COU101 Theories of Counselling Essay Sample
The goal of this assessment is to assess students’ knowledge and application of counselling theory and skills, and evaluate their reflective practice. Students will have presented a role play during weeks 8 – 10 in tutorial time, and are required to reflect on the process of preparation and delivery of this simulated counselling session. Viewing a recording of the session will be beneficial to preparing this reflective essay.
Students are required to:
• Identify the theory that was applied in the Counselling session. Provide a short description of this theory, its development over time, and it uses (reference this from unit readings).
• Describe the techniques and skills employed related to that theory that were used when working with the client (reference these from unit readings).
Provide examples from your Role Play.
• Explain why this theory was chosen.
• Describe how the theory informed your approach when considering the client. How did the theory inform your thinking and conception of the client and their issues?
• Discuss the strengths and limitations of this theory for this client (Did it work?) (use academic sources to support your discussion).
• Reflect on the skills you used as a counsellor during the session; identify skills that you demonstrated well, and discuss skills that can be improved.
Use either the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia Code of Ethics, or Code of Ethics and Practice of the Australian Counselling Association to inform your answer.
Students are to use APA 7 format (introduction, sub-headings, conclusion, page numbers etc.) and referencing; both in-text and reference list.
Solution
Introduction
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) is a model of brief therapy that evolved in the late 1970s, founded by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. Very different from traditional therapies pointing to roots of the problem, this uniquely focuses on the identification and generation of solutions. It assumes the belief that therapy should be goal-oriented and short-termed; it focuses on the goals of the client and the kind of life he or she would like, not the type of problems that lead him or her into therapy (Gardner 2024). It is doubtlessly a future-oriented, goal-directed approach, focusing on what can be instead of the possibilities of past or present difficulties. SFT assists the client to envisage the future that they would want to see and, based on their strengths and resources, takes them along the way to get there (Arslan & Ulus 2020).
Theory and Development
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) developed as one of the models of the brief therapy movement and has advanced quite a lot since it was created by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. Constructivist in its nature, Solution-Focused Therapy is based on the belief that a human being constructs his or her own reality on the basis of the experience and interaction with the world. This view looks as if it supports the fact that human beings have inborn potential to develop solutions themselves, thus showing that change is something constant and inevitable (Takagi et al., 2022).
Early on, the founders of SFT noticed that focusing on problems could actually, in fact, inadvertently strengthen the problems, whereas focusing on the solutions enabled the problems to change more quickly (Coyle 2024). This realization gave birth to techniques such as the "miracle question," which involves the client describing the changes he would observe, supposing one night while he was sleeping, his problem had been solved. The other techniques developed include "scaling questions," which are questions that rate the confidence level of the client towards solving a given problem.
SFT has been used within an incredible range of diversity in settings and with a variety of populations, showing the almost universal applicability and effectiveness of this approach. EFT has been used in different contexts: individual work, couple work, online work, and family work, as well as in a range of groups from children and adolescents to groups of young people in schools, on topics from behavioral problems to severe mental health disorders. One reason for its pragmatic approach, therefore, has been its favored use in many settings—education, social work, and even health care—where time and resources may be at a premium (Riera Adrover et al., 2022). This focus on client strengths and potentialities is what makes Solution-Focused Therapy a deeply empowering approach and often results in quick, sustainable changes within the life-space of clients.
Techniques and Skills
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) really depends on a number of techniques, all of which are focused on moving the client's attention from the problem more to solutions, trying to cause them to make forward strides in seeking their outcome (Jaradat & Ababneh 2021). Two of the key SFT techniques are the "Miracle Question" and "Scaling Questions," both applied in a session with a client who was a 28-year-old lady by the name of Lisa.
Miracle Question: This is one of the key techniques in SFT in which the practitioner asks the client to suppose that while he was sleeping, a miracle has taken place, and in the morning, when he wakes up, he finds the solution to the problem. The therapist then guides the client to describe the details of what their life would look like in this new reality. I will translate these examples into the words of Lisa: "Well, just imagine, tonight a miracle has to happen to you, and having awakened in the morning, you'll feel that you've been appreciated in full. What will be the first sign for you to see that a miracle happened, and what else will be visible?" This will help her derive specific, positive details of changes in her environment and interactions and may contribute to helping her form goals and gain a picture of what might be a satisfying life for her.
Scaling Questions: These are questions that are supposed to draw from the client how far from their goals they have reached or how close to the target they are; it usually has a rating from 0-10, with 10 being the point where they have reached their goal. What the client is now feeling is ranked, and the therapist goes to understand more of what is needed to be done to get into a higher ranking on the scale. For example, he can ask Lisa, "On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is feeling totally unappreciated and 10 is feeling fully appreciated by your family, where would you say you are right now?" Follow-up questions may be, "What makes it a 4 and not a 3?" or "What small change could make it go to 5?" All these questions will help Lisa realize her present resources, her small successes, and what small steps she can take in the desired direction of feeling more connected to the family.
Theory Application and Choice for Lisa
Solution-focused therapy (SFT) showed itself as a strong contender for a very appropriate choice of treatment for Lisa, mainly because of the effectiveness it has when the client perceives himself as being dug into an unsatisfactory rut or relationship (Coyle 2024). This therapy could work especially well with people like Lisa who felt that they were under siege and worn thin. First, it changes the conversation of the therapist from the problems at hand to the problems that have been set for him. Lisa's is a common case where the unraveling of the origins and dynamics of her feelings would have been done by traditional problem-focused therapy, allowing her therapeutic process to be extended without immediate relief setting in.
