Ashton Johnson
Intro to Counseling 100
October 2, 2017
An Overview of Individual Counseling Therapy Options
In today’s society, individual counseling is becoming more mainstream with increased
usage within the school system, family unit and even the military. The role that a counselor can
have on any individual varies according to the chosen theory to practice and the approach taken.
However, it must be stated that the approach and success of therapy is dependent on the
relationship established by the therapist (clinician) with the client. In 2010 Seligman proposed
the BETA treatment system, which stands for background, emotions, thoughts, and actions.
According to Seligman, all theories are either focused on a person’s background, emotions,
thoughts or their actions. For this reason, we will discuss three prominent forms of individual
counseling therapy used today. The three types of therapy are Adlerian Theory, Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy and Solution Focused Brief Therapy. The following paper will seek to
introduce the key concepts, therapeutic approach, and application of various techniques, or
procedures for each of these practices.
To begin, Adlerian theory is a therapeutic approach that is focused on the individual’s
background. The founder of Adlerian Theory is Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Freud and a
member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. After years of working with Freud, Adler split
from Freud due to his theory of individual psychology; his theory was that a holistic approach
must be used to treat individuals. He believed in the psychosocial rather than the psychosexual,
which means a focus on the whole human and their connection to the world rather than pleasure-
seeking energies (sexual impulses) of the individual.
At its core, Adlerian therapy has a basic view of human nature that people’s efforts are to
compensate for their self-perceived inferiority to others. Many describe Adler’s theory as being
phenomenological, meaning that he focused on a person’s inner reality, the way that person
perceived the world (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014). Alfred Adler believed that to truly treat a
client you must use a holistic approach. He combined a heavy dose of Freudian beliefs with a
more positive view of a person’s future. Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis, Adlerian theory is less
deterministic, in that Adler didn’t believe in the biological determinants placed on people.
Instead Adler believed people have three goals that are innate. These three goals are a social
interest or a want to be a part of society (to fit in), belief that humans are striving towards goals
rather than “victims” of biology, and there is an inner drive that stems from the unconscious and
needs to be analyzed. Alder further believed that an individual could overcome their feelings of
inferiority and change their “given path.” Therefore, Adler used a goal oriented approach to
allow clients to overcome their perceived feelings of inferiority.
In Adlerian therapy, it is believed that individual psychology is shaped by their histories,
families (birth order) and life events. The idea that heredity and early upbringing shape an
individual’s characteristic is less important than what the person makes of them. The focus of
Adlerian theory is an understanding of the individual and working through unresolved issues
from the past which promotes mental health and healing (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014).
Therefore, the clinician or client relationship is an extremely critical component of Adlerian
therapy and can be described as a “therapeutic alliance. Any clinician that uses Adlerian therapy
must be willing to play the role of educator, analyst, and role model while being supportive and
encouraging to their clients. The therapist (clinician) is to facilitate questioning and interviewing
to gain a deeper understanding of the patient/client. The therapist focuses on past experiences to
identify patterns related to present and future concerns, which will allow for a better
understanding of the client’s story for use in the treatment plan. In return the client must be
willing to establish a collaborative therapeutic relationship and take ownership in the setting of
treatment goals. This is the only way in which clients can be enabled to challenge and modify
their personal beliefs to form new goals, modify their lifestyle and be constructive and positive
members of society.
The application of Adlerian theory is meant to treat a wide range of situations and clients.
Adlerian therapy may be used with children, adults, couples, families, and groups. This type of
therapy is used to address mistakes that lead to negative life style choices. The process of
Adlerian therapy is a four stage process. The first stage is establishment of the therapeutic
