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Counseling means therapeutic treatments for people who have issues that are unbearable for them. Issues like anger management, addiction to drugs, anxiety, depression, and many other problems.
Different types of counseling are practiced for school adjustment issues, relationship problems, life, and body transitions throughout our developing ages.
People go through several life changes, and it can be low self-confidence or career-related questions that can upset them a lot. Different types of counseling are usually one-on-one or sometimes group therapy sessions.
Counseling psychologists help patients to strengthen their existing characteristics and enhance their ability to deal with the problems they have.
1. The Benefits of Counseling
Counseling can help people deal with life problems and make career decisions. From career to relationship problems, counseling can be helpful in every part of your life.
Different counseling types can help to cope with depression, develop self-confidence, explore different life opportunities, and many more.
Each confidential session encourages patients to talk about themselves, their weaknesses, and plus points. Managing anxiety and making patients know their worth is an important motives for counselors.
The best part of counseling is that they don’t judge people while they share information about their private lives and problems. Who should go to therapy is a frequent question that people ask.
Well, there are different types of counseling that affect different areas.
- People dealing with anxiety and depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and OCD
- To know which career path you should choose.
- Improve your existing lifestyle
- Coping with relationship and family problems
2. Types of Counseling
2.1. Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Therapy
Sigmund Freud is the founder of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theories. In these theories, talking is the key to helping the person dealing with problems like anxiety and depression. These talking therapies are a great help because while the person is talking about their problems.
These therapies subconsciously bring back childhood and good memories. These are the most used therapies, and this brings out the inner thoughts that may have triggered the present depression and anxiety.
The only difference between psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies is that psychoanalytic therapy is a long-term process. At the same time, psychodynamic therapy is relatively short-term.
2.2. Behavioral Therapy
This therapy is for people who are dealing with certain behavioral problems, like anger issues or phobias. Behavioral theory is used to cut out the toxic behavior one possesses and replace it with desirable ones.
Patients usually learn this theory through their surroundings. There are different types of behavioral therapies-
2.2.1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/ Theory
CBT is used for patients dealing with mental disorders like eating disorders and PTSD. This is a type of counseling session where talking is the most important factor.
By talking to your therapist, you get to know how you think and modify your negative thinking problems.
By attending different therapy CBT sessions, you can automatically attain healthier thinking. This is a great way to restart your behavioral patterns.
2.2.2. Cognitive-Behavioral Play Therapy
This therapy is mainly for kids who are dealing with different mental issues. Many times kids also go through a lot, due to environmental changes or changes in their own self, but they can’t express them to their parents or teachers.
This therapy allows them to express their specific problems through different plays. The therapists take notes about how they play with a certain toy and what they try to express while they play.
2.2.3. Aversion Therapy
This is an interesting therapy for people dealing with addictions or who want to give up something toxic. This focuses on the thing that they want to give up, for example, smoking. The counselor associates something unpleasant with smoking for a long time.
For example, showing a picture or video of damaged lungs caused by smoking. This makes the person uncomfortable every time he tries to smoke and helps them overcome smoking.
This therapy may consume time, but the aftereffects are worth your time.
2.2.4. System Desensitization
This therapy is the most useful for people having different phobias. In this therapy, the patients learn different relaxation techniques and many times face their phobias. This is also a long-term process because fear is not gone in just a few weeks.
The main motive is to get rid of the phobias that can interfere with a crucial time of a patient’s life. If these phobias are left untreated, then the condition can worsen.
2.3. Humanistic Therapy
This is a type of counseling where the patients are given a humanistic view rather than just a professional one. This is one of the types of counseling that can help the counselor get a better knowledge about their personality, behaviors, and creativity.
Observing the patient’s habits and personal choices can help the therapist recommend more self-realization and self-loving ways to encourage the patient.
This is a great way to get the patient to love themselves know their creativity, and get negative emotions from their mind. People who have issues with themselves and think that they are not enough can obviously try this method.
There are different types of humanistic approaches-
2.3.1. Person-Centered Therapy
This therapy focuses on the development of one’s self-worth and polishing existing features and creativity. One of the therapist’s main purposes is to stay by the patient’s side when they need emotional support.
The therapists help the patients know their self-worth and what the patient is capable of doing. This therapy can help us know our potential and make us aware of the features that are buried inside us.
Person-centred is one type of counseling for people who underestimates themselves and think they are not unique. People having borderline personality disorder also get plenty of help from this therapy.
2.3.2. Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is a humanistic approach where the patients talk about current family and relationship problems they are dealing with.
This form of therapy is used by counselors to look into present experiences that the patient goes through than digging past ones. This type of therapy can help a person take responsibility and face difficulties rather than blaming them on others.
Role-playing, which means recreating a past scenario, is an example of gestalt therapy. This means that the patient is told to act like the previous scenario like giving possible reactions or arguments that they wanted to say but couldn’t say or missed during that exact moment.
2.3.3. Existential Therapy
This type of counseling is also used for patients who don’t want to take responsibility for shame or guilt. Therapists give you an overview of what you should not care about when trying to do something new. The feeling of freedom and personal growth is the key motive of this therapy.
Societal pressure makes us conscious of the consequences that may occur after we do something. Societal pressure can cause big life issues like anxiety during public speaking or sharing opinions. This therapy helps a lot of people gain the confidence they lack.
2.3.4. Holistic Therapy
This is one of the coping strategies where the primary region for counseling is not just a mental approach but also a physical one. Things like the mind, body, feelings, and emotions are equally important during this therapy.
This therapy plays a vital role in keeping physical and mental health intact. Examples of different regions that can be helped are-
- Emotional health: angry, worried, or sad
- Physical health: body aches and pains, nauseous, and fatigue
- Mental health: anxiety, depression
3. Conclusion – Why Counseling is Important?
We have different negative thoughts and negative feelings that can affect our lives pretty harshly. Even students and kids attending school can face difficulties like bullying, discrimination, and other negative comments.
These problems can lead to a negative approach to lifestyle later on. These toxic things should always be cured and taken care of with the help of different types of counseling.
Even unknowingly, many people can have deep-buried problems that they may not locate or know. Different types of counseling can help us know about these underlying problems and treat them accordingly. Otherwise, these problems can lead to severe issues later on.
Counseling always maintains confidentiality, which is the most important part of a session. So, whatever things they share remain within the session only. Trying different types of counseling is always like keeping a step ahead of life problems.
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Last Updated on by Ananya Sreen
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