Tag Archives: theories

Clinical Interviewing, Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

The Long Version of our Theoretical Orientation Test: Which Direction will our Hogwarts Theories Hat Point you?

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I keep getting a steady stream of requests for the “long version” of our Theoretical Orientation Test. The TOT-Long is from our Study Guide, pictured here:

And here’s a link to the test:

theoretical-orientation-test-longDownload

When taking our TOT-Long, keep some or all of the following in the back (or front) of your mind.

  1. This questionnaire is for self-exploration; it’s not an “assessment” with established psychometrics. What that means–in the spirit of Adler–is that this so-called test is an idiographic assessment process.
  2. I’m not a big fan of counselors and psychotherapists pigeon-holing themselves into strict theoretical positions. Instead, finding a compatible theory can help you align with ways you can transform your ideas into practical ways of being and ways of working with clients. Don’t let your theoretical orientation stop you from flexibly providing clients with the services they need and want.
  3. All theory-based approaches work best from a relational foundation. If you question this basic assumption, try doing cold CBT with ambivalent or reluctant teenagers. . . or just imagining how that would go might be enough.
  4. I hope you enjoy contemplating where our theoretical “sorting hat” sends you. As with all assessments, you’re the final authority of whether the shoe (or hat) fits.

Please let me know what you think of the test and, if you’re so inclined, post your theoretical orientation as a comment here. I look forward to hearing and seeing your reactions and results.

Be well!

John SF

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice, Writing

Happy Birthday Alfred Adler

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Recently someone mistook me for an Adlerian. This got me thinking, “Maybe I am an Adlerian?” Then again, if you look at the history of counseling and psychotherapy, most of us are Adlerians. At one presentation I attended back when we attended those things, the presenters started with, “In the beginning, there was Adler.”

As a Happy Birthday tribute to Alfred Adler, below is an excerpt from our Adlerian theories chapter. There’s much more, of course, like, for example, what Adlerian theory would have to say about the Super Bowl.

Happy Birthday Dr. Adler.

Historical Context

Freud and Adler met in 1902. According to Mosak and Maniacci (1999), Adler published a strong defense of Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, and consequently Freud invited Adler over “on a Wednesday evening” for a discussion of psychological issues. “The Wednesday Night Meetings, as they became known, led to the development of the Psychoanalytic Society” (p. 3).

Adler was his own man with his own ideas before he met Freud. Prior to their meeting he’d published his first book, Healthbook for the Tailor’s Trade (Adler, 1898). In contrast to Freud, much of Adler’s medical practice was with the working poor. Early in his career, he worked extensively with tailors and circus performers.

In February 1911, Adler did the unthinkable (Bankart, 1997). As president of Vienna’s Psychoanalytic Society, he read a highly controversial paper, “The Masculine Protest,” at the group’s monthly meeting. It was at odds with Freudian theory. Instead of focusing on biological and psychological factors and their influence on excessively masculine behaviors in males and females, Adler emphasized culture and socialization (Carlson & Englar-Carlson, 2017). He claimed that women occupied a less privileged social and political position because of social coercion, not physical inferiority. Further, he noted that some women who reacted to this cultural situation by choosing to dress and act like men were suffering, not from penis envy, but from a social-psychological condition he referred to as the masculine protest. The masculine protest involved overvaluing masculinity to the point where it drove men and boys to give up and become passive or to engage in excessive aggressive behavior. In extreme cases, males who suffered from the masculine protest began dressing and acting like girls or women.

The Vienna Psychoanalytic Society members’ response to Adler was dramatic. Bankart (1997) described the scene:

After Adler’s address, the members of the society were in an uproar. There were pointed heckling and shouted abuse. Some were even threatening to come to blows. And then, almost majestically, Freud rose from his seat. He surveyed the room with his penetrating eyes. He told them there was no reason to brawl in the streets like uncivilized hooligans. The choice was simple. Either he or Dr. Adler would remain to guide the future of psychoanalysis. The choice was the members’ to make. He trusted them to do the right thing. (p. 130)

Freud likely anticipated the outcome. The group voted for Freud to lead them. Adler left the building quietly, joined by the Society’s vice president, William Stekel, and five other members. They moved their meeting to a local café and established the Society for Free Psychoanalytic Research. The Society soon changed its name to the Society for Individual Psychology. This group believed that social, familial, and cultural forces are dominant in shaping human behavior. Bankart (1997) summarized their perspective: “Their response to human problems was characteristically ethical and practical—an orientation that stood in dramatic contrast to the biological and theoretical focus of psychoanalysis” (p. 130).

Adler’s break from Freud gives an initial glimpse into his theoretical approach. Adler identified with common people. He was a feminist. These leanings reflect the influences of his upbringing and marriage. They reveal his compassion for the sick, oppressed, and downtrodden. Before examining Adlerian theoretical principles, let’s note what he had to say about gender politics well over 90 years ago:

All our institutions, our traditional attitudes, our laws, our morals, our customs, give evidence of the fact that they are determined and maintained by privileged males for the glory of male domination. (Adler, 1927, p. 123)

Raissa Epstein may have had a few discussions with her husband, exerting substantial influence on his thinking (Santiago-Valles, 2009).

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You can take a peek at our Theories text on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Psychotherapy-Theories-Context-Practice/dp/1119473314/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LIAVFMJLE5TD&dchild=1&keywords=sommers-flanagan&qid=1612716309&s=books&sprefix=sommers-%2Caps%2C205&sr=1-1

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice, Writing

Essential Information about Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories

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A good summary is a beautiful thing. But summaries are always unfair and limited representations of that which is bigger. Nevertheless, below, I’ve tried to summarize the primary listening focus and the primary change mechanisms for each of 13 theoretical orientations included in our textbook, Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice (John Wiley & Sons, 2018). In addition, yesterday I filmed myself using a memory-palace strategy while describing all 13 perspectives below. You can read the summary below and/or watch me try to pull off this 15 minute theories overview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VJFK6cCHCU8

