Running head: MY THEORY OF COUNSELING

My Personal Position Towards My Theory of Counseling

Melissa Martin
University of Calgary

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Table of Contents

Abstract3
The Nature of Humans.4
The Nature of Well-Adjusted Behavior.10
The Major Causes of Problems..11
The Nature of Change12
My Theory of Counseling..14
Reflection...20
Conclusion.21

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Abstract

In this position paper, I dissected the foundational theory of Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapys (REBT) nine basic assumptions of human nature into my own personal
philosophy of human personality and behavior and whether or not individuals are capable
of change, being rational, are influenced by constitutional or environmental factors, etc.
Using these foundational criteria, I developed my own personal integrative
psychotherapy model by also adopting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and
Existential therapeutic methods. The definition of my counseling theory and specific
features are also discussed.

MY THEORY OF COUNSELING

The Nature of Humans

In order to develop my own personal philosophy about human nature, I utilized
the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapys (REBT) Nine Basic Assumptions as a guiding
framework. Dryden and David (2008) summarized a list describing REBTs stance on
nine features illustrating the characteristics and development of human personality and
behavior as described by Ziegler (2000). I felt that this was the most comprehensive
description of human nature compared to the other psychotherapies that were presented in
Wedding and Corsini (2014). However, some of my own personal positions towards
these nine assumptions differ from those presented by REBT.
The first of the nine features that Dryden and David (2008) referred to was
freedom/determinism, which describes how much internal freedom do individuals have in
their own development of behavior and personality. This element describes whether or
not human beings have some degree of free will to change different aspects of their
personal being or if their future development of behavior and personality is inevitable.
REBTs stance on this issue is that they moderately favored that individuals have the
freedom to change specific aspects of their personality (see Figure 1). I agree that people
are capable of change more so than being destined to succumb to elements of
predetermined behavior. There are examples of individuals who are raised in family
environments of abuse, alcoholism, neglect, etc. and are able to stop that cycle. Orbke
and Smith (2013) reported that, roughly one-third of children subjected to abusive
environments grow into healthy and capable adults, demonstrating remarkable resiliency,
despite risks for developing maladaptive self-structures and destructive behaviors (p.
46). I believe that strong sense of resiliency, proper coping mechanisms, and motivation
for change are important internal factors that can help determine whether or not a person

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is capable of changing their individual characteristics.

The second feature Dryden and David (2008) described was
rationality/irrationality, which refers to the extent that people are directing themselves
towards reason and rational behavior rather than being guided by irrational factors.
According to Figure 1, REBT takes a mid-range stance where they believe human
reasoning has an equal probability of leading to rational or irrational behavior. Ziegler
(2000) quoted the founder of REBT, Dr. Albert Ellis, The central theme of RT is that
man is a uniquely rational, a well as a uniquely irrational animal (p. 73). The position of
REBT is that the duality of rationality and irrationality is the inherent human condition
(Ziegler, 2000). My position is slightly more positive than REBTs viewpoint. I believe
that human nature is slightly more favorable towards rational behavior, similar to
humanistic theorists assumptions of rationality like Maslow and Rogers (Ziegler, 2000).
I consider the majority of people to have the desire to live their life rationally. However,
stressors and difficult circumstances can make this intention difficult. Neenan and
Dryden (2011) described REBTs belief that people need to work harder to be rational
than irrational. Even though I do believe that most individuals desire to be rational, I
agree that when there are setbacks or adverse conditions, rationality can be more difficult
to achieve than irrationality.
The third element addresses the issue of viewing the human being as an entire
entity or by breaking down human behavior into components through
holism/elementalism (Dryden and David, 2008). Ellis held a moderate stance towards
holism where he viewed people as having units or elements such as cognition, emotion,
and behavioral characteristics that can influence their whole being. I also believe in
holism where our emotional, behavioral and cognitive systems interact simultaneously.

