Founders
Credited for being someone who revolutionized the field of mental health by connecting thought, feelings and behaviors.
Aaron Beck
This theory’s primary goal is to make the unconscious conscious in order to help reconstruct personality.
Psychoanalysis
Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways."
Psychoanalytic
A counselor tells the client the following phrase “I want you to say whatever comes to mind when I say the word “Flower”
Free Association
Person Centered Therapy
Strengths:
Empowers clients and emphasizes autonomy.
Creates a safe, nonjudgmental environment.
Strong evidence base for the importance of empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard.
Limitations:
May be too nondirective for clients needing structure.
Not always effective for severe psychopathology.
Relies heavily on the counselor’s personal qualities.
Founded the idea of unconditional positive regard to create a supportive environment where clients could explore their thoughts and feelings.
Carl Rogers
This theory’s primary goal is to teach clients to confront faulty beliefs with contractionary evidence that they gather and evaluate.
CBT
"People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be."
Humanistic
A counselor asks the client the following phrase “Can you tell me the first time you remember feeling joy?”
Psychoanalytic
Strengths:
Deep exploration of unconscious motivations and past experiences.
Insight-oriented, which can lead to long-term personality changes.
Influenced many modern theories and techniques.
Limitations:
Time-consuming and costly.
Limited empirical support.
The id, ego, superego are hard to operationalize and test.
This founder identified 5 core human needs that drive behavior. He believed that individuals have the power to choose their thoughts, feelings and actions.
William Glasser
This theory’s primary goal is to explore self by helping clients recognize blocks to growth and experience aspects of self that were formerly denied or distorted
Person Centered Therapy
"Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'."
Existential
A counselor asks the client to reflect on how gender -role socialization has impacted their life.
Gender Role Analysis
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Strengths:
Structured, goal-oriented, and time-limited.
Evidence-based and effective for many disorders.
Teaches practical skills (e.g., cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation).
Limitations:
May overlook deeper emotional or relational issues.
Can feel "too rational" or rigid for some clients.
Requires active participation and insight.
Designed a chamber using rats in order to explore consequences like reinforcement and punishment and how it shapes behavior.
B.F. Skinner
This theory’s primary goal is to help people see that they are free and to become aware of their possibilities.
Existential
"Look for what is working, and do more of it."
Solution Focused
A counselor is looking to complete a technique in which they ask the client to talk about something that may be traumatic and tap one side of their body to the other side of their body.
Feminist Theory
Strengths:
Structured, goal-oriented, and time-limited.
Evidence-based and effective for many disorders.
Teaches practical skills (e.g., cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation).
Limitations:
May overlook deeper emotional or relational issues.
Can feel "too rational" or rigid for some clients.
Requires active participation and insight.
his founder believes in a hierarchy of needs that emphasizes the positive aspects of human nature, including the potential for growth, creativity and self-actualization.
Maslow
This theory’s primary goal is to help people become more effective in meeting all oftheir psychological needs.
Choice/Reality Therapy
"The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem."
Narrative Therapy
A counselor works with a client on the internal monologue that they hear in their mind. This counselor works with the client in order to identify what may be fact versus feeling.
Disputing Irrational Beliefs
Behavior Therapy
Strengths:
Clear, measurable goals.
Effective for phobias, addictions, and specific behaviors.
Strong empirical support.
Limitations:
Ignores thoughts and emotions.
Can seem mechanistic or dehumanizing.
Less focus on therapeutic relationship.