TheoryWhat to Listen For. . .Change Mechanisms
Psychoanalytic PsychodynamicOld maladaptive intrapersonal conflicts and repetitive, unconscious, and dysfunctional interpersonal patterns.Make unconscious conscious, catharsis, and working through new intra- and interpersonal dynamics.
AdlerianBasic mistakes imbedded in the style of life, including excess self-interest and inferiority/superiority.Awareness, insight, and encouragement (courage) to face the tasks of life.
ExistentialAnxiety over and avoidance of core existential life dynamics like death, isolation, meaninglessness, and freedom.Feedback and confrontation to help clients gain awareness and face life’s ultimate existential demands.
Person-CenteredEmotional distress, incongruence (discrepancies between real and ideal selves), and conditions of worth.A relationship characterized by congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathic understanding.
GestaltUnfinished emotional and behavioral baggage from the past that blocks awareness or disturbs self-other boundaries.Guidance on using here-and-now experiments to deal with unfinished emotional and behavioral experiences.
BehavioralDisturbing emotions (e.g., anxiety), maladaptive behavior patterns, and environmental contingencies.New learning or re-learning via operant, classical, and social processes.
CBTDisturbing emotions (e.g., anxiety, anger), maladaptive thinking, maladaptive behaviors, and triggers/contingenciesCollaborative and empirical tasks that modify maladaptive or distorted cognitive information processing.
Choice Theory/Reality TherapyWhat clients want, what they’re doing, whether that’s working, and planning.Commit to and enact adaptive plans that are aligned with quality world goals.
FeministWhere is the client experiencing anger or dissatisfaction due to gender-based limits or oppressive situations?Relational connection and empowerment to actively seek personal goals and mutually empathic emotional relationships.
ConstructiveWhere clients are stuck and how existing client strengths, exceptions, and solutions can fuel change.Re-shaping, reframing, and reconsolidating old narratives and problem-based patterns through solutions and sparkling moments.
Family SystemsFamily dynamics, transactions, hierarchy, roles, and boundaries that contribute to personal or systemic dysfunction.Shift family dynamics and transactions via in-session and outside session assignments.
MulticulturalWhere is the client experiencing distress due to limiting or oppressive socio-political factors?Cultural acceptance, empowerment, and culturally-based rituals.
IntegrativeWhat are the client’s unique problems, strengths, and consistent ways of thinking, acting, and feeling?Match a therapeutic process to the client’s unique problems and strengths.
Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice, Multicultural, Personal Reflections

Integrating Multicultural Sensitivity into CBT

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Woman Statue

A question and brief discussion on Twitter about integrating multicultural competence into CBT inspired me to look back and see what the heck we wrote for that section in our theories text. In the Twitter discussion, we agreed that Pam Hays’s work on CBT and multicultural content is good.

Here’s what I found in our theories text. Obviously it’s a short section and limited, but there are a few interesting points and a citation or two.

Cultural and Diversity Considerations in CBT

CBT focuses on symptoms as manifest within individuals. This position can be (and is) sometimes viewed as disregarding important culture, gender, and sexual diversity issues. For most cognitive-behavioral therapists, culture, gender, and sexuality aren’t primary factors that drive successful outcomes.

This position is a two-edged sword. In the featured case (in Chapter 8), Richard is a white male living a life squarely in the middle of the dominant culture. The therapist was committed to Richard’s well-being. If the client had been an Asian Indian or a bisexual or a woman experiencing domestic abuse the cognitive-behavioral therapist would have been equally committed to the client’s well-being. This is the positive side of CBT being less diversity-oriented.

The negative side is that CBT can be viewed and experienced as blaming clients for their symptoms, when the symptoms may be a function of diversity bias. D. Dobson and K. S. Dobson (2009) articulated the potential for clients to experience blame,

By virtue of looking for distorted thoughts, cognitive-behavioral therapists are more likely than other therapists to find them. Furthermore, some clients do react to the terms distorted, irrational, or dysfunctional thinking. We have heard clients say something to the effect—” Not only do I feel bad, but now I’ve learned that my thoughts are all wrong.” (p. 252)

Awareness of the possibility of client blaming is crucial. For example, what if Richard were a Black American male? And what if his therapist noticed that Richard’s thought record included numerous personalization examples? If so, instead of concluding that Richard is displaying oversensitivity and paranoid cognitions, his therapist should explore the possibility of microaggressions in Richard’s daily life.

The term microaggression was coined by Chester Pierce (1978). Microaggressions were originally defined as “the everyday subtle and often automatic ‘put-downs’ and insults directed toward Black Americans” but now this is expanded so they “can be expressed toward any marginalized group in our society” (Sue, 2010, p. 5).

Microaggressions are typically unconscious. For example, we had a female client come to us in great distress because her vocational instructor had told her “You’re pretty strong for a girl.” Although the vocational instructor defended his “compliment,” the young woman clearly didn’t experience the statement as a compliment. In this circumstance if a therapist is insensitive to culture and gender issues, the young woman might feel blamed for having irrational thoughts and overreactive behaviors. Sue (2010) recommends that mental health professionals exercise vigilance to address microaggression issues inside and outside of counseling. One way in which cognitive behavioral practitioners have addressed the potential for committing microaggressions against sexually diverse clients is by using LGBTQ affirmative CBT (Pachankis, Hatzenbuehler, Rendina, Safren, & Parsons, 2015).

Returning to racial/cultural microaggressions, let’s briefly pretend that Richard is a 6′7′′ Black American male. In his thought record he notes:

Situation: Walking into the local grocery store. Young female makes eye contact with me and then quickly turns around and goes back and locks her car.

Thoughts: She thinks I’m going to steal her car.

Emotions: Anger.

Behavior: I act rude toward her and toward other white people I see in the store.

If the Black American version of Richard has a therapist who looks at this thought record and then talks with Richard about the distorted thinking style of mind-reading (“Richard, you didn’t really know what she was thinking, did you?”) this therapist is showing cultural insensitivity and will likely be fired by Richard. This is an example of one of the many growing edges CBT should address with respect to women and minority clients.

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As always, your reactions to this content are welcome.

 

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice, Personal Reflections

Three Top Jokes from the Funniest Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories Text on the Planet

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Corey Wubbolding and SF

Rita keeps saying I’ve been laughing more. Last night we were watching an Australian soap opera featuring an overly aggressive goat. I got the giggles. Maybe it’s all this focus on happiness lately. Then again, we’re also writing a suicide assessment and treatment book, which partly translates into living in and cherishing every moment. So who really knows what’s up with me thinking angry goats are funny?

Last week I did a Zoom appearance in Dr. Julia Taylor’s theories class at the University of Virginia. As usual (this is my third year visiting her class), Julia had her students well-prepped; we had a fantastic discussion. One student, much to my delight, said our theories text was the funniest text ever, and that she learned more from it than she had in four years of reading undergraduate textbooks. I, of course, heartily agreed and thanked Elexus (I still remember her name) for her wonderful comments.

As a textbook writer, I don’t get a ton of positive feedback, but when I do, it tickles my heart and makes my day.

Today, after doing a private consultation with a mental health counselor in Denmark, I sent out a copy of the CBT chapter from our theories text. Before sending it, I read the first paragraphs, and laughed out loud. I’d forgotten that we somehow left my free associations about cognition in the chapter opening. I laughed partly because the prose was hilarious and partly because of a tinge of embarrassment that my irreverent writing might be just too much for some readers. Oh well. I hope not.

More importantly, reading that paragraph made me decide to feature three IMHO hilarious excerpts from our Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice textbook (Yes, it’s funnier than it sounds, but then, that’s a very low hurdle). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119473314?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=FT4RVJG8794EET839Y97

Excerpt One: Free Associating to Cognition

Chapter Eight starts with the following magic.

We have many ideas about how to open a chapter about cognition. John wanted to say something pithy like, “You are what you think,” but Ralph Waldo Emerson got there first. Rita was considering, “As a woman thinketh” (a feminist version of James Allen’s 1903 book titled, “As a man thinketh”), but John countered with “As a person thinketh” and by then we’d grown weary of the word thinketh. Then Rita waxed Shakespeare-esk, saying, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” which seemed a little better than the Buddha’s, “What you think you become” until we found the writings of Hafiz (a 14th century Persian poet):

Zero

Is where the Real Fun starts

There’s too much counting

Everywhere else!

