Chapter10：Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

contents：

1. Introduction

2. Psychological Counseling

3. An Introduction to Psychotherapy

4. Differences and Connections between Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

1.Introduction

In this chapter, at first we will present what is psychological counseling, with the

characteristics, the forms, and the principles of psychological counseling, and we focus on an

important point that is the technology of psychological counseling. At the second part, we will

grasp the basic concept of psychotherapy, and the basic technique and the classification of

psychotherapy. The important content at this part is the main methods of psychotherapy, so we

will expound the five main psychotherapies in detail. Finally, we also will introduce the difference

of psychological counseling and psychotherapy, as well as the connections between them.

2.Psychological Counseling

Treatment of emotional or psychological problems can be traced to antiquity. The ancient

Greeks were the first to identify mental illness as a medical condition, rather than a sign of

malevolent deities. While their understanding of the nature of mental illness was not always

correct (c. g. , they believed that hysteria affected only women due to a wandering uterus), and

their treatments rather unusual (e. g., bathing for depression, blood-letting for psychosis), they did

recognize the treatment value of encouraging and consoling words.

Modern psychological therapies trace their history back to the work of Sigmund Freud in

Vienna in the 1880s. Trained as a neurologist, Freud entered private practice in 1886 and by 1896

he had developed a method of working with hysterical patients which he called "psychoanalysis".

A large part of Freud's counseling style was centered on his ability to help the patients process

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their current behaviors by dealing with their past.

2.1 About Psychological Counseling

Tseng Wen-xing have considered some conditions related to mental health, these conditions

include: ① have confidence in themselves, and have hope with their lives; ②caring for their

family, like to have a close person; ③like their jobs, satisfied with their family; ④ to maintain a

wide range of interests and activities; ⑤bring into play to their potential benefits, but also take

advantage of opportunities; ⑥know their weaknesses, but also willing to accept the help from

others; ⑦can accept failure, frustration, and willing to face the difficulties; ⑧to accept changes in

the environment, and adapt to it; ⑨constantly enrich themselves, promote self-growth; ⑩enjoy

life, and to make their own life meaningful.

C. H. Patterson considered that psychological counseling is a kind of relationship, in this kind

of relations the counselor provides a certain amount of psychological atmosphere and conditions,

makes the clients to changes, and makes a choice to solve their own problems, and form

responsible individuals, to become better persons and better social members.

C. R. Rogers considered that psychological counseling is a way through direct contact with

individuals, continue to provide psychological assistance and try to change their behavior and

attitude.

D. R. Riesman considered that psychological counseling is a way to help individuals achieve

the self-help process, the educational process and the growth process through establishing

relationships.

In summary, psychological counseling follows the principles of psychology and related

knowledge, through a variety of techniques and methods to help callers solve psychological

problems by professional psychological counselors.

2.2Types of Psychological Counseling

Counseling is when clients agree to see a counselor in a confidential place to examine and explore

any problems they face in their lives, such as dissatisfaction with life or a loss of direction or

purpose.

The client must always be willing and accepting of the process of counseling as no one can be

forced to go and be effectively counseled. Counseling is a job that the counselor and client must

perform together. In other words, the counselor couldn't do anything to client to make the client

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better alone. They need to trust each other. Counselors are bound by law to keep the client's

problems private, and the client must feel safe enough to tell the counselor his/ her true feelings

and thoughts.

After the client decides to get help, the counselor and client together would make a choice to take

which type of counseling is best suited to solve the problem. Counseling services, which must be

confidential, should be chosen to meet the client's needs. These services can be classified into

various sorts according to different kinds of reasons.

I. By the number of points:

(1) Individual counseling：

A counselor for the individual client to the consultation.

(2) Group counseling：

Small groups or large groups of clients have similar problems, for join discussions, guidance, or

advice correction form.

II. By object points

(1) Direct counseling：

The counselor contacts and interacts the client directly for the counseling.

(2) Indirect counseling：

The counselor understands the psychological problems of the client by their parents, friends,

teachers, etc. and through them to implement guidance.

2.3 Forms of Psychological Counseling

(1) Outpatient counseling The client comes to seek psychological assistance counseling.
(2) Telephone counseling Help the client to solve the psychological problems through telephone

conversations.

