Running head: COUNSELING THEORIES

A Comprehensive Synthesis on Counseling Theories

Emily Lemons

Lewis & Clark College

Author’s Note

This paper was created on November 25, 2016 for SCED 500, section 01 with Dr.

Heather Hadraba.
 Lemons 2

A Comprehensive Synthesis on Counseling Theories

When building a personal philosophy in the field of school counseling, it is essential to

have theory guiding the fundamentals of the professional practice. Navigating the counseling

process with students can require many approaches depending on the individual and their needs.

The following are the five major philosophies to counseling: Individual Psychology, Person-

Centered, Cognitive-Behavioral, Reality/Choice, and Solution-Focused. Each theory will be

applied to a school counseling practice, and its application will be integrated into a personal

philosophy of counseling. Lastly, this paper will address the theories’ strengths and limitations.

Individual Psychology

When applying this holistic approach of psychology in the school-based practice of

counseling, the idea that everything humans experience is connected to our psychology is central

to this theory. To create change, a school counselor would, “not decide for [students] what they

should change or what their goals should be; they work collaboratively with their clients in ways

that enable [and encourage] them to reach their self-defined goals” (Corey, 2008, p.120).

For my personal practice, I believe this theory’s tenets have an important impact on the

way we encourage students and build a relationship with them: “There is more emphasis on

interpersonal relationships than on internal psychodynamics”. (Corey, 2008, p. 105).

The strengths of Individual Psychology are that it presents a flexible, integrative model; it

allows a school counselor to quickly build a rapport with students, and can be used for short term

therapy. This theory also focuses on strengths, active direct interventions, rapid assessment, and

leaves room for growth for all persons.

The limitations in this theory are that its ideas are loose and too simplistic, it focuses on

the western nuclear family, the research supporting it is outdated (but has improved over the last
 Lemons 3

25 years), and there is a rejection of tenet that heredity plays a factor in determining behavior

(Maniacci & Mosak, 1999).

Person-Centered

When using Person-Centered theory in a school counselor setting, a student would

approach the counselor with a problem and develop a method of how they were going to solve it.

In Person-Centered theory, “the client is responsible for improving his or her life” (McLeod,

2015). Carl Rogers (1986), states that responsibility is centered around the belief that the

resources within the student can already develop, “self-understanding, for altering his or her self-

concept, attitudes and self-directed behavior - and that these resources can be tapped if only a

definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided” (McLeod, 2015).

I appreciate this theory as it brings forth a more humanistic approach, moving the term

“patients” to a more evolved term of “clients”. I would want to apply this in my personal

philosophy, keeping in mind that the goal is to empower students to reach solutions

independently. Using language that reflects a message of respect to the student would be

important in this process. Also, communicating empathic understanding to the student in the

present moment (Boyer, 2015) is something I would like to include in my philosophy of

counseling.

Some of the limitations of Person-Centered therapy is that it may be more time

consuming than what a school setting allows for. Another setback to this theory is if person

refuses to participate in creating their own goals, it will not be effective.

The strengths of this theory are that it allows the student to realize what to do, and helps

the counselor “[direct] the course of therapy by following the client’s lead whenever possible”

(McLeod, 2015).
 Lemons 4

Cognitive- Behavioral

In the school setting, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers a direct style that is

“structured, goal oriented, time limited, and focuses on problem solving. It is a process in which

clients are taught to identify, evaluate, and change self-defeating or irrational thoughts that

negatively affect behavior” (Dahir & Stone, 2016, p47). The goal is to equip students with a new

set of skills when facing problems like failing classes, a belief that they will never succeed, or

when they get involved with unhealthy or unsafe situations when persuaded by peer pressure.

Whatever the issue, CBT gives students the ability to first recognize thoughts that are causing

problems, and then to separate their feelings from the thoughts. Irrational thoughts often begin to

sprout when they are connected to a distressing or defeating negative feeling.

