Innovative Counseling Techniques

Counseling is a field where established techniques are constantly being revised and improved upon. Innovative counseling techniques offer an alternative to existing ones by dealing with problems in an unorthodox or creative way. Many innovative counseling techniques bring in tools from other disciplines, such as relaxation therapy, physical therapy and psychoanalysis.

Group Approaches

• Group counseling approaches are based on open discussion in a group setting. In group counseling sessions, a counselor moderates a discussion between a group of people who share a common issue and encourages every participant to share their feelings with the group. Group counseling techniques include sensitivity training, in which participants are trained to empathize with others, and peer support sessions, where participants share stories about their challenges and how they are working to overcome them.

Neurological Approaches

• Counseling techniques that incorporate neuroscience are a new development in the counseling field. While these methods are controversial, they are showing some encouraging results. Brain imaging techniques can be used to determine whether counseling sessions are having an effect on the patient's brain chemistry, giving harder evidence into the efficacy of counseling approaches. Psychiatric medications may be combined with talk therapy to increase the effectiveness of both.

Spiritual Approaches

• Spirituality has been a feature in self-help for some time. However, it is only now that spirituality is starting to make its way into mainstream counseling. Counseling strategies that incorporate religious elements include Buddhist psychotherapy, yoga-based therapy, and faith-based therapy. These common forms of spiritual counseling use spiritual reflection, exercise and prayer, respectively.

Personality Approaches

• Based on the theory that various personality types respond differently to different counseling approaches, personality-based approaches use personality analysis to develop therapy sessions suited to an individual's needs. Personality-based counseling may use the Big Five Inventory personality test, the MBTI personality test or Murray's Needs Assessment. After determining the individual's personality type, these approaches develop a counseling session designed to meet the individual's needs.

Esoteric Approaches

• Some counselors use esoteric, experimental approaches. These approaches, such as the Emotional Freedom Technique and hypnotherapy, may be called on for use with patients who have not been responding to conventional counseling strategies. Esoteric counseling techniques are meant to be used in conjunction with conventional counseling, not as a replacement for it.