Personal Theory of Counseling
Tasha Green
Southwest Baptist University

Abstract
This paper consists of my ideas on therapy and the roles of therapy. It also involves the ideas of a person’s relationship with Christ, their purpose and meaning in life, and what changes they need in their life for the therapy to work. My ideas on therapy stem from Existentialism and Person Centered Therapy.
Personal Theory of Counseling Counseling is the ability to help people with their problems and assist them in finding their purpose in this life. Counseling is also helping people learn how to be open to new experiences, be more independent, and teach why the willingness to grow is important (Corey, 2009, p. 169). Change is also a big part of counseling. People have to be willing to change in order for counseling to work. This therapy’s human nature involves trusting people, being positive, allowing for change, having self-understanding, and self-direction (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). It also includes having self-awareness, being responsible, creating your own identity, knowing your values and goals, finding God, and realizing death will happen (Corey, 2009, p. 139-140). It also includes unconditional positive regard, which is accepting and caring for others (Corey, 2009, p. 174-175). Throughout the beginning of people’s lives they feel fulfilled, and they have self-determination to motivate them (Corey, 2009, p. 139-169). During sessions the client needs to be able to take charge of his or her own desired change. This means the client should be able to state and know what he or she wants out of therapy. The client should also be able to identify what he or she wants to change in their life. The counselor can only help as much as the client wants to be helped. So the client has to be able to make choices and help in their change (Corey, 2009, p. 165-175). Also, during sessions it is important to focus on the positive things in the person’s life. This can be done by allowing the client to think about things that have brought them happiness. Happiness according to Walker (2010) is, “A sense that life is good and a state of welling-being that outlasts yesterday’s moment of elation, today’s buoyant mood, or tomorrow’s feeling of sadness” (p. 500). These thoughts help the client to understand why they are here in this world, and it helps them find their meaning in life (Corey, 2009, p. 144-146). It is significant the client knows he or she has a meaning in life. If the client does not feel like they have a meaning in life, the counselor should help in this area of their life (Corey, 2009, p. 144-146). This can be done by having the client do an activity involving writing down all the good things of their life. Also, the client needs to understand and know he or she is in charge of their self-understanding and self-direction. This means the client needs to focus of their self-understanding and self-direction (Corey, 2009, p. 139-142). This can be done by having the client do activities that involve discovering their self-understanding and self-direction. Focusing on these areas will help the client through more difficult issues in counseling. This therapy will help target the key problems causing issues in the client’s life. These problems stem from not allowing change and development to take place in their life (Watson & Tharp, 2007, p. 200). An example of this is not fixing problems as soon as they happen in their life. The client has to learn the skills needed to allow for change and development. This will include working on problem solving skills and developing a better understanding on how to address their daily issues. The client also needs to learn how to take responsibility and handle their problems. Another problem is focusing on past experiences rather than the present. During therapy the client