Contemporary psychotherapies

UNIT II: REALITY, FEMINIST AND BRIEF THERAPIES.

REALITY THERAPY
Reality therapy, initially developed by William Glasser in the 1960s, is solidly grounded in
cognitive and behavioral theory and interventions. However, reality therapy is more
philosophical than other cognitive--behavioral approaches and emphasizes self-determination
and process more than results..This no-excuses approach encourages people to take
responsibility for both their difficulties and their joys. Reality therapists recognize that clients
choose their behaviors as a way to deal with the frustrations caused by unsatisfying relationships.

While acknowledging that environment, heredity, and culture play a role in a person's
development, reality therapy believes that people always have the ability to make choices in their
behavior. As Glasser ( 1998a) stated, "We choose everything we do, including the misery we
feel"(p. 3)..Helping people make choices that increase their happiness and meet their needs
without harming others is the essence of reality therapy.

Reality therapy is based on choice theory as it is explained in several of Glasser’s (1998,

2001, 2003) books. Choice theory is the theoretical basis for reality therapy; it explains why and
how we function. Reality therapy provides a delivery system for helping individuals take more
effective control of their lives. If choice theory is the highway, reality therapy is the vehicle
delivering the prod- uct (Wubbolding, 2011a). Therapy consists mainly of helping and
sometimes teaching clients to make more effective choices as they deal with the people they need
in their lives. It is essential for the therapist to establish a satisfying relationship with clients as a
prerequisite for effective therapy. Once this relationship is developed, the skill of the therapist as
listener and teacher assumes a central role.

It also draws heavily on cognitive and behavioral strategies, reality therapists guide people
through a process of change that helps them become aware of their needs, recognize the
ingredients of a rewarding life, and establish goals and procedures to improve their lives.
Through this process, people gain more control over their lives and assume responsible and
rewarding roles in society.

Reality therapy has been used in a variety of settings. The approach is applicable to counseling,
social work, education, crisis intervention, corrections and rehabilitation, institutional
management, and community development. Reality therapy is popular in schools, state mental
health hospitals, halfway houses, and alcohol and drug abuse centers. Many of the military
clinics that treat substance abusers use reality therapy as their preferred therapeutic approach.

Robert Wubbolding has advanced this approach both through his explanation of it and his
research into it.Wubbolding extended the theory and practice of reality therapy with his
conceptualization of the WDEP system.
Key concepts
View of Human Nature
Choice theory explains that all we ever do from birth to death is behave, and, with some
exceptions, everything we do is chosen or at least generated from within ourselves. Clients may
complain of not being able to keep a job, not doing well in school, or not having a meaningful
relationship. When clients complain about how other people are causing them pain, reality
therapists ask clients to consider how effective their choices are, especially as these choices
affect their relationships with significant people in their lives. Choice theory teaches that talking
about what clients cannot control is of minimal value; the emphasis is on what clients can control
in their relationships. The basic axiom of choice theory, which is crucial for clients to
understand, is that “the only person you can control is yourself.”

Five Basic Needs

The core of human existence as the engines of human choice" (Wubbolding & Brickel1, 2008, p.
30). Reality therapy holds that all people are born with the following five basic needs
(Glasser, 1 998a).The relative strengths of these five needs give people their different
personalities (Wubbolding, 1991):

Associated with meeting psychological needs is the need for identity—that is, the development
of a psychologically healthy sense of self. Identity needs are met by being accepted as a person
by others. Reality therapy takes the position that all human behavior is purposeful and directed at
meeting one or more of the fundamental needs (Wubbolding, 201 I ). Although the five needs are
universal, the specific wants that people pursue in an effort to meet their needs are particular to
the individual.People are motivated to bridge the gaps between what they have and what they
want to meet their needs.However, feelings such as loneliness and deprivation can limit people's
motivation.Reality therapists seek to change those feelings, not by directly addressing emotions,
but by changing thoughts about wants and needs as well as corresponding purposeful behaviors.

Characteristics of Reality Therapy

● Emphasize Choice and Responsibility Reality therapists see clients as being responsible
for
their own choices as they have more control of their behavior than they often believe. This does
not mean people should be blamed or punished,Reality therapists deal with people “as if” they
have choices. Therapists focus on those areas where clients have choice, for doing so gets them
closer to the peo- ple they need. For example, being involved in meaningful activities, such as
work, is a good way to gain the respect of other people, and work can help clients fulfill their
need for power. It is very difficult for adults to feel good about themselves if they don’t engage
in some form of meaningful activity. As clients begin to feel good about themselves, it is less
necessary for them to continue to choose ineffective and self-destructive behaviors.
● Reject Transference Reality therapists strive to be themselves in their professional
work.By
being themselves, therapists can use the relationship to teach clients how to relate to others in
their lives. Glasser contends that transference is a way that both therapist and client avoid being
who they are and owning what they are doing right now. It is unrealistic for therapists to go
along with the idea that they are anyone but themselves. Assume the client claims, “I see you as
my father or mother and this is why I’m behaving the way I am.” In such a situation a reality
therapist is likely to say clearly and firmly, “I am not your mother, father, or anyone but myself.”
Wubbolding (personal communication, April 4, 2015) states that he discusses this issue with
clients in a detailed manner.
● Keep the Therapy in the Present Some clients come to counseling convinced that they
must
revisit the past if they are to be helped. Many therapeutic models teach that to function well in
the present people must understand and revisit their past. Glasser (2001) disagrees with this
assumption and contends that whatever mistakes were made in the past are not pertinent now. An
axiom of choice theory is that the past may have contributed to a current problem but that the
past is never the problem. To function effectively, people need to live and plan in the present and
take steps to create a better future. We can only satisfy our needs in the present.
● Avoid Focusing on Symptoms In traditional therapy a great deal of time is spent
focusing on
symptoms by asking clients how they feel and why they are obsessing. Focusing on the past
“protects” clients from facing the reality of unsatisfying present relationships, and focusing on
symptoms does the same thing. Whether people are depressing or paining, they tend to think that
what they are experiencing is happening to them. They are reluctant to accept the reality that
their suffering is due to the total behavior they are choosing. Their symptoms can be viewed as
the body’s way of warning them that the behavior they are choosing is not satisfying their basic
needs. The reality therapist spends as little time as he or she can on the symptoms because they
will last only as long as they are needed to deal with an unsatisfying relationship or the
frustration of basic needs.

Concept of Mental Health

Reality therapy has a clear vision of emotionally healthy people: those who are successful in
meeting their five basic needs. Emotionally healthy people choose thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors wisely and responsibly.

Their choices help them meet their needs while respecting the rights of other people to fulfill
their own needs.They do not view setbacks and suffering as an inevitable part of life, but rather
as an early waning sign that they need to look at their behavior and relationships and make better
choices. Furthemore, emotionally healthy people not only seek to improve their own lives but
take steps to help others and to make the world a better place (Wubbolding, 1991 ). Such people
have a success identity rather than a failure identity, obey have a clear and positive sense of
themselves that reflects their own internal frames of reference; they do not derive their sense of
themselves from the perceptions of others.
Reality therapy proposes that human learning is a life-long process based on choice. When
people realize this fact, they are more likely to choose to focus on controlling those things they
have power over, such as themselves, than to center on something or someone they cannot
control, such as their partner (Oliver, 2010). If individuals do not learn they have choices early in
life, such as how to relate to others, they can choose to learn it later. In the process they may
change their identity and the way they behave (Glasser, 2000, 2005; Glasser & Wubbolding,
1995).

The Therapeutic Process

Therapeutic Goals
A primary goal of contemporary reality therapy is to help clients get connected or reconnected
with the people they have chosen to put in their quality world. In addition to fulfilling this need
for love and belonging, a basic goal of reality therapy is to help clients learn better ways of
fulfilling all of their needs, including achievement, power or inner control, freedom or
independence, and fun. The basic human needs serve to focus treat- ment planning and setting
both short- and long-term goals. Reality therapists assist clients in making more effective and
responsible choices related to their wants and needs.

Goals
The primary goal of reality therapy is to help clients become psychologically strong and
rational and realize they have choices in the ways they treat themselves and others.Related to this
first goal is a second one: to help clients clarify what they want in life. It is vital for persons to be
aware of life goals if they are to act responsibly. In assessing goals, reality therapists help their
clients examine personal assets as well as environmental supports and hindrances. It is the
client’s responsibility to choose behaviors that fulfill personal needs.A third goal of reality
therapy is to help the client formulate a realistic plan to achieve personal needs and wishes.
An additional goal of reality therapy is to have the counselor become involved with the client in
a meaningful relationship (Glasser, 1980, 1981, 2000). This relationship is based on
understanding, acceptance, empathy, and the counselor’s willingness to express faith in the
client’s ability to change. A fifth goal of reality therapy is to focus on behavior and the present.
Glasser (1988) believes that behavior (i.e., thought and action) is interrelated with feeling and
physiology. Thus, a change in behavior also brings about other positive changes.

Finally, reality therapy aims to eliminate punishment and excuses from the client’s life. Often, a
client uses the excuse that he or she cannot carry out a plan because of punishment for failure by
either the counselor or people in the outside environment. Reality therapy helps the client
formulate a new plan if the old one does not work.
Wise choices are perceived as those that meet the following three criteria:
Role of the Counsellor
The counselor serves primarily as a teacher and model, accepting the client in a warm, involved
way and creating an environment in which counseling can take place. The counselor immediately
seeks to build a relationship with the client by developing trust through friendliness, firmness,
and fairness (Wubbolding,1998).
Counselors use ing verbs, such as angering or bullying, to describe client thoughts and actions.
Thus, there is an emphasis on choice, on what the client chooses to do (internal control, personal
responsibility) (Wubbolding, 2015). Counselor–client interaction focuses on behaviors that the
client would like to change and ways to go about making these desires a reality. It emphasizes
positive, constructive actions (Glasser, 1988, 2005). Special attention is paid to metaphors and
themes clients verbalize.

Techniques
Reality therapy uses action-oriented techniques that help clients realize they have choices in how
they respond to events and people and that others do not control them any more than they control
others (Glasser, 1998; Onedera & Greenwalt, 2007).Reality therapists operate on the assumption
that we are motivated to change (1) when we are convinced that our present behavior is not
meeting our needs and (2) when we believe we can choose other behaviors that will get us closer
to what we want. Reality therapists begin by asking clients what they want from therapy.
Therapists take the mystery and uncertainty out of the therapeutic process. They also inquire
about the choices clients are making in their relationships.

WDEP System
Wubbolding (2000, 2015a, 2015c) uses the acronym WDEP to describe key procedures in the
practice of reality therapy. The WDEP system can be used to help clients explore their wants,
possible things they can do, opportunities for self-evaluation, and design plans for improvement
(Wubbolding, 2007, 2011a,2011b, 2015b, 2015c). Grounded in choice theory, the WDEP system
assists people in satisfying their basic needs. Each of the letters refers to a cluster of strategies:
W = wants, needs, and perceptions; D = direction and doing; E = self-evaluation; and P =
planning. These strategies are designed to promote change.

W: WANTS
Reality therapists explore clients' wants and the pictures in their quality world, focusing on what
they want that they are getting, what they want that they are not getting, and what they are
getting that they do not want (Wubbolding, 2011). Keeping in mind that wants are linked to
needs, clinicians also encourage clients to look at that connection by asking questions such as
"How do you perceive your wanting to drop out of high school as meeting your needs?"

Reality therapy, a phenomenological approach, recognizes the role that perceptions have in
behavior. It helps people become aware of their perceptions so that they can modify them if
appropriate.

An aspect of the IV in WDEP is helping people choose to make positive changes. Wubbolding
(2007b, p. 303) identified 5 levels of client commitment to change:

D: DIRECTION AND DOING

Reality therapists devote considerable attention to exploring people's total behavior, including
actions, thoughts, emotions, and physiology. Helping people describe their total behavior as
specifically as possible. as well as the goals and impact of those behaviors, is integral to
treatment. The focus of reality therapy is on what people are doing, not on why they are acting in
certain ways.

E: EVALUATION
Clinicians encourage clients to evaluate their goals, their actions. their perceptions, and the
consequences of all these. Evaluation does not involve a judgment about the goodness or badness
of these dimensions. instead, evaluation is based on whether behaviors and perceptions are
realistic and helpful to clients as well as to others. Clinicians might facilitate the process by
asking thought-provoking questions such as "How realistic is it to expect that your daughter will
never misbehave?" and "What success have you had in using drugs to build relationships?"

Both the discussion of doing and the evaluation process focus primarily on the present and
emphasize positive and successful aspects of people's lives. The past is discussed only in terms
of its impact on the present. Helping clients conduct evaluations is the main focus of the WDEP
process (Wubbolding, 2011).

P: PLANNING
Reality therapists view planning as essential and encourage people to have long-range plans and
goals that are subdivided into a series of short-term, realistic plans. As Wubbolding (1991) put it,
"To fail to plan is to plan to fail"(p. 95). Plans should evolve from self-evaluation and reflect
desired changes in wants and total behavior. Wubbolding (2007b, p. 305) listed the following 8

qualities of viable plans, represented by the acronym,

Plans should be:

SAMI2C3 represents the elements that maximize the success of plans: simple, attainable,
measurable, immediate, involving, controlled, consistent, and committed. Usually, planning
focuses on modifying and improving actions because that is the aspect of total behavior over
which people have the greatest control. However, focusing on thoughts may provide a point of
entry, enabling people to believe that choosing different actions will be beneficial. According to
reality therapy, feelings do not need to be addressed directly, although they can be important
sources of information on wants and perceptions; if actions change, emotions will
correspondingly change.