(Ladinsky, 1996, p. 47)

Although Albert Ellis might respond to this poem by asking, “What the Holy Hell are you thinking,” we thought it was about clearing a cognitive space for meditation. Let’s start with zero.

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Okay. Just in case you’re not ROTFL now, here’s a clip from the existential chapter that will knock your socks off. This comes under the heading, “The I-Am Experience”

Excerpt Two: Existentialists and Hyphens

Existentialists like to use hyphens to capture the interconnectedness of phenomenological experience. For example, in contrast to May’s I-am experience, Boss (1963) and Binswanger (1933) used Dasein (which is translated to being-in-the-world) to describe the sense-of-existence. Also, the phrase, “Dasein choosing,” which is translated to the-person-who-is-responsible-for-his-existence choosing is used. We should note that this practice is in no way related to our own hyphenated last names, although it has inspired John to consider adding a hyphenated middle name so he can refer to himself in the third person as, “John-who-is-responsible-for-his-existence-Sommers-Flanagan,” which he thinks sort of rolls right off the tongue.

It follows, as-if-anything-really-follows-from-the-preceding, that existential therapy is nearly always in the service of self-awareness or self-discovery. However, unlike psychoanalysts, existentialists expand and illuminate client self-awareness rather than interpreting client unconscious processes. This is because existentialists believe the entirety of an individual’s human experience is accessible to consciousness.

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And now, the grand finale (although there are many more where these come from), and my personal favorite, from Chapter 11: Constructive Theory and Therapy

Excerpt Three: I’m Not Afraid of Philosophers

In this chapter, we de-emphasize distinctions between constructivist and social constructionist perspectives. Mostly, we lump them together as constructive theories and therapies and emphasize the intriguing intervention strategies developed within these paradigms. This may upset staunch constructivists or radical social constructionists, but we take this risk with full confidence in our personal safety—because most constructive types are nonviolent, strongly preferring to think, write, and engage in intellectual discussion. Therefore, within our own socially or individually constructed realities, we’ve concluded that we’re in no danger of bodily harm from angry constructive theorists or therapists.

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I’m sure many of you haven’t gotten the delight out of these hilarious counseling and psychotherapy theories humor that I have. Maybe that’s a sign that you too, should start studying happiness. On the other hand, reading theories books may have permanently warped my sense of humor. Either way, I hope you find sparkling moments and laughter here and there in your lives.

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

Draft Counseling and Psychotherapy Syllabus

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Below I’m including a drafty copy of our Counseling Theories syllabus from the University of Montana. My apologies for the wacky font action.

Theories III Photo

**Draft – 2016 Standards Alignment in Progress**

 COUN 511: COUNSELING THEORIES & TECHNIQUES

COURSE SYLLABUS – UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA – Fall 2019

____________________________________________________________

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION HERE:

Office:

Office Hours:

Email:

SCHEDULED CLASS MEETINGS:  Class meets on Mondays from 4:00pm to 6:50pm, beginning Monday, August 26, 2019. The oral final exam for graduate students is TBA.

COURSE CONTENT AND DESCRIPTION:  This course is an overview of major theories of counseling and psychotherapy with a special focus on gender, culture, counselor preparation, and common theory-based assessment and case formulation strategies. Because the purpose of counseling and psychotherapy is to help individuals make personally meaningful changes in their lives, we will consistently examine the means through which traditional theories attempt to produce such changes. Students will read about historical and intellectual foundations of major counseling theories, while at the same time, observing skills and techniques employed by practitioners using those theoretical perspectives. There will be opportunities, through assignments and class discussions, for students to analyze clients as well as themselves through the various lenses of psychological theories. Overall, students are encouraged not only to explore all the major theoretical orientations, but also to explore their personal beliefs and values in an effort to develop and deepen their understanding of counseling and psychotherapy process and outcome.

TEXTBOOK:  Required: Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2018). Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice (3rd ed). Hoboken: NJ: Wiley.

Recommended: Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2012). Student manual for Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice (2nd ed). Hoboken: NJ: Wiley.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this course is to introduce you to theories and techniques used by a variety of mental health professionals, school counselors, and other human service providers. We will explore and discuss the major theories and their practical application.

CACREP-Related Course Objectives: This course is a first Fall semester requirement for graduate students in Counseling at the University of Montana. The course includes content related to CACREP Core Standards and CACREP Specialty Standards. Specific key performance indicators are evaluated through course assignments, midterm and final examinations, and via an oral examination at the end of the semester. The oral examination focuses on the content of counseling theories and their application. The goals of the assessments in this course are to determine (a) how well the Counselor Education faculty is teaching specific CACREP-related objectives, (b) students’ ability to articulate and apply counseling theories, and (c) student readiness to enroll in counseling practicum (COUN 530).

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: If you are a student with a disability and wish to discuss reasonable accommodations for this course, contact me privately to discuss the specific modifications you wish to request. Please be advised I may request that you provide a letter from Disability Services for Students verifying your right to reasonable modifications. If you have not yet contacted Disability Services, located in Lommasson Center 154, please do so in order to verify your disability and to coordinate your reasonable modifications. For more information, visit the Disability Services website at www.umt.edu/dss/.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: All students must practice academic honesty.  Academic misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or disciplinary sanction by the University.  All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code.  The Code is available for review online at http://www.umt.edu/vpsa/policies/student_conduct.php.

IN-CLASS BEHAVIOR STANDARDS AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: In the Department of Counseling and at the University of Montana we strive to establish and maintain a positive learning environment. The expectation is that we will strive to treat one another with respect . . . even when we disagree. This also means that students (and faculty) will turn off their cell phones and not engage in internet shopping/surfing/social networking during class. If calls and texting are necessary, you should either not attend class or take care of your calling and texting at class break. If you need to be on-call due to employment responsibilities, please let me know.

TEACHING METHODS:

1.  Lectures/class demonstrations.

  1. Guest lectures/student presentations.
  2. Video/DVD/Film presentations.
  3. Class activities.
  4. Class discussions.

GRADING PROCEDURES:  Grades are based on completion of class assignments, midterm and final examination scores, and class participation/attendance. Course assignments are listed and described in a separate section. The grading scale is below:

A   = 93%+                        B-  = 80-82%               D+ = 67-69%

  • = 90-92% C+ = 77-79%               D   = 63-66%

B+ = 87-89%                     C   = 73-76%               D-  = 60-62%

B    = 83-86%                    C-  = 70-72%               F    = Below 60%

APPROXIMATE SCHEDULE OF CLASS TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Week Date Assigned Reading In-Class Topic Assignments Due
1 8/26 Ch. 1

 

In future weeks, read chapters before class

 Syllabus distribution and introduction to counseling and psychotherapy.

 

 

 

 Be sure to login to the Moodle course supplement. This is mostly for communication and to give me something to complain about.
XX 9/2 None Labor Day No Class  
2 9/9

 

 Ch. 2 Psychoanalytic Theory and Therapy.

