Explain the guiding theory to which you adhere, combination of two Essay

Explain the guiding theory to which you adhere, combination of two theories, an integrated model of several theories or one dist - Essay Example I have compared aspects of Adlerian therapy, which to me seems to be a type of reform or broadening of the Freudian approach to psychotherapy to increase its application by focusing on family issues and personal problems, but decided that the Existential Theory represented by Carl Rogers and others would finally be the best field to specialize in for addiction therapy. I would like my work in addiction to relate to social functioning as a type of healing for the disfunctionality in the person suffering from substance abuse. When that person is able to return to a normal daily life and take part in activities that represent his or her own goals of self-realization, I feel that the counseling process will have been successful. In order to assist the individuals with this recovery process, there should be a combination of methods integrated into the counseling practice, and these should be based in a broad understanding of the schools of psychology and their unique benefits for treatmen t. I am personally focusing on Existential Therapy, Gestalt Theory, and Person-centered approaches for my counseling practice. ... In getting to know the people seeking treatment personally, the first aspect of counseling is to look through the substance abuse itself as a symptom to the deeper causes. An important aspect of this is being able to recognize aspects of abnormal psychology which may have roots in degenerative mental illnesses from adjustment problems and substance abuse related to traumas, childhood abuse, coping problems, peer pressure, or other factors that may have led to the behavior initially. The assumption in this process is that in identifying the root cause of the mental origin of the substance abuse problems by counseling, there can also be a conscious recognition of that issue by the person, and through this understanding the problem can be healed as that person becomes aware of methods through which the problems can be positively overcome. In seeking to provide an assistance role for these people to return to normal functioning in society on their own terms, the importance of Existential Theory in counseling becomes clearly evident. One assumption this method includes is that drug addiction and particularly the self-destructive aspects of it that lead people to counseling and recovery therapy are related to â€Å"deeper† problems of self –development and not genetically conditioned or caused by physical addiction to drugs like heroin or cocaine. Where there are physical addictions, these must be eliminated before the counseling can really progress, but in addiction therapy relapses are common so that the person may be constantly moving between treatment, substance use, abuse, and counseling. Thus the â€Å"detoxification† stage should be distinguished from the â€Å"treatment† stage, and the recovery itself proceeds from the treatment as the individual returns to normal