The Scottish Government

Approach

Summary of Approach

Cognitive - Behavioural

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychological approach, based on scientific principles, which research has shown to be effective for a wide range of problems. CBT is used to help promote positive change in individuals, to help alleviate emotional distress, and to address a myriad of psycho/social/behavioural issues (RSM Psychology Centre, 2002). Clients and therapists work together to develop a shared view and understanding of the presenting difficulties often in terms of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This shared understanding then leads to individualised therapy goals and interventions that are continually monitored and evaluated.

Psychodynamic

Psychodynamic approaches are based on the theory that personality development, current thoughts, feelings and patterns of relating are greatly influenced by unconscious processes and early experience. Therapy focuses on helping the client gain an insight into past and present experience through the collaborative exploration of thoughts, feelings, memories, fantasies, dreams, artwork or play. The therapeutic relationship can be an opportunity to work through relationship conflicts from the past, in the here-and-now.

Person - Centred

Person - centred approaches view clients as having the ability to make their own choices, the ability to control their future and as having self-healing capacities. The therapist's role is to place more autonomy in the hands of the client so that they can heal themselves. Person - centred approaches generally focus on how the client is feeling, rather than why they are feeling a certain way, and therefore often concentrate on difficulties in the here-and-now. Therapists working from a person - centred approach see the use of the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and genuineness as being the key agents for change within the therapeutic relationship and tend to be less directive than other approaches. They use open-ended responses, reflective listening and tentative interpretations to promote client self-understanding, acceptance and actualisation.