Humanistic Techniques in Counseling

Humanistic counseling is aimed at helping the counseling client make different choices. This type of counseling gives the client as much freedom to be himself in the counseling setting as possible. The counselor's role is to accept the client as she is and direct her to view her choices objectively, but not to impose choices on her or direct her behavior in any particular manner. Humanistic counseling includes active listening, gestalt techniques and nonconfrontational questioning.

Active Listening

• Active listening helps the client identify his own thoughts and feelings by summarizing for him the content or subtext of what he says. For example, if the client says he feels uncreative lately, the counselor might comment, "You're really having a dry spell," or "It must be frustrating not to have any ideas when you want to work." This gives the client a sense of visibility--the counselor sees, understands and accepts who he really is--as well as putting a specific name to what he is experiencing. In some cases, this gives the client new abilities to identify his own feelings outside of the therapy room. When using active listening, counselors should be careful to reword emotional content rather than repeating it verbatim, as the latter technique can come off as glib or "not really listening."

Gestalt Techniques

• Gestalt techniques are a subset of humanistic counseling aimed at helping the client integrate her thoughts, feelings and experiences so her behavior is consistent with her values and emotions, according to Psychology Today Treatment Center. Common gestalt techniques include free association and psychodrama. In free association, the client is asked to say the first word or phrase that pops into her head in response to a word, phrase or incomplete sentence. Psychodrama involves dialoguing with aspects of the self, such as the inner child. Clients may be asked to switch from one seat to another in order to speak from the point of view of each such aspect or to write out dialogues between these aspects.

Open-Ended Questions

• Asking open-ended questions helps the client delve deeper into his own thoughts about an issue. These questions provide a starting point for deeper thought without expressing the counselor's point of view, which could unduly influence the client. The questions require the client to say something more than "yes" or "no" and avoid language that might lead him to a particular answer. "How does that make you feel?" or "What do you think you need to do to resolve the situation?" are examples of open-ended questions. "Does that make you angry?" or "Don't you think you need to visit a friend instead?" are examples of questions that should be avoided, as they provide a solution for the client rather than helping find his own solution.