(3) Letter counseling Give psychological advice and support to the client who seek answers of

psychological problems by letter.

(4) Rubric counseling A type of psychological counseling through the press, radio, television and

other media to answer the typical question.

(5) On-site counseling The counselor answers questions of the client who came to seek

consultation propose at a certain time and place.

2.4 Tasks of Psychological Counseling

(1) To help the client deal with existing problems, and change their bad mood and behavior.

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(2) To help the client enhance the ability of social adaptation.

(3) To explore the development of self-direction, and promote future development with the client.

2.5 Stages and Skills of Psychological Counseling

There is a natural progression that takes place within the context of the helping relationship. This

process enables you and the person you are working with to build a relationship, assess the

situation, set goals and come up with a plan to bring about your desired results. This progression is

known as the counseling process. There are five stages of the counseling process, including

rapport and relationship building, assessment/problem definition, goalsetting, initiating

interventions and termination. Each stage of the counseling process builds upon the former. As

moving through each stage, it takes patience and practice to counsel a client effectively. The five-

stage model is derived from the work of Hackney and Cormier, in 2001.

2.5.1 Rapport and Relationship Building

The setting in which the counseling takes place obviously either facilitates or hinders the

process. So, first, it is necessary to avoid distractions such as background noise and interruptions;

establish privacy by ensuring others cannot overhear; and choose surroundings that suit the other

person. By finding a setting that is non-threatening and conducive to conversation and by putting

the other person at ease, the counselor creates an atmosphere where open communication can take

place.

2.5.2 Assessment/Problem Definition

An informed assessment happens when both counselor and counselee gather information in

order to figure out what's "really" going on so that the counselor can assess what needs to do next

in order to change the situation, or build up the client's coping skills to better deal with a

problematic situation.

2.5.3 Goal Setting

In this step, the counselor needs to recognize, understand and meet the client's needs, and

tries to help the client to explore their issues and better understand themselves, their situation and

feelings, and in a new perspective. A good therapist should be able to help the client define

specific problems which are strongly affecting the client. Rather than simply listening and

reflecting, counselors have a duty to help the client define specifics. Looking at the specific issues

can often be difficult because multiple issues probably do exist.

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2.5.4 Initiating Interventions

After assessment and goal setting, the following question should be considered, "How will the

counselors accomplish these goals?" Interventions are designed to help individuals rethink risky

behavior, work through problematic issues, address unhealthy lifestyles practices, learn new skills

and build strengths. The discussion of the intervention provides a description of the methods

counselors use in helping clients.

2.5.5 Termination

When any relationship ends, including a counseling relationship, there are many emotions

that those individuals involved in the relationship may experience. That is this somewhat artificial

aspect can lead to a myriad of emotions for both counselor and client that must be acknowledged

and worked through by both individuals. The termination stage is the final stage of counseling, but

is just as important as the initial phase of counseling.

How a counselor closes the counseling relationship can have a significant impact on client's

view of his or her experience in counseling and the likelihood of their practicing what has been

learned in counseling after sessions have concluded. In some cases, the “end" of counseling is not

always the end, and follow-up is deemed appropriate by the counselor and client to serve as a

check to see if change has been maintained and to allow for clients to revisit old issues or work on

new issues at a later date.

2.6 Dimensions of Confidentiality

Confidentiality is central to developing a trusting and productive client-therapist relationship.

Because no genuine therapy can occur unless clients trust in the privacy of their revelations to

their therapists, professionals have the responsibility to define the degree of confidentiality that

can be promised. Counselors have an ethical and legal responsibility to discuss the nature and

purpose of confidentiality with their clients early in the counseling process.

In addition, clients have a right to know that their therapist may be discussing certain details of

the relationship with a supervisor or a colleague. Although most counselors agree on the essential

value of confidentiality, they realize that it cannot be considered absolutely. Some times the

confidential information must be divulged, and there are many instances in which keeping or

breaking confidentiality becomes a blurry issue. In determining when to breach confidentiality,

therapists must consider the requirements of the law, the institution in which they work, and the

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clientele they serve. Because these circumstances are frequently not clearly defined by accepted

ethics codes, counselors must exercise professional judgment.

