Toward competence: An eclectic approach

Recent developments in children's rights have led to increased criticism of the presumption of total incompetency until adulthood, a concept inconsistently defined by state law. Citing proposals from several disciplines, this article calls for increasing actual competency in decision-making through systematic education in conjunction with developmental levels and experience. The elements of informed consent are suggested as one mechanism for learning to make educated decisions in a variety of settings. The treatment of hyperkinetic children is discussed as a case example.     

The Butchers, an eclectic approach to family therapy

The thesis of this paper is that differing theoretical constructs offer a variety of rich approaches when responding to the problems families present. To work exclusively within one theoretical framework is to deny oneself the value latent in other models, and thus restrict one's therapeutic competence. It is suggested that various family therapy models can be worked together without contradiction if they are subsumed in an overriding systems approach. It is also pointed out that the various models have particular capabilities and limitations with differing therapeutic goals. Ten interviews with one family are used to illustrate an eclectic approach in therapy.     

Reflections of an eclectic skeptic

Following primary and secondary education in Europe, I came to the United States for further education. After majoring in engineering, I shifted to liberal arts and social sciences. I minored in mathematics, philosophy, and education at the undergraduate level and physiology at the graduate level, ultimately obtaining a PhD in personality psychology. My interests were primarily academic, but I did not neglect the emerging field of clinical psychology. After working in hospitals for 9 years, I joined the faculty of Michigan State University where I established the psychological clinic and served as its director for 13 years. Subsequently, during 2 sabbaticals in Israel, I researched personality development in unconventional family settings (the kibbutz). I also studied such diverse issues as motivation for parenthood, time perception and time perspective, and cognition in psychopathology. After editing several textbooks on assessment techniques, I initiated the series of triennial Murray lectures that highlighted the dynamic approach to the study of personality.     

Pastoral counselling: an American perspective

While pastoral counselling is a function of pastoral ministry in religious communities, it is also a specialised ministry requiring professional training that extends well beyond a pastoral/ theological education for ministry, as well as beyond the confines of religious communities. This article is an American perspective on Certified Pastoral Counsellors as mental health care providers for individuals, couples, and families, generally on a fee-for-service basis, with many qualifying for reimbursement by private and federal third party payers. It demonstrates that pastoral counselling as practised in the USA is spiritually integrated counselling and psychotherapy, requiring graduate academic and clinical work in these disciplines as well as graduate education in religious studies. It offers an American perspective on this specialised ministry of mental and relational health and discusses its identity and function, methodology, supervision requirements, and the clinical use of religious resources, including a case illustration.     

An approach to time-limited humanistic-dynamic counselling

Some of the difficulties, dilemmas and opportunities afforded by working within a time-limited counselling framework are explored. The author's range of work, and the relative importance of time-limited work in it, are briefly described. A brief outline of the change process is then given, which includes a discussion of the author's 'philosophy of the person'—i.e. our fundamental beliefs and assumptions about what we believe a 'person' to be (for example, a mechanistic, soul-less collection of matter, or an indissolubly whole organism with a 'soul' or 'spirit'). This discussion provides the backdrop for some reflections on the extent to which time-limited working is consistent with, and adaptable to, a humanistic-dynamic conception of the person, and on the nature of the 'therapeutic' change process.     

A systems approach to AIDS counselling

The initial tasks of a systemic AIDS Counsellor in accepting a referral are described. These include: (a) describing the context of the problem; (b) obtaining a clear definition of the problem; (c) responding to changing views of the problem over time; and (d) identifying whom the problem affects. Failure to consider these issues can give rise to extraneous difficulties in counselling sessions,     

Pastoral counselling in Britain: an introduction

A brief historical survey is given of the development of pastoral counselling in Britain. The positive contribution and qualities of the British pastoral counselling movement are acknowledged, but it is also recognised that the pastoral counselling scene in Britain is deeply fragmented and the causes of this fragmentation are briefly discussed. The articles in this symposium are welcomed as a sample of current thinking within British pastoral counselling. Four of the articles are fundamentally concerned with the nature and identity of pastoral counselling as a discipline, and another two explore specific elements of therapeutic practice (namely, prayer and forgiveness) that are historically associated with pastoral care. The presentation of original empirical research within some of these articles is also welcomed as a constructive development in the context of British pastoral literature.     

