Amalgamation of Counseling Theories

¶ … Integrative Approach to Counseling

The theories that the author will compare and contrast within this document include gestalt theory, choice theory and its practical application, reality therapy, and psychoanalytic therapy. There are definite points of similarity and variance between these theories. The natural starting point for comparison and contrasting lies with an analysis of gestalt theory and choice theory/reality therapy. Gestalt theory was largely founded by Frederick Perls (Wagner-Moore, 2004, p. 180) and Miriam and Erwing Polster (Jacobs, 2010, p. 25), whereas Glasser is widely credited with launching the notion of reality theory (Bradley, 2014, p. 6). A critical point of similarity between these theories is that they are unequivocally focused on the present, or the proverbial 'here and now' of the patient and his or her cognitive, emotional, and physical states. Interestingly enough, these theories take different perspectives for addressing those present needs of the individuals counseled. The primary distinction between them is that gestalt theory acknowledges a direct correlation between the past and lingering emotions or events that affected an individual's past and the present. Choice theory and reality therapy, on the other hand, makes a point to deliberately forsake critical aspects of the past (Bradley, 2014, p. 6). Subsequently, the true point of distinction in the focus on temporal causative agents is that reality therapy is a lot less willing to acknowledge the role that the unconscious mind plays in the sort of difficulties an individual may have. Gestalt theory, however, attributes a good deal of significance to the unconscious -- which either may or may not be related to the past -- and attempts to explicate and work through it in order to best help an individual. The degree of emphasis on the unconscious is a point which greatly relates to psychoanalytic theory, which was arguably most popularized by Sigmund Freud (Bornstein, 2010, p. 133). Freud did some of the pioneering work on the notion of an unconscious mind and its effects that it can produce on people in present times, which may have stemmed from earlier events. Psychoanalytic theory, for the most part, is concerned with the personality. Counselors largely attempt to reconstruct the personality of an individual to cope with the dominant events in his or her life (Bornstein, 2010, p. 134) -- which this theory contends pertains to the unconscious minds and unconscious tendencies. Still, there is a dearth of focus on one's present problems ascribed to this theory which tends to focus more on the past and on the unconscious than it does on those present problems. The idea is that an understanding of the past and the reconstruction of personality will eventually impact present and future cognitive and emotional states for the individual -- which is a point of distinction from the other two theories which are adamantly focused on the present and whatever issues it present to the client.

2. The above points of comparison between these theories allude to their compatibility for the purpose of integration. It is quite obvious that gestalt theory and choice theory / reality therapy are suitable for integration, since both of these theories focus on the present issues that the client has. This focus on the present and even on the future will play a large role in the integration efforts advanced in this document. The principle point of distinction between these two is the importance imputed to the past. There is something extremely pragmatic and even a little romantic about choice theory's concentration on the present and the future to the exclusion of the past issues (Bradley 2014, p. 8), the unconscious, and even the notion of transference, to a large extent. As healthy as such a forward motion unambiguously is, however, it can only be abetted by a consideration of the past and the unconscious proclivities of an individual as relates to the past. This focus on the past and on the unconscious is gained from both psychoanalytic and gestalt theory. The latter does so in a way that is extremely congruent with the emphasis on the present and future situation of a patient that is the proverbial backbone of this the integration advocated herein. Although psychoanalytic theory considers the unconscious and previous events more so than it does present ones, it involves a degree of personality analysis that can help to determine the forward progress of a client (Bornstein, 2010, p. 136) when combined with these other two theories. Personality tests are used in a variety of interviews for work positions across a number of vertical industries. There is no reason that one's personality type could not help a troubled client to determine what aspect of their life to focus on going forward.

In fact, there are a number of different ways in which gestalt theory seemingly functions as the synthesis of psychoanalytic theory and reality theory, since it incorporates a retrograde motion and preoccupation with the unconscious of the former while focusing on the present and future needs of the patient in the latter (Schulz, 2013, p. 24). This fact alone reinforces the degree of compatibility between these three theories. Additionally, gestalt theory also provides the basis for the theoretical integration ascribed to in this document because it is based on analyzing the unconscious and the past as the very means of a patient going forward and fostering new support systems to help him or her improve his or her life.

