In my journey to become a reflective and competent practitioner, the approach to counseling theory, which I espouse, will play an integral role in my development as a counselor. It will define the techniques I employ, how I develop and view the therapeutic relationship, how involved I will be in client’s goal setting and change process, as well as, my view of human nature. I fully comprehend that as I progress in my career, my approach may alter and adjust as I actively work with clients and utilize my approach in a real world setting. While understanding that the approach I take may not always be applicable to every client I encounter and may require adaptation in order to benefit my clients, the approach that I have adopted is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Guiding Theory Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an insight-focused therapy that emphasizes the here-and-now (Corey, 2009). It typically is brief and time-limited therapy that is collaborative in nature, fairly structured and empirically based (Freeman, …show more content…
406). CBT has been extensively researched and effectiveness of the strategies and techniques employed in CBT have been empirically proven. CBT strategies center on the explicit identification of problems and the situations in which they occur. CBT looks to overtly confront areas of cognition, feeling or behavior that are causing the most difficulty for the client. Creating specific, measurable goals is essential to the process of CBT. CBT strategies are often psychoeducational in nature and “involves designing specific learning experiences to help clients monitor their automatic thoughts; examine the validity of their automatic thoughts; understand the relationship among cognition, feeling, and behavior; develop more accurate and realistic cognitions; and change underlying beliefs and assumptions” (Corey, 2009, p.