A humanistic developmental model of counselling: A psycho-educational approach

A developmental model of counselling, based on humanistic principals of psychological functioning, is proposed. A psycho-educational approach, in which counsellors are seen as helping clients develop skills rather than solve problems, is discussed. The counselling model involves three stages: exploration, intervention and empowering. The intervention stage includes techniques focused on affect, behaviour or cognition, as suggested by the ABC model of personal change described in the paper.     

An exploration of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with distressed young people

This mixed methods study explored the effectiveness and experience of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with young people. An effectiveness study allocated 80 young people aged between 13 and 25 years from four Youth Information Advice and Counselling Services centres in England to two groups: an integrated counselling and coaching group, based on the Personal Consultancy (PC) model, and a humanistic counselling group. Self-report measures of distress were administered at baseline and endpoint. Findings of the quantitative analysis showed that although baseline distress levels between groups were equivalent, post-intervention levels were significantly lower in the integrated group. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of qualitative experiences from five young people from the integrated group explored possible reasons for these results. Five master themes emerged: making sense of past, present and/or future, developing a sense of agency, management of affect, enhancing interpersonal relationships and development of self. Findings indicated that young people responded well to the integrated treatment; attending to intra-psychic issues alongside their developmental challenges seemed to have a beneficial effect on their sense of agency in particular. In conclusion, PC may be an effective means of reducing distress in young people.     

Developing a transpersonal approach to pastoral counselling

A key area of difficulty for those engaged in pastoral counselling often concerns the adequate integration of pastoral, psychological and spiritual concepts and resources. The roots of this tension can be identified within modernity between what can be known through objective observation and reason over what is known through subjective experience. Pastoral counselling, in general, represents an attempt to hold together both scientific and subjective accounts of human existence. Existing forms of Christian pastoral counselling will benefit, however, through a deeper use of spiritual resources drawing both on transpersonal psychology and the tradition of Christian mysticism.     

Transformational education for psychotherapy and counselling: a relational dynamic approach

ABSTRACT

An evolving relational dynamic approach to psychotherapy and counselling education is described. Key themes integrated within the approach are the learning community and transformational relationships. Learning is a reciprocal change process involving students, teachers, supervisors and therapists in overlapping learning communities. Drawing on evidence that effective outcomes in therapy correlate with effective aspects of the therapeutic relationship, the relational dynamic approach emphasises the findings of attachment and intersubjectivity theorists. The intersubjective matrix of infant/caregiver and client/therapist is mirrored and embodied in the relational ethos of training and actively engaged in group supervision. An emphasis on embodied relating is discussed, drawing on infancy studies and recent neuroscientific findings     

Globalising counselling: humanistic counselling in Kenya

This paper explores the application of a Western, psychologically-based model of counselling and counselling training in contexts where the social and cultural conditions differ from mainstream Western societies. A group of Kenyan trainee counsellors following such a course are interviewed about their experience of training. The interview data are analysed to provide a tentative answer to the question of the appropriateness in a Kenyan cultural milieu of a humanistic counselling training model developed in the UK. It is concluded that such application is possible and desirable, if it is undertaken as shared and respectful learning between trainers and trainees.     

The emerging narrative approach to counselling and psychotherapy

An important recent development within counselling and psychotherapy has been the emergence of narrative perspectives on theory and practice. The task of the counsellor is viewed as that of assisting the client to 're-author' parts of their life-story. The origins of this approach within psychology and social science are discussed, and the central elements of a narrative approach to counselling and psychotherapy are identified. A brief case-study illustrates some of these themes.