Counseling and Psychotherapy

Instructor: Harvey Freeman

Counseling/psychotherapy is an activity in which practitioners help others improve their well-being, alleviate distress, resolve their crises, and increase their ability to solve problems and make decisions. All therapists operate on the basis of theory.  Their strategies are based upon certain assumptions about the fundamental nature of people, which you studied in Personality and Assessment.  A belief underlying this course is that one's efforts as a counselor/psychotherapist will be more sound if they are based upon a carefully developed personal theory rather than upon vague impressions.  It is also assumed that one can best develop a personal theory by a critical examination of the best thinking of others who have faced counseling problems and have made their solutions available for public view.  Accordingly, this course will survey those counseling/psychotherapy approaches that have the most relevance for the contemporary practitioner. The course will also address some ethical and professional issues in therapeutic practice.