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Therefore, I feel that it is important to implement a holistic approach to therapy that can
introduce cognitive, behavioral, and emotional therapeutic methods to try and treat any
malfunctioning interactions between these systems.
One of the most important features of these nine basic assumptions is the fourth
one describing constitutionalism/environmentalism. This assumption reviews how much
of the human personality is developed from internal or biological factors (nurture) and
how much is influenced by environmental factors (nature). Ellis strongly favored
constitutional factors as having the greater influence over human personality and
behavior, whereas environmental influences would play a minor, more secondary role
(Ziegler, 2000). Ellis also asserts that, human irrationality is rooted in basic human
nature, that the related real causes of human disturbance are largely innate, and that the
human conditionability which permits the environment to have personological impact is
innate (Ziegler, 2000, p. 76). My opinion is that personality is shaped mainly from
constitutional factors with a more pronounced impact from environmental influences than
REBT would care to acknowledge. In the case of maladaptive behavior, I feel that it is
mainly innate where outside environmental forces can often trigger its manifestation.
The correct combination of biological factors with specific environmental influences can
lead to the development of a majority of psychological disorders.
The fifth feature of the degree of changeability/unchangeability in human nature
is another important characteristic in psychotherapy. The general consensus among
different theorists is that there has to be some degree of changeability (Dryden and David,
2008). If human beings were incapable of changing and adapting their behavior, then
therapeutic treatment would fail. The more important question to this feature is if
humans are capable of only superficial, behavioral changes or if a profound alteration can

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occur within their underlying personality structures. Ellis said, the RET theory of
change holds that, no matter how humans originally get certain personality characteristics
and no matter what developmental processes they go through in connection with these
characteristics, they can almost always significantly change them (Ziegler, 2000, p. 77).
I also believe that people are capable of profound personality change as long as they have
the necessary skills to help create and maintain this modification, including resiliency,
proper coping strategies, and a motivation to change and not to relapse.
The sixth feature of subjectivity/objectivity questions whether individuals are
influenced by subjective factors or by external, objective factors. Subjective factors
would be categorized as individual perceptions of experiences, how people internalize
outside events that occur to them. Objective factors would be classified as outside
influences that are not personally interpreted. According to Figure 1, REBT takes a
strong stance towards subjectivity. Ellis stated, From its inception RET has taken the
humanistic and existentialistic position that people create their own world by the
phenomenological view they take of what happens to them (Ziegler, 2000, p. 79). This
is one of the foundations of REBTs development of its A-B-C model where irrational
behavior occurs as a result of a persons maladaptive belief system towards specific
events. My own view is that objective factors do play a more significant role in shaping
behavior. There are outside influences some individuals may choose not to react to or let
it affect them. However, I do agree that with individuals who are experiencing
psychological issues, their influences to these problems will be due to improper
subjective interpretation of external factors.
Proactivity/reactivity is the seventh assumption that reviews causality in human
behavior. Proactivity indicates that people generate their behavior internally whereas

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reactivity describes individual behavior as a response to external stimuli. REBT has a

strong emphasis towards the proactivity assumption. This assumption is complementary
to REBTs notion that their interpretation of events is mainly subjective. Proactivity is
another internal process of how individuals generate their behavior through REBTs
activating events (As). Activating events virtually never exist in a pure or monolithic
form but almost always interact with and partly include beliefs (Bs) and consequences
(Cs). People bring themselves (their goals, thoughts, desires, and physiological
propensities) to bear on activating events (Ziegler, 2000, p. 80). I do believe that in
maladaptive thinking processes, it is mainly proactive because the individual has
misperceptions about the events generating their reactions. However, I do think that in
cases where a person is reacting instinctually towards an event, this would be a reactive
response. Reactivity does not require any deep analysis or interpretation of an
experience. For example, some routine tasks that people may complete on a daily basis
are completed without putting any psychological interpretation or emotional investment
into it. The only way that a person would be proactive towards the event is if he or she
has some behavioral or emotional attachment to the task. This cannot be the case with
every single event that occurs to individuals on a daily basis unless there is some
psychological disorder.
The eighth assumption looks at the individual motivation to achieve homeostasis
or heterostasis. Homeostasis assumes that individuals are seeking a sense of inner
equilibrium by reducing tension in their lives, similar to Freuds pleasure principle
(Ziegler, 2000). Heterostasis describes a persons basic motivation directing towards
growth, stimulus seeking, and self-actualization, similar to Rogers actualizing tendency
(Ziegler, 2000). This assumption ties in with the rationality/irrationality feature since

