Novice Counselor's blog

The main thing that I take away from this course is the knowledge of different theoretical perspectives and interventions. Almost every theory that was covered in this course offered something useful and new to this learner. This learner was exposed to theories previously unknown to her such as Hakomi therapy and the transpersonal theories. This learner found some illuminating information about mindfulness, and some of the eastern philosophies-based interventions.

One article found especially useful was Robinson’s 1991 article, “Towards a State of Being Able to Play: Integrating Gestalt Concepts and Methods Into a Psychodynamic Approach to Counseling, about the successful integration of psychodynamic theory and gestalt theory. This shows that a successful integration of disparate theories is possible. Another article, Lazarus and Beutler’s 1993 article, “On Technical Eclecticism,” brought up a different perspective, where the integration of psychodynamic theory and cognitive behavioral therapy was unsuccessful. That article warned of the dangers of haphazard integration of theories.

The final project gave this learner an opportunity to apply one theory to a specific case. This is a valuable lesson for the future as this learner ventures deeper into the study of mental health counseling.
Additionally, this learner particularly enjoyed analyzing the counseling style of the therapists in the two movies assigned in this course.

Finally, the discussions that were part of this course offered invaluable insight into the various aspects of psychotherapy and gave this learner different perspectives to think about. This learner found particularly useful one classmate’s description of the techniques and interventions being used at the classmate’s work place. This learner would like to thank all her classmates for lively contributions to the discussions.

This learner plans to study more in-depth the various theories covered in this course and apply the knowledge in her career as a counselor. As a result of taking this course, this learner feels more confident about applying different techniques to serve various clients. At the same time, this learner realizes the importance of learning from more experienced colleagues.

References:

Lazarus, A. A., Beutler, L. E., (1993); On Technical Eclecticism; Journal of Counseling and Development; Volume 71., issue 4, pp.381-385.

Robinson J., (1991); “Towards a State of Being Able to Play: Integrating Gestalt Concepts and Methods Into a Psychodynamic Approach to Counseling,” ; British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, volume 19, issue 1, pages 44–65.