Planning and choice go hand in hand.The primary goals of planning are to help people make
better choices and take more control of their lives. According to Glasser( 998a), if people can
make bad choices, they can make better ones.

Reality therapists operate on the assumption that we are motivated to change (1) when we are
convinced that our present behavior is not meeting our needs and (2) when we believe we can
choose other behaviors that will get us closer to what we want. Reality therapists begin by asking
clients what they want from therapy. Therapists take the mystery and uncertainty out of the
therapeutic process. They also inquire about the choices clients are making in their relationships.

METAPHORS
Reality therapists use metaphors, similes, images, analogies, and anecdotes to give clients a
powerful message in a creative way(Wubbolding, 2011).Clinicians also listen for and use
metaphors and themes that clients present.For example, a therapist told a client whose hobby was
fishing that his eff arts to meet his goals seemed like fishing without bait in a lake with few fish.

QUESTIONS
Although reality therapists advocate evaluation of total behavior, they want that assessment to
come from the clients. Rather, they use carefully structured questions so that the people take a
close look at their lives and determine what does and does not need change (Wubbolding, 2011).
Examples of such questions include "What did you do yesterday to satisfy your need for
belonging?" "ls what you are doing helping you?" "ls the plan you have made the most effective
plan you are capable of formulating?"

USING VERBS AND "ING" WORDS

Because reality therapists want people to realize that they have considerable control over their
lives and can choose their total behavior, clinicians deliberately make extensive use of active
verbs and "ing" words. Rather than describing people as angry, depressed, phobic, or anxious,
they describe them as angering, depressing, phobicking, or anxietying. This implies that these
emotions are not mixed states but instead are actions that can be changed.
Applications
Reality therapy has been used in a variety of settings. The approach is applicable to
counseling, social work, education, crisis intervention, corrections and rehabilitation,
institutional management, and community development. Reality therapy is popular in
schools, state mental health hospitals, halfway houses, and alcohol and drug abuse centers.
Many of the military clinics that treat substance abusers use reality therapy as their preferred
therapeutic approach. Quality School Model - This model reconceptualizes the school
environment to eliminate coercion and promote cooperation, safety, and consideration (Glasser,
1998b; Schwartz, 1995).

Strengths & Contributions

Reality therapy has a number of strengths and has made contributions to counseling as follows:
• The approach is versatile and can be applied to many different populations, such as in schools
(Mason & Duba, 2009). It is especially appropriate in the treatment of conduct disorders,
substance abuse disorders, impulse control disorders, personality disorders, and antisocial
behavior. It can be employed in individual counseling with children, adolescents, adults, and
the aged and in group, marriage, and family counseling.
• The approach is concrete. Both counselor and client are able to assess how much progress is
being made and in what areas, especially if a goal-specific contract is drawn up.
• The approach emphasizes short-term treatment. Reality therapy is usually limited to relatively
few sessions that focus on present behaviors.
• The approach has national training centers and is taught internationally.
• The approach promotes responsibility and freedom within individuals without blame or
criticism or an attempt to restructure the entire personality.
• The approach has successfully challenged the medical model of client treatment. Its rationale
and positive emphasis are refreshing alternatives to pathology-centered models (James &
Gilliland, 2013).
• The approach addresses conflict resolution.
• The approach stresses the present because current behavior is most amenable to client control.
Like behaviorists, Gestaltists, and rational emotive behavior therapists, reality therapists are not
interested in the past (Wubbolding, 2000).

Limitations
• The approach emphasizes the here and now of behavior so much that it sometimes ignores
other concepts, such as the unconscious and personal history.
• The approach holds that all forms of mental illness are attempts to deal with external events
(Glasser, 1984).
• The approach has few theoretical constructs, although it is now tied to choice theory, which
means that it is becoming more sophisticated.
• The approach does not deal with the full complexity of human life, preferring to ignore
developmental stages.
• The approach is susceptible to becoming overly moralistic.
• The approach is dependent on establishing a good counselor–client relationship.
• The approach depends on verbal interaction and two-way communication. It has limitations in
helping clients who, for any reason, cannot adequately express their needs, options, and plans
(James & Gilliland, 2013).
 1) FEMINIST THERAPY
Introduction
The broad scope of feminist thought goes far beyond gender considerations. Feminist counseling
is built on the premise that it is essential to consider the social, cultural, and political context that
contributes to a person’s problems in order to understand that person. Feminist psychotherapy is
a philosophical orientation that lends itself to an integration of feminist, multicultural, and social
justice concepts with a variety of psychotherapy approaches (Enns, Williams, & Fassinger,
2013).
A central concept in feminist therapy is the importance of understanding and acknowledging
psychological oppression and the constraints imposed by the sociopolitical status to which
women, underrepresented, and marginalized individuals have been relegated.

Feminist counseling is built on the premise that it is essential to consider the social, cultural, and
political context that contributes to a person’s problems in order to understand that person. This
perspective has significant implications for the development of counseling theory and for how
practitioners intervene with diverse client populations.

Feminist psychotherapy is a philosophical orientation that lends itself to an integration of

feminist, multicultural, and social justice concepts with a variety of psychotherapy approaches
(Enns, Williams, & Fassinger, 2013). A central concept in feminist therapy is the importance of
understanding and acknowledging psy- chological oppression and the constraints imposed by the
sociopolitical status to which women, underrepresented, and marginalized individuals have been
relegated.

A feminist perspective offers a unique approach to understanding the roles that women and
men with diverse social identities and experiences have been social- ized to accept and to
bringing this understanding into the therapeutic process. The socialization of women with
multiple social identities inevitably affects their identity development, self-concept,
goals and aspirations, and emotional well-being (Gilligan, 1982; King, 2013; Turner &
Werner-Wilson, 2008).As Natalie Rogers (1995) has observed, socialization patterns tend to
result in women giving away their power in relationships, often without being aware of it.

Feminist counseling keeps knowledge about gender socialization, sexism, and related “isms” in
mind in the work with all. For some women, ethnicity or race may be experienced as a more
salient identity than gender; for others, identity and the oppression associated with gender may
be fused with racism.

The majority of clients in counseling are women.Theories are developed from the experiences of
the “developer,” and feminist theory is the first therapeutic theory to emerge from a collective
effort by women to include the experiences of multiple voices.Feminist therapists have
challenged male-oriented assumptions regarding what constitutes a mentally healthy individual.
Early feminist therapy efforts focused on valuing women’s experiences, recognizing political
realities, and understanding the unique issues facing women within a patriarchal system.
Contemporary practice keeps the impact of gender socialization in the forefront when working
with clients.Current feminist practice also emphasizes a diverse approach that includes an
understanding of multiple oppressions, power, privilege, multicultural competence, social justice,
and the oppression of all marginalized people (American Psychological Association, 2007; Enns
& Byars-Winston, 2010).Feminists believe that gender cannot be considered apart from other
identities related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, and sexual orientation.Recent
developments relevant to social justice in psychology have led to an integration of key themes of
multiculturalism and feminism (Enns, Williams, & Fassinger, 2013).
The contemporary version of feminist therapy and the multicultural and social justice
perspectives to counseling practice have a great deal in common (Crethar, Torres Rivera, &
Nash, 2008).All these approaches provide a systemic perspective based on understanding the
social context of clients’ lives and are aimed toward affecting social change as well as individual
change.

History & Development

The history of feminist therapy is relatively brief. No single individual can be identified as the
founder of this approach, reflecting a central theme of feminist collaboration.Feminist therapy
was developed by several feminist therapists, all of whom shared the same vision—to improve
mental health treatment for women (Evans & Miller, 2016).The beginnings of feminism (often
referred to as the first wave) can be traced to the late 1800s, but the women’s movement of the
1960s (the second wave) laid the foundation for the development of feminist therapy. In the
1960s women began uniting their voices to express their dissatisfaction with the limiting and
confining nature of traditional female roles. Consciousness-raising groups, in which women
came together to share their experiences and perceptions, helped individual women become
aware that they were not alone.A sisterhood developed, and some of the services that evolved
from women’s collective desires to improve society included shelters for battered women, rape
crisis centers, and women’s health and reproductive health centers.

Believing that personal counseling was a legitimate means to effect change, feminist therapists
viewed therapy as a partnership between equals and built mutuality and collaboration into the
therapeutic process.They took the stance that therapy needed to move away from an intrapsychic
perspective on psychopathology(in which the sources of a woman’s unhappiness reside within
her) to a focus on understanding the social, political, and cultural forces in society that damage,
oppress, and constrain girls and women, as well as boys and men.

Gilligan’s (1982) work on the development of a morality of care in women, and the work of
Miller (1986) and the Stone Center scholars in developing the self-in-relation model (now called
the “relational-cultural” model) were influential in the evolution of a feminist personality theory.

New theories emerged that honored the relational and cooperative dimensions of women’s
experiencing(Enns, 1991, 2000, 2004).Feminist therapists began to formally examine the
relationship of feminist theory to traditional psychotherapy systems, and integrations with
various existing systems were proposed. By the 1980s feminist group therapy had changed
dramatically, becoming more diverse as it focused increasingly on specific problems and issues
such as body image, abusive relationships, eating disorders, incest, and other forms of sexual
abuse (Enns, 1993). The feminist philosophies that guided the practice of therapy also became
more diverse. The variety within feminist theories provides a range of different but overlapping
perspectives from which to work (Enns & Sinacore, 2001).
Brown (2010) defines feminist therapy as a postmodern, technically integrative approach that
emphasizes the analysis of gender, power, and social location as strategies for facilitating change.
Feminist therapists, both male and female, believe that understanding and confronting
gender-role stereotypes and power are central to therapeutic practice and that addressing a
client’s problems requires adopting a sociocultural perspective: namely, understanding the
impact of the society and culture in which a client lives.

Key Constructs

● Constructs of Feminist Theory

Worell and Remer (2003) describe the constructs of feminist theory as being gender fair,
flexible–multicultural, interactionist, and life-span-oriented. gender- fair approaches explain
differences in the behavior of women and men in terms of socialization processes rather than on
the basis of our “innate” natures, thus avoiding dichotomized stereotypes in social roles and
interpersonal behavior.A flexible–multicultural perspective uses concepts and strategies that
apply equally to individuals and groups regardless of age, race, culture, gender, ability, class, or
sexual orientation. The interactionist view contains concepts specific to the think- ing, feeling,
and behaving dimensions of human experience and accounts for con- textual and environmental
factors. A life-span perspective assumes that human development is a lifelong process and that
personality and behavioral changes can occur at any time rather than being fixed during early
childhood.

● Feminist Perspective on Personality Development

Feminist therapists emphasize that societal gender-role expectations profoundly influence a
person’s identity from the moment of birth, or even prior to birth once the sex is identified, and
become deeply ingrained in adult personality. Gilligan was the first to recognize that male
develop- ment was presented as the norm and that development of women, though different, was
judged by male norms. As a result of her studies on women’s moral and psy- chosocial
development, Gilligan came to believe women’s sense of self and morality is based on issues of
responsibility and care for other people and is embedded in a cultural context.Females are raised
in a culture grounded in sexism, and understanding and acknowledging internalized oppression is
central in feminist work. Like all marginalized groups, women are bicultural. They share their
own culture with other women and also have a deep understanding of the male culture that
perpetuates patriarchy.

Feminist practitioners remind us that traditional gender stereotypes of women are still prevalent
in cultures throughout the world. They teach their clients that uncritical acceptance of traditional
roles can greatly restrict their range of freedom.

● Relational-Cultural Theory
The founding scholars of relational-cultural theory (rct) have elaborated on the vital role that
relationships and connectedness with others play in the lives of women (Jordan, 2010; Jordan et
al,, 1991; Miller, 1986, 1991; Miller et al., 1999; Miller & Stiver, 1997; Surrey, 1991; Trepal,
2010). These scholars suggest that a woman’s sense of identity and self-concept develop in the
context of relationships. They describe a process of relational movement in which women move
through connections, disconnections, and enhanced transformative relationships throughout their
lives (Comstock et al., 2008). Therapists emphasize the qualities of authenticity and transparency
that contribute to the flow of the relationship; being empathically present with the suffering of
the client is at the core of treatment (Surrey & Jordan, 2012). Therapists aim to lessen the
suffering caused by disconnection and isola- tion, increase clients’ capacity for relational
resilience, develop mutual empathy and mutual empowerment, and foster social justice

● Principles of Feminist Therapy

A number of feminist writers have articulated the interrelated and overlapping core principles
that form the foundation for the practice of feminist therapy:

1. The personal is political and critical consciousness.This principle is based

on the assumption that the personal or individual problems individu- als bring to counseling
originate in a political and social context. For females this is often a context of marginalization,
oppression, subordi- nation, and stereotyping. Acknowledgment of the political and societal
impact on an individual’s life is perhaps the most fundamental tenet that lies at the core of
feminist therapy.

