Personal Theory 1

Running Head: Personal Theory of Counseling

Personal Theory of Counseling
Ryan Bunda
Seattle University
























Personal Theory 2

Abstract
This paper discusses and examines the use of an integrative approach towards counseling
focused on cognitive behavioral and multicultural counseling theories. It also discusses the
application of these theories in a school counseling setting. Included with the discussion of the
counseling theories are personal reflections of the paper as well as future direction for the
theories.






























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Introduction and Rationale
As the end of the quarter approaches, there has been much Ive learned from the Theories
of Counseling class. This includes being exposed to different kinds of therapy and counseling
that I previously was unaware of as well as a better understanding of the type of theories that I
would personally utilize with clients that I will help in the future. I believe an integrative
approach to counseling is important because a counselor should continually seek new ways in
assisting their clients. When focusing on what I view as the most effective forms of therapy that
I could apply, I am accustomed to cognitive behavioral and multicultural therapy. The reason
why I chose the cognitive behavioral aspect of therapy is because of its ability to recognize a
clients needs and its inclusion of environmental factors in counseling. In addition, I find the
multicultural theory critical to include in my counseling theory because of its importance to take
into account the clients values, beliefs, practices and culture and intertwining them with therapy.
Since I was young I have always genuinely enjoyed giving and helping others. As I have
matured I have learned that there are a large variety of ways in which you can help others. When
I was accepted into Seattle Universitys Masters in Counseling program I was ecstatic because I
knew that I would be able to have a career in helping others, something I am passionate about.
The reason as to why I chose a cognitive behavioral and multicultural theory was because of its
ability to help a wide variety of people. As a school counselor I know that I will encounter a
diverse student base that will have an even more diverse set of problems and I want to be able to
help all of them.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most used forms of therapy amongst
counselors. This could be because of the numerous studies done using CBT that show results of
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its effectiveness on a wide scale. For example a recent study in Turkey showed that the use of a
CBT program was an effective way of reducing anger and aggression in a group of adolescents
using relaxation, distraction, cognitive reconstructuring and self instruction (Stc, Aydn, &
Sorias, 2010). Studies focused on multicultural therapies (MCT) are not as numerous as CBT,
yet it has an emerging importance in the field of counseling. The problems of institutionalized
racism, sexism, and homophobia is what accounts for the inequitable experiences of color,
women, gay, lesbian and bisexual people, (Vera & Speight, 2003, p. 254). Combining the
scientifically proven effectiveness of CBT and the core motives driving multicultural counseling
can be a helpful form of therapy in which I can use for a lot of students.
Health, Dysfunction and Multiculturalism
In a cognitive behavioral sense, health can be defined as the ability to recognize
problematic behaviors and being able to use CBT techniques to alleviate or terminate these
unwanted feelings or behaviors. In a multicultural sense health can be defined as being
knowledgeable and sensitive of the many different cultural factors that can affect ones life. In
addition being educated of these differences and the environmental influences would be highly
beneficial for both the counselor and client to be able to understand and be sensitive to their
cultural differences. If a client comes in to seek counseling about feeling oppressed or
discriminated against, it would be highly dysfunctional for the counselor to give direction for the
client to ignore the problem or to change their perception on the matter. The counselor must be
able to actively assist their client in identifying these problems and helping them become
comfortable of their cultural differences. My personal feelings on this matter are that people can
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differ from one another on so many different levels. I believe that these differences should give a
person a sense of identity and confidence in being unique and should never be seen negatively.
Process of Change
The process of change when using a combined CBT and MCT therapy first involves
identifying the problem that needs to be dealt with. Next the behavior or perception in which the
client responds to this problem is examined. More specifically figuring out whether this
response is appropriate given the scenario and cultural factors that may influence it. Finally the
counselor and client collaborate to come up with actions they believe can productively take care
of the problem at hand. I personally believe that this process must involve a mutual respect
between counselor and client that is overall beneficial. A client can respect a counselors
willingness to assist in their mental health and the counselor can respect the willingness of the
client to seek change. When I am personally counsel friends, it is most likely bringing up a
situation in which causes them stress. Often I come to the conclusion of why even waste your
time with something that is making you unhappy? Of course in a professional counseling setting
my example is an oversimplification, however the goals are similar. If something is causing a
person stress, anxiety or any other unwanted behaviors and feelings, then action needs to be
taken to stop it.
Therapeutic Goals
The therapeutic goals for cognitive behavioral therapy and multicultural therapy differ,
but at the same time it is easy to recognize that when then goals of both are combined it covers
similar conditions. The goals for the cognitive behavioral theory concern ways in which a
person can change the environments they interact in and ways in which one can change the way
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they perceive and behave when problems arise. The multicultural theorys goals concern raising
cultural awareness to others. This includes helping the counselor understand the values, beliefs,
and practices of each client they help. In addition to raising cultural awareness, the multicultural
theory aims to seek and help those that feel oppressed by their environment. As a student I know
