Theoretical Counseling Techniques

Theoretical counseling draws on various theories from experts in the field of psychology and counseling to create techniques suitable to treat a the client. Counselors and mental health professionals often draw on these theories in their sessions to enable clients to deal with personal, family and mental problems that are influencing their lives. These professionals may work within a treatment plan of several theories; they may have a preferred approach or adapt their approach based on the client.

Client Centered

• Active listening allows the client to speak in a trusted environment.

  Client-centered counseling works on the assumption that the client is capable of becoming everything he wants and overcoming his own problems using his own experiences and skills. The counselor should be willing to accept the client's point of view and perspectives to make the client feel accepted. Client-centered counselors work with active listening, allowing the client to disclose openly without interruption, but it may be necessary for self-disclosure by the counselor to genuinely empathize. Small choice and positive disclosures can sometimes be helpful, such as "yes, I used to have that problem, too."

Biopsychosocial Theory

• Exercise is just as important as mental health in the biopsychosocial theory.

  The biopsychosocial approach is a holistic theory that incorporates the entire person: physical health, social, emotional, spirituality, intellectual and occupational. Counselors using this approach may use a questionnaire to discover the whole person's life: nutrition, exercise, friends, hobbies, family life, religion, intellectual pursuits and career are all delved into. The underlying question to be considered is "are the basic needs of the client met?" Basic needs such as health, enough friends, a good diet, plenty of exercise. And if not, how can they be met?

Strengths-Based Counseling

• Focusing on the positive can help the client deal with current problems.

  Strengths-based counseling, sometimes known as learned optimism, focuses on what is going right in the client's life, instead of focusing on what is wrong. Counselors work with clients to find successes in the past and present and use these to help face the current problems. They are re-trained to focus on a positive outlook---what can go right, instead of what can go wrong. With the counselor they examine their available resources and strengths; exercises such as "ten things I like about myself," help focus the client on a more positive outlook.

Cognitive Behavioral Counseling

• Behavioral counseling teaches clients to discover the lies they tell themselves.

  Cognitive Behavioral Counseling focuses on the client's misdirected and negative thoughts, feelings and consequential actions. Counselors help the client to identify events in their lives that lead to irrational beliefs and eventual negative consequences. Such as "I gained weight, therefore I will always gain weight, so why bother dieting?" the consequence is continued weight gain. The counselor discusses the irrational thoughts and asks him to write 10 things that are good about himself then five bad things. The list of negatives can be examined by the counselor, and strengths and irrational thought highlighted.

Solution Focused Therapy

• Help clients move towards a goal or target instead of focusing on the past.

  Solution Focused Therapy focuses not on problems, but what the client wants to achieve in therapy. It differs from many other approaches because it focuses only on the present and the desired future, rather than past events. Clients are encouraged to imagine their perfect future and work with the counselor towards achieving this---one step at a time. Counselors help the clients to see helpful events in their past, which can be used in the present. A popular question asked is "if you woke up and a miracle had happened and your problem was solved, but you didn't know this yet, how would you discover the miracle?"