2. Commitment To Social change .Feminist therapies aim not only for individual change but also
for societal change. A distinctive feature of feminist therapy is the assumption that direct action
for social change is one of the responsibilities of therapists. Counselors who work with women
survivors of sexual violence also do social justice work to educate and transform the rape culture
in which we live. It is important for clients who engage in the therapy process to recognize how
some of their social identities may grant them unearned privileges and advantages as well as to
recognize how they have suffered from oppression as members of a subordinate group and that
they can join with others to right these wrongs. Counselors cannot help clients recognize
privilege and oppression if they do not understand how these identities have affected their own
lives. The goal is to advance a different vision of societal organization that frees both women and
men from the constraints imposed by gender-role and social class-related expectations. This
vision of counseling, which moves away from the traditional focus on change from within the
individual out into the realm of social activism and societal change, distinguishes feminist
therapy from other historically accepted approaches.

3. Women’s and girls’voices and ways of knowing,aswellasthe voices of others who have
experienced marginalization and oppression, are valued and their experiences are honored.
Traditional therapies operate on androcentric, heterosexist norms embedded in White
middle-class heterosexual val- ues and describe women and other marginalized individuals as
deviant. Feminist therapists replace patriarchal and other forms of “objective truth” with feminist
and social justice consciousness and encourage clients to use their personal experience as a
touchstone for determin- ing what is “reality.” Shifting women’s experiences from being ignored
and devalued to being sought after and valued is strongly encouraged by feminist therapists
(Evans & Miller, 2016). When women’s voices are acknowledged as authoritative, invaluable
sources of knowledge, women and other marginalized people can contribute to profound change
in the body politic of society.
4. The counseling relationship is egalitarian .AttentionTo power is central in feminist therapy.
The egalitarian relationship, which is marked by authenticity, mutuality, and respect, is at the
core of feminist therapy (Pusateri & Headley, 2015). Feminist therapists recognize that there is a
power imbalance in the therapeutic relationship, so they strive to shift power and privilege to the
voices and experiences of clients and away from themselves. An open discussion of power and
role differences in the therapeutic relationship helps clients to understand how power dynamics
influence both counseling and other relationships and also invites a dialogue about ways to
reduce power differentials (Enns, 2004; Evans & Miller, 2016).

5. A focus on strengths and are formulated definition of psychologicaldistress. Feminist therapy

has a “conflicted and ambivalent relationship” with diagnostic labeling and the “disease model”
of mental illness (Brown, 2010, p. 50). Psychological distress is reframed, not as disease but as a
communication about unjust systems. When contextual variables are considered, symptoms can
be reframed as survival strategies. Feminist therapists talk about problems in the context of
living and coping skills rather than pathology (Enns, 2004; Worell & Remer, 2003). For example,
a client who is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse may pres- ent with dissociation, which is
understood as a way of coping in order to survive as a child.

Therapeutic Process

● Therapeutic Goals

According to Enns (2004), goals of feminist therapy include empowerment, valuing and
affirming diversity, striving for change rather than adjust- ment, equality, balancing
independence and interdependence, social change, and self-nurturance. A key goal of feminist
therapy is to assist individuals in viewing themselves as active agents on their own behalf and on
behalf of others. At the individual level, feminist and other social justice therapists work to help
individuals recognize, claim, and embrace their personal power. A related goal is to help
individuals come together to strengthen collective power. Through empowerment, clients are
able to free themselves from the constraints of their gender- role socialization and other
internalized limitations and to challenge ongoing institutional oppression.

According to Worell and Remer (2003), feminist therapists help clients:

1. Become aware of their own gender-role socialization process.

2. Identify their internalized messages of oppression and replace them with more
self-enhancing belief.
3. Understand how sexist and oppressive societal beliefs and practices influence them in
negative ways
Acquire skills to bring about change in the environment ŠŠ
4. Restructure institutions to rid them of discriminatory practices ŠŠ
5. Develop a wide range of behaviors that are freely chosen ŠŠ
6. Evaluate the impact of social factors on their lives
Develop a sense of personal and social power
Recognize the power of relationships and connectedness.Trust their own experience and
their intuition
Feminist therapists aim to empower all people to create a world of equality that is reflected at
individual, interpersonal, institutional, national, and global levels (Enns & Byars-Winston,
2010). Making oppression transparent is the first step, but the ultimate goal is to replace sexism
and other forms of discrimination and oppression with empowerment for all marginalized groups
(Brabeck & Brabeck, 2013; Worell & Remer, 2003). Feminist counseling strives for
transformation for both the individual client and society as a whole.

Therapist’s Function & Role

Many therapeutic orientations articulate a belief in a therapeutic milieu that is free of biased
assumptions about women and other oppressed and marginalized groups. Therapeutic
orientations and counseling theories, on the whole, assert that all cli- ents should be treated with
respect. The difference between these approaches and feminist therapy is that feminist therapy is
based firmly in feminist philosophy that centralizes the sociocultural context of clients’ mental
health status.Feminist therapists have shared assumptions about ther- apy, but they come from
diverse backgrounds and have various lived experiences that may affect how techniques are
applied as well as how clients are conceptualized.

Feminist practitioners have integrated feminism, multiculturalism, and other social justice
perspectives into their approach to therapy and into their lives. Their actions and beliefs and their
personal and professional lives are congruent. They are committed to monitoring their own
biases and distortions, especially the social and cultural dimensions of women’s experiences.
Feminist and social justice therapists are also committed to understanding oppression in all its
forms—including but not limited to sexism, racism, heterosexism—and they consider the impact
of oppres- sion and discrimination on psychological well-being. They value being emotionally
present for their clients, being willing to share themselves during the therapy hour, modeling
proactive behaviors, and being committed to their own consciousness- raising process.

Client’s Experience in Therapy

Clients are partners in the therapeutic process. It is important that clients tell their stories and
give voice to their experiencing. Clients determine what they want from therapy and are the
experts on their own lives. A male client, for example, may choose to explore ways in which he
has been both limited and privileged by his gender-role socialization. In the safe environment of
the therapeutic sessions, he may be able to fully experience emotions of sadness, tenderness,
uncertainty, and empathy. As he transfers these ways of being to daily living, he may find that
rela- tionships change in his family, his social world, and at work. Feminist practitioners
recognize that gender is only one identity and source of marginalization and oppression, and they
value the complex ways in which multiple identities shape a person’s concerns and preferences.
Worell and Remer (2003) write that clients acquire a new way of looking at and responding to
their world. They add that the shared journey of empowerment can be both frightening and
exciting—for both client and therapist. Clients need to be prepared for major shifts in their way
of viewing the world around them, changes in the way they perceive themselves, and
transformed interpersonal relationships.

Relationship Between Therapist and Client In feminist therapy, the very structure of the
client–therapist relationship models how to identify and use power responsibly. A defining theme
of the client– counselor relationship is the inclusion of clients in both the assessment and the
treat- ment process, keeping the therapeutic relationship as egalitarian as possible. Feminist
therapists clearly state their values during the informed consent process to reduce the chance of
value imposition.

Application: Therapeutic Techniques and Procedure

The Role of Assessment and Diagnosis

Feminist therapists have been sharply critical of past versions of the DSM classification system
(DSM- III through DSM -IV-TR), as well as of the current DSM-5 edition (Marecek & Gavey,
2013). This critique is based on research indicating that gender, culture, and race may influence
assessment of clients’ symptoms (e.g., Enns, 2000; Eriksen & Kress, 2005). To the degree that
conceptualization and assessment are influenced by subtle forms of sexism, racism,
ethnocentrism, heterosexism, age- ism, or classism, it is extremely difficult to arrive at a
meaningful conceptualization, assessment, or diagnosis.

From the perspective of feminist therapy, diagnoses are based on the dominant culture’s view of
normalcy and therefore cannot account for cultural differences (Pusateri & Headley, 2015).
Feminist therapists refer to distress rather than psycho- pathology (Brown, 2010), and they use
diagnostic labels quite carefully, if at all. They believe diagnostic labels are severely limiting for
these reasons: (1) they focus on the individual’s symptoms and not the social factors that cause
distress and dysfunctional behavior; (2) they are part of a system developed mainly within
psychiatry, an institution that reinforces dominant cultural norms and may become an instru-
ment of oppression; (3) they may reflect the inappropriate application of power in the therapeutic
relationship; (4) they can lead to an overemphasis on individual solutions rather than social
change; and (5) they have the potential to dehumanize the client through labeling.

Feminist therapists believe that external factors and contextual factors are as important as
internal dynamics in understanding the client’s presenting problems (Evans & Miller, 2016). The
feminist approach emphasizes that many symptoms can be understood as coping or survival
strategies rather than as evidence of pathology .The emphasis of feminist therapy is on wellness
rather than disease, resilience rather than deficits, and a celebration of diverse strengths (Brabeck
& Brabeck, 2013). Diagnosis, when used, results from a shared dialogue between client and ther-
apist. The counselor is careful to review with the client any implications of assigning a diagnosis
so the client can make an informed choice, and discussion focuses on helping the client
understand the role of socialization and culture in the etiology of these problems.

Techniques and Strategies

Feminist therapy does not prescribe any particular set of interventions and tailors interventions to
clients’ strengths with the goal of empowering clients while evok- ing their feminist
consciousness (Brown, 2010). Nonetheless, they have developed several unique techniques and
have borrowed others from traditional approaches.

Empowerment At the heart of feminist strategies is the goal of empowering the client. Feminist
therapists work in an egalitarian manner and use empowerment strategies that are tailored to each
client (Brown, 2010; Evans et al,, 2011). Alma’s therapist will pay careful attention to informed
consent issues, discussing ways Alma can get the most from the therapy session, clarifying
expectations, identifying goals, and working toward a contract that will guide the therapeutic
process.

Self-Disclosure Feminist therapists use therapeutic self-disclosure in the best interests of the
client to equalize the client–therapist relationship, to provide modeling, to normalize women’s
collective experiences, to empower clients, and to establish informed consent. The counselor
engages in self-disclosure only when it is judged to be therapeutically helpful to the client.
The counselor might share how she decides when and when not to be open about her personal
life.Self-disclosure goes beyond sharing information and experiences; it also involves the quality
of presence the therapist brings to the therapeutic sessions. Effective therapist self-disclosure is
grounded in authenticity and a sense of mutuality.

Gender-Role or Social Identity Analysis A hallmark of feminist therapy, gender- role analysis
assists clients in identifying the impact that their own gender-role socialization has played in
shaping their values, thoughts, and behaviors. Social identity and gender-role analysis begins
with clients identifying the societal messages they received about how women and men should
be and act as well as how these messages interact with other important aspects of identity
(Remer, 2013). The therapist begins by asking Alma to identify messages she has received
related to sexuality, race/ethnicity, and appearance from her culture, society, her peers, the media,
and her family. The therapist talks about how body image expectations differ between females
and males in our culture and how they may differ in other cultures. The therapist explains how
expectations related to appearance could intersect with beliefs about what it means to be gay or
straight in Alma’s culture, family, and society as it relates to her working environment. As Alma
identifies the messages playing in her head and the voices behind those messages, she is living
with a mindfulness of her internalized oppression. Alma decides what messages she would prefer
to have in her mind and keeps an open awareness when the discounting messages play in her
head. The goal is for Alma to adopt realistic and affirming internal messages.

Power Analysis Power analysis refers to the range of methods aimed at helping clients
understand how unequal access to power and resources can influence personal realities. Together
therapists and clients analyze how various forms of power in the dominant and subordinate group
limit self-definition and well-being (Enns, 2004; Pusateri & Headley, 2015).The power analysis
may focus on helping Alma identify alternate kinds of power she may exercise and learn how to
challenge the gender-role messages that prohibit the exercise of that kind of power. Alma
choreographs the changes she wants to make in her life. Interventions are aimed at helping Alma
learn to appreciate herself as she is, regain her self-confidence based on the personality attributes
she possesses, and set goals that will be fulfilling to her within the context of her cultural values.

Assertiveness Training By teaching and promoting assertive behavior, women become aware of
their interpersonal rights, transcend stereotypical gender roles, change negative beliefs, and
implement changes in their daily life. Alma may learn how sexism has contributed to keeping
females passive. For example, a woman behaving in an assertive way is often labeled
“aggressive,” but similar behavior in a man may be viewed as “assertive.” Therapist and client
consider what is culturally appropriate, and the client decides when and how to be assertive,
balancing the potential costs and benefits of assertiveness within the ecological context relevant
to the client. The therapist helps Alma evaluate and anticipate the consequences of behaving
assertively, which might range from criticism to actually getting what she wants.

Reframing and Relabeling Reframing includes a shift from placing the problem internally and
“blaming the victim” to a consideration of social factors in the environment that contribute to a
client’s problem. Rather than dwelling exclusively on intrapsychic factors, the focus is on
examining societal or political dimensions.relabeling is an intervention that changes the label or
evaluation applied to some behavioral characteristic. Alma can change certain labels she has
attached to herself, such as being inadequate or socially unwanted because she does not conform
to ideals commonly associated with femininity.

The Role of Men in Feminist Therapy

Men can be feminist therapists, and feminist therapy can be practiced with male cli- ents. It is an
erroneous perception that feminist therapy is conducted only by women and for women, or that
feminist therapy is anti-men because it is pro-women (Evans et al., 2011; Herlihy & McCollum,
2011). Although the original feminist therapists were all women, men have now joined their
ranks. Male feminist therapists are willing to understand and “own” their male privilege,
confront sexist behavior in themselves and others, redefine masculinity and femininity according
to other than traditional values, work toward establishing egalitarian relationships, and actively
engage in and support women’s efforts to create a just society.