that school can be a very hard place for someone to feel a sense of belonging when they are in
the minority. People can feel like a minority because of their race, sexual orientation, gender,
religion; people can differ from one to the next on many characteristics. Multicultural therapy
makes it of utter importance to reach out to those whom feel oppressed because of who they are
and to help them realize that it is ok to express and be who they are.
Therapeutic Alliance
When it comes to the therapeutic alliance the ideal relationship between counselor and client
may seem simple, but it is actually more difficult than it appears to me. I believe that first and
foremost trust and understanding should be the foundation of the relationship. When a client is
trusting of the counselor and when the counselor can understand the issues brought by the client
that is when productive counseling can occur. Fully understanding and appreciation of each
others cultural differences are important as well. If this can occur, biases between the two
would not be an issue. A counselor would not consider their personal world view as superior but
as different when compared to the clients. The counselor should be open to understanding these
differences and keeping them in mind when giving client direction. The client would also be
able to comfortably share all aspects of their life concerning the problem to the counselor. If this
were to occur, the counselor could gain a full understand of the context of the situation instead of
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basing their counseling on assumptions. When these terms are met, a successful and educating
relationship can occur between the two.
Role of Counselor and Client
The role of the counselor and client differ when it comes to counseling, yet both have an
important part in making the relationship a successful one. I believe it to be of high importance
of the counselor to make the client feel comfortable. When a client is comfortable it makes it
easier for them to self disclose events of their life to the counselor. On the opposite side of that,
it is helpful when the client is honest in how they feel or think with the counselor so the
counselor has a better understanding of the context of the situation and can provide help for the
client. In lecture Dr. Ratts explained that in the beginning stages of being a counselor, the
counselor often feels that they personally need to take it under their authority to personally take
care of the situation that is concerning their client. Though the counselors job is to assist their
client with their problems, it is also important that they let the client take the lead when pursuing
behavioral changes. Equally important is the clients motivation to seek ways to improve the
way they live their life. If a problem is occurring the client must take action in stopping or
reducing the problem from happening. By taking a back seat and letting the problem continually
occur, the client may begin to believe that nothing can be done to improve the situation.
Techniques and Approaches
Our textbook consists of multiple techniques and approaches to therapy. In cognitive
behavioral therapy the technique of applied behavioral analysis could be useful to a school
counselor. This technique involves working with the client to connect the relationship between
the behavior they show and with their environment (Ivey, DAndrea, and Ivey, 2010). First the
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client and the counselor need to develop a relationship in which the client feels comfortable
sharing their thoughts with the counselor. Next the client and counselor work to pinpoint
specifically what problems are of concern and the behaviors that follow after these problems
occur. It is important for the counselor to make an effort to understand the full context in which
these behaviors and problems occur. Finally, goals are set in order to deal with these problems in
a constructive positive manner.
A multicultural therapy technique that I found interesting was network therapy. This
approach consisted of incorporating family and community in therapy (Ivey, DAndrea, and Ivey,
2010). When a client comes to a counselor for help with a problem the counselor involves
people in the clients life to be used as resources of support. There are multiple benefits that can
come as a result of including family and community with this technique. First of all by including
the community this can raise awareness of the prevalence of problems that are occurring. This
also can help people in the clients life to better understand the situation they are in and the
multiple factors that affect the way they think or behave. Finally I believe by including others
such as teachers and parents in this counseling approach, it is more of a team effort in helping the
client rather than blaming one person or even the child for the problem of concern.
Multicultural Considerations
Multicultural counseling is unique in a way because of its ability to help a client not only
on an individual level but also on a community and cultural level. However, one of the main
concerns of the multicultural theory is that when the counselor and the client differ in their
cultural practices, the client may feel uncomfortable or feel a lack of relativity with the counselor
which can be an important factor in their relationship (Ivey, DAndrea, and Ivey, 2010). This
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concern is easy to understand. Even outside a counselor and client relationship, it is naturally
easier for people to share personal information with those that they have multiple things in
common with. It is important to recognize the clients cultural world view at the individual and
communal level and the context of which they live it in. In addition it is equally important that
the counselor is aware of their cultural world view. If a counselor is oblivious to the differences
they have culturally with their client, it could be easy for the counselor to enforce their values on
the client which is not an effective form of therapy.
Social Justice
It is interesting to note that one of cognitive behavioral therapys goals is to help a client
with recognizing parts of their environment that cause unwanted behaviors or feelings. When it
comes to social justice advocacy, its very critical to help a client recognize when they are being
oppressed. By adding a multicultural element to the practice of cognitive behavioral therapy, a
counselor can assist a client that is being oppressed to realize that the environment, not the
individual is what needs to change. Multicultural therapy makes us realize that even though we
value equality, the reality is that our society is very diverse. The cultural influences that make