There is a legal requirement to break confidentiality in cases involving child abuse, abuse of

the elderly, abuse of dependent adults, and danger to self or others. All mental health practitioners

and interns need to be aware of their duties to report in these situations and to know the limitations

of confidentiality.

Here are some other circumstances in which information must legally be reported by counselors:
(1) When the therapist believes a client under the age of 16 is the victim of incest, rape, child

abuse, or some other crime.

(2) When the therapist determines that the client needs hospitalization.

(3) When information is made an issue in a court action.

(4) When clients request that their records be released to them or to a third party.

In general, the counselor's primary obligation is to protect client disclosures as a vital part of

the therapeutic relationship. Informing clients about the limits of confidentiality does not

necessarily inhibit successful counseling

3.An Introduction to Psychotherapy

The psychotherapy is the treatment of personality disorders and mental disorders with

psychological theories and methods. The technology and methods of psychotherapy include

hypnosis, psychoanalysis, behavior modification, biofeedback, qigong, yoga, sports, music and so

on.

Although more people seek out therapy now than in the past, people usually turn to trained

mental health professionals only when their psychological problems become severe or persist for

extended periods of time. When they do, they can turn to several types of therapists.

(1) A clinical social worker is a mental health professional whose specialized training in a

school of social work prepares him of her to work in collaboration with psychiatrists and clinical

psychologists.

(2) A clinical psychologist is required to have concern treated his or her graduate school training

in the assessment and treatment of psychological problems.

(3) A counseling psychologist also typically has obtained a PhD. or PsyD. He or she usually

provides guidance in areas such as vocation selection, school problems, drug abuse, and marital

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conflict.

(4) A psychiatrist must have completed all medical school training of an MD degree and also

have undergone some postdoctoral specialty training in mental and emotional disorders.

(5) A psychoanalyst is a therapist with either an MD or a PhD degree who has completed

specialized postgraduate training in the Freudian approach to understanding and testing mental

disorders.

3.1 Goals and Major Therapies

The therapeutic process involves four primary tasks or goals:

①reaching a diagnosis about what is wrong, possibly determining an appropriate psychiatric

diagnosis for the presenting problem, and classifying the disorder;

②proposing a probable etiology (cause of the problem), that is, identifying the probable origins of

the disorder and the functions served by the symptoms;

③making a prognosis, or estimate, of the course the problem will take, with and without

treatment;

④prescribing and carrying out some forms of treatment, designing a therapy to minimize or

eliminate the troublesome symptoms and, perhaps, their sources.

3.2 Classification of Psychotherapy

3.2.1 Dividing by Form

(1) Individual psychotherapy

(2) Group psychotherapy

(3) Family psychotherapy

3.2.2 Dividing by Communication Form

(1) Verbal therapy

(2) Nonverbal therapy

(3) Behavior therapy

3.2.3 Dividing by the Clients' State of Consciousness

(1) Consciousness therapy

(2) Hypnotism therapy

3.2.4 Dividing by Theoretic Tropism

(1) Psychodynamic therapies

(2) Behaviorism therapies

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 (3) Humanistic therapies

(4) Cognitive psychology therapies

3.3 Basic Technique of Psychotherapy

In psychotherapy, the therapist should have deep technical knowledge and rich practical

experience, and master the basic techniques of psychotherapy at the same time.

Technique of hearing

The hearing technique in the psychological therapy is not only the method for therapist to

receive the client's speech, but also the way to understand the information conveyed in their

speech, and need their speech, and need to make appropriate feedbacks.

There are five major techniques:

(1) Clarification —Therapists need to clarify two part of the content, first, to clarify the part

which the client does not state clearly; second, confirm the accuracy of content which therapists

have heard.

(2) Reflect —Use the therapist's words to express information transmitted by the client, but

not simply repeat client's speech.

(3) Emotion —Mainly used rearrangement the emotional part of information transmitted by

the client.

(4) Summary —A general description of what the client talked.

(5) Specific—The therapist knows the specific information related to client's experience and

emotion by asking some specific problems.

