Approaches to Counselling

Existential psychology relating to meaning and being considers how a person creates their space and perceptions in the world around them. People understand their world by their experiences within it and construct their values and interests in accordance to life experience and social interactions, (Constructivism). George Kelly believed that Individuals construct and re-construct personality as they develop over time in accordance with how they perceive outcomes in the world which they exist. Arguably it could be said that people are shaped by their social environment; existential theorists believe that ‘individuals world is constructed by past present and future’. Freud is concerned with psychoanalytic approach and believes to understand an adult personality you require knowledge of childhood experience and parental relationships (constructing the past). Children will express themselves in different ways and exercise behaviours, to satisfy a desired outcome or need; developing self in relation to outcomes, and responses from others in the social environment. Personality is the individual’s way of experimenting with their world; outcomes will drive motives, behaviours and actions.

It is the role of the counsellor to understand the client, their world and sense of meaning. The counsellor puts the client first and foremost, (person-centred approach) developing rapport with the client through listening, understanding and engaging in their world, having a positive regard for the client to develop trust. The counsellor will summarise the clients ‘story’ (narrative approach), reflecting back to the client, to appreciate the client’s reasoning. The counsellor will develop an awareness of personality, motives, seeing the client as the whole person with consideration to past present and future. The counselling approach therefore taking account of the individual, their personality, values and development from childhood, understanding patterns of behaviour, motives in decision making. The counsellor utilises concepts from all theories and models to adhere to individual needs and differences which has been shaped by the pace of change in society, the world in which we exist.

... ‘Counselling is designed to help clients to understand and clarify their views of their life-space, to learn to reach their self determined goals, through meaningful, well-informed choices and through resolution of problems or emotional or interpersonal nature’ (Burks and Stefflre 1979).