The principles and practices of feminist psychotherapy are useful in working with male clients,
individuals from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, and people who are committed to
addressing social justice issues in counseling practice.Female counselors who work with male
clients have an opportunity to create an accepting, authentic, and safe climate in which men can
reflect on their needs, choices, past and present pain, and hopes for their future. By using
relational-cultural theory, female counselors provide a forum for men to consider the contexts
that helped shape them.

3) BRIEF THERAPY

Historical Development of Brief Therapy:

Brief duration of the psychoanalyses in the early days.Short-term treatment of “war neuroses” or
“battle fatigue” of veterans returning from World War II. Crisis intervention – brief psychiatric
interventions (8 -10 sessions) fo grief reactions. Therapy was once short-term, but for a variety
of reasons, it became longer. In recent years, the goal is shorter and more efficient treatment.

A) Solution-Focused therapy

solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a future-focused, goal-oriented therapeutic approach

to brief therapy developed initially by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg at the Brief Family
Therapy Center in Milwaukee in the early 1980s. SFBT emphasizes strengths and resiliencies of
people by focusing on exceptions to their problems and their conceptualized solutions. SFBT is
an optimistic, anti deterministic, future-oriented approach based on the assumption that clients
have the ability to change quickly and can create a problem-free language as they strive for a
new reality.

Key Concepts

Solution-focused brief therapy differs from traditional therapies by eschewing the past in favor of
both the present and the future (Franklin, Trepper, Gingerich, & McCollum, 2012). Therapists
focus on what is possible, and they have little or no interest in gaining an understanding of how
the problem emerged. Behavior change is viewed as the most effective approach to assisting
people in enhancing their lives. De Shazer (1988, 1991) suggests that it is not necessary to know
the cause of a problem to solve it and that there is no necessary relationship between the causes
of problems and their solutions.

Positive Orientation Solution-focused brief therapy is grounded on the optimistic assumption

that people are healthy and competent and have the ability to construct solutions that can
enhance their lives. An underlying assumption of SFBT is that we already have the ability to
resolve the challenges life brings us, but at times we lose our sense of direction or our awareness
of our competencies. Regardless of what shape clients are in when they enter therapy,
solution-focused therapists believe clients are competent. The therapist’s role is to help clients
recognize the competencies they already possess and apply them toward solutions. The essence
of therapy involves building on clients’ hope and optimism by creating positive expectations that
change is possible. Solution-focused brief therapy has parallels with positive psychology, which
concentrates on what is right and what is working for people rather than dwelling on deficits,
weaknesses, and problems.

Basic Assumptions Guiding Practice Walter and Peller (1992, 2000) think of solution-focused
therapy as a model that explains how people change and how they can reach their goals rather
than a model of the causes of problems. Here are some of their basic assumptions about
solution-focused therapy:

● There are advantages to a positive focus on solutions and on the future. If clients can
reorient themselves in the direction of their strengths using solution-talk, there is a good
chance therapy can be brief.
● Clients often present only one side of themselves. Solution-focused thera- pists invite
clients to examine another side of the story they are presenting.

The Therapeutic Process

1. Clients are given an opportunity to describe their problems. The thera- pist listens
respectfully and carefully as clients answer the therapist’s question, “How can I be useful
to you?”

2. The therapist works with clients in developing well-formed goals as soon as possible. The
question is posed, “What will be different in your life when your problems are solved?”
 3. The therapist asks clients about those times when their problems were not present or
when the problems were less severe. Clients are assisted in exploring these exceptions,
with special emphasis on what they did to make these events happen.

4. At the end of each solution-building conversation, the therapist offers clients summary
feedback, provides encouragement, and suggests what clients might observe or do before
the next session to further solve their problem.

Therapeutic Goals Solution-focused therapists concentrate on small, realistic, achievable

changes that can lead to additional positive outcomes. Murphy (2015) emphasizes the
importance of assisting clients in creating well- defined goals that are (1) stated positively in the
client’s language; (2) are action- oriented; (3) are structured in the here and now; (4) are
attainable, concrete, specific, and measurable; and (5) are controlled by the client.

The Therapeutic Relationship

De Shazer (1988) has described three kinds of relationships that may develop between therapists
and their clients:

1. Customer: the client and therapist jointly identify a problem and a solu- tion to work toward.
The client realizes that to attain his or her goals, personal effort will be required.

2. Complainant: the client describes a problem but is not able or willing to assume a role in
constructing a solution, believing that a solution is dependent on someone else’s actions. In this
situation, the client generally expects the therapist to change the other person to whom the client
attributes the problem.

3. Visitor: the client comes to therapy because someone else (a spouse, par- ent, teacher, or
probation officer) thinks the client has a problem. This client may not agree that he or she has a
problem and may be unable to identify anything to explore in therapy.

Application: Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures

Exception Questions SFBT is based on the notion that there were times in clients’ lives when
the problems they identify were not problematic. These times are called exceptions and represent
news of difference (Bateson, 1972). Solution-focused therapists ask exception questions to direct
clients to times when the problem did not exist, or when the problem was not as intense.
exceptions are those past experiences in a client’s life when it would be reasonable to have
expected the problem to occur, but somehow it did not (de Shazer, 1985; Murphy, 2015). By
helping clients identify and examine these exceptions, the chances are increased that they will
work toward solutions (Guterman, 2013). Once identified by an individual, these instances of
success can be useful in making further changes. This exploration reminds clients that problems
are not all-powerful and have not existed forever; it also provides a field of opportunity for
evoking resources, engaging strengths, and positing possible solutions. The therapist asks clients
what has to happen for these exceptions to occur more often.
The Miracle Question Therapy goals are developed by using what de Shazer (1988) calls the
miracle question, which is a main SFBT technique. The therapist asks, “If a miracle happened
and the problem you have was solved overnight, how would you know it was solved, and what
would be different?” Clients are then encouraged to enact “what would be different” in spite of
perceived problems. If a client asserts that she wants to feel more confident and secure, the
therapist might say: “Let yourself imagine that you leave the office today and that you are on
track to acting more confidently and securely. What will you be doing differently?” This process
of considering hypothetical solutions reflects O’Hanlon and Weiner-Davis’s (2003) belief that
changing the doing and viewing of the perceived problem changes the problem.

Scaling Questions Solution-focused therapists also use scaling questions when change in
human experiences are not easily observed, such as feelings, moods, or communication, and to
assist clients in noticing that they are not completely defeated by their problem (de Shazer &
Berg, 1988). For example, a woman reporting feelings of panic or anxiety might be asked: “On a
scale of zero to 10, with zero being how you felt when you first came to therapy and 10 being
how you feel the day after your miracle occurs and your problem is gone, how would you rate
your anxiety right now?” Even if the client has only moved away from zero to 1, she has
improved. How did she do that? What does she need to do to move another number up the scale?
Scaling questions enable clients to pay closer attention to what they are doing and how they can
take steps that will lead to the changes they desire.

Formula First Session Task The formula first session task (FFST) is a form of homework a
therapist might give clients to complete between their first and second sessions. The therapist
might say: “Between now and the next time we meet, I would like you to observe, so that you
can describe to me next time, what happens in your (family, life, marriage, relationship) that you
want to continue to have happen” (de Shazer, 1985, p. 137). At the second session, clients can be
asked what they observed and what they would like to have happen in the future. This kind of
assignment offers clients hope that change is inevitable. It is not a matter of if change will occur,
but when it will happen. According to de Shazer, this intervention tends to increase clients’
optimism and hope about their present and future situation. The FFST technique emphasizes
future solutions rather than past problems (Murphy, 2015).

B)Narrative therapy

Of all the social constructionists, Michael White and David Epston (1990) are best known for
their use of narrative in therapy.

Focus of Narrative Therapy The narrative approach involves adopting a shift in focus from
most traditional theories. Therapists are encouraged to establish a collaborative approach with a
special interest in listening respectfully to clients’ stories; to search for times in clients’ lives
when they were resourceful; to use questions as a way to engage clients and facilitate their
exploration; to avoid diagnosing and labeling clients or accepting a totalizing description based
on a problem.

The Role of Stories One of the theoretical underpinnings of narrative therapy is the notion that
problems are manufactured in social, cultural, and political contexts. We live our lives by the
stories we tell about ourselves and that others tell about us. Our stories shape reality in that they
construct and constitute what we see, feel, and do. The stories we live by grow out of
conversations in a social and cultural context. Change occurs by exploring how language is used
to create and maintain problems (Rice, 2015). Therapy clients have vivid stories to recount.
When stories are changed, not only is the person telling the story changed but the therapist who
is privileged to be a part of this unfolding process is also changed

Listening With an Open Mind

Narrative therapists strive to listen to the problem-saturated story of the client without getting
stuck. Therapists stay alert for details that give evidence of the cli- ent’s competence in taking
stands against oppressive problems. During the narrative conversation, attention is given to
avoiding totalizing language, which reduces the complexity of the individual by assigning an
all-embracing, single description to the essence of the person. Therapists begin to separate the
per- son from the problem in their mind as they listen and respond (Winslade & Monk, 2007).
This is called double listening.

The Therapeutic Process

This brief overview of the steps in the narrative therapeutic process illustrates the structure of the
narrative approach (O’Hanlon, 1994, pp. 25–26):
● Collaborate with the client to come up with a mutually acceptable name for the problem.
● Investigate how the problem has been disrupting, dominating, or dis- couraging to the
client.
● Discover moments when the client wasn’t dominated or discouraged by the problem by
searching for exceptions to the problem.

Therapy Goals A general goal of narrative therapy is to invite people to describe their
experience in new and fresh language. In doing this, they open new vistas of what is possible.
This new language enables clients to develop new meanings for problematic thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors (Freedman & Combs, 1996). Narrative therapy almost always includes an
awareness of the impact of various aspects of dominant culture on human life. Narrative
practitioners seek to enlarge the perspective and facilitate the discovery or creation of new
options that are unique to the people they see.

Therapist’s Function and Role Narrative therapists are active facilitators. The concepts of care,
interest, respectful curiosity, openness, empathy, contact, and even fascination are seen as a
relational necessity. The not-knowing position, which allows therapists to follow, affirm, and be
guided by the stories of their clients, creates participant-observer and process-facilitator roles for
the therapist and integrates therapy with a postmodern view of human inquiry.A main task of the
therapist is to help clients construct a preferred story line. Like the solution-focused therapist, the
narrative therapist assumes the client is the expert when it comes to what he or she wants in life.
The narrative therapist tends to avoid using language that embodies diagnosis, assessment,
treatment, and intervention. Functions such as diagnosis and assessment often grant priority to
the practitioner’s “truth” over clients’ knowledge about their own lives. The nar- rative approach
gives emphasis to understanding clients’ lived experiences and de- emphasizes efforts to predict,
interpret, and pathologize. Monk (1997) emphasizes that narrative therapy will vary with each
client because each person is unique.

The Therapeutic Relationship Narrative therapists place great importance LO9 on the values
and ethical commitments a therapist brings to the therapy venture. Some of these attitudes
include optimism and respect, curiosity and persistence, valuing the client’s knowledge, and
creating a special kind of relationship characterized by a real power-sharing dialogue (Winslade
& Monk, 2007). Collaboration, compassion, reflection, and discovery characterize the
therapeutic relationship. The narrative therapist supplies the optimism and sometimes a process,
but the client generates what is possible and contributes the movement that actualizes it.

Application: Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures

The effective application of narrative therapy is more dependent on therapists’ attitudes or
perspectives than on techniques. In the practice of narrative ther- apy, there is no recipe, no set
agenda, and no formula that the therapist can follow to assure positive results. Narrative
therapists are in agreement with Carl Rogers on the importance of the therapist’s way of being
rather than being technique driven. A narrative approach to counseling is more than the
application of skills; it is based on the therapist’s per- sonal characteristics that create a climate
that encourages clients to see their stories from different perspectives. Narrative therapists
emphasize their willingness to see beyond dominant cultural norms and to appreciate clients’
differences. However, a series of “maps” of narrative conversational trajectories can help give
structure and direction to a therapeutic conversation.

Narrative therapists use questions as a way to generate experience rather than to gather
information. The aim of questioning is to progressively discover or construct the client’s
experience so that the client has a sense of a preferred direction. Questions are always asked
from a position of respect, curiosity, and openness. Therapists ask questions from a not-knowing
position, meaning that they do not pose questions that they think they already know the answers
to.Through the process of asking questions, therapists provide clients with an opportunity to
explore various dimensions of their life situations.

Externalization and Deconstruction Narrative therapists believe it is not the person that is the
problem, but the problem that is the problem (White, 1989). These problems often are products
of the cultural world or of the power relations in which this world is located. Living life means
relating to problems, not being fused with them. Narrative therapists help clients deconstruct
these problematic stories by disassembling the taken-for-granted assumptions that are made
about an event, which then opens alternative possibilities for living.The method used to separate
the person from the problem is referred to as externalizing conversation, which opens up space
for new stories to emerge. This method is particularly useful when people have internalized
diagnoses and labels that have not been validating or empowering of the change process
(Bertolino & O’Hanlon, 2002). externalizing conversations counteract oppressive,
problem-saturated sto- ries and empower clients to feel competent to handle the problems they
face.