 

  
3 9/16 Ch. 3 Individual psychology and Adlerian therapy – Guest Lecture with Dr. Veronica “Roni” Johnson  
4 9/23 Ch. 4 Existential theory and therapy Initial theories reflection paper due, by midnight 9/22/19  (30 points)
5 9/30

 

 

 Review chapters 1-4 and lectures Midterm #1 – 1st hour: Covers chapters 1-4. [From 5:30pm to 6:50pm there will be a WHOLE CLASS skills lab focusing on person-centered therapy and mental imagery] Midterm #1 (50 pts)

Chapters 1-4 plus lecture material
6 10/7 Ch. 5 The person-centered approach.  
7 10/14 Ch. 6 Gestalt theory and techniques.  
8 10/21 Ch. 7 Behavioral theory and therapy.  
9 10/28 Ch. 8 Cognitive approaches (or CBT).  
10 11/4 Review readings and lectures. Midterm #2 – 1st hour.

Covers chapters 5-8, plus lectures. [From 5:30pm to 6:50pm there will be a WHOLE CLASS skills lab focusing on CBT.]

 Midterm #2 (50 pts).

Chapters 5-8, plus lectures
9 11/11 Ch. 9 Choice theory and reality therapy  
11 11/18 Ch. 10 Feminist theory and therapy.  
12 11/25 Ch. 11 Constructive theory and therapy.  
13 12/2 Ch. 13 and 14 Multicultural theory and therapy and Counseling integration. Final papers due by midnight on Friday, 12/6/19
14 Week of 12/9 Review readings and lectures. Final examination.

Covers chapters 9, 10, 11, 13, 14

 Final exam (50 pts). Chapters 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, plus lectures

The graduate oral final exam is TBD

OFFICIAL ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS

There are 290 possible points available (YOU CAN CHOOSE TO DO #3 A or B, BUT NOT BOTH).

  1. Two Midterm Examinations (50 points each; 100 total): These are standard multiple choice and short answer exams. They will cover material from all the lectures and chapters as outlined in the syllabus and worth 50 points each. You’ll be expected to take the exams at their scheduled times; if you have a time conflict, contact us in advance and we’ll set up an alternative exam time. If you have a last minute crisis (e.g., an accident, illness, or emergency) contact us ASAP and we’ll be flexible. In all cases, you’ll need to arrange a special time and sit for the exam within one week of the original exam date or you’ll get a zero. We will be flexible the first time. If a pattern of irresponsibility emerges, we’ll become less flexible and you’ll be required to take a much harder examination.
  1. Initial Theories Reflection Paper (30 points; see calendar for due date): This is a short paper designed to accomplish three objectives: (a) give you an opportunity, early in the course, to explore a concept from the text or from class in greater depth; (b) provide you with an initial, simple library-related assignment; (c) provide me with an early sample of your writing skills.

The paper can focus on virtually any topic addressed in class or covered in the first four chapters of the text. Here’s what you should do:

  • Select a topic: Sample topics include
    • The great psychotherapy debate
    • Informed consent
    • Multicultural competence
    • Doing no harm
    • The seduction hypothesis
    • Defense mechanisms
    • Feminism and psychoanalysis
    • Why children misbehave
    • Earliest recollections
    • Paradoxical strategies
  • Read the section in the text about that topic
  • Go to the library (or do an online search) and find a professional journal reference pertaining to your topic and then list it in APA format in the reference section of your paper.
  • Write a three page paper (following APA format) on your selected topic
  • In your paper write (a) a description of the topic or issue and why you think it is an especially important topic for beginning counselors; (b) additional information that you learned about the topic through your library research; (c) a reflection that includes critical comments about the topic/issue; and (d) some concluding comments about how this topic is relevant for you and your work in the future as a counselor

The paper will be graded in the following areas: (a) attention to detail/typos, etc. (3 points; 10%); (b) following APA format (3 points; 10%); (c) writing skills/grammar/organization (6 points; 20%); (d) general summary and accuracy regarding the topic chosen (12 points; 40%); (e) inclusion of some original and interesting thoughts about the topic (6 points; 20%).

  1. Choose ONE of the following assignments to complete:
    1. Theories or Cultural Book Review and Critique (50 points; see calendar for due date): The purpose of this assignment is for you, as an individual, to dive deeper into, and learn more about, a theory of interest to you. I have many books in my office that you can peruse for this assignment or you can go to the library or you can buy something on your own. After you’ve selected a book and check with me to make sure it’s acceptable, there are three parts to this assignment: (a) read your selected book; (b) write a four-page summary and critique of the book (include both a summary and critique—focusing on the book’s strengths and weaknesses as well as a description of how you will apply the information you learned from the book to your life in the future); and (c) be prepared to provide a ten-minute presentation on the book at our final class, although please note that book presentations may or may not happen depending on time – TBA. If they do, you should just say if you recommend the book to others and how you rate it on a 1-100 scale and engage the class in a brief demonstration of something you learned from the book.

Grading Procedures

This assignment is worth 50 points. To earn the 50 points you will need to turn in high quality work. You will lose points for typos, misspelled words, concepts that are defined poorly or used incorrectly, incomplete or unclear descriptions of the text. In particular, you will be graded on the quality of your summary and critique. Your summary will need to be accurate and show that you understand the content of the book. Your critique should show some sophistication of thought and reflection. Although your personal opinion is desired, you should also provide a critique based on a professional source (e.g., the text, a journal article, etc). Failure to cite at least one relevant reference linked to the book content will cause you to lose five points.

  1. Personal Change Project (50 points; see calendar for due date): The purpose of this assignment is for you to apply some sort of personal change strategy to yourself. Previously this was a purely behavior modification project, but due to diverse student interest, you can now engage in any personal change strategy you like.

The Details

You’ll be using APA Style. That means you’ll have the following sections:

