PSY390 Study Guide - Final Guide: Feminist Therapy, Existential Therapy, Family Therapy
The Basic Philosophies
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Human beings are basically determined by psychic energy and by
early experiences. Unconscious motives and conflicts are central in
present behaviour. Early development is of critical importance
because later personality problems have their roots in repressed
childhood conflicts.
Adlerian therapy
Humans are motivated by social interest, by striving toward goals, by
inferiority and superiority, and by dealing with the tasks of life.
Emphasis is on the individual’s positive capacities to live in society
cooperatively. People have the capacity to interpret, influence, and
create events. Each person at an early age creates a unique style of
life, which tends to remain relatively constant throughout life.
Existential
therapy
The central focus is on the nature of the human condition, which
includes a capacity for self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide
one’s fate, responsibility, anxiety, the search for meaning, being alone
and being in relation with others, striving for authenticity, and facing
living and dying.
Person-centred
therapy
Positive view of people; we have an inclination toward becoming
fully functioning. In the context of the therapeutic relationship, the
client experiences feelings that were previously denied to awareness.
The client moves toward increased awareness, spontaneity, trust in
self, and inner-directedness.
Gestalt therapy
The person strives for wholeness and integration of thinking, feeling,
and behaving. Some key concepts include contact with self and
others, contact boundaries, and awareness. The view is
nondeterministic in that the person is viewed as having the capacity
to recognize how earlier influences are related to present difficulties.
As an experiential approach, it is grounded in the here and now and
emphasizes awareness, personal choice, and responsibility.
Behaviour
therapy
Behaviour is the product of learning. We are both the product and
the producer of the environment. Traditional behaviour therapy is
based on classical and operant principles. Contemporary behaviour
therapy has branched out in many directions, including mindfulness
and acceptance approaches.
Cognitive
behaviour
therapy
Individuals tend to incorporate faulty thinking, which leads to
emotional and behavioural disturbances. Cognitions are the major
determinants of how we feel and act. Therapy is primarily oriented
toward cognition and behaviour, and it stresses the role of thinking,
deciding, questioning, doing, and redeciding. This is a
psychoeducational model, which emphasizes therapy as a learning
process, including acquiring and practicing new skills, learning new
ways of thinking, and acquiring more effective ways of coping with
problems.
Choice
Based on choice theory, this approach assumes that we need quality
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theory/Reality
therapy
relationships to be happy. Psychological problems are the result of
our resisting control by others or of our attempt to control others.
Choice theory is an explanation of human nature and how to best
achieve satisfying interpersonal relationships.
Feminist therapy
Feminists criticize many traditional theories to the degree that they
are based on gender-biased concepts, such as being androcentric,
gendercentric, ethnocentric, heterosexist, and intrapsychic. The
constructs of feminist therapy include being gender fair, flexible,
interactionist, and life-span-oriented. Gender and power are at the
heart of feminist therapy. This is a systems approach that recognizes
the cultural, social, and political factors that contribute to an
individual’s problems.
Postmodern
approaches
Based on the premise that there are multiple realities and multiple
truths, postmodern therapies reject the idea that reality is external
and can be grasped. People create meaning in their lives through
conversations with others. The postmodern approaches avoid
pathologizing clients, take a dim view of diagnosis, avoid searching
for underlying causes of problems, and place a high value on
discovering clients’ strengths and resources. Rather than talking
about problems, the focus of therapy is on creating solutions in the
present and the future.
Family systems
therapy
The family is viewed from an interactive and systemic perspective.
Clients are connected to a living system; a change in one part of the
system will result in a change in other parts. The family provides the
context for understanding how individuals function in relationship to
others and how they behave. Treatment deals with the family unit.
An individual’s dysfunctional behavior grows out of the interactional
unit of the family and out of larger systems as well.
Key concepts
Psychoanalytic
therapy
Normal personality development is based on successful resolution
and integration of psychosexual stages of development. Faulty
personality development is the result of inadequate resolution of
some specific stage. Anxiety is a result of repression of basic conflicts.
Unconscious processes are centrally related to current behaviour.
Adlerian therapy
Key concepts include the unity of personality, the need to view
people from their subjective perspective, and the importance of life
goals that give direction to behaviour. People are motivated by social
interest and by finding goals to give life meaning. Other key concepts
are striving for significance and superiority, developing a unique
lifestyle, and understanding the family constellation. Therapy is a
matter of providing encouragement and assisting clients in changing
their cognitive perspective and behaviour.
Existential
Essentially an experiential approach to counselling rather than a firm
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therapy
theoretical model, it stresses core human conditions. Interest is on
the present and on what one is becoming. The approach has a future
orientation and stresses self-awareness before action.
Person-centred
therapy
The client has the potential to become aware of problems and the
means to resolve them. Faith is placed in the client’s capacity for self-
direction. Mental health is a congruence of ideal self and real self.
Maladjustment is the result of a discrepancy between what one
wants to be and what one is. In therapy attention is given to the
present moment and on experiencing and expressing feelings.
Gestalt therapy
Emphasis is on the what and how of experiencing in the here and
now to help clients accept all aspects of themselves. Key concepts
include holism, figure-formation process, awareness, unfinished
business and avoidance, contact, and energy.
Behaviour
therapy
Focus is on overt behaviour, precision in specifying goals of
treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective
evaluation of therapy outcomes. Present behaviour is given
attention. Therapy is based on the principles of learning theory.
Normal behaviour is learned through reinforcement and imitation.
Abnormal behaviour is the result of faulty learning.
Cognitive
behaviour
therapy
Although psychological problems may be rooted in childhood, they
are reinforced by present ways of thinking. A person’s belief system
and thinking is the primary cause of disorders. Internal dialogue
plays a central role in one’s behaviour. Clients focus on examining
faulty assumptions and misconceptions and on replacing these with
effective beliefs.
Choice
theory/Reality
therapy
The basic focus is on what clients are doing and how to get them to
evaluate whether their present actions are working for them. People
are mainly motivated to satisfy their needs, especially the need for
significant relationships. The approach rejects the medical model, the
notion of transference, the unconscious, and dwelling on one’s past.
Feminist therapy
Core principles of feminist therapy are that the personal is political,
therapists have a commitment to social change, women’s voices and
ways of knowing are valued and women’s experiences are honoured,
the counselling relationship is egalitarian, therapy focuses on
strengths and a reformulated definition of psychological distress, and
all types of oppression are recognized.
Postmodern
approaches
Therapy tends to be brief and addresses the present and the future.
The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem. The
emphasis is on externalizing the problem and looking for exceptions
to the problem. Therapy consists of a collaborative dialogue in which
the therapist and the client co-create solutions. By identifying
instances when the problem did not exist, clients can create new
meanings for themselves and fashion a new life story.
Family systems
Focus is on communication patterns within a family, both verbal and
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Document Summary
Human beings are basically determined by psychic energy and by early experiences. Unconscious motives and conflicts are central in present behaviour. Early development is of critical importance because later personality problems have their roots in repressed childhood conflicts. Adlerian therapy humans are motivated by social interest, by striving toward goals, by inferiority and superiority, and by dealing with the tasks of life. People have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Each person at an early age creates a unique style of life, which tends to remain relatively constant throughout life. Emphasis is on the individual"s positive capacities to live in society one"s fate, responsibility, anxiety, the search for meaning, being alone. The central focus is on the nature of the human condition, which includes a capacity for self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide and being in relation with others, striving for authenticity, and facing living and dying.