Search for Unique Outcomes In the narrative approach, externalizing questions are followed by
questions searching for unique outcomes. The therapist talks to the client about moments of
choice or success regarding the problem. This is done by selecting for attention any experience
that stands apart from the problem story, regardless of how insignificant it might seem to the
client. The therapist may ask: “Was there ever a time in which anger wanted to take you over,
and you resisted? What was that like for you? How did you do it?” These questions are aimed at
highlighting moments when the problem has not occurred or when the problem has been dealt
with successfully. Unique outcomes can often be found in the past or the present, but they can
also be hypothesized for the future: “What form would standing up against your anger take?”
Exploring questions such as these enables clients to see that change is possible

Documenting the Evidence One technique for consolidating the gains a client makes involves a
therapist writing letters to the person. Narrative therapists have pioneered the development of
therapeutic letter writing. These letters that the therapist writes provide a record of the session
and may include an externalizing description of the problem and its influ- ence on the client, as
well as an account of the client’s strengths and abilities that are identified in a session. Letters
can be read again at different times, and the story that they are part of can be reinspired. The
letter highlights the struggle the client has had with the problem and draws distinctions between
the problem-saturated story and the developing new and preferred story

Narrative therapy and Diversity Perspective

Narrative therapy is grounded in a sociocultural context, which makes this approach especially
relevant for counseling culturally diverse clients. Narrative therapists operate on the premise that
problems are identified within social, cultural, political, and relational contexts rather than
existing within individuals. They are very much concerned with considering the specifications of
gender, ethnicity, race, disability, sexual orientation, social class, and spirituality and religion as
therapeutic issues.

c) PROBLEM FOCUSED THERAPY

Problem-solving therapy (PST) is a psychosocial intervention, generally considered to be under a

cognitive-behavioral umbrella, that is geared to enhance one’s ability to cope effectively with
both minor (e.g., chronic daily problems) and major (e.g., traumatic events) stressors in order to
attenuate extant mental health and physical health problems.Overall, PST has been effective in
helping individuals suffering from a variety of health and mental health problems, including
depression, anxiety, emotional distress, suicidal ideation, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke,
traumatic brain injury, back pain, hypertension, and post traumatic stress disorder. It has also
been effectively used to treat individuals with schizophrenia and mental retardation as well as
implemented as a means of preventing emotional difficulties from initially occurring or
becoming worse in certain vulnerable populations, such as veterans returning from combat war
zones.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROBLEM-SOLVING THERAPY

In 1971, Thomas D’Zurilla and Marvin Goldfried published a comprehensive review of the
relevant theory and research related to real-life problem solving.Based on this review, these
behaviorally oriented psychologists developed a prescriptive model of problem solving that
consisted of two different, albeit related, components: (a) general orientation (later relabeled
problem orientation ) and (b) problem-solving skills. General orientation was defined as a
metacognitive process that primarily served a motivational function (i.e., the more positive one’s
general orientation, the more likely he or she would attempt to solve or handle a difficult
problem in living).

Problem-solving skills referred to the set of cognitive-behavioral activities by which a person

attempts to discover or develop effective solutions or ways of coping with real-life problems.

DEFINITIONS OF CONSTRUCTS

The following are definitions of three major concepts integral to PST: problem solving, problem,
and solution.

Problem Solving- We define real-life problem solving as the self-directed process by which
individuals attempt to identify, discover, and/or develop adaptive coping solutions for problems,
both acute and chronic, that they encounter in everyday living. More specifically, it reflects the
process whereby people direct their coping efforts at altering

a. The nature of the situation such that it no longer represents a problem (referred to as
problem-focused goals; for example, overcome a barrier to their goals, reduce the conflict
between two sets of goals)

b. Their maladaptive reactions to such problems (referred to as emotion- focused goals; e.g.,
reduce negative emotional reactions, enhance ability to accept that problems are a normal part of
life)

c. Both the situation itself and their maladaptive emotional responses to the problem

Problem solving refers to the process of finding or developing solutions to specific problems,
whereas solution implementation refers to the process of carrying out those solutions in the
actual situation.

Problem
We define a problem as a life situation, present or anticipated, that

a. Requires an adaptive response in order to prevent immediate or long- term negative

consequences (e.g., diffi culty regaining practical and/or emotional homeostasis)

b. Wherein an effective response is not immediately apparent or available to the person

experiencing the situation due to the existence of various obstacles or barriers

The barriers that make the situation a problem for a given individual or set of individuals can
involve a variety of factors. These can include:
a. Novelty (e.g., moving to a new environment)
b. Ambiguity (e.g., confusion about how a relationship is progressing)
c. Unpredictability (e.g., lack of control over one’s career path)
d. Confl icting goals (e.g., differences of opinions about which house to buy)
e. Performance skills defi cits (e.g., diffi culties in communicating with one’s
coworkers)
f. Lack of resources (e.g., limited fi nances to pay a mortgage)

Solution
A solution is a situation-specific coping response or response pattern that is the product or
outcome of the problem-solving process when it is applied to a specific problem situation. An
effective solution is one that achieves the problem-solving goal or set of goals (i.e., changes the
situation for the better and/or reduces the distress that it produces), while at the same time
maximizing other positive consequences and minimizing negative

REVISED MODEL OF SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING

Based on decades of continuous research and program development, we have significantly
revised the original D’Zurilla and Goldfried (1971) model of problem solving over the years.

Problem Orientation
Problem orientation is the set of relatively stable cognitive-affective schemas that represent a
person’s generalized beliefs, attitudes, and emotional reactions about problems in living and
one’s ability to successfully cope with such problems. Rather than being two ends of the same
continuum, as the original D’Zurilla and Goldfried (1971) model suggested, subsequent research
has continuously identifi ed two types of problem orientations, positive and negative, that
function orthogonally (Nezu, 2004).
A positive problem orientation involves the tendency for individuals to
a. Appraise problems as challenges
b. Be optimistic in believing that problems are solvable
c. Have a strong sense of self-effi cacy regarding their ability to cope with problems
d. Understand that successful problem solving involves time and effort
e. View negative emotions as an integral part of the overall problem-
solving process that can ultimately be helpful in coping with stressful problems

A negative problem orientation is one that involves the tendency to

a. View problems as threats
b. Expect problems to be unsolvable
c. Have doubts about one’s ability to cope with problems successfully
d. Become particularly frustrated and upset when faced with problems or confronted with
negative emotions

Problem-Solving Styles
The second major SPS dimension, problem-solving style , refers to the set of
cognitive-behavioral activities that people engage in when attempting to solve or cope with
stressful problems. Our research has identifi ed three differing styles: (a) rational problem
solving (now referred to as planful problem solving, (b) avoidant problem solving, and
(c) impulsive-careless problem solving (D’Zurilla, Nezu, & Maydeu-Olivares, 2002; D’Zurilla et
al., 2004). Rational or planful problem solving is the constructive approach to coping with
stressful problems that involves the systematic and thoughtful application of the following set of
specific skills:
1. Problem definition (i.e., clarifying the nature of a problem, delineating a realistic
problem-solving goal or set of goals, and identifying those obstacles that prevent one from
reaching such goals)
2. Generation of alternatives (i.e., thinking of a range of possible solution strategies geared
toward overcoming the identified obstacles)
3. Decision making (i.e., predicting the likely consequences of these various alternatives,
conducting a cost-benefit analysis based on these identified outcomes, and developing a solution
plan that is geared toward achieving the problem-solving goal)
4. Solution implementation and verification (i.e., carrying out the solution plan, monitoring and
evaluating the consequences of the plan, and determining whether one’s problem-solving efforts
have been successful or need to continue)

PROBLEM-SOLVING THERAPY: TREATMENT OBJECTIVES

In order to achieve the treatment goals stated at the beginning of this chapter, the specific
treatment objectives for PST can be thought of as

1. Enhancing positive problem orientation

2. Decreasing negative problem orientation
3. Fostering planful problem solving
4. Minimizing avoidant problem solving
5. Minimizing impulsive/careless problem solving

Conceptually, several major obstacles can exist for a given individual when attempting to reach
these treatment goals. These include the existence of any or all of the following:
a. Cognitive overload, especially when under stress
b. Limited or deficient ability to engage in effective emotional regulation
c. Biased cognitive processing of various emotion-related information (e.g., negative automatic
thoughts, poor self-efficacy beliefs, difficulties in disengaging from negative mood-congruent
autobiographical memories)
d. Limited motivation due to feelings of hopelessness
e. An ineffective or maladaptive problem-solving style

ROLE OF A COUNSELLOR AND PROCESS ( SELF)

UNIT III: FAMILY SYSTEMS THERAPIES.

Introduction
Family therapists consider how problems may be, at least in part, a product of the relationships
surrounding them.

Cybernetics
The first and perhaps most influential model of how families operate was cybernetics, the study of feed-
back mechanisms in self-regulating systems. What a family shares with other cybernetic systems is a
tendency to maintain stability by using information about its performance. At the core of cybernetics is
the feedback loop, the process by which a system gets the information necessary to maintain a steady
course. This feedback includes information about the system’s performance and the relationship among
the system’s parts. At the core of cybernetics is the feedback loop, the process by which a system gets the
information necessary to maintain a steady course. This feedback includes information about the system’s
performance and the relationship among the system’s parts.Feedback loops can be negative or positive.
This distinction refers to the effect they have on homeostasis, not whether they are beneficial. Negative
feedback indicates that a system is straying off the mark and that corrections are needed to get it back on
course. It signals the system to restore the status quo. Thus, negative feedback is not such a negative
thing. Its error-correcting information gives order and self-control to automatic machines, to the body and
the brain, and to people in their daily lives. Positive feedback reinforces the direction a system is taking.

A familiar example of negative feedback occurs in a home heating system. When the temperature drops
below a certain point, the thermostat triggers the furnace to heat the house back to the pre-established
range. It is this self-correcting feedback loop that makes a system cybernetic, and it is the system’s
response to change as a signal to restore its previous state that illustrates negative feedback.

Figure 3.1 shows the basic circularity involved in a feedback loop. Each element has an effect on the next,
until the last element “feeds back” the cumulative effect into the first part of the cycle. Thus A affects B,
which in turn affects C, which feeds back to A, and so on.

The cybernetic system turned out to be a useful metaphor for describing how families maintain sta-
bility (Jackson, 1959). Sometimes stability is a good thing, as for example, when a family continues to
function as a cohesive unit despite being threatened by conflict or stress. Sometimes, however, resisting
change is not such a good thing, as when a family fails to accommodate to the growth of one of its
members.

Figure 3.2 shows a similar cybernetic feedback loop for a couple.

In this case, Jan’s housecleaning efforts (output) affect how much housework gets done, which
subsequently affects how much housecleaning Billie has to do, which then feeds back (input) to how
much housecleaning Jan thinks still needs to be done, and so on.

As applied to families, cybernetics focused attention on: family rules, which govern the range of behavior
a family system can tolerate (the family’s homeostatic range); negative feedback mechanisms that
families use to enforce those rules (guilt, punishment, symptoms);sequences of interaction around a
problem that characterize a system’s reaction to it (feedback loops); and what happens when a
system’s accustomed negative feedback is ineffective, triggering positive feedback loops.

Examples of positive feedback loops are vicious cycles, in which the actions taken only make
things worse. A self-fulfilling prophecy is one such positive feedback loop; one’s apprehensions
lead to actions that precipitate the feared situation, which in turn justifies one’s fears, and so on.
Another example of positive feedback is the bandwagon effect—the tendency of a cause to gain
support simply because of its growing number of adherents. You can probably think of some fads
and more than a few pop music groups that owe much of their popularity to the bandwagon
effect.

As an example of a self-fulfilling prophesy, consider a young therapist who expects men to be

uninvolved in family life. She believes that fathers should play an active role in the lives of their
children, but her own experience has taught her not to expect much. Suppose she’s trying to
arrange for a family consultation, and the mother says that her husband won’t be able to attend.
How is our hypothetical therapist likely to respond? She might accept the mother’s statement at
face value and thus collude to ensure what she expected. Alternatively, she might challenge the
mother’s statement aggressively, thereby
displacing her attitude toward men into her relationship with the mother—or push the mother
into an oppositional stance with her husband.

Systems Theory
Family therapists use a host of concepts to describe how two people in a relationship contribute
to what goes on between them, including pursuer–distancer, over functioning– under
functioning, and control-and-rebel cycles. The advantage of such concepts is that either party can
change his or her part in the pattern.

But while it’s relatively easy to discover themes in two-person relationships, it’s more difficult to
see patterns of interaction in larger groups like families. That’s why family therapists found
systems theory so useful.

Systems theory had its origins in the 1940s, when theoreticians began to construct models of the
structure and functioning of mechanical and biological units. What these theorists discovered
was that things as
diverse as jet engines, amoebas, and the human brain share the attributes of a system—that is, an
organized assemblage of parts forming a complex whole.

According to systems theory, the essential properties of a system arise from the relationships
among its parts. These properties are lost when a system is reduced to isolated elements. The
whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thus, from a systems perspective, it would make little
sense to try to understand a child’s behavior by interviewing him or her without the rest of the
child’s family.

Although some therapists use terms like systemic and systems theory to mean little more than
considering families as units, systems actually have a number of specific and interesting
properties. To begin with, the shift from looking at individuals to considering the family as a
system means shifting the focus to patterns of relationship.

Let’s take a simple example. If a father scolds his son, his wife tells him not to be so harsh, and
the boy continues to misbehave, a systemic analysis would concentrate on this sequence. For it is
sequences of
interaction that reveal how systems function. In order to focus on inputs and outputs, a systems
analysis avoids asking why individuals do what they do.

