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Course and Assignment Manual
Introduction
Welcome to Psychology 406: Introduction to Theories of
Counselling and Psychotherapy. This Athabasca University course
introduces a range of theoretical perspectives and provides a
historical context for the current practice of counselling
psychology. As you will discover, there is no one “correct” model for
understanding human behaviour or the therapeutic process of enabling
change and growth. Each counsellor must develop her or his personal
philosophical and theoretical framework and approach. For some, this
involves adhering predominantly to one of the major theoretical
models; others take a more eclectic stance, drawing on concepts and
techniques from a number of approaches. A second challenge to be faced
by each counsellor is reconciling the “science of psychology with the
art of the individual practitioner” in
a way that allows the counsellor to make optimum use of personal
qualities and characteristics in facilitating the counselling
process.
Psychology 406 is designed to encourage you to think
critically about the various theoretical approaches by comparing them
to one another, watching for common themes, and reflecting on your own
personal perspective as it relates to human nature, counselling goals,
and change processes. It will likely be premature for you to attempt
to establish a clear, personal theoretical stance upon completion of
this course. The process of training as a professional counsellor or
psychologist requires several years of course work and supervised
practica at the graduate level. However, it is anticipated that this
course will assist you to begin the process of narrowing down the type
of professional “road map” that will best fit with your personal
identity, experience, worldview, and style of interaction.
The title of the course, Introduction to Theories of Counselling
and Psychotherapy, warrants brief explanation. The terms counselling
and psychotherapy tend to be used interchangeably in much of the
current literature, as they are by the author of the course
text. However, these terms identify related but distinct
processes. The confusion stems from the blurring of the professional
fields of counselling psychology and clinical
psychology. Historically,
counselling has its roots in the vocation guidance movement. The
counselling process is typically identified as following an
educational or health promotion model and has focused primarily on
“normal” individuals who are facing developmental, career, or other
challenges in their daily lives. The term psychotherapy, on the other
hand, has been more often associated with the assessment and
remediation of mental illness from the medical model perspective that
has characterized clinical psychology. The blurring of the terms in
recent decades has emerged as counsellors and counselling
psychologists have expanded their range of activities to include
psychotherapy, and clinical psychologists have simultaneously begun to
work with populations of relatively healthy individuals.
The theoretical models described in this course form the foundation
for both the process of counselling and the process of
psychotherapy. The lack of clear lines of distinction between
these terms and the professional streams they are associated with,
however, means that none of the theoretical models are exclusively
linked with either perspective. As you review the assumptions about
human nature, the assertions about how problems develop, the role of
the therapist (a term some counsellors would also choose to
avoid), and the nature of the change process associated with each
approach, bear in mind the distinction between these processes. Some
theoretical models intuitively have a more coherent fit with the
assumptions of clinical psychotherapy (e.g., the psychodynamic
approaches); others are commonly viewed as more consistent with
counselling roles (e.g., cognitive–behavioral approaches). What is
clear from the text is that few counsellors or psychotherapists
adhere exclusively to one model, but rather build a personal
framework that is consistent with their values, their worldview, and
the professional roles they assume.
This Course and Assignment Manual provides you with
essential information about the course outline and structure, the
course materials, the evaluation processes, and the procedures to
follow to complete the course successfully. Before you begin, please
read this Manual carefully. If you have any questions about
the course itself, or how to proceed with your studies, please contact
your tutor or the course coordinator.
Good luck with your studies!
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