  • Introduction: In this section you’ll introduce your target behavior and your rationale for choosing to change it. You’ll include a small bit of background research on different methods for potentially modifying your target behavior. This will require at least two professional journal citations (please, DO NOT cite online and unsubstantiated gibberish). Although you may have some incredible ideas yourself, the point is for you to NOT completely rely on your own idiosyncratic ideas about how to change your target behavior. For example, let’s say you chose to reduce your intake of sugar. There have been many books and articles written on diet change. I would expect you to read and reference a few of these.
  • Method: In this section you will identify and define a specific, measurable behavior that you would like to increase, decrease, or eliminate. This behavior is called your “target behavior.” For example, you might choose to increase exercise behavior. To begin this assignment, you need to have a clear, operational description of the behavior and a method for measuring the occurrence of the behavior. For example, if you select “push-ups” as your behavior to increase, you would need to define exactly what you meant by “push-up” and then detail a method for obsessively tracking (measuring) of your push-up behavior. Other behaviors people have chosen in the past include: (a) increasing dream recall; (b) decreasing cigarette smoking; (c) increasing smiling behavior; (d) decreasing fingernail biting behavior; (e) increasing study behavior, etc. Of course, I encourage you to identify what you want to change, rather than simply choosing one of the aforementioned target behaviors. The method also includes a description of your change plan. Describe it so well that it could be replicated. Your plan SHOULD NOT rely exclusively on your WILLPOWER. It should flow from your introduction or brief look at the scientific literature. When I grade your assignment I’m interested in the specific techniques you’ve gleaned from the text or outside readings. For example, if you’re using a behavioral approach, I’d look for you to use strategies like: (a) positive reinforcement; (b) punishment; (c) response cost; (d) negative reinforcement; (e) stimulus control; (f) stimulus generalization; (g) fading; (h) unconditioned stimulus; (i) conditioned stimulus, etc. If you choose to use a cognitive approach, consider using the three column technique, shades of gray, visualization, rational disputing, etc. Your method section includes the method through which you plan to make your changes. Please inform John of your target behavior before proceeding with the assignment. Email me at sf@mso.umt.edu or pass me a note in class informing me of your chosen behavior and general strategy. Tip: Don’t select an infrequent behavior because then it will take you several years to get done. Write a contract for yourself (e.g., “I Rita SF, do solemnly swear. . .”). Include the behavior, the plan, your goals, and a space for you and a witness (someone in your social environment) to sign and co-sign the contract.
  • Results: I’ll be looking for two main things in your results section. First, I want to see numbers or a chart or graph that you’ve used to track your target behavior. This will include a baseline measurement of your target behavior over at least one week. I need to be able to see and understand your progress or lack thereof. Second, to capture your qualitative experience, I want to see a weekly journal entry about how it’s going. Discuss your feelings, your personal experience and perspective, and why you think the project is working or not working. You can also modify your change plan during the semester, as long as you clearly identify how and why you’re going to change your approach in your weekly journal entry, also noting that in your results section. Remember that good counselors are very flexible and creative in their approach.
  • Discussion: The discussion is your reflection on the project. It focuses on “what happened” (the results) but also provides a platform for you to speculate on what helped, what didn’t, and why.
  • References: You need at least two professional citations in APA format.
  • Appendix: Include a signed (and countersigned) contract to yourself as a commitment to this behavior change project.

Grading Procedures

This assignment is worth 50 points. To earn the 50 points you will need to turn in high quality work. However, your grade on this project is NOT AT ALL based on your success or failure in changing your behavior.

You will lose points for typos, misspelled words, concepts that are defined poorly or used incorrectly, incomplete or unclear descriptions of what you did and what happened, etc. Failure to cite at least a couple of relevant studies, articles, or books will also lose significant points. Follow the outline and you’ll have a good start. Please do your best work. Good luck and have fun!

  1. Attendance (30 points): We’ll take attendance at every class. Perfect attendance is worth 30 points. You’ll lose an increasing number of points for each class missed (even if you miss class for legitimate reasons). You lose 0 points for missing one class (everyone deserves a mental health day), 6 points for missing two classes, 9 more (total = 15) for the third, 15 more (all 30 points are lost) for the fourth. There will be in-class reflection assignments. If you don’t turn these in or do a poor job you’ll lose attendance points. To be fair, you can earn back points from missing class by completing additional assignments. You can earn attendance points back by listening to recorded lectures (as available), contacting Kindle Lewis (the TA) who will give you an additional assignment (e.g., writing an essay or responding to several lecture-related questions). Alternative assignments may be used at our discretion. If you’re motivated you can recover lost points.
  1. Graduate Skills Lab (30 points): All students enrolled in COUN 511 or taking the course for graduate credit will participate in a Counseling Skills Lab. We will break into smaller groups for this and the exact time and place for the lab is TBA. It will consist of 6-8 meetings (two of which will be after the first midterm) during which you practice the skills associated with specific theories on each other. We will start communicating about lab meeting times during the first week of the semester. If you miss one Grad Lab, you lose 15 points. If you miss two Grad Labs, you lose all 30 points.
  1. Final Oral Examination (50 points): For all graduate students, you will sit for a small (about 10 students) 90 minute group examination. You will be given short answer questions and a role-play assignment at least one week prior to the exam to help you prepare and study. During the exam, you’ll be asked, at random, several questions from the questions you’ve been given (and hopefully have studied) and you’ll be asked to demonstrate via role-play several skills associated with at least one theoretical orientation. This exam format is designed to help you learn to orally articulate and apply some of the theories concepts we’ve studied during the semester.

CACREP KPIs for Core and Specialty Counseling Competencies

All courses in the Department of Counseling include content related to our national Counseling and Counseling-Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation. CACREP identifies specific Core Standards as well as Specialty Standards. The following Table includes a listing of the CACREP Core and Specialty Standards covered by COUN 511 course content. Additionally, some of the standards listed below are the focus of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are specific CACREP standards that are systematically evaluated in order to determine whether students are learning key CACREP-related course content. In this course (COUN 511), the KPIs are evaluated through using the course assignments, experiential laboratory activities, midterm and final examinations, and via an oral examination at the end of the semester.

Core Standard Content Found Key Performance Indicator
2. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY    
b. theories and models of multicultural counseling, cultural identity development, and social justice and advocacy

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about how each theory addresses culture, sexuality, and spirituality.

 
c. multicultural counseling competencies

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about the MCCs in Chapter 1 and Chapter 13 of the textbook

 

  
d. the impact of heritage, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences on an individual’s views of others

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about this content in Chapter 13 and participate in a classroom activity.

 

  
5. COUNSELING AND HELPING RELATIONSHIPS    
a. theories and models of counseling

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about theories and models of counseling in their textbook and practice techniques linked to the theories in their counseling labs. Two midterm examinations and one oral final examination are used to measure student knowledge three times during the course.
b. a systems approach to conceptualizing clients

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about systems approaches in Chapters 11 and 12.  
f. counselor characteristics and behaviors that influence the counseling process

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about specific counselor characteristics and behaviors that influence counseling process and outcomes in the textbook.

 

  
g. essential interviewing, counseling, and case conceptualization skills

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about how to engage in case formulation and treatment planning in every theories chapter of the textbook.

 

  
h. developmentally relevant counseling treatment or intervention plans

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about counseling theories, treatments, and interventions that are more or less useful with specific developmental populations in the textbook.

 

 None
i. development of measurable outcomes for clients

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about measuring outcomes in every theories chapter of the textbook.

 

  
j. evidence-based counseling strategies and techniques for prevention and intervention COUN 511 – Students read about evidence pertaining to counseling strategies and techniques associated with each theory in the textbook.  
n. processes for aiding students in developing a personal model of counseling COUN 511 – Students read about how to integrate their personal ideas with existing theoretical models in the textbook. Students take a theoretical orientation test and write a one-page reflection on their initial preferred model of counseling.
8. RESEARCH AND PROGRAM EVALUATION    
a. the importance of research in advancing the counseling profession, including how to critique research to inform counseling practice

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about research linked to each theory presented in the textbook.  
b. identification of evidence-based counseling practices

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about evidence-based counseling practices in every chapter of the textbook.  
d. development of outcome measures for counseling programs

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about theory-based counseling outcome measures in every theories chapter.

 

  
e. evaluation of counseling interventions and programs

 

 COUN 511 – Students read about theory-based counseling outcome measures in every theories chapter.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

Thinking About Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories

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Theories III Photo

Definitions happen.

The process through which words and concepts are defined is fascinating. By definition, definitions need to be sharp and make distinctions, and yet they also sometimes be inclusive and blurry on the edges.