3.4 Technology of Influence

In the process of psychotherapy, the therapist requires not only to understand the client, but

also to master the more actively technology in order to guide the treatment direction.

(1) Question

The therapist should ask questions appropriately. Questions are divided into open questions and

closed questions.

(2) Interpretation

The therapist uses the theory to identify the emotions and contents which underlying in the

information expressed by clients, and to express them clearly.

(3) Infoming

Exchange the facts and information.

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(4) Immediacy

Therapists describe what occurs at this time during the treatment, involving emotion,

behavior and current thoughts.

This is where you make a summary of what the client has said, and you say it back to the client,

to ensure that you understand what is said. This also makes the client to know that you are

listening and interested.

(5) Self-betrayal

Therapists through verbal or nonverbal behavior, consciously reveal information about

themselves.

(6) Confrontation

herapists use language to describe the feeling of clients, significant differences, contradictions,

conflicts and vague information exists in their thoughts and actions.

3.5 Methods of Psychotherapy

3.5.1 Psychoanalytic Therapy

Freud considers that the cause of mental disorder is in early life and the legacy of

psychological conflict what has been pressed into the subconscious.

Psychoanalytic theory proposed that all human individuals and social behaviors are rooted in

some kind of soul desires and motivations. Psychoanalysis is a clinical technique, it is through the

interpretation of dreams, free association and other means to discover the motives underlying the

patient, so that the spirit of catharsis, thereby treating the disease.

Psychoanalytic therapy is to draw the childhood trauma and pain experience out which suppressed

in the subconscious, make it become conscious, then analyze and explain it, so that clients can get

a kind of new comprehension of emotional experience, which can make the symptoms disappear.

(1) Free association

The principal procedure used in psychoanalytic to probe the unconscious and release repressed

material is called free association. Freud maintained that free associations are predetermined, not

random.

(2) Dream analysis

When a person is asleep, the superego is presumably less on guard against the unacceptable

impulses origination in the id, so a motive that cannot be expressed in waking life may find

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expression in a dream. In analysis, dreams are assumed to have two kinds of content: manifest

(openly visible) content that people remember upon awakening and latent (hidden) content the

actual motives that are seeking expression but are so painful or unacceptable that they are

expressed in disguised or symbolic form. Therapists attempt to uncover these hidden motives by

using dream analysis, a therapeutic technique that examines the content of a person's dreams to

discover the underlying or disguised motivations and symbolic meanings of significant life

experiences and desires.

(3) Resistance

A psychoanalyst attaches particular importance to subjects that a client does not wish to

discuss. At some time during the process of free association, a client will show resistance-an

inability or unwillingness to discuss certain ideas, desires, or experiences. Such resistances are

conceived of as barrier between the unconscious and the conscious.

(4) Transference and counter-transference

During the course of the intensive therapy of psychoanalytic, a client usually develops an

emotional reaction toward the therapist. Often, the therapist is identified as a person who has been

at the center of an emotional conflict in the past, most often a parent or a lover. The client takes

the emotional reactions to a therapist.

Personal feelings are also at work in a therapist's reactions to a client. Counter-transference

refers to what happens when a therapist comes to like or dislike a client because the client is

perceived as similar to significant people in the therapist's life. The therapist becomes a "living

mirror" for the client and the client, in turn, for the therapist.

(5) Interpretation

Interpretation consists of the analyst's pointing out, explaining, and even teaching the client the

meanings of behavior that is manifested in dreams, free association, resistances, and the

therapeutic relationship itself. The functions of interpretations are to enable the ego to assimilate

new material and to speed up the process of uncovering further unconscious material.

3.5.2 Behavior Therapy

It is also called behavioral or learning therapy.

Behaviorism considers that all human behaviors (with a few exceptions of genetic behaviors) are

acquired through learning. The normal and abnormal behaviors are the results which were

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enhanced by acquired environmental. Behavior therapy is based on behavioral learning theory, in

accordance with certain procedures, a psychological treatment to eliminate or correct people's

abnormal or bad behavior.