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people will also have a motivation to either be rational or irrational. Similarly, Ellis takes
a mid-range viewpoint on homeostasis/heterostasis where he places equal weight on these
elements in his system (Ziegler, 2000). Even though I do believe that most people want
to be rational, I also feel that people are equally likely to want to live their life in
homeostasis or heterostasis. My opinion is that some individuals have a temperament
towards equilibrium while others may not be content with this notion and want to strive
for change through a different variety of activities that will help satisfy their need(s).
The ninth and final assumption describes the knowability/unknowability of
human nature. This notion questions whether human behavior is more scientific or
philosophical in nature. If it is scientific, then the features of personality and behavior
should be able to be explained using empirical evidence, assuming that all features have a
degree of knowability. If it is more philosophical, then human nature is more subjective
and cannot be fully explained through scientific means making it somewhat unknowable.
REBT is moderately in favor of the unknowability of human nature. Padesky and Beck
(2003) reflected on the philosophical nature of the REBT theory in comparison to
Cognitive Therapy (CT), which is scientifically and empirically based. I agree that
human behavior does have a degree of unknowability. REBT is a holistic approach that
combines mind and body or of thinking, feeling, wanting (contents of the mind according
to psychology) and of behavior (the operations of the body) (Ellis & Ellis, 2014). The
emotional element of REBT cannot be easily explained empirically. I consider human
emotion to be an important element in my personal theory of counseling. My opinion is
that feelings are more subjective and therefore difficult to measure through scientific
data. This means that there will be some element of unknowability in regards to human
nature in my personal framework of psychotherapy.

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The Nature of Well-Adjusted Behavior

In order for an individual to be psychologically healthy, he or she must be willing
to live rationally. As I mentioned earlier, I do believe that more people have the common
goal to want to live their life rationally, but this can be harder to obtain for certain
individuals. Bogar and Hulse-Killacky (2006) studied the resiliency skills of adult
female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. They found that there were four process
clusters that helped the patients work through their traumatic experiences. These
processes were coping strategies, refocusing and moving on, healing, and achieving
closure. To help maintain their success in treatment, five determinant clusters of
interpersonal skills, competency, high self-regard, spirituality, and helpful life
circumstances were found to contribute towards their resiliency skills. If a person is
highly motivated to change and has the fundamental skills to do so, then it can be done.
Rationality promotes healthy functioning in a person.
Along with the ability to maintain a rational way of life, it is important to be able
to achieve a healthy balance of homeostasis or a heterostasis that is safe and manageable.
Achieving homeostasis or a sense of inner peace can be achieved through avoidance of
unhealthy behaviors and focusing on productive ones. It is important not to become
irresponsible by avoiding necessary means of livelihood such as a job, housework,
relationships, etc. It is also imperative for individuals who choose a heterostasis life to
ensure that they are focused on positive stimulating activities such as exercise, hobbies,
etc. and not on unhealthy behaviors. They also need to make sure that they are not too
focused on these activities so that it impedes in other areas of their lives.
In order to maintain a healthy way of life, it is important that thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors are not driven by a faulty belief system (Neenan and Dryden, 2011). A

