Chapter 9

Psychoanalytic, Adlerian, and

Humanistic Theories of
Counseling
Chapter Overview
• The nature and importance of relatively early theories of counseling
• The premises, counselor roles, goals, techniques and
strengths/limitations of psychoanalytic theories
• The premises, counselor roles, goals, techniques and
strengths/limitations of Adlerian theory
• The premises, counselor roles, goals, techniques and
strengths/limitations of humanistic theories, specifically person-
centered counseling, existential counseling and Gestalt therapy
 Process

Interpersonal
Immediate
feedback Counseling relationship

Frequently
on an
individual
level
4 variables determine the amount of growth and
change that take place in any type of counseling:
1. Counselor
2. Client
3. Setting
4. Theoretical orientation
THEORY
is a model that counselors use as a guide to hypothesize about the
formation of possible solutions to a problem.

“Theoretical understanding is an essential part of effective counseling

practice. Theories help counselors organize clinical data, make complex
processes coherent, and provide conceptual guidance for interventions”
(Hansen, 2006, p. 291).
THEORY (Cont.)
Counselors decide which theory/theories to use on the basis of
educational background, philosophy and the needs of clients.

NOT ALL theories are appropriate for all counselors and clients.
NO ONE theory fits all situations and clients

“all theories are hopelessly entangled in culture, politics, and language”

(Hansen, 2006, p. 293)
THEORY (Cont.)
Five requirements of a good theory: (Hansen, Stevic, and Warner (1986))

1. Clear, easily understood and communicable

2. Comprehensive
3. Explicit and heuristic
4. Specific in relating means to desired outcomes
5. Useful to its intended practitioners

• In addition to these five qualities, a good theory for counselors is one that matches
their personal philosophies of helping. Shertzer and Stone (1974) suggest that a
counseling theory must fit counselors like a suit of clothes.
IMPORTANCE OF A THEORY
It impacts how:

• Communication is conceptualized
• Interpersonal relationships develop
• Professional ethics are implemented
• Counselors view themselves as
professionals
IMPORTANCE OF A THEORY
The why behind the how of counselor’s roles (Boy and Pine, 1983)

Six (6) functions of theory that help counselors in a practical way:

1. helps counselors find unity and relatedness within the diversity of existence.
2. compels counselors to examine relationships they would otherwise overlook.
3. gives counselors operational guidelines by which to work and helps them
evaluate their development as professionals.
4. helps counselors focus on relevant data and tells them what to look for.
5. helps counselors assist clients in the effective modification of their behavior.
6. helps counselors evaluate both old and new approaches to the process of
counseling. It is the base from which new counseling approaches are
constructed.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
As of 2016, there are approximately 1,000 theories of
psychotherapy and counseling (Sharf, 2016) proposing a wide
variety of approaches to choose from.

Instead of generating new theories, Okun (1990) states that the present
emphasis in counseling is on connecting counseling theories.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Eclectic counselors
The largest percentage of professional counselors today identify
themselves as integrated or eclectic in the use of theory and
techniques (Lazarus & Beutler, 1993; Sharf, 2016).

Average of 4.4 theories making up their therapeutic work with clients.

Style-shift counseling as the needs of the client change, counselors

depart from a theory they are using to use another approach.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Electric counselors
Sometimes, an eclectic approach becomes hazardous when the
counselor is not thoroughly familiar with all the aspects of the theory
involved, hence the term electric is used for such unexamined and
undereducated method. Electric is, quite sarcastically, used for
counselors that try a method that simply “turn them on”.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Tec
hnic
al
Ecle
ctis
Theoretical
m
Integrationism
Traditional

Syncretism
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Syncretism

• Lowest or first level of eclecticism

• Sloppy, unsystematic process of putting together unrelated clinical
concepts together
• Encouraged when graduate students are urged to formulate their own
theories of counseling without first having experienced how tested
models work.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Traditional

• Incorporates “an orderly combination of compatible features from

diverse sources [into a] harmonious whole” (English & English, 1956,
p. 168).
• Theories are examined in greater depth
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Theoretical integrationism

• Described as professional or theoretical

• This type requires that counselor master at least two theories before
trying to make any combinations
• Trouble with this approach is that it assumes a degree of equality
between theories
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Technical Eclecticism

