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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
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Lesson 02
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY
Similarities between Counseling & Psychotherapy
Counseling and psychotherapy are similar in many procedures and concepts. Some of them are given below:
Both have the same seating arrangements and directions during the process of conducting sessions.
In both psychotherapy and counseling special relationship is built and both value clients.
Psychotherapists and counselors use the same theoretical models.
Counseling skills are used by those practicing psychotherapy and counseling.
Both psychotherapy and counseling have same ethical and professional boundaries like confidentiality,
time limits, payments, ethical issues.
Similarities in the process of both disciplines are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Process in Counseling & Psychotherapy
Initial structure established
Develop rapport
Problem identification
Exploration of self, perceptual
Field, and behaviors
Problem solving
Possible assessment and
Acquisition of environmental
Input, such as information
assimilation
Plan of action
Decision making
Follow-up and possible
Termination
Development of additional
strategies
Historical Development of the Counseling Profession
Counseling as a distinct profession has developed in a variety of ways during the 20th century.
Counseling has emerged and developed largely as an American product in the 20th century. Its
acceptance and widespread use in the USA far exceeds that of other countries. The development in
counseling profession can be roughly divided into two broad categories:
Our heritage from the past: Before 20th Century
20th century- To date:
The development in 20th century and later years is largely attributed to following landmark events/
factors:
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Vocational Guidance Movement
Mental Health Movement
Standardized testing
Licensure and legislation
Our Heritage from the Past: Before 20th Century
Primitive Times
· Primitive societies shared fundamental economic enterprises, that is why no elaborates career guidance
was required at that time. Most of the career-related conflicts of present-day society were absent in early
primitive life. It is quite possible that the earliest (although unconfirmed) occasion in which humans
sought a counselor was when Adam reaped the consequences of his eating the apple in the Garden of
Eden. An abundance of evidence suggests that persons throughout the ages have sought the advice and
counsel of others believed to possess superior knowledge, insight, or experience. Perhaps the first
counterparts of the present-day counselor were the chieftains and elders of the ancient tribal societies.
· Later, as skills became more recognizable and important to societies, occupational trades began to passed
down, mostly within families. However, no elaborates career guidance programs were developed or
needed because occupational limitations were usually determined by two criteria: age and sex. Thus,
potters passed on the secrets and skills of their trade to their sons, as did the smiths and carpenters.
Women passed on their skills to their daughters. Anyway, the occupational opportunities were limited
in those times.
· A study of early primitive life can lead one to conclude that most of the conflicts existing in present-day
society regarding career decision making were absent.
Early Greek Counselors
In the early civilizations, the philosophers priests, or other representatives of the gods and religions assumed
the function of advising and offering counsel. The historic origins of the concept of developing one's
potential may be identified in the early Grecian societies.
Plato:
Plato is generally recognized as one of the first to organize psychological insight into a
systematic theory. Belkin (1975) noted Plato's varied interests: Education, persuasion, and most importantly
a method to deal with these questions (through real human interactions). Dramatic method: through the
dynamics of real human interaction in which characters are as important as the things they say)
Aristotle He studied how people interact with their environment and others.
Hippocrates:
He indicated that mental disorders were diseases due to natural causes. In 4th century BC, he suggested that
the disturbance of four humours in body causes different behavioural problems. He in fact provided the
first medical model of behaviour problems.
Early Hebrew, Christian and Islamic Teachings emphasized the rights of individuals and humanistic ideals.
Many contributions of that time can be similar to what was later to develop in the field of psychology. The
primary concepts of all religions later in 20th century provided basics to democratic societies and counseling
movements.
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Middle Ages (10th ­ 15th Century)
During middle ages, attempts at counseling increasingly came under the control of church. At that time education
was also largely under church jurisdiction. By the early middle ages, the duty of advising and directing youth had
become centered in the parish priest.
A few important characteristics of middle ages are as under:
·  Return to demonological explanations.
