Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy

1
Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy

• Psych422
• Chapter11 Reality Therapy

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Reality Therapy Basic Beliefs

• Focus on responsibility to choice
• keep therapy focused on the present
• Focus on the unsatisfying relationship or the
  lack of connection, which is often the cause of
  problems
• The only person you can control is yourself
• Behavior our attempt to get what we want
• Focusing symptoms is protect clients from facing
  the reality of unsatisfying present relationships

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View of Human Nature

• All internally motivated behavior is geared
  toward meeting our basic human needs
• Belonging and love
• Power or achievement
• Freedom or independence
• Fun or enjoyment
• Survival (Physiological needs)
• Our brain functions as a control system to get us
  what we want

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View of Human Nature

• Teach clients choice theory so clients can
  identify the frustrated need and try to satisfy
  it.
• Quality world we store experiences of how we can
  fulfill our basic psychological needs in our
  brain.
• From the relationship with the therapist, client
  learn how to get close to the people they need

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Therapeutic Goals

• Help clients get connected or reconnected with
  the people they have chosen to put in their
  quality world
• Help clients learn better ways of fulfilling all
  of their needs

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Therapists function and Role

• Create a good relationship with their clients
• Challenge clients to evaluate themselves
• Are your behaviors getting you what you want and
  need?
• Instill a sense of hope
• Therapist is someone who is on the clients side

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Clients Experience in Therapy

• Clients are not expected to go back to talk about
  the past or symptoms
• Therapists often ask clients questions to
  challenge them to evaluate themselves
• Is what your are choosing to do bringing you
  close to the people you want to be closer to?

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Relationship Between Therapist and Client

• Emphasize an understanding and supportive
  relationship by warmth, caring, concern,
  acceptance
• Both involvement with and concern for the client
  are demonstrated throughout the entire process
• Once relationship is established, therapists
  challenge the reality and consequences of their
  actions
• Continually assist clients to evaluate the
  effectiveness of their behavior
• Therapy is a mentoring process with therapist as
  a teacher and client is a student.

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Therapeutic techniques and procedures

• Establishing a supportive relationship
• Exploring clients needs, wants, and perceptions
  
• Evaluating how effective they are in getting what
  they want
• Realizing they can control only their own
  behavior

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Procedures That Lead to Change The WDEP System

• W Wants - What do you want to be and do?
• D Doing and Direction - What are you doing?
• E Evaluation - Does your present behavior have a
  reasonable chance of getting you what you want?
• P Planning identify ways to fulfill their
  wants and needs.
• Apply WDEP to your life experiences?

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Planning For Change SAMIC

• S Simple - Easy to understand, specific and
  concrete
• A Attainable - Within the capacities and
  motivation of the client
• M Measurable -Are the changes observable and
  helpful?
• I Immediate and Involved - What can be done
  today? What can you do?
• C Controlled - Can you do this by yourself or
  will you be dependent on others?

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From a multicultural perspective

• Contributions
• Focus on acting and thinking?less likely to
  display resistance to counseling
• Relationships are the problem in all cultures
• Allow for a wide range of acceptable behaviors to
  satisfy these needs
• Limitations
• Ignoring environmental factor may let clients
  feel misunderstood
• Some cultural values---not values to be assertive
  to ask what they need instead of thinking more of
  what is good for the social group.

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Summary and Evaluation

• Contributions
• Insight and awareness are not enough the
  clients self-evaluation, a plan of action, and a
  commitment to following through are the core of
  the therapeutic process.
• Accepting personal responsibility
• Gaining more effective control
• Focusing on what they can do in the present to
  change their behavior

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Summary and Evaluation

• Limitations
• Not give enough emphasis to feelings,
  unconscious, dream, transference, the effect of
  early childhood experiences, and the power of the
  past to influence ones present personality.