What are the main theories and methods of psychological counseling?

I. The main theories of psychological counseling

1. Psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalytic treatment

Founded: 1896

Representatives: Freud, Horney, Erikson

Theoretical foundations and main points: the theory of the unconscious (i.e., the theory of the conscious mind, the unconscious, the pre-conscious mind), the theory of psychosexual development (the theory of the sexual instinct), Personality Structure Theory (ego, self and superego), Psychological Defense Mechanism Theory

Contributions:

1. The first to systematically explore the unconscious psychological phenomena of human beings.

2. The analysis of adult personality structure has reasonable components.

3. It was the first formalized system of therapy. Psychoanalysis is the cornerstone of modern psychotherapy

Limitations:

1. Simply emphasizes the biological nature of man. Neglect the rational, social nature of man.

2. Over-emphasizing the role of sexual instincts.

3, the course of treatment is too long and costly, and the efficacy is not certain.

Methods and techniques:

Free association (uncovering unconscious pathways), dream interpretation, treatment of impediments, treatment of empathy; interpretation (making unconscious content conscious)

Note: Because psychoanalytic therapy requires very strong expertise and knowledge on the part of the primary therapist, and because the duration of the treatment is long, the cost is huge and the results are not necessarily good. Therefore, it is rarely used in general counseling work.

2. Behaviorist theory and behavioral therapy

Foundation: 1913

Representative: Pavlov

Founder: Watson

Representative: Skinner, Bandura, Miller

Theoretical foundations and main ideas: classical conditioned reflexes, operant conditioned reflexes, imitation learning theory, the use of reinforcement through the control of the environment, and the use of reinforcement learning theory.

Contributions: revealing the law of behavioral shaping: controlling human behavior from the stimulus before the behavior and the reinforcement after the behavior.

Limitations:

1. Simply emphasizing the mechanical nature of human beings, ignoring the subjective initiative of human beings, and denying the higher mental activities of human beings.

2, ignoring the role of cognition.

Methods and techniques: systematic desensitization, relaxation training, aversion therapy, exposure therapy, reinforcement, imitation, role-playing

3. Humanistic theory and client-centered therapy

Foundation: 1940s

Representative: Maslow, Rogers

Theoretical foundations and main ideas: Hierarchy of needs theory, Self-actualization theory, human-centered theory, advocating a return to the human heart, that people have a tendency to "self-actualization"

Contributions:

1, the study of the relationship between the consultant and the interviewer;

2, a positive belief in the ability of the human being;

3, emphasize the role of the counselor's personality and attitude. role.

Limitations:

1. Focus on the world of the human mind, but with a bias towards the non-cognitive aspects of the human being (needs, emotions), and not enough focus on the rationality of the human being.

2. The counselor is too negative. Sometimes easy to be manipulated by the visitor; also not suitable for visitors with weak introspection.

3. Neglecting the use of counseling strategies and techniques.

Methods and techniques: listening, unconditional positive attention, allowing visitors to explore their own "self-realization" potential, adjusting behavior, and moving towards "self-growth".

4. Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Psychotherapy

Founding Years: 1950s

Representative Characters: Ellis, Beck

Theoretical Basis and Main Points: Cognitive Theory, ABC Theory, Cognition as the object of study,

Emphasis on rationality, cognition, and "emotions are born from reason". "Emotion is born from reason", "to harness emotion with reason".

Contributions:

1, restored the status of human consciousness and inner activity, and regarded human beings as rational beings;

2, concerned about human cognition and belief;

3, insights into and treatment of the relationship between emotion and reason.

Limitations:

1, less emphasis on the role of the consultative relationship;

2, a tendency to value intervention.

Methods and techniques:

1, put the cognitive correction in the most prominent position;

2, help visitors cognitive restructuring: recognize and remove unreasonable beliefs, change unreasonable ways of thinking, and replace them with reasonable beliefs and ways of thinking.

The main methods of counseling are:

(1) Support therapy. Supportive therapy through support and encouragement, listening carefully and explaining and guiding, so that people who face difficulties resulting in psychological problems can be relied on to restore self-confidence, so as to reduce the psychological burden, and develop a reasonable way of adaptation.

(2) Psychoanalytic method. That is, psychoanalytic method. Its theoretical basis is the psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic method seeks to break the psychological impediment of the visitor, the repression of the subconscious conflict induced, so that visitors understand the essence of the symptoms, so that the symptoms lose the meaning of existence and disappear.

(3) Behavioral therapy. Derived from the theory of behaviorism. Since behaviorism believes that all behaviors (including normal, healthy behaviors and abnormal, deviant behaviors) are learned and acquired and consolidated due to reinforcement. So the behavioral therapist can then turn abnormal behavior into normal by means of retraining the individual (re-educating and re-establishing conditioned reflexes, i.e., teaching the individual to make new adaptive responses to stimuli in the surrounding environment) and by altering the individual's environment in some way.

(4) Humanistic therapy. Created based on the theory of humanism. Humanistic therapy emphasizes the creation of a good environment, the formation of an atmosphere of sincerity, mutual understanding, mutual respect, and helps the visitor to self-exploration, to recognize their own value and potential, to discover their true selves, to take responsibility for their own growth, and to move toward the goal of self-actualization.

(5) Cognitive therapy. Cognitive psychology believes that human psychological behavior is governed by human cognition, and that certain people's psychological problems are mainly the result of misinterpretation of reality under false premises. The key to counseling lies in guiding the visitor to change the original cognitive structure, unlearn distorted ideas, correct irrational beliefs, and thus change behavior.

(6) Morita therapy. Founded by Japanese scholar Morita Masuma. It advocates "conformity to nature", i.e., it instructs visitors to accept their symptoms without attempting to reject them, and to live with their symptoms as normal people do, so that the symptoms will slowly fade away and disappear. It also advocates "doing what is right", i.e. controlling those things that can be controlled, such as human behavior.

(7) Group counseling. Group counseling can be composed of people with similar backgrounds and problems, and its benefit is that everyone can understand their own connections and behaviors with others in the interpersonal process to improve understanding and communication.