that individual who they are should be seen in a positive light, not one that limits who they are.
Inside the office in a school setting, it is important for client and counselor to identify what
aspects of the environment is causing the feeling of oppression. Whether it be students or
faculty, the counselor needs to be able to understand the situation as best as they can so actions
can be made. Outside the office a counselor should be able to raise awareness of the problem
with the school and actively seek ways in which they can change the school environment to
make it more accepting of others differences. This could involve, but not limited to, pushing for
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classes or assemblies that inform the school on cultural differences and the harmful effects that
oppression can have on others.
Critique
The main and very important strength of using these two theories is its ability to be
applied to a large variety of people. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven as an
effective treatment for a variety of different mental health issues including ones in a school
setting. A study conducted on students that were diagnosed with having anxiety disorders and
difficulties with school yielded significant results. Using methods of cognitive behavioral
therapy these students showed significant improvement with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and
difficulties in school (Beidas, Crawley, Mychailyszyn, Comer, & Kendall, 2010). With the
strengths of cognitive behavioral therapy also comes its limitations. In CBT a counselor helps
their client by recognizing components of the environment that cause them stress or anxiety and
what can be done to help. If one stops to think about this relationship, it is entirely possible that a
counselor can take too much control in their clients behavior. Its critical that the counselor
listens to the needs of their client and assists in a way that is best fit for the situation provided.
When it comes to multicultural therapy I think it is extremely important to be sensitive and
supportive of the different cultural environments and practices of the clients I work with. The
articles I read and our textbook express that unfortunately there is little information out there
concerning the effectiveness of multicultural therapy. With that being said, by applying
multicultural therapy with effectively proven forms of therapy such as cognitive behavioral
therapy could be a huge step in exposing the importance of cultural competence in therapy.
Application
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I truly believe that using a cognitive behavioral and multicultural framework for my
theory will work extremely well in a school setting. First of all there have been multiple studies
conducted showing cognitive behavioral therapy being a successful tool when helping those with
problems like anxiety, depression, (Manassis et al., 2010) anger, and aggression (Stc, Aydn, &
Sorias, 2010). These are problems that students may very well come to a school counselor for.
These problems could possibly occur due to stress caused by another student, family issues,
disagreements with a teacher, etc. When assisting with students concerns, it is important to keep
in mind their cultural influences. There are so many factors (gender, race, sexual orientation,
religion, other multicultural practices) to an individuals background that need to be considered
while offering them counseling assistance. This means that it is key for me as a counselor to be
open to using different multicultural counseling and therapy strategies from one child to the next.
It will be my job to get a better understanding of each childs individual, group, and universal
identity (Ivey, DAndrea, and Ivey, 2010). Once Im able to get a better understanding of the
multiple factors that affect the way that student behaves I can hopefully assist them in their
seeking of counseling.
Reflection
Going into this paper knowing that I had to have 10 scholarly sources and the length had
to be ten to twelve pages I knew that in the end I was going to be either exhausted or have a good
understanding of my strengths as a counselor. It actually ended up being a combination of both.
Originally as I began to look up reference articles and sources, I wanted to use the two books that
I did my book reports on as well as the type of therapy presented by a recent guest speaker in
class that I found very intriguing. This would have resulted in using a theory involving adlerian,
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reality, and narrative therapy. As I began to write I realized that this was not a theory that was
personalized to who I am and how I help others. I took a step back and came to the conclusion
that a cognitive behavioral and multicultural therapy was more personalized to me as a counselor
and what came natural. I do however, like certain aspects of adlerian, reality, and narrative
therapy and I could potentially look further into applying these theories to my initial foundation
of a counseling theory. Writing this paper helped me learn about myself not only as a person but
as a future counselor.
Future Directions
An article about the use of both cognitive behavioral therapy and multicultural therapy
explains that although it is possible that theories other than CBT paired with multicultural
therapy could result in culturally competent practice, the initial research using CBT and MCT
has shown great potential for becoming and effective form of psychotherapy (Hays, 2009). This
implies that though there is limited research involving the two used as a combined form of
therapy, it has shown great potential to possibly becoming a revolutionary theory of counseling.
This is where I have the chance as an individual to add to this research. Through time and
experience I will hopefully become a successful counselor using CBT and MCT to assist the
children and students I will work with in the future. From this Theories of Counseling class Ive
learned that to become a great counselor it is important to always keep an open mind and to
always be willing to accept new and different approaches to counseling. As a counselor it is my
job to assist the students at the school I work at. This could be anything from counseling them
for their personal problems to standing up for their social rights. I know that this will take a lot
of effort on my part and at times things may not go my way or my opinions may clash with
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another. However, if ultimately what I do is beneficial to the students, I will be ready to face
whatever challenges lay ahead.







































