Counselling Psychology Flashcards
(2 cards)
Usefulness of counselling psychology
A strength of counselling psychology is that it has revolutionised modern therapies in psychiatry. Seeing the individual as the expert, and referring to them as a ‘client’, rather than a ‘patient’ empowers them, as the client and
therapist work closely together to facilitate growth of the self. This is a strength because the client becomes the expert on their own condition and promotes a positive image of the human condition. As a result, this positive approach has shown to be very effective in reducing symptoms of psychological conditions such as low self-worth and lack of motivation in depressed patients. This is therefore an appropriate treatment for patients with mood and anxiety related conditions
Effectiveness of counselling:
strength is that counselling psychology has been found to be
effective. For example, Elliot (2002) showed in a meta-analysis of 86 studies that humanistic therapies prompted significant improvements in clients when compared to patients not receiving treatment. However, Rogers was an advocate of non-experimental methods
making it impossible to verify the results of counselling as without experimental evidence, evaluation of the therapy becomes very difficult. Some studies have shown personal growth as a result of receiving counselling psychology, but these do not show that the therapy caused the changes, a fundamental requirement of scientific psychology.
