1. Why do we take courses in theories and techniques of psychotherapy? First, therapists use theories to guide their counseling behavior. They must talk about something with their clients, so they talk about these content theories. Second, most techniques are not theory-specific. Today, they are process-oriented. How does counseling happen, and how does change take place? Eclecticism is big today, where counselors draw from a variety of theories. Third, a person's ideas about therapy have an intelligent heritage, which the person should know. Every person has a theory, but it may be implicit. A primary objective of this kind of training is to help them make their theory more explicit. This helps the therapist to be more consistent, and this is important since inconsistency confuses the client. Fourth, by learning about theories, the person can learn the counseling paradigm (common assumptions) and shared exemplar (a way of doing science). This includes understanding, reconceptualizing, planned actions, following-up, supporting, planing for maintenance, and terminating. Fifth, this kind of study increases one's intellectual fluidity and keeps them from being locked into one way of solving problems.

2. Discuss the history of philosophy. The history of philosophy has consisted of one philosopher coming along and replacing the teachings of the former philosophers. Francis Shaffer said that all philosophies had to have ratonalism (putting humans at the center of everything), rationality (an Aristolean way of thinking where "A" (thesis) and "not-A" (antithesis) were mutually exclusive), and a unified field of knowledge.

In the 19th century, Kant got tired of this content-oriented style, and Hegel decided to do something about it by trying to look at the gray areas of "A" and "not-A". Rationality was sacrificed in order to preserve the other two conditions. Hegel reasoned that "A" and "not-A" could be synthesized into a higher thesis which would be true. But this led to an antithesis, another synthesis, and so forth. Eventually, Hegel concluded that truth was in the process and not content. He called this the dialectic. From this type of thinking, Marx and Engel developed a dialectic materialism (communism), and Darwin developed evolution.

3. Discuss the world of 1950. Technologically, there were very few televisions, no audio recording, and no satellites. Socially, the country thrived on a mighty industrial society, and the Cold War had just begun to heat up. In counseling, Skinner was just getting started. Carl Rogers had not yet done anything, and there was not an Albert Ellis. Jung and Adler were around, and counseling was very rudimentary.

4. Discuss three fundamental societal changes that have propelled us to where we are today. What implications arise from these changes? First was an increase in life expectancy. Health care has improved dramatically, and people are living longer. In the early 1900s, most families were still on the farm. Kids married at age fifteen and started their own families. Couples had a lot of children because of the need for help on the farm. The youngest child would typically be born when the parents were about twenty-six. All the kids were out of the house when the parents were in their late thirties or early forties. Now, young people do not marry until their early-to-middle twenties. They start having children in their middle-to-late twenties, and they continue until their thirties. Kids stay attached to their families of origin longer. So, the family life cycle has shifted dramatically, and people have learned to focus more on themselves. Second has been the shift from an inductrial to a post-industrial society. The steel and auto industries are no longer as important. To handle the glut of information, people have chosen between becoming specialists or having lower standards for judgments and decision making. There has been an unwillingness for people to discern among these differences. Third is the philosophy of relativism. Everything is seen as equally good. People have become dissatisfied with having to produce more and more. There has been a greater concern with the process than with the product. People have moved away from the importance of long-term relationships and lost their values. There has been an increase in spiritual hunger, but people see God as a way of coping with problems and religion as something that is only emotion.

5. Discuss the future in psychotherapy. In health care, nationalized health insurance might bring government into health care, which might eliminate payments for religious counseling. In the family, marriage counseling, counseling of remarried couples, counseling of unmarried but cohabiting couples, and group counseling will probably become more prevalent. In business, businesses will likely employee their own counselors. In communication technology, home computing centers may make an urban migration more likely.

6. What can we do about these potential changes? In the realm of ethics, we can have more training in Christian ethics. In training, we can have more training of researchers.

				Tom of Bethany

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