Main therapy methods:

(1) Systematic desensitization

Systematic desensitization, which is based on the principle of classical conditioning, is a basic

behavioral procedure developed by Joseph Wolpe, one of the pioneers of behavior therapy. Clients

imagine successively more anxiety-arousing situations at the same time that they engage in a

behavior that competes with anxiety. Gradually, or systematically, clients become less sensitive to

the anxiety-arousing situation.

Using systematic desensitization therapy for treatment should include three steps: first,

relaxation training; second, to establish the level of anxiety event; third, implementing systematic

desensitization.

(2) Flooding therapy

Flooding therapy is a form of exposure therapy, which refers to either in viva or imaginal

exposure to anxiety-evoking stimuli for a prolonged period of time. As is characteristic of all

exposure therapies, even though the client experiences anxiety during the exposure, the feared

consequences do not occur.

(3) Aversive therapy

Aversive therapy uses counter conditioning procedures to pair these stimuli with strong noxious

stimuli such as electric shocks or nausea-producing drugs. In time, the same negative reactions are

elicited by the tempting stimuli, and the person develops an aversion that replaces his or her

former desire.

(4) Token economy method

(5) Modeling therapy

(6) Relaxation therapy

(7) Biofeedback therapy

Biofeedback therapy is also known as bio-feedback therapy and as autonomic learning

method. It was developed on the basis of a new type of behavioral therapy, psychotherapy

techniques.

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 Biofeedback therapy using modern physiological science instruments, through patients'

feedback in the human body physiological or pathological information, so that after special

training patients can control and do psychological training consciously, free to regulate their own

body functions through visceral learning, thus eliminating pathological processes, recovery their

physical and psychological state.

3.5.3 Humanistic Psychotherapy

Humanistic psychotherapy was stressed that clients should find a better way to deal with reality

contradictory and find the method to solve the problems of real life by themselves.

Humanistic psychotherapy is to create a favorable psychology atmosphere for clients, clients

can change their concept, the basic attitude and behavior patterns with self-exploration and self

understanding, and then rely on mobilization of internal potential to cure their disease.

(1) Client-centered therapy

As developed by Carl Rogers, client-centered therapy has had a significant impact on the way

many different kinds of therapists define their relationships to their clients. The primary goal of

clientcentered therapy is to promote the healthy psychological growth of the individual.

From Rogers's perspective the client-therapist relationship is characterized by equality.

Therapists do not keep their knowledge a secret or attempt to mystify the therapeutic process. The

process of change in the client depends to a large degree on the quality of this equal relationship.

As clients experience the therapist listening in an accepting way to them, they gradually learn how

to listen acceptingly to themselves. As they find the therapist caring for and valuing them (even

the aspects that have been hidden and regarded as negative), clients begin to see worth and value

in themselves. As they experience the realness of the therapist, clients drop many of their

pretenses and are real with both themselves and the therapist.

(2) The characteristics of clientcentered therapy

1) Congruence or genuineness:

Congruence implies that therapists are real; that is, they are genuine, integrated, and authentic

during the therapy hours. They are without a false front, their inner experience and outer

expression of that experience match, and they can openly express feelings, thoughts, reactions,

and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the client.

2) Unconditional positive regard and acceptance:

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 The second attitude therapists need to communicate is deep and genuine caring for the client as

a person, or a condition of unconditional positive regard. The caring is nonpossessive and it is not

contaminated by evaluation or judgment of the client's feelings, thoughts, and behavior as good or

bad. If the therapists' caring stems from their own need to be liked and appreciated, constructive

change in the client is inhibited.

3) Accurate empathic understanding:

One of the main tasks of the therapist is to understand clients' experience and feelings

sensitively and accurately as they are revealed in the moment-to-moment interaction during the

therapy session. The therapist strives to sense clients' subjective experience, particularly in the

here and now. The aim is to encourage clients to get closer to themselves, to feel more deeply and

intensely, and to recognize and resolve the incongruity that exists within them.

Empathy is a deep and subjective understanding of the client. Empathy is not sympathy, or

feeling sorry for a client. Therapists are able to share the client's subjective world by tuning in to

their own feelings that are like the client's feelings. Yet therapists must not lose their own

separateness.