·  Church became the primary social and legal institution in Europe. Physicians became the doctors to treat
the mentally ill.
·  Exorcism again was practised.
·  Priests diagnosed people by looking for signs of the devil, e.g., rashes and dead skin spots (by pricking)
Muslim Traditions in Counseling & Psychotherapy
Dark ages were not dark for Muslims. While demonology persisted in the Western world, Muslim
civilization was at its peak. Al-Razi, Al-Ghazali, Ibn-e-Miskwayh, Ashraf Ali Thanvi laid great
emphasis on the development of the whole man; common therapeutic goals are changing man's
relationship to God as well as to society. They put forward a radical humanistic approach by giving
respect to individuals. They held that man has the potential to grow by using his inner resources. They
also believed that ignorance was disease and knowledge was cure.
16th Century
Philosophers and educators, such as Luis Vives (1492-1540) recognized the need to guide persons according to their
aptitudes.
17th Century
Books like "Tom of All Trades: Or the plain pathway to preferment" (Powell, 1631) aimed at helping youths choose an
occupation. Also during this time, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and others began to study human body
as an organism that reacted or behaved to various stimuli. These studies were to be forerunners for later
more accurate and scientific studies.
18th Century:
In the 18th century Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) suggested that the growing individual can best learn when
free to develop according to his or her natural impulses. He advocated permissiveness in learning and learning
through doing.
The famous Swiss educator Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827) expressed the belief that society could be reformed only
to the extent that the individual in that society was helped to develop.
19th Century
US Educator Horace Mann in his 12th Annual Review stressed on main-stream schools and that the objective of
education should be to reform society. Mann reported that "in teaching the blind and the deaf and dumb, in kindling
the latent spark of intelligence that lurks in an idiot's mind and in the more holy work of reforming abandoned and
outcast children, education has proved what it can do by glorious experiments. Mann also believed that education
should have as one of its objectives the reform of society.
The biologist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) set forth his concept of adjustment. This biological concept held that
forms of life that do not adapt their environment eventually become extinct. From this, Spencer concluded that
perfect life consisted of perfect adjustment. In other words, biological adjustment is criterion of life. Adaptive
behavior is that which maintains life.
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By the end of 19th century, several influential figures contributed to the field of Psychology, e.g., William James,
Wilhelm Wundt, Albert Ellis, Perls, etc. The work of some psychiatrists also influenced the field of counseling. For
example, Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis influenced later prominent theorists of Perls, Ellis, and Adler. Similarly,
Dorothy Dix advocated organic than moral treatment (prevalent at that time) at least for seriously mentally ill.
20th Century ­ To date
1900-1909: Vocational Guidance Movement
In 20th century, when society was growing more complex, and finding one's appropriate place in society became
increasingly complicated, it seemed a ripe time for a genuinely scientific approach to meeting many human needs.
The time had come for the development of counseling to meet these needs. However, no single date can mark the
beginning of counseling.
The counseling profession entered the schoolhouse in the early 20th century. Three persons emerged as leaders in
the development of counseling:
·
Jesse B. Davis
·
Frank Parsons
·
Clifford Beers
Jesse B. Davis
Counseling may well have begun in 1898 when Jesse B. Davis advocated that students should be preached to about
the moral value of hard work. He was known as a broad scholar, writer and a tireless activist. He introduced
"vocational and moral guidance" as a curriculum into an English language composition course. Davis worked for
educational and vocational problems of students; a clear illustration of the early ties of
counseling to vocational guidance. He suggested that a good character shall be considered an asset to any person
who decides to enter the business work. He suggested that there shall be a guidance lecture once a week in schools
with the goal of building character. This was the first systematic guidance program in public schools and can be
considered a forerunner of counseling.
Frank Parsons - the Father of Guidance
Parson founded a vocation bureau in 1908 in Boston, eventually led to the National Vocational Guidance
Association in 1913. In 1909, he wrote the book, Choosing a Vocation, which was divided into 3 areas:
·  Personal investigation
·  Industrial investigation
·  Organization and the work
Parson's work had significant impact on the vocational guidance movement. His bureau established a direct
connection with the Boston schools.