3. One of the specific components of reality therapy that is integral to its integration with the other two theories is that it is predicated on self-assertion and self-control -- which the other two merely hint upon. Reality theory is based on the notion that individuals can change their lives at the present moment, and that each subsequent moment is a mere consequence of the present. In particular, reality theory posits the notion that individuals are actuated by psychological needs for freedom, fun, belonging and power (Bradley, 2013, p. 7). The idea is that by helping clients to actualize these aspects of their lives, they can take control of them and actually find greater degrees of fulfillment and less emotional and perhaps cognitive baggage than they otherwise could. These aspects of reality theory will certainly play a considerable role in my amalgamation of these three theories into a cohesive one in which the strengths of certain theories help to balance out the limitations of the others.

There are numerous aspects of gestalt theory that will inform the integrated theory propounded in this document. Firstly, gestalt theory attempts to denote that there are certain lingering elements of a person's past that are affecting that individual in the presence. Moreover, this theory postulates that virtually all of these lingering elements are negative and include, most eminently, resentment, as well as a host of other negative nouns and attributes such as anger, avoidance, guilt etc., which serve to block positive attributes (Wagner-Moore, 2004, p. 182). Specifically, then, then this theory conceives that people are plagued in the present by issues that are unresolved from their past, and that by addressing them they can move on and enjoy a better present and future. To that end, there are a number of critical components of this theory that will form a fundamental part of the synthesized approach between the three theories. In particular, the notion of aboutism and confluence can produce a marked effect on patients and their tendency to enable the past to confound them in the present. Other key concepts that will affect the way this theory is leveraged with the other includes the fact that this theory will take an internal perspective to affect external outcomes in the present.

The way that psychoanalytic theory will inform this integration of theories is in helping counselors to understand the specific issues in the past that may have impacted a client. Specifically, some of this theory's notions of the unconscious can yield such insight (Stoycheva et al., 2014, p. 100), and there are a few of its techniques that can help those who choose to utilize the integrationist approach prescribed in this paper. Various aspects of free association, dream analysis, and psychological interpretation can help to elucidate factors of a person's unconscious that impact their present cognitive and emotional state of being -- many of these concepts are in fact associated with psychoanalytic theory.

4. The personalized integrative theoretical model for conceptualization and treatment of individuals, couples and families advocated in this document will be founded in the immediacy of reality therapy and choice theory. That immediacy is reflected in this theory's core belief that people can take control of their lives and create much more impact in the present to influence their livelihoods than whatever events took place in the past are able to do. One of the key facets of treatment that stems from this theory is the role of the counselor, who functions somewhat as a life coach. In this sort of way, the counselor is encouraging, responsive, and almost nurturing to the client while attempting to empower the client to go forward and seize the sort of life that he or she would like to live (Bradley, 2014, p. 8). Additionally, from a conceptual level the clinicians will strive to emphasize the four psychological needs of belonging, fun, freedom and power that actuate most people and seek to emphasize (if not outright instill) these attributes in the client.

While attempting to emphasize the present and the ability of the client to take control and transform his or her life in a positive way, it is necessary to discern what if any impediments from his or her path might obstruct the progress of the client. Many of the aims of gestalt theory can accomplish this objective, primarily by helping individuals to replace current support systems (or those facets of an individual's life that are functioning as crutches and enabling them to continue with unhealthy behavior or feelings) with contemporary self-support systems. Thus, the gestalt theory component of this theoretical model for treatment will center upon identifying areas of resentment, negativity, anger and whatever sort of emotional baggage an individual is clinging to which is affecting his or her present and future (Wagner-Moore, 2004, p. 181-182). Treatment options will focus on the unconscious and its effects on an individual's cognitive, emotional and behavioral state through the incorporation of numerous tenets of gestalt theory such as projection, retroflection, aboutism and confluence. These techniques will help the individual to inventory his or her past and, ultimately, move beyond those things that are obstructing one's happiness in the present. Despite the due emphasis on the past and the unconscious, these aspects of treatment are only utilized in terms of the value they can present the client in the present and in the future. In this regard, he or she will never lose sight of the core tenet of reality therapy. Finally, some of the notions of psychoanalytic theory, such as the importance it ascribes toe personality and personality types as well as tenets of free association and dream analysis, will be incorporated as a means of inventorying and clearing obstacles in a person's past and unconscious mind.