In the latest (3rd) edition of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice, Rita and I take aim at the definitions of counseling and psychotherapy. Read on, and if you’re inspired to do so, let me know what you think.

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Definitions of Counseling and Psychotherapy

Many students have asked us, “Should I get a PhD in psychology, a master’s degree in counseling, or a master’s in social work?”

This question usually brings forth a lengthy response, during which we not only explain the differences between these various degrees but also discuss additional career information pertaining to the PsyD degree, psychiatry, school counseling, school psychology, and psychiatric nursing. This sometimes leads to the confusing topic of the differences between counseling and psychotherapy. As time permits, we also share our thoughts about less-confusing topics, like the meaning of life.

Sorting out differences between mental health disciplines is difficult. Jay Haley (1977) was once asked: “In relation to being a successful therapist, what are the differences between psychiatrists, social workers, and psychologists?” He responded: “Except for ideology, salary, status, and power, the differences are irrelevant” (p. 165). Obviously, many different professional tracks can lead you toward becoming a successful mental health professional – despite a few ideological, salary, status, and power differences.

In this section we explore three confusing questions: What is psychotherapy? What is counseling? And what are the differences between the two?

What Is Psychotherapy?

Anna O., an early psychoanalytic patient of Josef Breuer (a mentor of Sigmund Freud), called her treatment the talking cure. This is an elegant, albeit vague, description of psychotherapy. Technically, it tells us very little but, at the intuitive level, it explains psychotherapy very well. Anna was saying something most people readily admit: talking, expressing, verbalizing, or sharing one’s pain and life story is potentially healing.

As we write today, heated arguments about how to practice psychotherapy continue (Baker & McFall, 2014; Laska, Gurman, & Wampold, 2014). This debate won’t soon end and is directly relevant to how psychotherapy is defined (Wampold & Imel, 2015). We explore dimensions of this debate in the pages to come. For now, keep in mind that although historically Anna O. viewed and experienced talking as her cure (an expressive-cathartic process), many contemporary researchers and writers emphasize that the opposite is more important – that a future Anna O. would benefit even more from listening to and learning from her therapist (a receptive-educational process). Based on this perspective, some researchers and practitioners believe therapists are more effective when they actively and expertly teach their clients cognitive and behavioral principles and skills (aka psychoeducation).

We have several favorite psychotherapy definitions:

  • A conversation with a therapeutic purpose (Korchin, 1976, p 281).
  • The purchase of friendship (Schofield, 1964, p. 1).
  • When one person with an emotional disorder gets help from another person who has a little less of an emotional disorder (J. Watkins, personal communication, October 13, 1983).

What Is Counseling?

Counselors have struggled to define their craft in ways similar to psychotherapists. Here’s a sampling:

  • Counseling is the artful application of scientifically derived psychological knowledge and techniques for the purpose of changing human behavior (Burke, 1989, p. 12).
  • Counseling consists of whatever ethical activities a counselor undertakes in an effort to help the client engage in those types of behavior that will lead to a resolution of the client’s problems (Krumboltz, 1965, p. 3).
  • [Counseling is] an activity … for working with relatively normal-functioning individuals who are experiencing developmental or adjustment problems (Kottler & Brown, 1996, p. 7).

We now turn to the question of the differences between counseling and psychotherapy.

What are the Differences Between Psychotherapy and Counseling?

Years ago, Patterson (1973) wrote: “There are no essential differences between counseling and psychotherapy” (p. xiv). We basically agree with Patterson, but we like how Corsini and Wedding (2000) framed it:

Counseling and psychotherapy are the same qualitatively; they differ only quantitatively; there is nothing that a psychotherapist does that a counselor does not do. (p. 2)

This statement implies that counselors and psychotherapists engage in the same behaviors—listening, questioning, interpreting, explaining, and advising—but may do so in different proportions.

The professional literature mostly implies that psychotherapists are less directive, go a little deeper, work a little longer, and charge a higher fee. In contrast, counselors are slightly more directive, work more on developmentally normal—but troubling—issues, work more overtly on practical client problems, work more briefly, and charge a bit less. In the case of individual counselors and psychotherapists, each of these tendencies may be reversed; some counselors work longer with clients and charge more, whereas some psychotherapists work more briefly with clients and charge less.

A Working Definition of Counseling and Psychotherapy

There are strong similarities between counseling and psychotherapy. Because the similarities vastly outweigh the differences we use the words counseling and psychotherapy interchangeably. Sometimes we use the word therapy as an alternative.

To capture the natural complexity of this thing called psychotherapy, we offer the following 12-part definition. Counseling or psychotherapy is:

(a) a process that involves (b) a trained professional who abides by (c) accepted ethical guidelines and has (d) competencies for working with (e) diverse individuals who are in distress or have life problems that led them to (f) seek help (possibly at the insistence of others) or they may be (g) seeking personal growth, but either way, these parties (h) establish an explicit agreement (informed consent) to (i) work together (more or less collaboratively) toward (j) mutually acceptable goals (k) using theoretically-based or evidence-based procedures that, in the broadest sense, have been shown to (l) facilitate human learning or human development or reduce disturbing symptoms.

Although this definition is long and multifaceted, it’s still probably insufficient. For example, it wouldn’t fit for any self-administered forms of therapy, such as self-analysis or self-hypnosis—although we’re quite certain that if you read through this definition several times, you’re likely to experience a self-induced hypnotic trance state.

*To learn more about our Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories text, all you have to do is Google it. If you’re looking for an instructor’s copy, Google the book title and then go to the Wiley website and request one. If you have troubles with that, email me . . . and I can likely help out.

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

Breathing New Life into Your Dead, White Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories Course

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IMG-4449

Artwork by Rita Sommers-Flanagan**

On April 18 at 1:00p.m. EST, I’ll be doing a Wiley Webinar. This webinar is free, and especially geared toward academics who want to expand their repertoire for teaching counseling and psychotherapy theories. Because this webinar is sponsored by my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, there will be some minor marketing of my textbook, Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice (3rd ed.). However, you can attend this webinar regardless of the textbook you use. My goal is to help open all of us up to how we can integrate new ideas into existing “older” theoretical perspectives.

Here’s the link to register: https://www.wileyplus.com/wiley-webinar-series/#john-sommers-flanagan

And here’s the official blurb for the webinar:

Teaching traditional counseling and psychotherapy theories courses can feel dull and boring. In this webinar session, John Sommers-Flanagan will share pedagogical strategies for integrating culture into theory, and engaging students with here-now activities that bring the dusty old theories to life. This webinar will include specific recommendations for how to integrate culture and feminist ideas into traditional theories. Learning activities will be demonstrated, including: (a) early intercultural memories; (b) sex, feminism, and psychoanalytic defense mechanisms; (c) empowered narrative storytelling; and (d) spiritual and behavioral forms of relaxation. Handouts for each activity will be available later on this blogsite.