3.5.4 Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy considers that human's cognitive process decided to person's mood and

behavior, mental disorder is a result of individual's distortion, unreasonable, negative thinking way

and the wrong belief.

To treat mental disorder, change the bad mood and behavior, we must change the original wrong

cognitive concept.

3. 5. 4. 1 Congnitive Conversion Psychotherapy

In human cognitive activities, there are five kinds of thinking lead to bad cognition. Includes

arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, magnification or minimization and

all-ornone thinking.

(1) Beck's theory of logical errors The main representative of cognitive therapy Beck said:

"maladaptive behavior and emotions, are derived from maladaptive cognitive. Thus, the strategy

of cognitive therapy is to rebuild the cognitive structure." Beck pointed out that the root causes of

psychological distress and obstacles from the way of abnormal or distorted thinking. By the

discovery and excavation of these thinking, and to analyze and critique, then replace them with a

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reasonable and realistic way of thinking, it can relieve the suffering of the patient, making them

better adapt to the environment.

Beck pointed out that those called distorted cognitive thinkings which lead to false assumptions

and misunderstandings are as follows:

1) The casual inference;

2) The selective generalization;

3) The over-extended;

4) The exaggerated or reduced;

5) The all or nothing thinking.

From Beck's analysis to the several emotional distress can be seen in the patient with a

common feature, that is some self-centered and extreme way of thinkings. The patients explain

everything relevant from their own perspective, and link all the things with themselves, so they

can not make an objective reasoning and judgment. In addition, they are also have extreme and

absolute thinking, carry on one-sided, arbitrary and excessive generalization inference to things,

especially exaggerate the negative experiences and expectations.

(2) Beck's five specific cognitive therapy techniques

Beck proposed five specific cognitive therapy techniques in 1985 are as follows:

1) Identification of the automatic thinking:

Because mental disorder triggered automatic way of thinking, and constituted a part of the

habit of thinking of the patient, most of patients can notrealized it. Therefore, in the course of

treatment, we must first learn to help the patient find and identify these automated thinking

process.

2) Identification of cognitive errors:

Cognitive errors are the patient's abstract concepts and common mistakes, such as some non-

rational thinking. These errors are more difficult to identify, so therapists should help the patient

summarize their automatic thinking.

3) Reality testing:

The reality testing is to consider the patient's automatically thinking and misconceptions as a

hypothesis, and encouraged the patient to test the hypothesis in strict design patterns or situations,

to made the patient realize that the original concept is not realistic, so that to consciously corrected

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it, which is the core of cognitive therapy.

4) The decentering:
The decentering is making the patient to realize that they are not the center of attention. The

reason of many mental disorders is the patients feel that they are the center of others' attention, and

their words and deeds will be evaluated by others. They often felt powerless and vulnerable. The

therapist can allow the patient to have some slight changes in behavior, and then require the

patient to record the number of adverse reactions of others, and they will found that very few

people pay attention to their change, so they will naturally recognize concept of irrational

component of their own past.

5) Monitoring distress or anxiety level:

Most of patients believe that their depression or anxiety will always continued and

unchanged, but in fact, these emotions have beginning, peak and subside in the process, and will

not last in one situation forever. Let the patients to experience this change in mood fluctuations

and make them believe they can master the bad mood fluctuations by self-monitoring, thereby

enhance the commitment to change.

6) The self-control of cognition:

Therapist should to guide or teach the patients when they are in tensions, anxiety or fears,

they could say "SWAP" to themselves. "SWAP" means, "stop" (stop, s), "wait a minute" (wait, w),

"focus attention" (absorb, a), when the patients feel adapt to the surrounding environment and feel

more comfortable, then they can slowly "forward to continue" (proceed, p).

3. 5. 4. 2 Rational-emotive Therapy

One of the earliest forms of cognitive therapy was the rational-emotive therapy (RET)

developed by Albert Ellis. Common features of RET procenent, we dures are the focus on the

"here and now", a directive or guidance role of the therapist, a structuring of the psychotherapy

sessions and path, and on alleviating both symptoms and patients' vulnerability.