The most radical expression of this systemic perspective was the “black box” metaphor: “The
impossibility of seeing the mind ‘at work’ has in recent years led to the adoption of the Black
Box concept from telecommunication applied to the fact that electronic hardware is by now so
complex that it is sometimes more expedient to disregard the internal structure of a device and
concentrate on the study of its specific input–output relations. . . .” (Watzlawick, Beavin, &
Jackson, 1967, p. 43)

Viewing people as black boxes may seem like the ultimate expression of mechanistic thinking,
but this metaphor had the advantage of simplifying the field of study by eliminating speculation
about the inner
workings of the mind in order to concentrate on their input and output—that is, communication
and behavior.

Among the features of systems seized on by early family therapists, few were more influential
than homeostasis, the self-regulation that keeps systems stable.Don Jackson’s notion of family
homeostasis emphasized that dysfunctional families’ tendency to resist change went a long way
toward explaining why, despite heroic efforts to improve, so many patients remain stuck
(Jackson, 1959). Today we look back on this emphasis on homeostasis as exaggerating the
conservative properties of families.

a) General Systems Theory

In the 1940s, an Austrian biologist, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, attempted to combine concepts
from systems thinking and biology into a universal theory of living systems—from the human
mind to the global ecosphere. Starting with investigations of the endocrine system, he began
extrapolating to more complex social systems and developed a model that came to be called
general systems theory.

Mark Davidson (1983), in his fascinating biography Uncommon Sense, summarized

Bertalanffy’s definition of a system as “any entity maintained by the mutual interaction of its
parts, from atom to cosmos, and including such mundane examples as telephone, postal, and
rapid transit systems. A Bertalanffian system can be physical like a television set, biological like
a cocker spaniel, psychological like a personality, sociological like a labor union, or symbolic
like a set of laws. . A system can be composed of smaller systems and can also be part of a larger
system, just as a state or province is composed of smaller jurisdictions and also is part of a
nation.” (p. 26)
The last point is important. Every system is a subsystem of larger systems. But family therapists
tended to forget this spreading network of influence. They treated the family as a system while
largely ignoring the
larger systems of community, culture, and politics in which families are embedded.

Bertalanffy used the metaphor of an organism for social groups, but an organism was an open
system, continuously interacting with its environment. Open systems, as opposed to closed
systems (e.g.,
machines), sustain themselves by exchanging resources with their environment—for example,
taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.

Living organisms are active and creative. They work to sustain their organization, but they aren’t
motivated solely to preserve the status quo. In an open system, feedback mechanisms process
information from the environment, which helps it adjust. For example, the cooling of the blood
from a drop in environmental temperature stimulates centers in the brain to activate
heat-producing mechanisms so that temperature is maintained at a steady level.

Family therapists picked up on the concept of homeostasis, but according to Bertalanffy, an

overemphasis on this conservative aspect of the organism reduced it to the level of a machine: “If
[this] principle of
homeostatic maintenance is taken as a rule of behavior, the so-called well-adjusted individual
will be [defined as] a well-oiled robot” (quoted in Davidson, 1983, p. 104).

Unlike mechanical systems, which strive only to maintain a fixed structure, family systems also
change when necessary to adapt to new circumstances. Walter Buckley (1968) coined the term
morphogenesis
to describe this plastic quality of adaptive systems.

To summarize, Bertalanffy brought up many of the issues that have shaped family therapy:

♦ A system as more than the sum of its parts

♦ Emphasis on interaction within and among systems versus reductionism

♦ Human systems as ecological organisms versus mechanism

♦ Concept of equifinality

♦ Homeostatic reactivity versus spontaneous activity.

Social Constructionism
Systems theory taught us to see how people’s lives are shaped by their interactions with those
around them. But in focusing on behavior, systems theory left something out—actually, two
things: how family members’ beliefs affect their actions, and how cultural forces shape those
beliefs.
Constructivism captured the imagination of family therapists in the 1980s when studies of brain
function showed that we can never really know the world as it exists out there; all we can know
is our subjective experience of it.Constructivism is the modern expression of a philosophical
tradition that goes back as far as the eighteenth century. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) regarded
knowledge as a product of the way our imaginations are organized. The outside world doesn’t
simply impress itself onto the tabula rasa (blank slate) of our minds, as British Empiricist John
Locke (1632–1704) believed. In fact, as Kant argued, our minds are anything but blank. They are
active filters through which we process and interpret the world.

Constructivism found its way into psychotherapy in the personal construct theory of George
Kelly(1955). According to Kelly, we make sense of the world by creating our own constructs of
the environment. We interpret and organize events, and we make predictions that guide our
actions on the basis of these constructs. You might compare this to seeing the world through a
pair of eyeglasses. Because we may need to adjust constructs, therapy became a matter of
revising old constructs and developing new ones—trying on different lenses to see which ones
enable us to navigate the world in more satisfying ways.

The first application of constructivism in family therapy was the technique of reframing
-relabeling behavior to shift how family members respond to it. Clients react very differently to a
child seen as “hyperactive” than to one perceived as “misbehaving.” Likewise, the dispirited
parents of a rebellious ten-year-old will feel better about themselves if they become convinced
that, rather than being “ineffective disciplinarians,” they have an “oppositional child.”
The first diagnosis suggests that the parents should get tough but also that they probably won’t
succeed. The second suggests that coping with a difficult child requires strategizing. The point
isn’t that one description is more valid than the other, but rather that if whatever label a family
applies to its problems leads to ineffective coping strategies, then perhaps a new label
will alter their viewpoint and lead to a more effective response.

Social constructionism expanded constructivism much as family therapy expanded individual

psychology. Constructivism says that we relate to the world on the basis of our own
interpretations. Social constructionism points out that those interpretations are shaped by our
context. If a fourteen-year-old consistently disobeys his parents, a constructivist might point out
that the boy may not think they deserve his respect. In other words, the boy’s actions aren’t
simply a product of the parents’ disciplinary efforts but also of the boy’s construction of their
authority. A social constructionist would add that an adolescent’s attitudes about parental
authority are shaped not only by what goes on in the family but also by messages transmitted
from the culture at large.

Attachment theory
As the field matured, family therapists showed a renewed interest in the inner life of the
individuals who make up the family. Now, in addition to theories about the broad, systemic
influences on family members’ behavior, attachment theory has emerged as a leading tool for
describing the deeper roots of close relationships.

Attachment theory has been especially fruitful in couples therapy (e.g., Johnson, 2002), where it
helps explain how even healthy adults need to depend on each other. In the early years of family
therapy,couples treatment was a therapy without a theory.With few exceptions, therapists treated
couples with models designed for families (e.g., Minuchin, 1974; Haley, 1976; Bowen, 1978).

The exception was behaviorists, who implied that intimacy was a product of reinforcement.
Nobody talked much about love or longing. Dependency might be okay for children, but
in adults, we were told, it was a sign of enmeshment. In emotionally focused couples therapy,
Susan Johnson uses attachment theory to deconstruct the familiar dynamic in which one partner
criticizes and complains while the other gets defensive and withdraws. What attachment theory
suggests is that the criticism and complaining are protests against disruption of the attachment
bond—in other words, the nagging partner may be more insecure than angry.

The notion that how couples deal with each other reflects their attachment history can be traced
to the pioneering studies of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Attachment means seeking
closeness in the face of stress. Attachment can be seen in cuddling up to mother’s warm body
and being cuddled in return, looking into her eyes and being looked at fondly, and holding on to
her and being held. These experiences are profoundly comforting. The child who has secure
attachment experiences will develop a sense of basic security and will not be subject to morbid
fears of being helpless, abandoned, and alone in the world. But the opposite is also true.
Insecure attachment poisons a child’s self-confidence. When threats arise, infants in secure
relationships are able to direct attachment behavior (approaching, crying, reaching out) to their
caregivers and take comfort in their reassurance (Bowlby, 1988). Infants with secure attachments
are confident in the availability of their caregivers and, consequently, confident in their
interactions in the world. If a child’s caregivers are generally unavailable or unresponsive to the
child’s needs, that child develops a sense of shame around those needs; such children doubt the
validity of their needs, and feel bad for having them. They also come to believe that others
cannot be depended on. They develop an in-secure attachment (Bowlby, 1988). Insecure attach-
ment generally falls into two categories: anxious and avoidant.

Anxiously attached children tend to have overly protective and intrusive parents. These children
learn that the validity of their needs must be approved by their caregivers. As a result, over time,
these children find it increasingly difficult to identify what they truly feel. Anxiously attached
children cling to their caregivers; the message from the caregivers’ intrusiveness is that the world
is a dangerous place—you need me to manage it (Ainsworth, 1967). As an adult, anxiously
attached individuals often suffer from depression and anxiety as they habitually give in to others’
demands and work hard to please people. When their emotional security is threatened in adult
romantic relationships, anxiously attached individuals try to restore a comfortable level of
emotional closeness by frantically pulling their partner closer out of fear of losing them (Bowlby,
1973). Fear of abandonment—“terror” might be the better term in order to convey how
all-consuming it is—haunts some people like nothing else. Thus attachment theory offers a
deeper understanding of the dynamics of familiar interactional problems.

Defining Family Counseling from a Systems Framework

The essence of family therapy is centered on maintaining a focus on the system.the presence or
absence of a systemic focus of treatment has emerged as most important to the majority who
practice family therapy.
Gurman et al. (1986) has offered the following classic definition of family therapy:

“Family therapy may be defined as any psychotherapeutic endeavor thatexplicitly focuses on

altering the interactions between or among family members and seeks to improve the functioning
of the family as a unit, or its subsystems, and /or the functioning of individual members of the
family.”

Family therapies can be classified best along 2 areas:

The first consisting of who is seen in treatment (e.g., individual, couple, nuclear family, extended
family)

The theoretical perspective on which the therapy centers (e.g., structural , strategic , or a type of
integration).

Contemporary cultural influences on the field of family counseling

Among the influences shaping family behavior few are more powerful than the cultural context.
Culture encompasses all of the dimensions of diversity, including but not limited to race,
ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, and ability. It is a broadly
defined term referring to the customary beliefs, social forms, and traits of a group. One reason
for therapists to be sensitive to cultural diversity is to avoid imposing majority values and
assumptions on minority groups. it is a mistake to assume that members of the same culture
necessarily share values and assumptions.

Appreciating the cultural context of families is complicated by the fact that most families are
influenced by multiple contexts, which makes generalization difficult.

The second mistake is to think that a therapist’s job is to become an expert on the various
cultures he or she works with. While it may be useful for therapists to familiarize themselves
with the customs and values of the major groups in their catchment area, an attitude of respect
and curiosity about other people’s cultures may be more useful than imposing ethnic stereotypes
or assuming an understanding of other people. It’s important to acknowledge what you don’t
know.

The third mistake therapists make in working with families from other cultures is to accept
everything assumed to be a cultural norm as functional. An effective therapist must be respectful
of other people’s ways of doing things without giving up the right to question what appears to be
counterproductive.

Example:
intercultural couples, multiracial children

They provide individuals with enrichment and challenges to their worldview, but they also
complicate interpersonal relationships inside and outside the couple and family.
Role of the therapist

Family therapists must examine their biases and values before beginning to work with culturally
diverse families. Effective family therapists are aware of their heritage, comfortable with
differences, sensitive to circumstances, and knowledgeable of feelings and attitudes. Family
therapists must be open to themselves and to families to avoid stereotyping. Family therapists
must help families acknowledge their emotions when appropriate. Family therapists must help
families celebrate their cultural heritage. Family therapists must assist families in dealing
successfully with events in the family life cycle. To be effective with culturally diverse families,
family therapists would do well to remember ESCAPE:

● engage with families and process;

● sensitivity to culture;
● awareness of family potential; and
● knowledge of the environment
● Comparison with individual counseling

Individual psychotherapy and family therapy each offer an approach to treatment and a way of
understanding human behaviour. Individual therapy provides the concentrated focus to help
people face their fears and learn to become more fully themselves. Individual therapists have
always recognized the importance of family life in shaping personality, but they have assumed
that these influences are internalized and that intrapsychic dynamics become the dominant forces
controlling behavior. Treatment can and should, therefore, be directed at the person and his or
her personal makeup.

Family therapists, on the other hand, believe that the dominant forces in our lives are located
externally, in the family.Therapy, in this framework, is directed at changing the organization of
the family.When family organization is transformed, the life of every family member is altered
accordingly.

Eight lens in family systems therapy

Introduction
Eight lenses or meta-frameworks from which family can be assessed:

● Individual internal family system

● Teleological / goal-oriented
● Developmental
● Sequences / patterns of interaction
● Organization
● Multicultural
● Process
● Gender

TECHNIQUES
Eight lenses or meta-frameworks from which family systems can be assessed
Individual Internal Family System Lens- Views individual as a system with structure,
organization and subsystems.Some dimensions are enhancing while some destructive.Parts are
strengthened/developed by social interactions and experiences.When parts become polarized –
individual experiences conflict .How does each person describe who he/she is?

Teleological / Goal-oriented lens- Develop an understanding of what motivates individual

behaviour, i.e.
the purpose of patterned interactions.Individuals and families act purposively – some actions
promote
growth while some constrain growth.What purpose is being served when the children interact
with their
parents in the way they do?