SFT for university assignment help provided a structured and very flexible approach that allowed Lisa to pinpoint and concentrate on what she can change, being able to use her strengths to facilitate the changes. In fact, by encouraging Lisa to vision a world where the issues for which she brought them to therapy were changed, SFT empowered her to imagine what could be possible versus the usual stuckness of the problem. Specifically, the kind of this goal-oriented therapy was very fitting to Lisa since it could get into the very goals that she wanted to get in terms of being appreciated and connecting within the family, thus allowing the therapist to develop interventions serving these outcomes directly (Ekinci & Tokkass 2024).
Theory's Informing the Approach
In employing SFT with Lisa, the actual theory of the therapy helped to conceptualize her situation not as a series of complaints about her family life but as an opportunity that can be recognized and built upon to better inherent strengths. It was one of the remarkable strengths: family commitment. It also was one of her stress sources on the other side, supplying her with building material for solutions (Australian Counselling Association 2022).
The SFT approach was of much help in Lisa's paradigm shift of seeing the problems experienced by the same as concrete and achievable goals (Shu Yan et al., 2023). Instead, where it focused on how much she did and the lack of appreciation that she felt, the therapy directed her to seek the experiences in which she would feel valued and to work out how more of those could be created. But this shift—from problem-saturated narrative to one filled with potential solutions—gave Lisa a new lens through which she could see relationships and her role in the family. This reorientation foregrounded not only her persistent but rather cast her as an active change agent in her life. Breaking things into small, manageable steps towards these goals—thus, at each phase, Lisa was able to see movement. That really built up the "I can do it" and hope—key in making progress stick and key in any sustained change and satisfaction in therapy.
Strengths and Limitations
Main advantages are the brevity of the text, focus on the utilization of client strengths, and the effective performance of a student's past to build a solution. Such attention to positive results and quick progress makes the approach particularly applicable to those clients who experience specific problems and wish to have them resolved quickly or the goal-directed ones. However, one of the pitfalls of SFT is its neglect of the deeper underlying issues that might not come to play in the discussions at operational levels of goals attainment. For clients like Lisa, then, while SFT may apply fruitfully toward her most immediate concern of feeling underappreciated, it would probably not get at the deeper issues of something more chronic, like feelings of isolation or low self-esteem driving her experience.
Reflection on Skills
The use of listening and questioning skills turned out to be effective in the session with Lisa. Through the skills, the clients are able to understand the goals and bring the needed details for framing the course of action for achievement. Rather, this is an opportunity to probe further and deepen these sessions by examining the emotional undercurrents that may inform her feelings and behaviors—further exploration in such areas may yield deeper and more meaningful therapeutic results.
Conclusion
Overall, the SFT offered an invaluable lens with which to help Lisa in making the sought-after changes within the framework of structure but also malleability. The leading positive features in this form of therapy were the rapid establishment of the problems and positive outcomes. However, this should be considered as having its limits, avoiding deeper emotional issues. Awareness of these limitations and problem-solving around them would ensure that the whole-person approach is taken in managing Lisa's ongoing challenges to support securing her immediate relief and support towards her subsequent long-term wellbeing.
References
Arslan, U., & Ulus, I. Ç. (2020). Solution Focused Brief Therapy Training. [Solution-Focused Short-Term Therapy Training] Bartin University Faculty of Education Journal, 9(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.14686/buefad.440625
Australian Counselling Association. (2022). Code of ethics and practice of the Australian counselling association. In Australian Counselling Association. https://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA-Code-of-Ethics-and-Practice-Ver16.pdf
Ekinci, N., & Tokka?, B. G. (2024). A Systematic Review of Narrative Therapy. [A Systematic Review on Narrative Therapy] Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 16(1), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1256695
Gardner, P. (2024). From stress to success: how dedicated therapy supports business leaders. Training Journal (Online), https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/stress-success-how-dedicated-therapy-supports/docview/2923196502/se-2
Jaradat, A. M., & Ababneh, N. A. (2021). Reducing Boredom Proneness & Enhancing Intrinsic Motivation Through a Solution-focused Brief Therapy Program. North American Journal of Psychology, 23(1), 141-154.
Riera Adrover,J.,Albert, casado, T, & Campos, J.F. (2022). Efficacy of Attitudes and Interventions of Social Work Professionals: A Review. Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 79, 130-149.
Shu-Yan, C., Bian, C., Cheng, Y., Wei-Wei, Z., Shi-Rui, Y., & Yan-Hong, Z. (2023). A randomized controlled trial of a nurse-led psychological pain solution-focused intervention for depressed inpatients: study protocol. BMC Nursing, 22, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01252-6
Takagi, G., Contributed equally to this work with:,Gen Takagi, Sakamoto, K., Nihonmatsu, N., Hagidai, M., Miki Hagidai, N. N., & Miki Hagidai Miki Hagidai Contributed equally to this work with:,Gen Takagi. (2022). The impact of clarifying the long-term solution picture through solution-focused interventions on positive attitude towards life. PLoS One, 17(5)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267107
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