1.THE AFFECTIVE THEORIES
One fundamental effective theory is the psychoanalytic theory.
The psychoanalytic theory
This is a theory, which is affective in nature. It was developed by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). It traces the origin of maladjusted behavior from several sources;
(1) Traumatic childhood experiences
(2) The structure of the mind
(3) The instincts of man
1) Early childhood trauma
According to the Freudian theory, early childhood experiences are very important. They shape the adult personality. The key concepts are:
1. Early childhood experiences produce a psychologically healthy adult personality whereas;
2. Traumatic (painful) experiences in early childhood produce a psychologically unhealthy adult.
3. According to Freud these early childhood experiences are determined by the parental roles of both parents
4. The mother’s role is very critical. She should provide the child with physical and psychological nurturance.
5. The father is very important since his paternal role nurtures the development of the super ego.
If these parents expose the child to physical and psychological trauma during the formative years, personality development is adversely affected. The child represses these traumatic experiences in the unconscious mind. These repressed negative emotions always seek a way to escape into consciousness. They manifest themselves in maladjusted behaviour and neurotic symptoms. These represent negative emotions need to be brought to consciousness, acknowledged and managed through psychoanalytic methods.
2) The structure of the mind
According to the psychoanalytic theory the mind of man is structured so that it relates to the environment through three levels of consciousness or ego states these are; the id, the ego and the super ego.
The ID
The ID is the storehouse of all psychic energy. It is unconscious. It is the original system of personality, which is present at birth. It expresses the needs of the person e.g. hunger, thirst, sex, aggression and so on. It calls for immediate satisfaction for the need at hand. For this reason it is said to operate on the pleasure principles, which is hedonistic in nature. It seeks pleasure and avoids pain. The id possesses no power to execute the needs therefore it must rely on the ego.
The ego
The ego is the second structure of personality to develop. It is conscious and therefore in touch with reality. Its role is to fulfill the demands of the id in line with the practical realities. It is able to delay gratification e.g. it can delay the satisfaction of hunger or thirst or sex until such a time that satisfaction is practically possible. The ego is therefore called the executive arm of personality. The ego however, lacks one thing; morality. It is not concerned with the rightness or wrongness of behavior. Therefore for personality to be complete the super ego develops.
The super ego
This is the last structure of personality to develop. The super ego is unconscious and it is called the moral arm of personality. It operates to regulate the wishes of the id in order to ensure that the ego fulfills them in line with the acceptable code of morality.
Mal adaptive behavior occurs when there are unresolved conflicts between the id and the super ego and also when there is poor development of the super ego. Counseling and psychotherapy help to soften the super ego or to strengthen it as the need may be.
3) The basic instincts of man
The psychoanalytic theory also states that human behavior is motivated by hidden forces particularly two major instincts. These are; libido which is the sexual energy as well as the creative power of man. The second instinct is thanatos which is the death energy or the destructive power of man. The instincts are the major sources of unacceptable behavior, which the super ego wants to keep in check.
The key concepts
The following are the key concepts of this theory.
• The unconscious mind is the prime motivator in determining human behaviour.
• This unconscious mind is the center for repressed thoughts and feelings, which are beyond our awareness.
• These repressed thoughts come out as fantasies or dreams, slips of the tongue, neurotic or disturbed behaviour.
The role of counselor
The role of the counselor is to help the client to bring out the repressed thoughts and experiences of early childhood so that these are dealt with at a rational level.
Methods of the psychoanalytic theory the counselor or psychoanalytic makes use of the following methods in order to access the unconscious mind;
-Free association
-Catharsis (reliving the experience)
-Dreams analysis and interpretation
-Hypnosis
-Interpretation of slips of the tongue
2.THE HUMANISTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING
Humanistic theories were developed by Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970).
View of man
According to this theory human beings are worthy of dignity. They are born good, rational, realistic, trustworthy and reliable.
Key concepts
• Every individual has an inherent capacity to deal with his problems constructively and successfully if operating in the right emotional environment.
• Behaviour is not merely controlled by physiological drives or instincts.
• Every individual has innate potential to move away from maladjusted behaviour and move towards psychological growth (self actualization).
• Given the right environment all people can change.
Causes of maladjusted behavior
According to this theory psychological disorders arise when the process of reaching ones potential is blocked by circumstances, other people like parents, spouses and teachers. A person fails to move in the direction of self-actualization if the needs physiological and psychological are frustrated.
3.THE COGNITIVE THEORIES
RATIONAL EMOTIVE THERAPY (RET)
This is a cognitive theory of counseling. It recognizes the importance of thought processes in determining behaviour. Thought processes refer to reasoning, beliefs, attitudes expectations as well as the individual’s interpretation of events.
The cause of maladaptive behavior
According to this theory, maladaptive behavior is caused by irrational beliefs, attitudes and the interpretation of events. For example, a person may become depressed because of appraising events from a negative, self critical view point observed when;
- A person expects to fail rather than to succeed
- A person magnifies failures and minimizes success in evaluating performance
- A person holds irrational beliefs based on rigid and absolute stands. For example, when a person holds the belief that:
I must be loved by everybody.
I must succeed in everything I do.
I must afford all the things I need.
I have to win in the race
I have to be in the top three students in class.
I have to get permission every time I ask for it.
When these absolute standards are not met guilt, anger or depression set in making life unpleasant and unbearable. The person experiences displeasure, frustrations and unhappiness.
Role of the counselor
The role of the counselor is to change the person’s illogical, irrational ideas and beliefs replacing them with logic and reason. The client is helped to acquire thoughts that are in line with reality. He is helped to recognize the distortions in his thinking. The client is also helped to ensure greater control over emotions and behaviour. He is helped to think positively and to acquire a sense of mastery or self-efficacy. The client can be exposed to models of behaviour to observe how they cope with certain ideas, attitudes and situations. The counselor can also use verbal persuasion to assure the client that he can handle a difficult situation.
The counseling techniques
The counseling techniques used are; role playing, modeling, debating, explaining, challenging, interpreting.
4.BEHAVIORAL THEORIES
Various people, who we have already come across when we were discussing learning, developed behavioral theories. I am sure that you remember Ivan Pavlov and his classical conditioning, J.B Watson, B.F Skinner and their work in conditioning. The behavioral theories of counseling borrow heavily from the work of these pioneer researchers in the area of learning. The borrowed concepts and ideas are those that you are very familiar with let us revisit some of them.
-In classical conditioning we learned that behaviour is learned through paired associations of events that occur together in time and space. In line with this self-efficacy. The client can be exposed to models of behaviour to observe how they cope with certain ideas, attitudes and situations. The counselor can also use verbal persuasion to assure the client that he can handle a difficult situation.
The counseling techniques
The counseling techniques used are; role playing, modeling, debating, explaining, challenging, interpreting.
marto answered the question on March 20, 2019 at 05:55