Beyond this short description, I also want to acknowledge the obvious. As a living White person who writes about, teaches, and practices theory-based counseling and psychotherapy, I know that my ability to claim expertise in making cultural adaptations is limited. I don’t want to be the expert on this (or most things). The purpose of this webinar is NOT to “tell” anyone exactly what diversity modifications “should” be made when teaching counseling and psychotherapy theories. Instead, my purpose is to talk about and illustrate ways in which new diversity-sensitive ideas might be creatively integrated into old theoretical perspectives. From there . . . the application of these and your own ideas about how to breathe new life into old theories is up to you and your unique personal and professional worldview.

Given this big preceding caveat, the webinar’s learner objectives are to help participants:

  • Identify compatibilities of culture, spirituality, and feminist thought with traditional counseling and psychotherapy theories
  • Implement an intercultural memory activity with large or small groups
  • Implement and discuss diverse sexualities along with psychoanalytic defense mechanisms
  • Implement a multicultural empowered storytelling strategy
  • Implement and debrief spiritual and behavioral integrations to achieve relaxation

Soon (right around 4/18/19) I’ll be posting more information related to this webinar. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on this topic. As always, I value alternative perspectives and enjoy hearing your reactions to the posts on this blog.

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

News Flash: The 3rd Edition of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice is Now Available!

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Theories III Photo

Hello Theories Fans.

I have exciting and good news! The third edition of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice is NOW AVAILABLE. Here’s the publisher’s link: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Counseling+and+Psychotherapy+Theories+in+Context+and+Practice%3A+Skills%2C+Strategies%2C+and+Techniques%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9781119473312

The “less good” news (as the MI folks like to say) is that I wrote up a promotional piece for our publisher to distribute, but they thought it was TOO POSITIVE:) . . . so I’ll do what I can to temper my enthusiasm here.

What’s new in the Third edition?

Other than a massive reference overhaul, empirical updating, and re-writing and editing in response to reviewer feedback, the biggest news is that we added sections Sexuality, Neuroscience, and Spirituality.

The other good news is that our book (2nd edition) already had the highest average Amazon customer rating of all Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories texts, a whopping 4.6 out of 5.0 stars! [for comparison, 4.6 is the same rating as John Grisham’s “The Firm” and higher than Mary Pipher’s “Reviving Ophelia” . . . although, not surprisingly, Grisham’s and Pipher’s works tend to get a few more reviews]

It’s also important to note that our textbook is still relatively inexpensive (compared to other Theories textbooks).

This text also has excellent ancillaries. There is an accompanying video, test bank, online instructor’s resource manual, and a student study guide. The video clips are imperfect and spontaneous demonstrations of specific counseling skills that include counselors and clients with various cultural backgrounds.

Rita and I are humbled and happy to have the opportunity to publish the third edition of our Theories text with John Wiley & Sons. As in previous editions, our primary goal has been to translate complex theoretical material into prose that is engaging, reader friendly, easy to understand, and has a practical/skill-building emphasis. Most, but not all, of the reader reviews on Amazon are affirming and give us hope that we’ve accomplished this goal. To capture some of the positive responses, I’m sharing several Amazon reviews below:

  • The best text book I’ve ever read! Thoroughly enjoy the humor. Each chapter is written slightly different to capture the feel of the theory it describes. Laughed out loud at the final fantasy writing.
  • I love the writers of this book, it is like a conversation and sometimes humorous. Got the book right away.
  • Absolutely amazing read! Every line has important information and I actually enjoy when chapters are assigned for my theories class in this book!
  • While this was purchased for a class, I am really enjoying the information and case studies the author’s present. I do not mind reading this material and think this is one textbook I will not sell back to the bookstore, instead using it for reference throughout my new career.
  • This book was incredibly helpful to me as a counseling student. This is my first semester in the counseling program and this book was full of useful information, very easy to read and understand, and provided a vast overview of the different theories. I will definitely be keeping this book to use as a resource on future papers.

To see all 43 reviews, you have to go to the 2nd edition: https://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Psychotherapy-Theories-Practice-Resource/dp/1119084202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527631412&sr=8-1&keywords=John+Sommers-Flanagan

And here’s the 3rd edition on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Psychotherapy-Theories-Context-Practice/dp/1119473314/ref=pd_cp_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1119473314&pd_rd_r=229a780b-638c-11e8-890c-a735446468c0&pd_rd_w=A4Hos&pd_rd_wg=zISf0&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=80460301815383741&pf_rd_r=SY3RS8RHYZYD8HPR7W7Y&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=SY3RS8RHYZYD8HPR7W7Y

As always, let me know if you have questions or comments on this post or on our third edition of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice.

Sincerely,

John SF

 

Counseling and Psychotherapy Theory and Practice

Can Male Therapists Do Feminist Therapy with Male Clients? You Decide — A Feminist Case Example

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Fishing Big Davis

The 3rd edition of Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice will be available very soon. Just in case you’re longing to see the cover as much as I am, there’s a link to the new edition on Amazon. Although I’m betting your longing is much smaller than my longing, here’s the link anyway: https://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Psychotherapy-Theories-Context-Practice/dp/1119279127/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

To celebrate this forthcoming epic publication (it’s not really epic, but some days it felt like a long poem), I’m posting a case presentation from the feminist chapter. Honestly, I don’t know who gets to decide what’s epic or what’s feminist therapy. That being the case, you can decide on both points. Or you can decide you’ve had enough of JSF for today.

Here we go.

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In an interesting twist, we’re featuring a case with a male therapist and male client in the feminist chapter to illustrate how working within a feminist model can work for boys and men. This case focuses on a 16-year-old male’s struggle with emotional expression. John SF is the therapist.

Josh was a White, 16-year-old heterosexual sophomore in high school. He had never met his biological father and lived in a middle-class neighborhood with his mother and three younger sisters. His mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Josh’s main loves were consistent with his gender identity. They included basketball, cars, girls, and sarcasm. He very much disliked school.

Josh and I met for therapy for several years. At the beginning of one of our sessions Josh handed me a packet of photos.

“Hey, what’s this about?” I asked.

He responded with a half-mumble about a recent awards ceremony. I thought I discerned pride in that mumble. I looked through the pictures while he told me about each one. There was one in particular that he gently lifted from my hands. It was a picture of him in a line-up with five other people. He carefully pointed out that he was standing next to the Lieutenant Governor of Oregon. I teased him because there were no pictures of him and the actual governor.

“What’s the deal?” I asked. “Wouldn’t the Guv pose with you?” Josh rolled his eyes and signaled for me to move on to the next photo.

The Problem List and Problem Formulation

Unlike CBT, feminist therapy doesn’t involve collaboratively generating a concrete problem list and formulating problems as if the problems resided in the client. Instead, because problems and problem-formulation are inseparable, we can’t talk about the problems without also talking about cultural factors creating and contributing to the problems.

If client issues are discussed as problems, they’re likely discussed as situational challenges. In Josh’s case, his mother initially had brought him to therapy for anger management. Anger was consistently a regular focus in Josh’s therapy. Like many 16-year-old boys immersed in the dominant U.S. culture, Josh’s emotional life was highly constricted. He was living by Pollack’s boy code (2000) and unable or unwilling to risk feeling anything other than anger and irritation. From the feminist worldview, this wasn’t Josh’s problem; his issues around anger stemmed from him living in a culture that kept him in an emotional straitjacket.