Sequences / Patterns of Interaction lens-Family life is ordered and family members tend to
interact in
sequences that are repeated over time.Adaptive sequences develop in cooperative and fair
environments
while maladaptive sequences develop in rigid ones where change is resisted What routines
support the daily living of each member of the family?

Organization Lens- In order to provide a sense of unity, individuals and families are organized
by rules, routines and expected roles. Balanced family leadership requires the ability to be firm
but friendly
while setting appropriate yet fair expectations Are the parents effective leaders of the family?

Developmental lens-Focus is on the “family life cycle” which has 6 significant transitions
Single adult leaves home
Individuals become a couple
Couple has children and starts family
Children become adolescents
Parents prepare for life without children
Children now have to care for parents and their own families
Address needs of individual while considering transitional stage, looking for constraints
Where is the family in the family life cycle, and how are they handling transitions?

Multicultural lens- Challenges and reframes dominant culture Looks

at:Ethnicity,Gender,Age,Religion, Race and discrimination, Regional background, etc. What
cultures are in the family backgrounds of each of the family members?

Gender lens- Address power positions that are part of the hierarchical structure of
families.Challenge unequal status and treatment of women.What gender role is each member of
the family assuming?

Process lens- Examine where families are in the flow of life and the process of change.When
routines are interfered with, the result is disruption to the balanced system which can lead to a
state of chaos in the family. Therapists serve as external resource with a primary responsibility to
help individuals reconnect with their strengths Where is this family in the process of change?

DISCUSSION FORUM QUESTION: 1

You are now a family therapist. Please read the scenario below.

You are given a case where the identified client is a 16 y/o Caucasian boy who lives at home in a
middle class family with his father, mother and 14 y/o sister. The boy is in his sophomore year in
a new town and new high school. The son's medical and psychological histories have been
unremarkable to date. He has lived a normal physically and psychologically healthy life up until
recently. The client reluctantly came for treatment with his family at the urging of his school
psychologist and his family doctor due to behavioral problems at school and at home. Both the
school psychologist and the family doctor indicated to his parents their concern about the
potential chemical dependency issues he might be facing. His behavior at home has become
emotionally distant to everyone in his family demonstrated by isolating himself in his room
whenever he is at home. He is also verbally aggressive with his mother and sister.

a) How would you deal with the family? Pick one of the four theories presented and/or one of the
eight lenses to approach the scenario.

b) How does the theory and lens you have chosen conform to your own emerging personal
theory?

TECHNIQUES
Boundaries
The most useful concepts of interpersonal boundaries are found in the works of Murray Bowen
and Salvador Minuchin. Bowen is best at describing the boundary between the self and others;
Minuchin is better at identifying boundaries among various family subsystems. In Bowen’s
terms, individuals vary on a continuum from fusion to differentiation, while Minuchin describes
boundaries as ranging from diffuse to rigid, with resultant enmeshment or disengagement.
Bowen’s thinking reflects the psychoanalytic emphasis on separation and individuation (Mahler,
Pine, & Bergman, 1975), with special attention to the resolution of oedipal attachments and
leaving home. In this model, we become ourselves by learning to stand alone. Bowen used a
variety of terms—togetherness, fusion, undifferentiation, emotional reactivity—all referring to
the danger of people losing themselves in relationships. Minuchin offers a more balanced view,
describing problems that result when boundaries are either too weak or too strong.

Diffuse boundaries allow too much interference into the functioning of a subsystem; rigid
boundaries allow too little support. Bowen focused on one boundary problem—fusion—and one
goal—differentiation. Minuchin speaks of two possibilities— enmeshment or disengagement
—and his therapy is designed to fit the specific case.

Bowen’s fusion and Minuchin’s enmeshment both deal with blurred boundaries, but they aren’t
synonymous. Fusion is a psychological quality of individuals, the opposite of individuation.
The dynamics of fusion have an impact on relationships (especially in the form of reactivity and
triangulation), but fusion is within a person. Enmeshment is between people.

These conceptual differences also lead to differences in treatment. Bowenian therapists

encourage relationships but emphasize autonomy. Success is measured by differentiation of self.
Structuralists encourage authenticity but strive to restructure family relationships by either
strengthening or weakening boundaries. Success is measured by the harmonious functioning of
the whole family.

Pathologic Triangles
Pathologic triangles are at the heart of several family therapy explanations of behavior disorder.
Among these, Bowen’s is the most elegant. Bowen explained how when two people are in
conflict, the one who experiences the most anxiety will triangle in a third person. This model not
only provides an explanation of systems pathology but also serves as a warning: As long as a
therapist remains allied with one party in an emotional conflict, he or she is part of the problem.
In psychoanalytic theory, oedipal conflicts are seen as the root of neurosis. Here the triangle
originates in family interactions but becomes lodged in the individual psyche. A mother’s
tenderness may be seductive and a father’s jealousy threatening, but the wish to do away with the
father and possess the mother is a product of fantasy. Pathological fixation of this conflict may
be caused by developments in the outer space of the family, but the conflict lives in the inner
space of a child’s mind.

Structural family theory is based on triangular configurations in which a dysfunctional boundary

between two subsystems is the reciprocal of a boundary with a third. A father and son’s
enmeshment reflects the father and mother’s disengagement; a single mother’s disengagement
from her children is the counterpart of her overinvolvement outside the family. Structural theory
also uses the concept of pathological triangles to explain conflict-detouring triads, whereby
parents divert their conflict onto a child. Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker (1978) have even
demonstrated that physiological changes occur when parents in conflict transmit their stress to
psychosomatic children.

Strategic therapists typically work with a dyadic model, in which one person’s symptoms are
maintained by others’ efforts to resolve them. Haley and Selvini Palazzoli, however, used a
triangular model in the form of cross-generational coalitions. These “perverse triangles,” as
Haley (1977) called them, occur when a parent and child collude in covert opposition to the other
parent. Triangular functioning is less central to the newer models because they’re not concerned
with how families develop problems. It might even be argued that ignoring family dynamics is
one of the strengths of narrative and solution-focused approaches, if doing so helps these
therapists zero in on the constricting habits of thought they’re interested in.

It might also be said, however, that ignoring family dynamics is one of the weaknesses of these
approaches, especially in cases where family conflict isn’t just going to disappear because family
members work together to solve a common problem.

Interventions
Some common techniques: asking questions,Reflecting feelings, clarifying communication

Experiential therapy
The decisive technique in experiential therapy is confrontation. Confrontations are designed to
provoke emotional reactions and are often blunt. It isn’t unusual for experiential therapists to tell
clients to shut up or to mock them for being insincere.

Confrontations are often combined with personal disclosure, the second signature technique of
this school. Experientialists use themselves as emotionally expressive models.

Finally, most experiential therapists also use structured exercises. These include role-playing,
psychodrama, sculpting, and
family drawings.

The rationale for these techniques is that they stimulate emotional experiencing; the
drawback is that they’re artificial. Family members may get something off their chests in a
structured exercise but may not transfer this to their interactions at home.
Cognitive – Behavioral Family Therapy
Observation and teaching are the vehicles of this approach. Behavioralists begin by observing the
contingencies of reinforcement. Their aim is to discover the antecedents and consequences of
problem behavior. Once they’ve completed a functional analysis of behavior, they become
instructors, teaching families how they inadvertently reinforce undesirable behavior.

As teachers, their most useful lesson is the use of positive control. They teach parents that it’s
more effective to reward good behavior than to punish bad behavior; they teach married couples
to substitute being nice to each other for their usual bickering.
Positive control—rewarding desirable behavior— is one of the most useful principles

In addition to teaching differentiation, Bowenian therapists promote two corollary lessons:

avoiding triangulation and reopening cut-off family relationships. Taken together, these three
lessons enable one person to transform the whole network of his or her family system. Even if
her spouse nags, if his children are disobedient, if her mother never comes to visit, the client can
create a change. Other schools of therapy gain leverage by including the entire family in
treatment.

Bowenians teach individuals to be themselves, to make contact with others, and to deal directly
with the people they have conflicts with. This gives a person a tool for change that’s portable and
lasting.

Structural family therapy

Structural family therapy is also a therapy of action, but in this approach the action occurs in the
session. decisive techniques are enactments and boundary making. Rigid boundaries are softened
when a therapist gets people to talk with each other and blocks attempts to interrupt them.
Diffuse boundaries are strengthened when a therapist supports the autonomy of individuals and
subsystems.

Post-modern Approaches:
Several promising techniques emerged in the 1980s around which whole models of therapy were
built. Steve de Shazer and his colleagues expanded the technique of focusing on successful
solutions that family members had tried but abandoned. The result was solution-focused therapy.
Michael White did the same with externalization—personifying problems and attributing
oppressive intentions to them, which is a powerful device for getting family members to unite
against a common enemy.

Actually, externalization is a concept, not a technique.

The decisive technique of narrative therapy is a persistent series of questions—whereby the

therapist begins by trying to understand the clients’ experiences of suffering but then switches
from understanding to prodding the clients to think about their problems as malevolent agents.

Narrative therapists use a relentless series of questions to challenge negative ideas and convince
clients that they have reason to be proud of themselves and that their fates are in their own hands.
Application in the Indian context (Read the articles- self)

UNIT IV: ALTERNATE AND HOLISTIC THERAPIES

Introduction
Holistic therapy- Holistic therapy focuses on a person’s physical, emotional, social, and
spiritual well-being.
Alternative therapy: Traditional medicine

The term “holistic” in health care can be dated back to Hippocrates over 2,500 years ago
(Relman, 1979). Hippocrates highlighted the importance of viewing individuals as a whole
system made up of many parts working together. With a deeper understanding of how emotions,
thoughts, physical experiences, and spiritual beliefs work together to support behavior, clients
can find self-acceptance and healing (Latorre, 2000).

Ayush is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and
Homoeopathy. Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H) was
created in March, 1995 and re-named as Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani,
Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in November 2003. It aims to provide healthcare, research
and education in the fields of Yoga & Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Homoeopathy and Siddha
systems.

Salient Objectives :
** To upgrade the educational standard of the Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy
colleges in the country.
** To strengthen existing research institutions and to ensure time-bound research programmes on
identified diseases for which these systems have an effective treatment.
** To draw up schemes for cultivating, promoting, and regenerating medicinal plants that are
used in these systems.
** To evolve Pharmacopoeial standards of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy drugs.

Benefits of AYUSH

Holistic approach to health: Ayush systems of medicine focus on the overall well-being of an individual,
taking into account physical, mental, and emotional aspects of health.

Natural treatments: Ayush treatments are based on natural remedies and therapies, using herbs, spices,
oils, and other natural substances. This makes them safer and free from harmful side effects.

Effective in chronic conditions: Ayush treatments are often effective in treating chronic conditions such as
arthritis, asthma, diabetes, and hypertension.

Stress relief: Yoga and meditation, which are part of Ayush, are effective in reducing stress and anxiety,
promoting relaxation, and improving overall mental health.
Personalized treatment: Ayush treatments are often customized to theindividual’s unique needs and
constitution, taking into account factors such as age, gender, lifestyle, and medical history.

Cost-effective: Ayush treatments are often less expensive than conventional medicine, making them more
accessible to a wider range of people.

Sustainable: Ayush emphasizes the use of natural resources and sustainable practices, promoting
environmental awareness and conservation.

WHO definition of Health

The WHO constitution states: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” An important implication of this definition is that mental
health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

Yoga psychology
Introduction

Yoga in its origin is a native Indian psycho-spiritual craft, used for personal transformation and
to alleviate suffering in the human condition. In a sense, yoga is pan Indian in that it is not
restricted to any particular religion or sect, region or location.In the language of this yoga the
words “mind” and “mental” are used to connote specially the part of the nature which has to do
with cognition and intelligence. While it is central to Brahmanism, Buddhists as well as Jainas
have practised some kind of yoga. “Yoga constitutes a characteristic dimension of Indian
Thought,” concludes Mircea Eliade (1969) in his influential book Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, “to such a point that wherever Indian religion and culture have made their way, we also
find a more or less pure form of yoga” (p.359). There are good reasons to think that yoga is a
pre-Aryan native Indian practice(s) that was later assimilated into the Vedic tradition (Narain,
1980).

References to yoga practices date back to at least Upaniṣadic times. Explicit mention of yoga
occurs in Maitrāyaṇī, Śvetāśvatara and Kaṭtha Upaniṣads among others. Yoga has now acquired
pan human relevance going beyond the Indian community. For example, it is today a billion
dollar business in the United States of America.

Etymologically, as is well-known, the word “yoga” is derived from the root “yuj,” which means
“to bind” or “to yoke”. Yoga is defined as to “yoke” or bring into union the individual self (the
ego, sense
of separate I) with the higher self (universal oneness, consciousness) (Brar, 1970). Another way
to understand yoga is “Yoga chitta vritti nirodha,” which translates into “[yoga is] the cessation
of the misidentification with the modifications of the mind” (Whicher, 1998, p. 272).

Yoga is a holistic approach that addresses the multidimensional aspects of a person—the body,
mind, energetic, and spiritual spheres—to bring about integration, healing, and spiritual
transformation (Frawley, 1999). This ancient healing system encompasses a wide variety of
teachings and practices to systematically help a person achieve their true potential in the realms
of physical health, mental health, and spirituality (Frawley, 1999). In yogic teachings, the aims or
achievement of yoga is the experience of union with our human self and greater Self, which
leads the practitioner to a sense of wholeness, integration, and inner peace (Frawley, 1999;
Vishvketu & Panwar, 2008).

