There are many theoretical approaches one can choose from to counsel

clients, especially in a school setting. These theories can be utilized to help

steer a counselor's practice, beliefs, thoughts, and interventions. Different
approaches can be applied in a variety of situations and circumstances in order
to meet the needs of a client. Drawing from my experiences working in a
school environment as well as from my coursework, I have been able to develop
a strong sense of who I am as a counselor. This has led me to be able to
establish my theoretical approach to counseling. Working from a Reality-Based
Therapy standpoint, while also utilizing Person-Centered Therapy, I feel I have
been able to navigate the client-counselor relationship in a meaningful and
effective way.
William Glassers Reality-Based Therapy is based on the assumption that
people strive to gain control of their lives to fulfill their own personal needs.
Glasser (1998) and Wubbolding (2008) identify the five essential human needs
as: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, andfun. Reality therapy is
active, directive, structured, and focuses on doing and action plans. It is
focused around helping clients solve their problems and cope with the
demands of reality by making more effective choices. People can improve the
quality of their lives through honestly examining their wants, needs, and
perceptions. Reality therapy teaches that people are most able to gain effective
control of their lives when they recognize and accept accountability for their
own chosen behaviors. According to Glasser (1998), group leaders strive to
establish an empathic and trusting therapeutic alliance, which is the foundation
for the effective use of reality therapy. The group leader helps participants
understand that they have some control over their feelings by choosing to act
and think differently about situations they are in. Reality therapy has been
adopted in many schools around the world. Glasser states: In a quality school,
where students are led instead of bossed, they acquire a lot of knowledge by
using what they learn, and they retain it (p. 239)
Carl Rogers Person-Centered Therapy was first developed in the 1950s
under the name client-centered therapy. The concept that I really aligned with
is the push for the client to have self-awareness and the belief that humans are

free, self-determined beings. Individuals may be influenced by their past and by

their environment, but they have a role in who and what they become through
the choices they make. Rogers (1986b) made it clear that the person-centered
approach rests on a basic trust in human beings tendency to realize their full
potential. The person-centered approach to group work states that members
should begin to sense that by being in a group they are part of something larger
and are willing to participate in the larger process without giving up their own
sense of autonomy. When a group facilitator experiences genuineness,
acceptance, and accurate empathy for the members in their group and
members can perceive these conditions, therapeutic personality change and
growth will occur (Cain, 2010). Another element of this theory that really
strikes a cord with me is the idea that counselors need to accept and care for
all clients with unconditional positive regard. According to Rogers (1986b),
when group facilitators display a positive, nonjudgmental, accepting attitude
toward their clients, therapeutic change is more likely. The person-centered
approach has been found to be very effective in the school setting. Both
research and experience show that more learning, more problem solving, and
more creativity can be found in classrooms that operate within a personcentered climate. I believe that counseling children with a warm, empathetic
attitude and a strong belief that the client has the inner ability to make positive
change is the key to having a successful counseling relationship.

References:
Cain, D. J. (2010). Person-centered psychotherapies. Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Group Counseling. Belmont, California:
Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Glasser, W. (1998). Choice theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. New
York:HarperCollins.
Rogers, C. (1986b). Client-centered therapy. In I. L. Kutash, & A. Wolf (Eds.),
Psychotherapists casebook (pp. 197208). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wubbolding, R. (2008). Reality therapy. In J. Frew & M. Spiegler (Eds.),
Contemporary Psychotherapies for a diverse world (pp. 360396). New
York: Lahaska Press.