5. My personal values and worldview are extremely congruent with this model -- both with how it is integrated and with the individual components of the theories that it utilizes. Reality therapy/choice theory represents a pivotal component of those views. I truly believe that no matter what an individual has endured, he or she has the power to make his or her next moment as radically different from the previous one as he or she is willing to do. It may take a tremendous amount of effort to do so, but this ability is God given and bestowed upon mankind for people to use as they see fit. Thus, the element of this integrated theory in which it is essential for counselors to coach clients in their need to effectively seize the day and do with their lives what they see fit is well aligned with my belief system.

Moreover, their needs to do so in a way that initially addresses whatever impediments are lingering in their past -- such as related to their unconscious minds -- is also congruent with my personal worldview. I am actually a fairly firm believer in continuity -- that a person's strength and resilience ultimately lie in that person's means of connecting his or her whole life in way that presents a similar forward motion. To that end, it is essential to determine what facets of the past are obstructing one's ability to make the most of the present and to effectively remove them. Additionally, I tend to think that the best way of discerning exactly what sort of impediments exist is by exploring both the conscious and the unconscious mind. Dreams, daydreams, fantasies, and other aspects of the mind's nearly infinite potential -- which is only accessed at approximately 10% of its capacity -- can provide a substantial amount of fodder for determining what if anything is preventing an individual from being happy in the present and future (Stoycheva et al., 2014, p. 101). Therefore, I think that some of the core components of my integrative model reflect my own worldview.

6. Change is at the very core of this integrative model, and plays a formidable role in most of the individual theories advocated herein as well. The relationship of reality therapy to change is clear enough: this theory is predicated on the fact that change ultimately lies within the individual, who simply must commit his or her volition to "behavioral change" (Loyd, 2005, p. 5). Once doing so, it is up to the counselor to make good on that commitment by providing the means for implementing a desirable change and effectively coaching the individual to such an end. This need to focus on the present as it relates to the psychological, cognitive, behavioral and emotional needs of the client is also facilitated through the usage of gestalt theory in this model. Gestalt therapy values the present and the ability of the client to seize the present to expiate those unresolved issues in his or her past. Yet it does so from a perspective which is based on explicating what those issues are through an exploration of the unconscious and its lingering effects upon the client. Viewed from such a perspective, the various aspects of psychoanalytic theory that are incorporated into this model help to provide the means or perhaps the very form for change that an individual can make. It is up to the client to select the desired results for his or her life -- the identified facets of psychoanalytic theory that are a part of this model can help to provide the way to do so. For instance, an identification of one's personality type can help to provide the direction an individual should go in to help achieve his or her goals (Bornstein, 2010, p. 135). Furthermore, there are definite aspects of analyzing the unconscious that can assist in the denotation of impediments that clients can remove to help them actually actuate the sort of change that is desired. The relevance of the importance to psychoanalytic theory lies in its ability to help a practitioner to reconstruct an individual's personality -- which is definitely suggestive of change. Although the integrative aspect of this theory in that which is advocated in this assignment (with the other two theories) does not necessarily require a fundamental personality reconstruction, awareness of one's personality type and its relationship to one's objectives can certainly provide fodder for change. Therefore, by getting clients to create a better present that is impacted by an understanding of their unresolved issues of the past and their personality type, the counselor who employs this integrative strategy should have more than enough means of effecting positive change.