Palsane (1998) has identified the following psychological benefits of yoga:

Yoga helps in developing impulse control, cultivation of an attitude of detachment, gaining

control over excitation and its potential fall-out, leading to maintenance of neuropsychological
balance.

Meditation is useful in clarifying goals and resolving internal conflicts.

Motivational and attitudinal orientations involved in the prescription of Yamas and Niyamas are
intended to take care of most of the stress-producing situations in life.

(d) It provides a rational and empirical system of thought and living, and anything that causes
disturbances can be examined in the light of yoga.

(e) In yoga, like modern psychotherapies, de-emphasizing of ego involvement is emphasized for
many abnormal conditions, anxieties, and stresses.

(f) ‘Freedom from bondage’ in yoga signifies one’s liberation from all kinds of fixations and
attributes as well as continual feelings of freedom and knowledge.

Origin- The precise origins of Yoga are not known, and even great Yoga scholars differ vastly on the
dates they cite in Yoga’s history. Eliade (1975) suggests that the first systematized form of Yoga could
have been written by Patan˜jali in his Yoga Su¯tras. There seems to be no consensus of when
Patan˜jali lived and wrote this classical text, but it is thought to be somewhere between 300 BCE
to 500 CE.

Feuerstein (1998) dates the writing of the Yoga Su¯tras back to the Classical Age (100 BCE to
500 CE) and suggests that less structured yogic ideas and practices can be found dating back to
the time of the Rig-Veda, which is thought to be composed before 1900 BCE.

Additionally, Bryant (2009) in his book The Yoga Su¯tras of Patan˜jali talks about images of
figures in yogic postures, dating to pre-vedic times (3000 - 1900 BCE) adding that, ‘‘This
evidence suggests that, irrespective of its literary origins, Yoga has been practiced on the Indian
subcontinent for well over four thousand years’’ (p. xx).

All forms of yoga are ways of developing consciousness, beyond the ordinary state. In
contemporary terminology yoga induces ‘altered states of consciousness’ (Naranjo &
Ornstein, 1971; Tart, 1969). The techniques of yoga may be considered as awareness
development technologies that result in non-ordinary states of awareness, ultimately leading to
transformation of consciousness. Thus, yoga is psychology of consciousness development.

Patanjali’s Yoga Su¯tra delineates this process step-by-step, and hence it has been regarded as a
practical manual for transformation of consciousness (Feuerstein, 1989b).

Yoga can also be approached from a therapeutic point of view. Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali’s Yoga
Su¯tra, and Yoga Va¯sishta are the three important texts on yoga, which have a common theme,
that is overcoming the human suffering that occurs due to a fundamental ignorance of the true
nature of one’s identity or self. Primarily all the three elucidate how a false understanding of the
nature of one’s self is responsible for all the existential predicaments of human beings.

Patanjali Yoga
Patañjali presents an eightfold (aṣṭāṅga) path of Yoga. The eight ‘limbs’ involve the following:
Yama: a set of behavioural restraints such as non-violence, avoidance of telling lies, etc.,
Niyama: a set of observances, such as cleanliness, cultivation of a sense of contentment, ascetic
practices, Self-study and surrendering fruits of action to God,
Āsana: a steady and comfortable posture
Prāṇāyāma: breath control,
Pratyāhāra: withdrawing of attention from objects of the senses,
Dhārṇā: restricting the range of attention or concentration,
Dhyāna: sustaining attention for a length of time, or contemplation and
Samādhi: a graded series of increasingly higher states of consciousness

Yoga Sutra: Patanjali 400 years BC (5000 BC- 50 AC) collection of 196 sutras (aphorisms)
considered to be the most scientific and precise text about yoga ever written. Contains four
chapters:
Samadhi Pada (super-consciousness)
Sadhana (practice)
Vibhuti (psychic power)
Kaivaly (non-duality)

Patanjali’s definition of Yoga “Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah” Or: “Yoga is the stopping/controlling
of the fluctuation of the mind.”
chitta = mind
vrittis = fluctuation /modification of the mind
nirodhah = control

Patanjali’s Stages of Yoga

Exoteric (exterior) stages of yoga: Bahiranga
Yama – the social code – attitudes and rules of interaction with others
Niyama – the personal code - attitudes and rules to adopt for ourselves
Asanas – physical postures
Pranayama – breath control
Pratyahara – withdrawing the senses

Esoteric (interior) stages of yoga: Antaranga

Dharana – concentration of the mind
Dhyana – meditation
Samadhi – super-consciousness

‘Patanjali’s as’ta¯nga yoga’ is a way of life with a set of practices for the regulation of mental
activities (yogaha chitta vrtti nnirodaha-YS 1-1). Patanjali’s first five limbs of eightfold path are
described as the preparatory external form of yoga and the last three limbs as internal and
essential form.

The 8-limbs-of-yoga-explained (refer ppt)

Integral Yoga

Sri Aurobindo’s model of Integral Yoga Psychology (IYP). Integral yoga, sometimes also called
supramental yoga, is the yoga-based philosophy and practice of Sri Aurobindo. Integral Yoga
Psychology neither believes in the dichotomy of Nature and Spirit, nor of body and mind.
Integral vision of Sri Aurobindo not only emphasizes on individual evolution of consciousness,
but also emphasizes on the evolution of consciousness at a collective- and cosmic level. The
evolving consciousness has as its goal, the attainment of individual and collective
perfection within the cosmic reality. The major assumptions of Sri Aurobindo’s developmental
perspective are as follows:

a) Evolution is progressive and meaningful

b) The process of unfolding is divinely guided and is based on the twin principles of
involution and evolution.
c) The human being is not the finished product of the evolutionary process.
d) A further process of evolution requires a radical transformation of the human being based
on a conscious collaboration with the divine.
 e) There is a possibility of the attainment of perfection by the individual and the collective
here on the earth.
f) Integral yoga is the practical and applied psychological method of moving from the
mental to the supramental stage of evolution

Sri Aurobindo’s viewpoint goes beyond the relational-developmental framework and perceives
the possibility of further evolution through a radical transformation beyond the mental
consciousness towards the supramental consciousness, which implies emergence of new race or
species.Integral self-realisation is therefore the goal of Integral Yoga Psychology; it is the
realisation of the universal and the transcendental self. It is the emergence of a new centre of
consciousness capable of manifesting progressively the truth and splendour of the Divine upon
earth. Integral Yoga Psychology is an endless adventure of consciousness. It involves the
transcendence .of reason as much as its use as an effective instrument of super-reason for the
transformation of the phenomenal nature. It is a journey from ignorance to knowledge, and from
knowledge to greater and higher knowledge. It is the quest as well as the method of widening
and deepening and heightening of one's awareness. It is the conquest of the many planes of
consciousness - mind, higher mind, illumined mind , intuitive mind and Overmind.

It is the heroic culmination of the spiritual ascent to the domain of Truth-Consciousness - the
Supermind - the ultimate ground of all existence.

The Supermind is the omnipotent and omniscient dimension of the Divine; it is the egoless
awareness of the fundamental unity of the all and the universe with the Supreme as well as his
Will of effectuation. It is the all-comprehensive and all-powerful consciousness-force of Being. It
is beyond all forms, and yet constitutive and supportive of all forms.

Integral Yoga Psychology carries the seeker beyond the level of ego-needs to the world of
meta-needs - the love and enjoyment of beauty, truth, goodness and then beyond them to the
luminous experience of the universal and the transcendental.

This in itself is a revolutionary change of consciousness, it is a totally different dimension of

self-awareness- an emergence into the freedom of the Eternal and the Infinite. But this is not its
ultimate goal. Integral Yoga Psychology sets before itself the ideal of triple transformation:
psychic, spiritual and supramental.

Samkhya Yoga

Samkhya-Yoga is an ancient tradition, and one of the six major traditions of Hinduism. It is also
one of the paths of yoga described in the yogic text, the Bhagavad Gita, where it is explained as
the path of correctly discerning the principles or tattva of existence. As a philosophical tradition
therefore, Samkhya, which mean“number” or “to count” is concerned with the proper
classification of elements of prakriti and purusha. The goal of Samkhya-Yoga is for practitioners
to realize the difference between the spirit or purusha, and matter or prakriti.

Samkhya was codified in 350 CE in the Sankhya-Karika, and this remains the most important
text of
the Samkhya school. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, which inform much of our modern-day
understanding of the philosophy of yoga were based on Samkhya, and as such Samkhya defines
the language of yoga.

Some believe that understanding and studying Samkhya can take practitioners to deeper levels of
awareness in their yoga practice. The second chapter in the Bhagavadgita is titled, “Samkhya
Yoga.”
Samkhya or Sankhya means number. Yoga means union. Samkhya Yoga means the union of
numbers.
The numbers are with regard to the number of realities (tattvas) that are present in existence.
Those who are familiar with the Indian philosophies know that the Samkhya Philosophy is one
of the six schools
(Darshanas) of Hinduism. It is said to have been founded by Kapila and expounded by Isvara
Krishna (6th Century AD) in his work, the Samkhya Karika. The classical Samkhya system
identifies two eternal realities, the Individual souls and Prakriti (Nature).

Individual souls are eternal, indivisible, indestructible and numerous. Prakriti is one, divisible
and
mutable. However, it is further divided into multiple, finite realities (tattvas), which combine in
various
permutations and combinations to produce the diversity of the worlds, beings and objects.
Samkhya yoga essentially deals with these finite and infinite realities of existence (Sat) and
explains how the perceptible world manifests through effects that are already hidden in their
causes.

Samkhya in the Vedic tradition

The Samkhya philosophy may have its origin in the Upanishads. However, unlike the
Upanishadic philosophy, its early proponents seem to have taken it in the opposite direction as a
non-theistic school.

The original Samkhya school did not believe in a Cosmic Being, or a creator God. Creation
according them was an effect hidden in Prakriti, the primal cause. When right conditions
manifested, Prakriti brought forth the worlds and beings using the individual souls as the
catalysts.

Thus, the original Samkhya school fundamentally followed the same line of thought as the
modern theories of evolution, which consider the world and life as the products of chance.
According to them just as the seed transformed into a plant in a favorable environment and with
right conditions, life manifested in the world when right conditions presented themselves.

Although the Samkhya school digressed from the Upanishadic thought in its earlier days,
subsequently the essential doctrine of the Samkhya school and many of its concepts and beliefs
found their way into Vedic tradition and became associated with the theistic beliefs of present
day Hinduism. Vedism, Saivism and Vaishnavism adapted the essentials of Samkhya and
integrated them into their own theistic philosophies, acknowledging God as the creator, the
individual souls as his aspects and Prakriti as his dynamic force.

Hence, today you can see the pervasive influence of Kapila's Classical Samkhya throughout
Hinduism.

Samkhya in the Bhagvad Gita

The Bhagavad-Gita stands testimony to the importance of Samkhya philosophy in ancient India.
It is difficult to accept that the name would adorn the title of the most important chapter of the
Bhagavad-Gita, unless it had widespread recognition and prevailed as a predominant philosophy.

The Samkhya philosophy was undoubtedly one of the most well known philosophies of ancient
India. Its influence has been pervasive in many sectarian traditions of Hinduism. As we will see
later, the Bhagavad-Gita has nicely blended the predominant elements of the classical Samkhya
Yoga of Isvara Krishna into its own teachings without compromising its theistic inclinations or
its essential doctrine.

It is highly possible that since the Bhagavad-Gita was much earlier to the work (Karika) of Isvara
Krishna, the Samkhya Yoga of the Bhagavad-Gita might have been drawn from earlier works.

If you analyze the second chapter, you will notice that the first ten verses describe the disturbed
state of Arjuna’s mind and his emotional arguments. Verses 11 to 39 contain the elements of
Samkhya yoga while 40 to 72 deal with the practice of Buddhi yoga or the yoga of intelligence.
Since intelligence (buddhi) is an aspect of Prakriti only, we may consider it an extend
explanation of Samkhya yoga only or its applied doctrine. It is particularly emphasized in the
chapter, because Krishna wanted Arjuna to know the reason for his unstable mind, and how he
could cultivate equanimity using his intelligence.

The tattvas of Bhagvad Gita

From a philosophical perspective, the Samkhya Yoga of the Bhagavad-Gita lists the following
realities (tattvas) of existence. They are:
God (Isvara Tattva),Soul (Atma tattvas),body, senses,mind, ego, and intelligence.

Of them, the first two are pure (suddha) and eternal realities (nitya tattvas), and the rest are
impure (asuddha) and finite (anitya). The chapter also briefly mentions the gunas or modes of
Nature which determine the behavior, states, attitudes and actions of beings.

Buddhi yoga as adjunct of Krishna’s Samkhya

Traditionally, the Samkhya Darshana of Kapila is associated with the Yoga philosophy, which
like the Samkhya system is also considered a Darshana of Hinduism. In the traditional
classification of Hindu philosophies, both go together. If Samkhya is the theoretical foundation
for the school, Yoga is its applied discipline. In the second chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita also we
find a similar approach. If the first half of the verses in it are devoted mostly to Samkhya, the
second half (from verse 39 onwards) are dedicated to Buddhi Yoga, which serves as the applied
science of Krishna’s Samkhya
( refer link in ppt)