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faulty belief system can be developed when an individual is thinking irrationally and
develops conclusions or assumptions based on their irrational thought. The REBT human
nature assumptions of subjectivity/objectivity and proactivity/reactivity are features
where evidence of this faulty belief system can be apparent. If a person has an
appropriate belief system, they will be able to subjectively react to events in their
environment in an appropriate way. They will also follow an appropriate model of
proactivity by generating proper internal behavior due to suitable interpretations of
external events through proactivity. That person will also learn not to internalize or selfreflect on outside events as much since they are able to have a healthy self-regard and
belief system.
The Major Causes of Problems
There is some indication as to the root causes of psychological problems within
the nine assumptions of REBT. The element of rationality/irrationality would be the key
feature that can indicate the likelihood that an individual would be susceptible to
maladaptive behavior. Neenan and Dryden (2011) noted that rational thinking leads to a
decline in the intensity, frequency, and duration of emotional disturbance. Therefore,
inappropriate or unhealthy negative emotions (for example, anxiety, depression) are
underpinned by irrational beliefs while appropriate or healthy negative emotions (for
example, concern, sadness) are underpinned by rational beliefs (Neenan and Dryden,
2011, p.7). If an individual is more prone to being irrational, then he or she will be at
higher risk of developing psychological problems. As mentioned earlier, this can make it
more difficult for the person to become rational since there is likely to be a formulation of
self-defeating tendencies and a faulty belief system. Irrationality can lead to a faulty
belief system as well as self-defeating tendencies. This can result in poor coping

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mechanisms and inadequate resiliency skills. Some people may choose to live life
irrationally because they lack the proper life skills to change (Bogar and Hulse-Killacky,
2006).
Individuals may choose to live an irrational life because there is some incentive
even it is unhealthy. For individuals who want to achieve homeostasis, they may use a
faulty belief system to avoid the part(s) of their life that are giving them tension such as
avoiding work, leaving their family, etc. For those people who seek heterostasis with a
faulty belief system, they desire contentment through unhealthy change or pleasureseeking activities such as an extra-marital affair, substance addiction, crime, etc. These
activities can become a dysfunctional coping mechanism for these individuals because
they do not have the proper resiliency skills or appropriate belief system to fulfill their
stimulus seeking behavior through a healthier channel, such as exercise.
Overcoming these obstacles and creating healthy change for these people is
difficult if they do not have the proper resiliency skills, coping mechanisms, and the
motivation or opportunity to change through a support system, resources, etc. These
maladjusted individuals also need to work on developing a rational belief system as well
as competency, a high self-regard, and interpersonal skills (Bogar and Hulse-Killacky,
2006). It is also important that they have the proper skills to help prevent a relapse in
their irrational thinking and behavior. That is why it is important for them to maintain a
proper belief system.
The Nature of Change
The REBT assumption of changeability/unchangeability indicates that human
nature is capable of significant change. I agree that human beings are able to modify
their personality and/or behavior significantly if they have the motivation to do so and

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have the ability to maintain that change. Otherwise, different future situations could
emotionally or behaviorally trigger them to falling into a lapse (a partial return to their
problem state) and eventually a relapse (a full return to the problem) (Neenan and
Dryden, 2011).
Creating change can be difficult since there has to be some motivating factor for a
client to be stuck in their unhealthy behavioral pattern. Their faulty belief system may be
rigid and extreme which can be difficult to change, especially when irrational thought is
used to support their beliefs. REBT maintains the notion that the client is held
emotionally responsible for their psychological disturbance and therefore, it is up to them
to work on changing this behavior (Neenan and Dryden, 2011). REBT uses strategies
including disputing to give the client a wake up call to their maladaptive behavior and
irrational belief system. There is usually a level of resistance from the client and this can
be difficult for the therapist to break through. I believe that if the client is highly
motivated and open to change, then he or she will be able to comprehend their irrational
behavior and make attempts at trying to change for the better.
In REBT, the therapist gives the client tools to maintain their newly adopted
rational belief system and adaptive behavior. It is important that the client is able to
practice self-change when they are no longer seeking therapy. The therapist can
explicitly address to the client as to what he or she needs to maintain and strengthen the
progress achieved through therapy (Neenan and Dryden, 2011). I also feel that it is
important to make sure that the client has the proper training to maintain their treatment
after they are finished their sessions. Some of the REBT strategies that I would find
beneficial for success are goal development, completing self-reflective homework
assignments, developing a rational philosophy, flexibility in thinking and doing,

