Ontological hermeneutics, sometimes referred to as relational and compassionate psychotherapy, may offer helping professionals a compelling and eclectic approach for combining relationally based counseling with evidence-based practices.
Category: Member Insights
Articles written by members of the American Counseling Association
Most of our clients come to us for help with relationship difficulties, work-related stress, persistent anxiety, chronic depression or other well-researched and commonly encountered challenges. Most of us feel that our education and experiences have effectively prepared us to deal with these conditions. Armed with a time-tested array of evidence-based
In 2000, Dr. Steven Hyman, then director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), made a statement for the record and publicly recognized that preschoolers can have the mental health condition of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He made this statement even though this belief was not widely accepted at the
Clients or patients facing chronic pain require a special counseling approach that can be applied universally, no matter their source of pain or the number of months or years they have tried to deal with the pain. We have honed and practiced these techniques at the Betty Ford Center in
Many counselors now identify themselves as having a strength-based counseling approach, often as part of an eclectic theory base. Yet how do we know we are thinking within a strength-based model and operating with strength-based strategy? Most of our historical theory base developed from a Westernized medical model worldview, and
One of the many profound changes within the counseling profession for mental health counselors has been a gradual shift from psychodynamic and person-centered therapies to an emphasis on the medical model. The full history of this shift is an interesting one, featuring as much sociopolitical influence as scientific influence, but
The most potent of love potions, “romantic chemistry,” draws lovers into a trancelike experience that results in a steamy dance of infatuation, intrigue and sexual desire. Romantic chemistry, or the “urge to merge,” typically controls our rational mind, so much so that lessons learned and pledges made are neutralized in
In the mid-1960s, Joseph Weizenbaum, a pioneer in computer science working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory, developed a very simple computer program named ELIZA that was capable of having a conversation with a human being. ELIZA’s responses were programmed in a way that mimicked
Counselors are familiar with the meaning of the word oppression. We take a multicultural counseling course that covers the definition during the early developmental stages of our counseling career. Many of us feel the weight of a biased system that puts immense pressure on us, both systemically and individually. We
A client said to me: “I wish someone would just fill in all the answers.” Caroline is a bright, motivated and seemingly confident college senior, yet she is terrified of graduation and bewildered in the face of her future. She wants “variety” and options, but she does not want to choose