Friday, June 8, 2012

An Approach to Psychological Counselling

psychology studies

Many forms of psychotherapy today are being offered; although it must be confessed that the most used form is an eclectic form made up from aspects of various cognitive-behaviour techniques plus procedures taken from other therapies.

In any case, cognitive-behaviour therapies presuppose that psychological disturbance can be ameliorated by modifying the irrational/illogical/unscientific thoughts that the person automatically thinks about certain situations.

It is true that irrational thoughts such as 'everyone hates me', 'I can't cope with my life' and 'I hate myself' may accompany negative moods. However, their mere presence is no guarantee of their causative status and efforts to demonstrate causation founder on the rocks of the sheer complexity of human experience.

Frankly speaking, psychologists cannot control all necessary variables in studying human functioning and if they were able to exercise such control their research would be of human beings that do not exist in this present world, beings stripped of their essential humanity.

Efforts to argue that when clients are taught to modify their thoughts that their distress diminishes must indicate that the 'problem' was bound up with irrational thoughts in the first place are not convincing. In all forms of cognitive-behaviour therapy much more is involved than just teaching clients to think differently. For human interaction always involves more than just thinking.

Moreover, cognition itself is more than 'just thinking rationally or logically'. Cognition involves the broad area of knowing so it can also be connected with imagining and willing.

Attachment Phenomena

Undeniably, humans are attached to their mothers from their earliest time of existence. After birth, attachment behaviour can be observed throughout life.

Humans are born into an attachment matrix of some type and to some extent, the quality of that attachment continues with them unless effective therapeutic interventions occur or other life-events profoundly modify that attachment type.

Four types of attachment types have been identified: secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant.

The first type of attachment pattern is found in positive mother-child bonds where the child is said to have found 'a secure base'. The person emerging from this type of attachment will tend to find it easy to establish relationships throughout life.

In the second type, the anxious-preoccupied one, the child tends to be 'clingy' and to grow up that way. On growing up, they will confess to wanting close relationships with others but fear others don't want the same closeness to them. 'Do you really love me?' they ask.

In the third type, the child and then later the adult will pride themselves on their independence and their ability not to want intimacy with others. Such an outlook can lead to problems in intimacy relationships such as marriage.

In last category we find those who are highly ambivalent about relationships; they desire close relationships but are fearful that they will be hurt by rejection or abandonment.

Therapy

During childhood it is hypothesised that the child builds up 'a working model of attachment' with the primary caregivers so as to predict what will conceivably happen if the child does such and such.

This type of therapy can be used with children and parents. It is also being used with adult clients in romantic relationships particularly those with difficulties involving infidelity.

However, to this point my experience only stretches to using it as way of understanding why certain clients act the way they do. (Interestingly, the above categories bear some resemblance to the personality types identified by the famous early psychoanalyst, Karen Horney.)

Dr Ian R Ridgway is a Christian psychologist with 20 years experience in counselling and tertiary teaching. He relates the Christian faith to his vocation to assist others by developing a quality relationship built on trust and unconditional acceptance of the client (though not necessarily of all s/his behaviour). He provides an individual professional service as set out at http://psy-services.yolasite.com/


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