Josh’s issues (and case formulation from a feminist perspective) looked like this:

  1. Learning to deal more effectively with sadness, grief, and anger within the context of a repressive emotional environment.
  2. Coming to an understanding that his beliefs and views of emotional expression were not in his best interest, but instead, foisted upon him by toxic cultural attitudes about how boys and men should experience and express emotion.
  3. Developing trust and confidence in himself—despite not having a father figure or a mother who could provide him and his sisters with a consistently safe and stable home environment.
  4. Learning to talk about what he really feels inside and pursue his life passions whatever they might be instead of reflexively pursuing culturally “manly” activities.
  5. Expanding Josh’s limited emotional vocabulary through consciousness-raising.

Interventions

Feminist therapists are technically eclectic; they use a wide range of interventions imbedded in an egalitarian and mutually empathic relationship:

  1. Encouraging Josh to speak freely and openly about his life experiences.
  2. Empathic listening with intermittent focusing on more tender emotions, depending on how much of this Josh was willing or able to tolerate.
  3. Therapist self-disclosure and modeling.

As Josh and I looked at photos together, I responded with interest and enthusiasm. Because interpersonal connection is a core part of therapy, I didn’t rush him to move on to our therapy agenda. Instead, I shifted back and forth between saying, “Cool” or “What’s going on there?” to making sarcastic wisecracks like “Why exactly did the government let you into the capital building?” Sarcasm was used to express interest and affection indirectly, mirroring Josh’s humor and style. After seeing most of the photos I asked, “Who’s the person standing next to you?” I could tell from his response that I had asked a good question.

“Oh, yeah, her. Her name is Sharice; her mentor was getting the same award as my mentor. I danced with her. She’s a good dancer.”

We talked about dancing and what it was like for him to feel attracted to her. We were ten minutes into therapy and both of us had completely ignored the fact that we hadn’t been able to see each other for five weeks. Finally, I decided to break the avoidance pattern. I asked “So…how are you doing with all that’s been going on?”

He looked toward me, glancing downward.

“I’m doing okay, I guess.”

Because this was a young man who had been socialized to keep his emotions tightly wrapped, I probed, but gently.

“I understand it’s been pretty wild times?”

He looked up, eyes fixed on some invisible spot on the ceiling. I recognized this strategy—a surefire way avoid crying in public. An upward gaze constricts the tear ducts; tears cannot flow.

He looked back down and said, “I’ve been busy. My mom’s been in the hospital for about a month.”

“I heard she had a pretty hard time.”

He grunted and then, in a quiet growly voice, the words, “Let-me-tell-you-about-it” seeped out from behind his teeth. Silence followed. I cautiously probed a bit more by sharing more of what I knew.

“I talked with your mom yesterday. She told me that she got pretty caught up in some housing project.” This statement lit a fire in Josh and he plunged into the story.

“You won’t believe what she did. It was so f*ing stupid. Some punk developer is gonna build three houses. Three houses at the end of our street. This is no big deal. She just f*ing freaked out. She chained herself up to a tractor to stop them from building a house. Then she called the f*ing senator and road department and I don’t know who in hell else she called. She was totally nuts. So I told her she had a choice. I told her that she could go back home or I’d call the police and have her committed. She wasn’t taking care of my sisters. She was being a shit for a mom. So I just gave her a choice.”

I nodded and said, “You must be practicing to be a parent. That’s the kind of choice parents give their kids.”

His voice grew louder: “I gave her the choice five times. Five f*ing times! She tried to buy a Mercedes and a Volvo over the phone. So I called the cops. And the woman asked ME what to do. I’m f***ing 16 years old and they f *ing ask me what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I told ‘em to come get her. They finally sent some really big cops over to take her away.”

“Then what happened?”

“My mom was still acting nuts and my sisters were crying. So I just picked them up and held them and they took her away. We sat and they cried and we snuggled a while. And then I drove us home. I don’t have my license, but I can drive. My mom is still pissed at me about that, but I don’t give a shit!”

While listening to Josh, I formed an image of him in my mind. I saw an awkward 16-year-old boy “snuggling” his sobbing sisters, as the cops take their mother away. The girls were 9 and 6 and 4 years old—the same sisters he had complained about in previous therapy sessions.

Talking with teenage boys about emotional issues is tricky. Too much empathy and they retreat. No empathy and you’re teaching the wrong lesson. Throughout Josh’s storytelling, I used sarcasm, empathy, and emotional exploration, like, “What was that like for you to gather up your sisters and take care of them?” I suspected that if I asked too much about feelings or forced him to go too deep too fast, I would lose my “coolness rating” and there would be a relationship rupture.

Much of the session focused on empathy for Josh’s anger. Josh ranted and I listened. He was immensely angry and disappointed and hurt about his mother’s behavior. But I wanted to find a way to let Josh know that it’s okay, even a positive thing, for boys and men to feel and express more tender feelings.

About halfway through our session, I asked:

“So Josh,” I said, “When was the last time you cried?”

After a short pause he spoke with extreme deliberation, “I… don’t… cry… I… just… get… pissed.”

Josh expressed this masculine emotional principle very efficiently and then offered more about his socially coerced, but internalized emotional philosophy.

“Crying doesn’t do any good. It doesn’t change anything. It’s just stupid.”

“I know, I know” I said. “The whole idea of crying sounds pretty stupid to you. It’s not like crying will change your mom and make her better.”

“Nothing will ever change her.”

I renewed my pursuit of when he last cried. He insisted that was so long ago that he couldn’t recall, but we both knew that several years ago, after an especially hard week with his mother, he had sat on my couch and sobbed himself to sleep. Instead of bringing that up, I asked him what might make him cry now. Would he cry if his girlfriend broke up with him… if he lost his cell phone… if one of his sisters got cancer… if he didn’t graduate high school? Josh fended off my questions about tears by repeating his resolve to get “pissed” about everything that might make him feel sad. But the question about one of his sister’s getting cancer stumped him. He admitted, “Yeah, I might cry about that…” while quickly adding, “…but I’d do it alone!”

I responded, “Right. Absolutely. Some things might be worth crying about… even though it wouldn’t change things… but you’d want to do the crying alone.”

We talked indirectly and intellectually about sadness and tears, trying to model that we can talk about it—once removed—and if he cried someday, it would be perfectly okay, there would be no need to feel ashamed.

Toward the end of the session, I decided to lighten things up by teasing Josh about his social insensitivity. I said, “I can’t believe that we’ve talked this whole hour and you never asked a single thing about me.”

Josh grinned. He knew therapy was all about him and not about me. He probably thought I was playing some sort of therapy game with him. He was a good sport and played along.

“Okay. So what am I supposed to ask?”

I acted offended, saying, “After all those questions I asked you, at least you should ask me when I last cried.”

“God you don’t know when to drop things. Okay. So when did you cry?”

I said, “I think it was yesterday.”

Our eyes met. He looked surprised. I continued, “Yeah. I feel sad sometimes. It can be about really hard stories I hear in here or it can be about my own life. Even though it doesn’t change anything, it can feel better to let my sadness out.”

It was time for the session to end. We both stood and I said, “We have to stop for today, but we can talk more about this or whatever you want to talk about next time.”