• Procedures from different theories are selected and used in treatment

“without necessarily subscribing to the theories that spawned them”
(Lazarus & Beutler, 1993, p. 384)
• The idea is that techniques, not theories, are actually used in treating
clients.
• Exemplified in the work of Arnold Lazarus (2008) and his multimodal
approach to counseling, which assesses the seven elements of a client’s
experience.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Hierarchy of eclectic practices
Technical Eclecticism (cont.)
• Arnold Lazarus used the acronym BASIC ID to summarize the seven elements of
a client’s experience.
Behavior
Affect
Sensations (e.g., seeing, smelling, touching and tasting)
Imagery
Cognitions (e.g., beliefs and values)
Interpersonal relationships
Drugs (e.g., any concerns about health including drug use, fitness or diet)
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Eclectic practices
Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Norcross & Beutler, 2008;
Prochaska & DiClemente, 1992)
• An alternative to technical eclectic approaches that tend to be
inclusive to the point that various components are ‘poorly’ held
together” (Petrocelli, 2002, p. 23)
• Direction focused and proposes five stages of change:
precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and
maintenance.
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Eclectic practices
Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Norcross & Beutler, 2008;
Prochaska & DiClemente, 1992)
THEORY INTO PRACTICE
Postmodernist perspective
• Counseling theories are being seen as prepackaged narratives that
help clients create new meaning systems, “not by objectively
discovering old ones” (Hansen, 2006, p. 295)
 PSYCHOANALYTIC
THEORIES
Psychoanalysis in its classic form, as developed by Sigmund Freud, is
examined in this section.
Psychoanalysis Founders/Developers
• Sigmund Freud, a Viennese psychiatrist (1856-1939), is the person
primary associated with psychoanalysis
• Anna Freud, his daughter, further elaborated the theory specifically as
it relates to children and development of defense mechanisms
• Heinz Kohut, has extended the theory to developmental issues,
especially attachment, through his conceptualization of object
relations theory.
Psychoanalysis View of Human Nature
• Freud’s view of human nature is dynamic with the transformation and
exchange of energy within the personality (Hall, 1954)
• People have:
• A conscious mind – attuned to an awareness of the outside world
• A preconscious mind – contains hidden memories or forgotten experiences
that can be remembered
• An unconscious mind – containing the instinctual, repressed and powerful
forces
Psychoanalysis Personality
• According to Freud, personality is composed of 3 parts:
• Id – comprised of amoral basic instincts, which operates according to the
pleasure principle
• Ego – the conscious, decision-making “executive of the mind” which operates
according to the reality principle
• Superego – the conscience of the mind that contains the values of parental
figures and that operates according to the moral principle.

• The Id and the superego are confined to the unconscious; the ego primarily
operates in the conscious but also in the preconscious and unconscious.
Psychoanalysis
Psychosexual developmental stages

• Oral stage - where the mouth is the chief pleasure zone and basic
gratification is from sucking and biting
• Anal stage – where delight is in either withholding or eliminating
feces
• Phallic stage - where the chief zone of pleasure is the sex organs, and
members of both sexes must work through their sexual desires
• Genital stage - where if all has gone well previously, each gender
takes more interest in the other and normal heterosexual patterns of
interaction appear
Psychoanalysis
Psychosexual developmental stages

Excessive frustration or overindulgence in the first

three stages of psychosexual development can often
lead to fixation at the level of development or
dependent on the use of immature defense
mechanisms
Psychoanalysis
Defense Mechanisms
Psychoanalysis
Role of the Counselor

Professionals who practice classic psychoanalysis encourage

their clients to talk about whatever comes to mind, especially
childhood experiences.

The analyst’s role is to let clients gain insight by reliving and

working through the unresolved past experiences that come into
focus during sessions
Psychoanalysis
Goals

1. To help the client become more aware of the unconscious

aspects of his or her personality
2. To help a client work through a developmental stage not
previously resolved
3. To help clients cope with the demands of the society in which
they live
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Techniques

1. Free Association - the client abandons the normal way of censoring thoughts
by consciously repressing them and instead says whatever comes to mind, even if the
thoughts seem silly, irrational, suggestive, or painful
2. Dream Analysis - clients are encouraged to dream and remember dreams. The
counselor is especially sensitive to two aspects of dreams:
• Manifest Content – obvious meaning
• Latent Content – hidden but true meaning

3. Analysis of Transference - Transference is the client’s response to a

counselor as if the counselor were some significant figure in the client’s past, usually a
parent figure. That is later encouraged and interpreted by the analyst.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Techniques

4. Analysis of Resistance – Sometimes clients progress initially to the

treatment and continue to a halt. This resistance can take many forms missing
appointments, not paying fees, blocking thoughts during free association. A counselor’s
analysis of resistance can help clients gain insight into it as well as other behaviors
5. Interpretation - counselor helps the client understand the meaning of past and
present personal events.
Psychoanalysis
Strengths and Contributions
• Emphasizes the importance of sexuality and the unconscious
• It is heuristic
• Provides a theoretical base of support
• Continues to evolve
• Serves as effective to clients who suffer from a wide variety of disorders
Psychoanalysis
Limitations
• Time consuming and expensive
• Does not seem to be working to older clients or even a large variety of
clients
• Claimed almost exclusively by psychiatry
• Operates based on many concepts not commonly understood and
communicated
• Deterministic
• has become associated with people who have major adjustment difficulties