7. Additionally, it is worth noting that the integrative model discussed in this paper certainly includes ethical application and consideration of issues pertaining to diversity. One of the fundamental ways that ethics applies to this model is in the fact that the client ultimately is in charge of identifying his or her goals and determining the direction in which he or she wants his or life to go. The counselor has the basic task of ensuring that these aims are ethical and congruent with the various codes of ethics that pertains to his or her job and training (EAGT, 2006, p. 2). But this theory expressly requires input from the client about a life goal that he or she wants to commit to, which places the onus of ethical behavior on the part of the client. Again, the counselor is tasked with determining the best way of reaching those objectives and of doing so in an ethical manner.

Perhaps one of the best points of consideration of this integrated model is the way in which it accommodates a multicultural perspective. There is a marked lack of rigidity that characterizes gestalt therapy and reality therapy/choice theory, which is not found in some of the more static aspects of psychoanalytic theory that are precluded from this model. By ascribing a marked valuation for the present and for the action that an individual can take in order to assert control over his or her life, such a model is easily extended to include a wide range of cultures and issues of diversity -- which actually coincides with ethical principles (EACT, 2006, p. 2). The basic conceptions of belonging, power, freedom and fun that are essential to reality theory are applicable to virtually anyone regardless of socioeconomic stratification -- so long as those notions are pointed towards ends that are ethical in nature. In fact, one of the advantages of incorporating theories that are as modern as gestalt therapy and reality therapy into this model is that their core aspects were designed within an accommodationist frame that is readily extendable to almost anyone. Indeed, __ remarked "diversity, itself, is a gestalt problem" (Gologor,, 1977, p. 987). Thus, there certainly are no constraints regarding diversity or multiculturalism that are found within this model. In fact, the opposite is true since the model serves as a means of empowering individuals based on their own personal notion of success or of the life that they would like to live. This degree of personalization helps to facilitate a healthy awareness and acquiescence to clients of any particular ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious denomination or creed, or physical disability. In this sense the model encompasses an aspect of agility that is critical for success.

8. Jamie is a young woman who lives in the Midwest alone, with her pair of Rottweilers. She is an only child whose mother died at the beginning of the last decade. She is both estranged from her father and fearful of him, and harbors a semi-irrational fear that he is somehow looking for her, and that were he ever to find her, the results would be noxious. She was diagnosed with a debilitating condition which has affected her immune system, and which mandates that she takes prescription medication. However, the condition has made her greatly aware of her health, and she takes great measures to remain healthy. Such measures include an almost religious adherence to exercising which includes running multiple times of day and working out in the personal gymnasium in her house. The death of her mother has left Jamie independently wealthy and allowed her to own her own house without the need to work. Her days are filled with taking online classes for a degree in some discipline of religious studies. She considers procuring a bachelor's degree imperative because she promised her mother that she would earn such a degree. However, there are definite traces of compulsive behavior about Jamie as she considers herself somewhat of a perfectionist. Regarding the aforementioned educational ambition she has, for instance, she shows no compunction about routinely "cheating" and outsourcing her written assignments to others to complete -- so long as she is credited with the A average that appears disproportionately important to her. Her time is also occasionally spent with volunteer organizations. She makes a point to eschew contact from males, particularly those she believes might become romantically inclined to her. She believes that her autoimmune deficiency and the possibly for health lapses would be "unfair" to any romantic interest, which she consistently avoids. She claims she is content with her life and desires no further companionship than that of her dogs and her network of female friends. However, she is prone to fits of choler when things do not go her way (regarding interactions with others and her academic objectives). Moreover, although she claims she is content, she recently met a young man who has "scared" her by making her think about romantic relationships and the possibility of love. After having trained herself for such a long time that such a relationship with another was inadvisable and beyond her means, she is having a painful series of doubts. Even worse, her trepidations are beginning to impact the quality of the relationship she has with the young man (which is still just a friendship at the moment). She is confused and worried, and attempting to fight feelings that she is afraid she cannot deny.