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balancing interests, learning to accept uncertainty, and taking calculated risks (Neenan
and Dryden, 2011). If the client has lapsed, he or she needs to recognize what triggered it
and try to get back on track by using their self-change strategies.
My Theory of Counseling
My definition of counseling would be integrative psychotherapy. I feel that
counseling should be focused on the clients needs and the integrated approach is the
most suitable method in achieving this goal. I do feel that if I were an integrative
therapist, I should focus on becoming well trained in several strategies that I would excel
at rather than trying to become immersed in too many. Therefore, I would follow the
assimilative integration route of integration therapy. My foundational theory would have
to be REBT since I was able to identify the most with its human nature theory. REBT
also believes human nature is holistic and I feel that integrative psychotherapy is an
effective, holistic approach. Other therapeutic strategies that I would implement to
complement my counseling theory would be cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and
existentialism.
I feel that is important for the client to feel comfortable in the therapy
environment so that he or she is free to say whatever he or she wants without feeling
intimidated or ashamed. The client should feel as an equal. However, it is important for
me to establish a sense that I am facilitating the sessions, especially in group therapy
scenarios where I may have to act as a moderator. My role as a therapist would be as a
guide. I would allow methods of self and guided discovery to help my client achieve
self-actualization of his or her problems. Together we would discuss and work out
strategies. I would choose my treatment methods based on what would work best for the
client and the clinician (Norcross and Beutler, 2014).

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In my initial assessment, I would discuss with the client why they are seeking
treatment. After an initial interview, the clients can complete goal setting so that it is
clear what the foundation of therapy should be and what options are available to help
them achieve these goals. Using these goals and reviewing the duration and severity of
the problem, I would set my treatment to be one hour sessions anywhere from 12 to 16
weeks that would occur once, twice, or three times a week, depending on the severity of
the problem. Norcross and Beutler (2014) indicate that in integrative therapy, the
intensity, duration, and frequency of treatment should be gauged as a function of the
problem, also taking into account the patients resources. I would also want to gain a
sense as to what type of therapy treatments would be appropriate for my client by asking
specific questions of what he or she would like to gain out of the client-therapist
relationship.
I would utilize REBT for my adolescent and adult clients in one-on-one treatment
sessions. I would also ensure that they would be comfortable with the method of
disputing their beliefs system since it may be considered too confrontational by some
clients. I would prefer to use this type of treatment for those who need some emotional
impact and interpretation in their therapeutic process. This treatment approach would
allow me to take an active-directive style to help them discover their faulty and rigid
beliefs system (Neenan and Dryden, 2011). I would utilize formulaic and creative
disputing to recognize why their belief system is faulty, complete cognitive and emotive
homework tasks to help the client learn about how to change their irrational behavior, and
set goals so the client and therapist can observe where the client should be at the end of
treatment (Neenan and Dryden, 2011).

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CBT provides a more empirically based treatment that addresses more on

behavioral issues that require more objective interpretation, rather than subjective like
REBT (Beck & Weishaar, 2014). CBT also has applications for family therapy and play
therapy, making it a more diverse method. The use of play therapy would be especially
effective for my clients who are young children and may not be at the appropriate level of
maturity for self-reflection and recognizing complex emotional processes. CBT would
also be beneficial in one-on-one therapy with clients who may be too sensitive to the
confrontational nature of disputing their beliefs system in REBT. The use of
collaborative empiricism provides a straightforward, logical method of using guided
discovery for the client to have input into their therapy and treatment plan. Guided
discovery is a good strategy for me to use to give the client a sense of authority in the
CBT therapy sessions, unlike REBT where my role as therapist would be more active.
This is effective for those clients who may have issues with not feeling empowered in
their daily life. I would utilize cognitive techniques to those who presented dysfunctional
thinking such as maladaptive assumptions. Decatastrophizing, reattribution, redefining,
and decentering are techniques I would use to help the patient overcome specific
cognitive issues such as high anxiety, feared consequences, internalizing blame, etc.
(Beck and Weishaar, 2014).
CBT and REBT are two theories that may not adequately address deeper, more
fundamental issues such as death, freedom, isolation, the meaning of life, etc. They also
do not dwell on past events. They mainly focus on the present and future in regards to
emotional, cognitive, and behavioral issues. I believe that there are cases of
psychological disorder where its root cause is from events that have occurred in the past,
such as abuse, death of a loved one, violence, etc. Existential psychotherapy is an

