Some Secrets to Counseling

Some Secrets to Counseling
Ken Miller, Ph.D.
Clinical Director
Harbor Youth and Family Services

Many people come to counseling looking for new ways to decrease suffering from anger, anxiety, depression, social or relationship problems.

Essentially, people show up saying: “Hear me and care for me.” We know from research that 40% of the counseling relationship is the client and 30% is the therapist. Clearly, 70% of successful counseling experience is “the relationship” between the client and the counselor. The other 30% is split equally between the therapist’s use of 15% theory and 15% technique.

At Harbor, we use a variety of researched based therapy approaches.

• Client centered therapy is based upon active listening and creating a safe therapeutic environment using empathy.
• Behavioral therapy uses techniques of positive reinforcement, modeling, contracting a goal setting to correct ineffective behaviors.
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy uses an ABC model, which teaches the client that an “Activating Event” does not cause emotional consequences of anger, anxiety or depression, but rather it is a person’s “BS” or Irrational Belief System, which creates the upset.
• Reality Therapy is based upon “making friends” with the client and exploring if “what you are doing now is helping?” The therapist is skilled in helping the client make new “do plans” and then getting a commitment for the client to follow through.
• Solution focused therapy is focused on solutions rather than how and why the problem developed.
• Therapeutic talk is used to honor the problem, clarify the complaint, explore exceptions to the problem and generate a new list of solutions. The therapist will also use a “scaling technique” to assess the severity of the problems and the client’s motivation to work on solving the problem. The therapist reinforces that therapy is “hard work” while instilling hope for a positive future.

Give Harbor a call if you want to spring into Spring!