I believe CBT can create a new set of thinking tools, allowing a student to better dictate

their own thoughts and feelings. In my personal philosophy, one of the biggest things I want to

be able to equip students with is the confidence to make choices for themselves, the ability to

distinguish rational and irrational thoughts, and to understand that there is always room to

reevaluate and make changes in their thinking patterns.

As far as limitations go, the theory’s “cognitive model is narrow in scope—thinking is

just one part of human functioning—broader issues need to be addressed” (McLeod, 2015). For

students with extreme cases of anxiety and depression, this theory might be hard to implement.

An overlooked limitation of CBT are the connections, like traumatic events, that can influence

irrational thinking. Cases like these will require more long term goals that would need to be

developed by outside counseling.

One of the biggest strengths in this theory is that it gives students the empowerment to

recognize their patterns of thinking, and make changes in these patterns. This process of
 Lemons 5

recognition allows the student to see the pattern as irrational thought and develop a new positive

pattern of rational thinking.

Reality/Choice

Choice Theory focuses on the importance and power of our choices. In schools,

students can learn to evaluate their choices by asking, ‘what is motivating me to make this

choice? Why is it so important or not important?’ The Choice Theory model places

importance on students recognizing that our motivations to make choices stem from our

five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun (Glasser, 1998).

This theory when put into practice is called Reality Therapy, as it helps students cultivate a

stronger sense and stronger reality of decision making. They are taught to evaluate what

their choices would look like if they were productive or unproductive.

As a school counselor, again, I like how this theory reinforces that the student should be

responsible for their own planning and action steps. Ultimately, the goal is to empower their

choices to be centered around positive planning for themselves, but I also see the value in using

this theory to show them they are responsible for their choices no matter what the outcome,

positive or negative. Helping students evaluate their choices in the moment presents an

opportunity for mindfulness practices as well.

For students who have a hard time expressing themselves or describing feelings with

words, this theory might be difficult (Dahir & Stone, p42). This theory also tends to ignore past

experiences as it focuses on the here-and-now.

One major strength of this theory is that it empowers students to make a goal and a plan

that changes unproductive behavior; the result then often provides more productive choices. This

empowerment is focused on the present, and a student can start making changes immediately.
 Lemons 6

Solution-Focused

Solution Focused (SF) Theory allows a school counselor develop a collaborative rapport

with the student. The student becomes the knower. He or she identifies problems and figures out

workable solutions: “students identify what works, discuss what has worked for them in the past,

and discuss how they can construct workable solutions in the future”. Techniques used in this

theory apply an overall “forward thinking” mindset and look to “embrace a climate of openness

to new possibilities” (Dahir & Stone, 2016, p53). It is important for students to apply past

knowledge when developing solutions for the future. A way to integrate past knowledge is to

have students recall a time when something worked out the way they wanted it to, and draw upon

those strengths: “solution focused counseling can be characterized as a strengths based theory,

fostering in students a sense of mastery and independence” (Dahir & Stone, 2016, p54).

Scaling questions is a great way to implement a sense of mastery and independence; it

allows the student to identify where they want to be (focus), and devise a plan (solution) on how

to get there. This is something I will use in my own philosophy.

It is harder to develop an SF plan when dealing with trauma or crisis interventions. For

students with serious mental issues this theory would be difficult as students might not create the

best solutions on their own. This can be a limitation to this theory.

This theory gives students a short term goal to focus on, and it empowers student to make

solution plans with the support of counselor. This is one of its greatest strengths.
 Lemons 7

References

Boyer, W. (2015). Person-centered therapy: A philosophy to support early childhood education.

Early Childhood Education Journal, 44(4), 343-348.

Corey, G. (2008). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Brooks/Cole Pub:

Pacific Grove.

Dahir, C. A. & Stone, C. B. (2016). The transformed school counselor. Cengage

Learning: Boston, MA.

Glasser, W. (1998). Choice theory: a new psychology of person freedom.

HarperCollins: New York, NY

Maniacci, H., & Mosak, M. (1999). A Primer of Alderian Psychology. Brunner-Routledge: New

York, NY

McLeod, S. A. (2015). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved from November 5, 2016,

www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-therapy.html