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References

Beidas, R. S., Crawley, S. A., Mychailyszyn, M. P., Comer, J. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2010).
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Anxious Youth with Comorbid School Refusal:
Clinical Presentation and Treatment Response. Psihologijske Teme / Psychological
Topics, 19(2), 255-271.

Ellenwood, A. E., & Snyders, R. (2006). Inside-Out Approaches to Teaching Multicultural
Techniques: Guidelines for Family Therapy Trainers. Journal Of Family Psychotherapy,
17(1), 67-81.

Grehan, P. M., & Freeman, A. (2009). Neither child nor adult: Applying integrative therapy to
adolescents. Journal Of Psychotherapy Integration, 19(3), 269-290

Hays, P. A. (2009). Integrating Evidence-Based Practice, CognitiveBehavior Therapy, and
Multicultural Therapy: Ten Steps for Culturally Competent Practice. Professional
Psychology, Research & Practice, 40(4), 354-360. doi:10.1037/a0016250

Ivey, A. E., DAndrea, M. J., & Ivey, M. B. (2011). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy:
A multiculturalperspective (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Manassis, K., Wilansky-Traynor, P., Farzan, N., Kleiman, V., Parker, K., & Sanford, M. (2010).
The feelings club: randomized controlled evaluation of school-based CBT for anxious or
depressive symptoms. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269), 27(10), 945-952.

Nelson-Jones, R. (2002). Diverse goals for multicultural counselling and therapy. Counselling
Psychology Quarterly, 15(2), 133-143.

Ratts, M. J. (2009). Social justice counseling: Toward the development of a "fifth force" among
counseling paradigms. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education, and Development,
48, 160-172.

Stc, S., Aydn, A., & Sorias, O. (2010). Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Group
Therapy Program for Reducing Anger and Aggression in Adolescents. Turk Psikoloji
Dergisi, 25(66), 68-72.

Vera, E. M., & Speight, S. L. (2003). Multicultural competence, social justice, and counseling
psychology: Expanding our roles. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(3), 253-272