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approach that can complement CBT and REBT by addressing these past issues and
attempting to answer deep, philosophical questions. Existential therapy can offer a
purpose to a clients questions as to the meaning of life, why is therapy needed, etc. As a
therapist, I would have to be as authentic and genuine as possible by being empathetic
and open to my client by disclosing my feelings and acknowledging any errors I may
have committed (Yalom and Josselson, 2014). The existential method would be part of a
more complete, holistic approach towards my treatment plan.
In REBT, a clients beliefs, emotions, and behaviors have a specific cause and
effect relationship between each other. REBT believes that humans perceive, think emote
and behave simultaneously (Ellis & Ellis, 2014). REBT has an ABCD method of
cognition outlined by Ellis & Ellis (2014):
When a highly charged emotional consequence (C) follows a significant
activating event (A), event A may seem to, but actually does not, cause C.
Instead, emotional consequences are largely created by B the individuals belief
system. When an undesirable emotional consequence occurs, such as severe
anxiety, this usually involves the persons irrational beliefs, and when these
beliefs are effectively disputed (at point D), by challenging them rationally and
behaviorally, the disturbed consequences are reduced. (p. 151)
Neenan (2011) also described a step E in this model where the client accepts a new and
effective outlook on their psychological problem and adopts a rational belief system.
This ABCDE model illustrates REBTs belief that outside activating events (A) do not
cause maladaptive behavior (C). Instead, the internal cognitive processes of irrational
belief systems (B) lead to the emotional consequence (C). The basic personality theory
of REBT is that human beings mainly create their own emotional consequences (Ellis &

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Ellis, 2014). I do agree with this model that beliefs are what cause specific behaviors in
people as a result of some activating event, or trigger. Emotions become the consequence
of that belief and subsequent behavior, especially after experiencing backlash from some
inappropriate behavior.
REBT therapists will deal with emotional disturbances first and then with any
dissatisfactions second. As a therapist using the REBT model of therapy, I would help
clients to detect their irrational beliefs and learn to discriminate them from other rational
belief alternatives. Once they have identified rational strategies, I will then dispute their
irrational beliefs and develop a more rational way of thinking and behaving. REBT
identifies the predominance of demandingess and how individuals develop the use of
shoulds and musts to try and justify their irrational beliefs and behavior (Ellis & Ellis,
2014). The rigidity and absolutism of these shoulds and musts are found to be at the core
of psychological disturbance (Neenan & Dryden, 2011). It creates less anxiety for the
individual to utilize a faulty belief system of shoulds and musts that will help avoid
unwanted negative results as well as support these irrational behaviors. REBT also uses
the term awfulizing to describe negative events where no good can come from them
(Neenan & Dryden, 2011). Therefore, it is best to avoid these awfulizing events to
reduce stress and anxiety. Individuals who avoid these negative events are seen to have
low frustration tolerance (LFT), which is the perceived inability to endure frustration or
discomfort in ones life and envisage any happiness while such conditions exist (Neenan
and Dryden, 2011). Examples of LFT often describe scenarios that people cannot stand
to be in.
REBT describes two different types of change: inelegant (non-philosophical) and
elegant (philosophical) change (Neenan and Dryden, 2011). Elegant change is a deeper

