COMPREHENSIVE STUDY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

A BRIEF HISTORY
OF COUNSELLING

Through the centuries, humans in times of personal distress or sadness have sought others for
emotional support. The ancient Greeks drew on philosophy to make sense of life events and to
give direction in life. The philosopher Epictetus stated, Men are disturbed not by things, but by
the view which they take of them.

Religion has played a significant role, offering spiritual comfort through the centuries through
both faith and kinship connection of fellow believers.

As the years progressed, certain individuals decided to search for a scientific explanation of
mental distress. One such individual was an Austrian neuroscientist named Sigmund Freud.

Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939)

Freud is commonly referred to as the founder of talking

therapies. He coined the term psychoanalysis which is a
systematic approach to psychological therapy.

Freud aimed to treat mental disorders by investigating how our

conscious and unconscious mind interact, sometimes bringing
repressed fears and conflicts into our consciousness.

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 COMPREHENSIVE STUDY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Therapeutic Approach

The psychoanalyst will listen to your issues and look for patterns or events which may be
significant. In this approach, it is believed that unconscious feelings and childhood events play a
key role in mental distress.

The therapist will listen to your concerns and look out for patterns or certain events that may hold
significance.

In psychoanalysis, the therapist may use techniques such as free association, therapeutic
transference, and interpretation to help you explore your subconscious processes and how
past events impact you today.

Glossary of Terms

Id - ego super-ego, free association, therapeutic transference, counter transference,

Interpretation, neurosis, directive therapy, psycho-analytical, interpretation of dreams, ego
defence mechanisms, projection

Key Texts

The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901), Three Essays
on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), Totem and Taboo (1913), On Narcissism (1914) Introduction to
Psychoanalysis (1917), Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)

Approach

Psychoanalysis, first force in psychology, therapist is an expert

Related Therapies

Transactional Analysis

In the 1940s, researchers and psychologists developed a new thinking regarding the way
humans experience life events and the emotions which are generated from them. This new
approach in psychology was named Behaviourism. This theory believes that humans are born
as a tabula rasa, a Latin phrase meaning a blank slate. The theory believed that humans
could be conditioned to think and behave in certain ways. Behaviourism generated new ideas in
therapy which proposed we could think ourselves out of mental distress.

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 COMPREHENSIVE STUDY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Albert Ellis (1913 2007)

Ellis was the founder of the cognitive therapy moment, an idea
in psychology that humans could rationalise their problems. He
developed a therapeutic approach named REBT (Rational
Emotive Behavioural Therapy).

The aim of the therapy is to help clients look at other ways of seeing
their situation and seek for alternative explanations. The model
believes that an activating event in someones life can create a
faulty belief, which the client would act upon.

Therapeutic Approach

In REBT, the therapist would help the client explore faulty beliefs, helping them look for other
possible explanations.

Part of the therapists role is to challenge the client on their thinking and try to help them
come to terms with the inequality of the world, as well as consider if their thinking patters are
based on real events or their interpretation of them.

Glossary of Terms

Action belief consequence, insight, rational, active -directive

Key Texts

A Guide to Rational Living 1961, Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy 1962, The Practice of
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy 1987, How to Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You
1998

Approach

Cognitive-Behavioural, second force in psychology, therapist an expert

Related Therapies

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectic Behavioural Therapy

In the 1950s, a new idea in psychology began to emerge. It was called Humanism , which
believed that humans have an innate ability to emotionally grow given the right emotional
conditions. Carl Rogers believed that if a client experienced empathy, congruence, and a
nonjudgmental attitude from the therapist, they could harness their innate ability to heal and
emotionally develop.

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 COMPREHENSIVE STUDY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS OF COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Carl Rogers (1902 1987)

Rogers was a key figure in the humanistic psychology
movement, which believed that human beings were basically good.
Emotional difficulties were generated by views they took on from
other people

Therapeutic Approach

In person-centred therapy, it is believed that the client knows

what hurts. A nondirective approach is used where the therapist
provides an emotionally warm and supportive environment and where the client can explore the
people they want to become.

Glossary of Terms

Introjected values, conditions of worth, organismic self, internal locus of evaluation, core
conditions, external locus of evaluation, external locus of evaluation, frame of reference, fully
functioning person

Key Texts

Client Centred Therapy 1951, On Becoming a Person 1961, Person to Person 1967, A Way of Being
1980

Approach

Humanistic, third force in psychology, therapist is a facilitator-client is the expert on themselves,

nondirective

Related Therapies

Existential Therapy, Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy, Logo Therapy

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