Good And Bad Therapy Chapter 1 Summary

Whether intentional or unintentional, the misdiagnosis of client concerns is a problem that can have implications for counselors and clients. Mead (1997) reported the

What goes wrong, thus bringing a client into therapy? Rogers considers the problem to be lack of

There has been an argument that this technique spreads further than needling with various therapist-associated that is not specific to the issues being essential to the therapy which can also possibly affect the results.

An example of this is learning how to ride a bike for the first time. You first watch someone over and over again and then you repeat it. Treatment for behavioral abnormalities is a bit different than other abnormality treatments. Instead of the therapist trying to heal someone, they become a teacher instead, to try to teach the client a few techniques and skills to overcome the abnormality. This is also called systematic desensitization. The next model of understanding abnormalities is the cognitive model. What this model conveys is that our cognitive processes are the center in everything we do, meaning our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. If there is abnormal functioning in this part of the model, many clients will begin to make assumptions of their lives and even begin to mimic certain attitudes that are very distressing and faulty. Illogical thinking processes may have an effect too, since it will then cause the idea of overgeneralization, in which a person will think negatively about themselves and feel bad over a certain event that was really insignificant. Treatment for those with cognitive abnormalities is called cognitive therapy, which is basically just getting clients

Removing therapists from the expert role and empowering clients through mutual collaboration, positions individuals who have a history of being rendered powerless, in a position of power where they can make decisions that impact treatment. It is not harmful to collaborate with clients and inform them of their diagnosis and ask if it “fits.” Instead, this recognizes the client’s expert knowledge that is not found in the DSM-5. It is important to acknowledge how the clients are making meaning of what is being rendered

“Feelings of incompetence (FOI) plague therapists throughout their careers independently of the actual efficacy of their work. FOI arise when therapists’ beliefs in their abilities, judgment, and/or effectiveness in their role as therapists are temporarily challenged internally” (The´riault, 2003). When a psychology professional loses his or her belief in his or her work ability it will lead to the feeling of being incompetence. The feeling of incompetence will hinder the professional’s courage and ability to assist his or

I have recently undertaken client work as part of the academic requirement of this course and have experienced first-hand the important role which self-reflection plays when a client’s description of their problems, struck a similar chord within my own life. The identification of this set of maladaptive behaviours and rules of thought have only been identified and addressed due to participation of this Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Postgraduate Diploma and my initial work as a Trainee Therapist.

of the therapy, the client meets the therapist to describe specific problems and to set goals they

Cinematic movies featuring therapists are quite common and sometimes even popular. While entertaining, often, the depictions of counseling in the movies do not always reflect reality. In the 1997 film,

These senses of invalidation from the therapist often cause clients to withdraw from therapy, or attack the therapist. Secondly, it was extremely difficult for clinicians to teach and strengthen new skills at the same time as they are targeting and treating the client’s motivation to die and suicidal behaviors that appeared in the previous week. Finally, therapist may be reinforced for iatrogenic treatment, where they reward clients for ineffective treatment strategies and punish them for effective treatment strategies. To address these difficulties, Linehan developed several modifications which formed the basis of DBT. (Dimeff & Linehan, Dialectical behavior therapy in a nutshell, 2001)

‘Clients often are able to provide a theory or an idea of cause, blaming past experiences for behaviors of which they are ashamed. The therapist listens to their explanations however are concerned more with their willingness to accept responsibility for their future behavior and the achievement for their attainable goals’ (Milner & O Byrne, P162). Furthermore, by ‘Acknowledging the clients paradoxical strategies have the effect of empowering clients of their perfectly valid cautious, more fearful concerns about change and leaving them to operate out of their arguments as to why change should be attempted’ (Cade, B. p156).

With these attributes, they will have the fundamentals of creating a strong therapeutic alliance with their clients. The therapists should be encouraged in “treating new cases as unique and constructing new theories to fit them, rather than depending on categories of established theory and technique” (Safran & Muran, 2000). Although this does not mean that standard techniques are useless, flexibility and creativity in application of these theories is considered the most important skill of a good therapist.

The role of the therapist – regardless of their theoretical orientation - is to convey to their clients that they are there to

     Today many people seek professional therapy or counseling for a limited amount of time in order to deal with different life crises. Others seek professional help for the majority of their lives in order to deal with a psychological disorder. After reading this chapter on Therapy, I learned that this was not always the case, and that the way our society views therapy, and the meaning of therapy, has changed dramatically of the years. This chapter not only explains the evolution of therapy, it explores the different therapeutic approaches.

In order for the counseling process to be effective for the client the characteristics and behaviors of the mental health counselor must be effective. To be an effective mental health counselor the process must include both the art and science of helping clients when they struggle. This paper will address both effective and ineffective characteristics of the given transcript along with an explanation of how a counselor’s characteristics or behaviors influence a session with a client.