L3CiCS Comparing Counselling Theories Assignment

The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast two counselling theories of my choice. I have chosen to compare Psychodynamic Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The philosophy behind the Psychodynamic Counselling approach is that we all have an unconscious mind as well as a conscious one. It states that the unconscious mind can hold on to painful memories…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 22nd May 2020

Ethics in counselling are very important. I will be using the BACP’s Ethical Framework as contextual guidance to explore these hypothetical Ethical dilemmas. A client has been in counselling for a year and has made great progress. She brings in an expensive gift for you. She knows that this is something that you would like, and she knows that you…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 8th May 2020

This week in lockdown, I am working on self-awareness and how it contributes to the ability to empathise with others. Empathy is a kind of emotional imagination; it is the ability to map the knowledge of your own feelings to those of someone else in order to gain a deeper understanding of how those emotions influenced their mental state, their…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 3rd April 2020

This week we looked at common mental health problems and possible reasons for their incidence in society. Mental health problems could be seen as skewed rules that people are trying to live their lives by. These abstract rules are mostly developed alongside the organism as it grows and learns to navigate this world we live in. These self-created rules form…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary 31st January 2020

This week we looked at why theory is important in counselling work. Through a group discussion we identified several key aspects of why it is important, and I was quite surprised by the amount we came up with. First though, I think it’s important that I reflect on what is meant by the word “theory”. A theory is generally a…

L3CiCS Learning Log 10th January 2020

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the current culmination of several other therapies, in particular: • Cognitive therapy – focusing on a client’s thoughts and how they feel on the inside • Behavioural therapy – focusing on how a client acts and reacts to certain situations The philosophy behind CBT is that the client’s problem is not the problem itself; the…

L3CiCS Learning Log – 13th December 2019

The origins of Psychodynamic Counselling can be traced back to Sigmund Freud in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, and the psychodynamic theory has been continually developed, modified and refined over time. It is based around the philosophy that people are driven by unconscious patterns of behaviour and desires which are shaped by their past experiences. Some examples of things…

L3CiCS Learning Log – 29th November 2019

Person Centred Counselling was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1950’s around the philosophy that people can change, and that they are not bound by personal events in their past, or their circumstances in the present. This change is achieved by the counsellor making use of the core conditions of the Person Centred approach, and these are: 1. Empathy –…

L3CiCS Reflective Diary – 11th October 2019

This week we looked at what we feel and think are necessary to developing an effective working relationship with clients. I think the most important one, one that Carl Rogers outlined many years ago, is a core condition of the therapeutic counselling relationship – Unconditional Positive Regard. UPR is a non-judgemental point of view and an accepting attitude toward the…