiences are also explored. The counsellor then interprets his clientsÊ
situations, putting assumptions on the problem areas that need to be worked out.

7. Carl Rogers’ is a founder of person-centered therapy.

(a) What are Carl Rogers’ views on human behaviour ?

Humans are seen as having positive goodness, realistic expectations, and trustworthiness.
Humans have a desire to become fully functioning; thus able to live as effectively as possible.

4
According to Rogers, if humans are positively regarded and allowed to develop freely, they will
grow to be fully functioning.

(b) Is roger’s Person- centered therapy practical in your work setting ?

Give TWO (2) justifications.

(i) Yes because if I ‘m a teacher mostly my student are relevance using this therapy

(ii) More open and student can give respond within the interact.

8. Describe the Goal of Counselling in roger’s Person- centered therapy, and what is the role of
the counsellor and explain also the technique used by the counsellors

(a) Goal of Counselling

The goal of person-centred counselling is to encourage clients to be brave enough so that they
are able to explore, identify or confront any fears, perceptions or issues that have been burdening
them. In a condition full of positive regard and empathy, clients become increasingly willing to
change and grow. As clients become more fully functioning, they will have greater acceptance of
their self.

(b) the role of the counsellor

The role of the counsellor is to provide a safe and trusting climate or conditions wherein the
client will feel safe enough to explore his or her self. In contrast the others in the real world that
accept clients only with certain conditions, the counsellor instead creates a nurturing condition
that encourages the client to discover his or herself.

(c) technique

methods to promote the therapeutic relationship include extensive use of silence, acceptance,
immediacy, active and passive listening, reflection of feelings and thoughts, clarification,
summarisation, confrontation, and leads. Reflection is the mirroring of emotional communication

9. Explain the THREE (3) basic qualities of a counsellor according to Carl Rogers.

(i) The counsellor acts as a facilitator who knows how to guide the client through the process of
self-discovery by hearing, observing and reflecting clientÊs verbal and non-verbal language.

(ii) The counsellor is not directive in the sense that he does not suggest or interpret why clients
feel as they do or what they should do. By using verbal techniques such as reflection, asking
questions and rephrasing,

(iii) The counsellor will assist clients in becoming more aware of their feelings and thought, thus
gain insights to their own experiences and find their own self.

5
10. In client-centred counselling, Rogers believed that the counsellor should create a therapeutic
condition for the client. Discuss THREE (3) of the condition.

Rogers believed that the counsellor should create a therapeutic condition for the client which
emphasises empathy, positive regard, and congruence.

(a) Empathy refers to the counsellorÊs ability to feel with the client and convey this
understanding back to the client. When the client perceives the counsellor as being understanding
and appreciative of his or her predicament, then only will the client proceed with his or her
selfexploration.

(b) Respect or Positive Regard where the client will feel safe when the counsellor genuinely and
positively accepts the client as a person regardless of what the client is telling the counsellor.
Such positive regard will make the client feel valued regardless of how bad or negative his or her
self is.

(c) Congruency refers to the counsellorÊs genuine behaviour and non-verbal language that is free
from pretension.