He suggested that the following three factors are important for the wise selection of a vocation:
·  Extensive self-study on a "Schedule of personal data"
·  A knowledge of requirements and conditions
·  True reasoning on the relations of these two
He introduced an unusual feature of the intake interview "the observation". This approach would get clues to
possible flaws in the client, such as slow auditory reactions, defective verbal memory, etc. The counselor would
observe shape and size of head, enthusiasm, vitality, features, etc. and then would have some idea about the
appropriateness of that person for some particular job. He offered a method to match a person's personal
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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
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characteristics with an occupation. He also recommended the client about methods that could be used for self-
improvement, like reading good suitable books to develop analytical thinking. Biographies were suggested for
finding commonalities and get inspiration. Counselor would then fill in the details by reading between the lines and
would make a detailed analysis of industrial job opportunities, work conditions, pay, demands, etc.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Counseling Journals, Definitions of Counseling
  2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY
  3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1900-1909:Frank Parson, Psychopathic Hospitals
  4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:Recent Trends in Counseling
  5. GOALS & ACTIVITIES GOALS OF COUNSELING:Facilitating Behavior Change
  6. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Development of Codes
  7. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Keeping Relationships Professional
  8. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Personal Characteristics Model
  9. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Humanism, People Orientation, Intellectual Curiosity
  10. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Cultural Bias in Theory and Practice, Stress and Burnout
  11. COUNSELING SKILLS:Microskills, Body Language & Movement, Paralinguistics
  12. COUNSELING SKILLS COUNSELOR’S NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:Use of Space
  13. COUNSELING SKILLS HINTS TO MAINTAIN CONGRUENCE:
  14. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Barriers to an Accepting Attitude
  15. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Suggestive Questions,
  16. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Tips for Paraphrasing, Summarizing Skills
  17. INFLUENCING SKILLS:Basic Listening Sequence (BLS), Interpretation/ Reframing
  18. FOCUSING & CHALLENGING SKILLS:Focused and Selective Attention, Family focus
  19. COUNSELING PROCESS:Link to the Previous Lecture
  20. COUNSELING PROCESS:The Initial Session, Counselor-initiated, Advice Giving
  21. COUNSELING PROCESS:Transference & Counter-transference
  22. THEORY IN THE PRACTICE OF COUNSELING:Timing of Termination
  23. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:View of Human Nature
  24. CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH:Psychic Determination, Anxiety
  25. NEO-FREUDIANS:Strengths, Weaknesses, NEO-FREUDIANS, Family Constellation
  26. NEO-FREUDIANS:Task setting, Composition of Personality, The Shadow
  27. NEO-FREUDIANS:Ten Neurotic Needs, Modes of Experiencing
  28. CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH:Background of his approach, Techniques
  29. GESTALT THERAPY:Fritz Perls, Causes of Human Difficulties
  30. GESTALT THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Assessment
  31. EXISTENTIAL THERAPY:Rollo May, Role of Counselor, Logotherapy
  32. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Stress-Inoculation Therapy
  33. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Role of the Counselor
  34. TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS:Eric Berne, The child ego state, Transactional Analysis
  35. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Respondent Learning, Social Learning Theory
  36. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Use of reinforcers, Maintenance, Extinction
  37. REALITY THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Strengths, Limitations
  38. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Major benefits, Traditional & Historical Groups
  39. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Humanistic Groups, Gestalt Groups
  40. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Systems Theory, Postwar changes
  41. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Concepts Related to Circular Causality
  42. CAREER COUNSELING:Situational Approaches, Decision Theory
  43. COMMUNITY COUNSELING & CONSULTING:Community Counseling
  44. DIAGNOSIS & ASSESSMENT:Assessment Techniques, Observation
  45. FINAL OVERVIEW:Ethical issues, Influencing skills, Counseling Approaches