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change process that is more likely to be successful in the long term since inelegant
change is considered to be more artificial. Resistance to change is when the client
defends his or her faulty belief system. The therapist must try and develop a strategy to
help the client see why their belief system is faulty. Confrontation is the REBT approach
but CBT can utilize a more client-empowered approach that is not as forceful.
Existentialism can provide a more profound meaning into why the client manifests their
faulty belief system and to try and give them insight into adopting a healthier set of
beliefs. Integrative therapy also offers nine mechanisms of action or change processes:
consciousness raising, self-reevaluation, emotional arousal, social liberation,
counterconditioning, environmental control, contingency management, and help
relationships (Norcross and Beutler, 2014). These strategies can be used to try and
implement change in different treatment scenarios. In order to prevent relapse, the
integrative method recommends the therapist to teach the client relapse prevention
towards the end of psychotherapy (Norcross and Beutler, 2014).
In some cases, clients may be reluctant or unwilling to receive treatment. Family
members may have brought them in for an intervention. CBT methods of group and
family therapy would be effective for easing the client in to a therapeutic setting. REBT
may be too confrontational for the client and it is more designed for one-on-one therapy.
Other members may have a chance to speak first addressing their concerns about the
client in a non-threatening environment. Intervention with young children can begin with
play therapy or engaging the youth in an activity that they are interested in to try and
establish a relationship between the child and myself.
Establishing a definition and criteria for successful treatment can be difficult,
depending on the clients psychological problems. Integrative psychotherapy suggests a

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client who has maintained their adaptive behavior for a minimum of 6 months with no
relapses would be sufficient for success (Norcross and Beutler, 2014). If the client was in
treatment long term and suffered from significant psychological trauma, I would consider
success to be at least one year with no relapse. The client would have to meet all of his or
her goals that were set before and at the end of treatment. Depending on the clients
psychological problem and severity, he or she may also have to meet criteria such as
maintaining stable employment, having successful relationships with others, overcoming
irrational thought processes or fears, etc.
Therapists will often have to work with clients from different cultural
backgrounds. Integrative therapy recognizes this by recommending that the therapist
becoming knowledgeable in the clients culture, customs, interactions with others, etc.
(Norcross and Beutler, 2014). In regards to children, introducing them to games and toys
from their culture would be beneficial in establishing a trusting therapeutic relationship,
"An additional means of helping the child feel comfortable and welcomed into play
therapy is the preparation of materials that are culturally familiar to the child" (Ramirez,
Flores-Torres, Kranz, and Lund, 2005, p. 330).
Reflection
I am drawn to the integrative theory of psychotherapy because I come from a
teaching background where we must be integrative in our teaching methods. The main
goal is to try and make the lessons more interactive and provide a more profound learning
experience for every type of learning style in the classroom. I feel that therapy sessions
would be similar since the therapist needs to establish a close relationship with the client
by engaging them using different types of therapeutic methods. Since every person is a
unique individual, the therapy sessions should reflect their individuality by implementing

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techniques that will have a profound effect on that individual. This should ensure a
greater chance of successful change in the client.
The main weakness in the integrative theory is that it attempts to incorporate
different ideologies of psychotherapy that do not necessarily work well together. It can
be confusing for the client and therapist since some of the foundational criteria of these
theories can be quite different from one another. It also relies heavily on the expertise of
the therapist to have enough knowledge to know what treatments would best suit the
client. The therapist also has to be trained and knowledgeable in a variety of different
therapeutic models. This may not work as well for those who are new to the counseling
profession.
Conclusion
In developing my personal counseling theory, I felt it was important for
therapeutic treatments to be based on the needs of the client. Even though this notion
appears to be client-centered, I felt that the therapists role in client-centered therapy was
too passive. I felt it was important for the therapist to take a more active approach but
allowing the client to feel like a partner in their therapy sessions. Therefore, the
integrative approach seemed like the best fit since it shares the philosophy of designing
therapy sessions based on the clients needs as well as adopting foundational criteria from
several therapeutic methods. I felt that REBT provided the most comprehensive
foundational theory of personality and behavior that best matched my own beliefs,
despite some differences within the nine assumptions of human nature. I also felt it was
important to incorporate CBT and Existentialism to provide a more holistic approach to
human behavior and treatment in regards to past, present, and future events. Creating
personalized treatments will help provide a greater chance of success in therapy.

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Figure 1. Ellis position on the nine basic assumptions concerning human nature (the
shaded areas indicate the degree to which Ellis favors one of the two bipolar extremes).
Adapted from Basic Assumptions Concerning Human Nature Underlying Rational
Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) Personality Theory, by D.J. Ziegler, 2000, Journal
of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 18(2), p. 71.

MY THEORY OF COUNSELING

23
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