Types of advice and psychotherapy

Types of advice and psychotherapy

The most common question that is asked by people who make a first request for advice is: "What kind of advice do you do?"

This usually means: "For what kind of problem do you offer advice?" Most consultants and psychotherapists, including me, are not specialized in a kind of problem, since all problems or difficulties affect feelings and thinking are similar to and usually address the therapy in a similar way.

The answer to the question "For what kind of problem do you offer advice?" This would be more like "difficulties with feelings and thinking" as specific topics such as "low self -esteem" or "fear of failure". Most consultations and psychotherapy deal with the whole person and usually do not separate a thing they think, feel or do.

However, this is only a general rule. There are some therapies that specialize in certain types of problems, often those that use a specific solution -based approach. Addiction advice is an obvious example, a specialty that usually includes a progressive, guided program. Others could be grief or eating disorders. A certain part of the population, such as young people or women, could also be identified as groups that need a special approach to a certain extent, but on the whole, these use these techniques as any other psychological advice. The main difference could be that the agency has been set up for this special problem or this specific group, has received funds for this and therefore focuses on this area. A single advisor or psychothearpist can deal in a certain area because he was particularly interested in or if he carried out additional training or possibly had special experience with the topic.

What consultants and psychotherapists think when they speak of different types of therapy is the difference in the theoretical orientation of the therapist , not in the types of problems that they specialize. There are a series or approaches that can be roughly divided into the three areas of humanistic, psychodynamic and cognitive behavior. Even a brief description of all types of approaches and their subdivisions would go beyond the scope of this article. I will therefore limit it to the two main sentences that I use myself: person -centered (a "humanistic" approach) and psychodynamic.

Personal advice and psychotherapy

In the center of the person -centered approach, the idea is that the consultant is a “guest” in the world of customer experience, with everything that implies this in terms of respect and trust.

The customer is essentially trustworthy that he somehow knows somewhere what he needs and that he has the desire for growth. The advisor can help to raise awareness and help the client to use them.

Another central concept is "value conditions". Conditions are imposed early in life on which a person measures their own value, how acceptable or unacceptable they are. A simple example could be: "Never be angry or you will be an ugly, shameful person and you won't be loved." The message that this carries could something like "when I'm angry means that I am worthless, so I must never be angry." The person will inevitably be angry, possibly frequently, and from it that they must therefore be worthless, ugly and shameful. Another could be: "If you do not do well academically, this means that you are stupid and that you will be a failure in life." This type of condition usually remains indefinitely with the person, and she or he may have fought for years to meet the possibly impossible value conditions. If this type of inner conviction is brought to light and its roots are fully understood, it may be that the person sees that it is not really true that it has been brought there by others and that I can move away from it.

The person -centered consultant tries to be a kind of companion with the client. The advisor who respects and accepts the person, however she is, will lead to the person himself gets the feeling that she is actually acceptable, and comes into contact with a real, "organisms", which was always there in a way, but hidden. You could then become more real, less deal with appearances and facades or do justice to the expectations of others. You could appreciate your own feelings more, positive or negative. You can start enjoying your experience of the moment. They may appreciate others more and enjoy it, instead of oppressive, feeling shy and inferior.

The consultant achieves this by creating a climate of acceptance in which the client can find itself. Certain therapeutic conditions make this easier, conditions that were determined by the founder of this approach, Carl Rogers. These include:

The authenticity or authenticity of the therapist. This can not only be done, it has to be real or it will be worthless.

complete acceptance of the customer and positive consideration for him, no matter how he seems to be.

"empathetic understanding", the therapist really understands what the client says, and also shows the client that his feelings have been understood.

Psychodynamic advice and psychotherapy

Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic therapy tries to promote interaction that includes the unconscious elements of the client. The experience of a whole life, most strongly what the person has learned from their first relationships in early childhood, will determine the way the client deals with others. This will also be noticeable in the therapeutic relationship in any form, and the therapist must be aware of which forces and influences can work in the client.

This approach does not include the idea of ​​"free will". It sees our thinking, feeling and making decisions as a result of conscious awareness, but as a result of many forces that work under conscious awareness. The person acts and mainly refers to others as the result of the instincts with which she was born, together with what she learned about herself, mainly because of the way of her close relationships in early life.

The special "personality" is formed in the melting pot of this early experience. For example, if the child's main supervisor has not fed properly, this is laid down as fear. This can simply be to be fed, to get enough food, or the infant can be extended to related things such as trust (they have learned not to trust that the food or the supervisor will be there if necessary). Or uncertainty about life in general or the feeling that something always lacks. One result could be overcrowded, we say, or greed in other ways, according to goods or need, anxious need for the presence of others or another. This is an example. There are countless types of operations of this kind in the psyche that form from birth with all types of subtleties and variations. Almost all of them are laid down on a level of the person who is not accessible to consciousness and are played unconsciously.

The therapist must be aware of the nature of these unconscious networks and how it works in the session and life of the person. The thoughts, actions and feelings of the client can be "interpreted" by the therapist how his unconscious could steer them. Or, perhaps less controversial how early experiences could have had how she or he is now. When the client talks about it, he can gain self -knowledge, acceptance and more control over his life.

In terms of psychotherapist, the client can sometimes consider the therapist to be “how” someone else, for example as a father or mother. This is referred to as "transmission", since feelings originally caused by the parent are "transferred" to the therapist, where they can be made consciously and treated in therapy.

Integrative advice and psychotherapy

As the name suggests, an integrative approach is trying to integrate one or more theories into a uniform method.

I believe that it is difficult to integrate personal and psychodynamic orientations into one, as they are opposite in many ways. The concept of the "expert", for example. Personal advice tries to avoid a situation in which one person is the role of an "expert" and the other is the passive recipient of wisdom. In psychodynamic advice or psychotherapy, it can seem difficult to avoid this. The practitioner is the owner of an apparently Arcanic knowledge, especially the functioning of the unconscious, which is transmitted in interpretations of what the client says. This is in contrast to a simple but "valued" acceptance of the customer and everything he could say without interpretation, as is the case with the person -centered approach.

Despite these difficulties, however, I believe that it is possible to integrate elements from both into a style that is more effective than both alone. That it is possible to act largely in terms of person, to accept and appreciate the person and their statements and still be aware of the influences of the past in the way a person is now. This includes that the therapist is aware of the psychodynamic possibilities on which the interaction between the therapist and the client is based. I believe that there will be inevitably a certain "transfer", and at least a certain expectation that the therapist has knowledge and skills that the client does not have, which will lead to certain feelings at the client. Transmission is often seen as an obstacle in the person -centered advice that has to be overcome as soon as possible, and although I think it should be brought into consciousness, I believe that it can be a valuable instrument so as not to be released too early, and not to be underestimated.

The consultant must try to know all the elements that can occur in the relationship at a certain point in time and how they can vary at different times and be able to decide which of them should be shared with the customer. I believe that it is possible to share some "psychodynamic" opportunities for the time being without losing the basic "person -centered" conditions of respect and authenticity. This integration of two approaches into an experienced psychotherapist who not only rely on to put a learned theory into practice, but also hits the client as real and completely as two real people, has a remarkable force to help people become fuller and more satisfying themselves and their lives.

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