Question

what are the basic assumption if human being according to cognitive counselling approach discuss the cause of employees with problems according to this theory. Explain with examples the counselling steps and process in helping an employee with problem using humanistis counselling theory

Answer 1

The basic assumption of a human being as per the cognitive counseling approach is focusing on the present that means the thoughts that were in the past and hindering the present would be acknowledged but would not be concentrated. The counselor would identify the causes after carefully analyzing the events and concentrate on the present day's problem using different cognitive approaches like cognitive-behavioral approach, Rational emotive theory, transaction analysis, and virtual reality therapy.

According to cognitive theory, our dysfunctional thoughts are the cause of many unwanted events. The cognitive model focuses on these distorted thoughts and explains an individual's emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses and how it interacts with his surroundings. It makes the person realize how thoughts and perceptions influence their lives. Distress is one of the factors that distort the thoughts and results in unpredictable behavior. Cognitive counseling help in understanding and controlling these distorted thoughts that are the result of dysfunctional thoughts and subsequent unhealthy behavior.

The humanistic counseling approach is based on Gestalt therapy. According to Gestalt therapy, five basic factors affect human behavior. These are Closure, Continuity, Proximity, Similarity, and Connectedness.

These five factors help a human being to understand how he reacts to the surrounding stimuli. It looks at human behavior as a whole and not in parts because according to him the human mind does not perceive the smaller components, it focuses on the small components as the part of the whole. Thus to read an employee's behavior the counselor should focus the idea of similarity because the counselor has to group different factors to get to the reason of the problem as a whole, secondly, the counselor should focus on the proximity because it helps people to draw ideas, concepts and help in recognizing the group of people staying in that proximity. The counselor should connect all the events and look at it as a whole.

According to the humanistic approach, human functioning is the immediate result of one's internal thoughts, feelings in response to external forces.

The counselor focuses on developing self-awareness by exploring their internal thoughts and feelings by providing a correct therapeutical environment. It is observed that the clients often deny or distort the ideas which they find painful and unacceptable. These distorted and denial thoughts are the main cause of unwanted behavior.

The counselor's first objective is to free the clients from blocking thoughts and become authentic.