Personal-Counselor

My Therapy Orientation

I’d like to explain a little bit about my “therapy orientation.” Loosely speaking, this refers to the theories that guide me in my counseling work. Overall, my orientation is “eclectic,” which means that, over the years, I have taken what I feel is most helpful from several theories and I’ve integrated these into a perspective that is uniquely mine – the one I feel works best for most people.

The strongest influences on my practice are theories called cognitive-behavioral therapy, family systems theory, and psychodynamic theory. Put into the simplest possible terms, cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes the power of changing one’s thoughts and behavior as a way of changing one’s feelings. Family systems theory emphasizes the importance of the client’s original family while growing up. And psychodynamic theory emphasizes the importance of unconscious processes such as defense mechanisms, that underlie a person’s outward feelings and behavior.

Researchers have spent decades comparing different therapy orientations. They have found that some orientations really seem to work better than others for specific problems. To mention just one example: cognitive-behavior therapy seems to help people overcome phobias more effectively than psychodynamic therapy. But researchers point to another very important factor that helps people change BESIDES the therapist’s orientation. This factor is called the “therapeutic alliance.” This refers to the relationship between the therapist and client. In order for therapy to be most effective, the client must feel that the therapist is genuinely empathetic, compassionate and caring. So, no matter how skilled a therapist is in using certain techniques, that therapist will fail unless he or she can establish a caring relationship with clients. This caring relationship, or therapeutic alliance, plays a powerful in facilitating healing and change.