The main contents and methods of RET are ABCDE model. “A" is an activating event. “B" is

a rational or irrational belief about the activating event and “C" is the consequence of the

interaction of both A and B. “D" is disputes or arguments against irrational beliefs. “E" is for new

effect or the new, more effective emotions and behaviors that result from more reasonable thinking

about the original event. If the person has irrational or faulty beliefs about the activating event, the

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consequence will be unhealthy negative emotions and behaviors that can lead to depression,

anxiety, and other problems.

The primary focus of this treatment approach is to suggest changes in thinking that will lead

to changes in behavior, thereby alleviating or improving symptoms. The therapy emphasizes

changing irrational thinking patterns that cause emotional distress into thoughts that are more

reasonable and rational

3. 5.5 Family Therapy

Family therapy refers to the family as a whole for the object, in view of the psychological

problems of a family by psychotherapy.

Family therapy, also referred as couple and family therapy, marriage and family therapy,

family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with

families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view

change in terms of the systems of interaction between family members. It emphasizes family

relationships as an important factor in psychological health.

The different schools of family therapy have a common belief that, regardless of the origin of

the problem, and regardless of whether the clients consider it an “individual" or “family" issue,

involving families in solutions often benefits clients. This involvement of families is commonly

accomplished by their direct participation in the therapy session. The skills of the family therapist

thus include the ability to influence conversations in a way that catalyses the strengths, wisdom,

and support of the wider system.

In the field's early years, many clinicians defined the family in a narrow, traditional manner

usually including parents and children. As the field evolved, the concept of the family is more

commonly defined in terms of strongly supportive, long-term roles and relationships between

people who may or may not be related by blood or marriage.

The conceptual frameworks developed by family therapists, especially those of family

systems theorists, have been applied to a wide range of human behaviours, including

organisational dynamics and the study of greatness.

4.Differences and Connections between Psychological Counseling

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 and Psychotherapy

By comparing and analyzing the definition of psychological counseling and therapy, there are

many similarities and differences between the two concepts.

4.1 Differences between Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

(1) The object of psychological counseling is normal people, and the object of therapy is

mainly the mental disorders people.

(2) Psychological counseling deal various problems encountered in people such as

unemployment, interpersonal relationship problems, learning and education about youth, marriage

and so on. Scope of application of psychotherapy is mainly some of neurosis, mental disorders and

mental disease.

(3) Psychological counseling does not need to be supplemented by drug treatment,

psychotherapy often requires medication.

(4) Psychological counseling is in a short time, do not need hospitalization. Psychotherapy is

more time-consuming, need to talk several times or even longer. Psychotherapy should make

clinic in professional hospital, some still need hospitalization.

(5) Psychological counseling emphasizes guidance and support, the psychotherapy need to

enter the human unconscious, and reconstruct the personality of client.

4.2 Connections of Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

(1) Theory and method of them is same. There is not a clear boundary between the

Psychological counseling and psychotherapy theory. Behavior therapy, CBT and so on often used

in the Psychotherapy and used in psychological counseling.

(2) The Psychological counseling and psychotherapy emphasizes to establish the

interpersonal relationship between therapist and client, and to consider that it is the necessary

condition to help someone to change and growth healthy in psychology.

4.3 Basic Principles of Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

(1) The principles of understanding and supporting

The counselor uses reasonable listening, emotional response, perceiving identification and the

appropriate ensure skills, to provide the necessary psychological support for clients.

(2) The principle of confidentiality

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 To secrecy the conversation with the client, not open to the public about the client's name, to

reject any surveys about the client, and respect the reasonable demands of the client.

(3) The principle of patience listening and careful inquiry

To inspire and guide clients to talk their psychological problems, and help them to face their

own problems, remove the psychological burden, relax tense mood.

(4) The principle of soothing and inspiring

Help clients comfort and encourage with their mood in the process of psychological

counseling.

(5) The principle of non directive

Inspire and encourage clients to play their own potential, to promote their psychological growth

base on a sincere relationship between the counselor and clients.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter we introduced types of psychological counseling and the forms of

psychological counseling, as well as classification of psychotherapy and basic technique of

psychotherapy. And also describes the major psychological treatment, and the links and

differences between psychological counseling and psychotherapy, as well as the basic principles of

psychological counseling and psychotherapy.

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