In the medical sense, ‘holistic’ literally means treating the whole person.
Holistic counsellors do this by looking at the client’s presenting concerns and also by exploring how the social, political, cultural and spiritual dimensions of the client’s life informs their here and now experience. This means clients are not restricted to just symptom management and instead can be empowered to become active change agents in their own lives. This shift is possible when a client is given the tools to re-connect to a wealth of inner resources that have perhaps become lost along life’s ups and downs.
Prior to the advent of the holistic modality of counselling, the more commonly known therapies and theories used during the early to mid twentieth century were Freudian, Psychodynamic and Behaviorist.
These models focused predominately on the client’s unconscious motivations, developmental factors and inbuilt patterns of behavior, and were assumed to be prompted by external stimuli. Whereas, the more recent holistic model takes into account the whole of the human experience-mind, body, spirit and emotions. Moreover, the holistic model supports the idea that humans are built to return to a state of homeostasis and engage in an evolving process of growth and renewal throughout their life journey.
There are several key founders of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy that warrant comment.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) formed psychoanalysis in 1896 and subsequently founded the Viennese Association of Psychoanalysis in 1908. This modality explored how genetic and developmental factors over the course of a lifetime informed the quality of the client’s psyche.
Freud is to be commended on his groundbreaking research and theories on drive, ego, complexes and personality development. Freud postulated the psyche was a complex mechanism that comprised an unconscious aspect, which fueled an individual’s actions and reactions. He spent his career trying to develop and support his theories around this notion of the unconscious. Freud’s work in the mental health arena provided a foundation and framework that mental health modalities benefit from to this day.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) practiced psychology and psychiatry and is best known for developing Analytical Psychology in 1913. Earlier, Freud had mentored Jung before major philosophical differences regarding the nature of the unconscious divided them. Jung was a contemporary of Freud and his studies on the unconscious are considered more ‘holistic’ than Freud’s earlier work. Jung had a strong focus on dreams, imagery, and also Eastern and Western spiritual practices.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was an influential psychologist attempting to facilitate a move away from the Freudian and Behaviourist notions of therapy. Rogers developed Non-Directive Therapy and believed clients could benefit with ‘non-interference and reliance upon the individual’s own tendency towards growth.’ He ultimately re-named this approach Client-Centered Therapy and throughout his career remained committed to empowering his clients to be active change agents in their own lives.
By the 1980’s, Rogers felt the more recent Humanistic and Existential models also needed re-evaluation. He felt these models were unable to accept a broader context to include other aspects of the human experience such as social, spiritual, political and cultural considerations. Rogers felt it was important to include a broader spectrum of theory and practice from a variety of modalities, in order to enhance the therapeutic process and outcome for clients. This would herald the advent of Holistic Counselling.
Rogers’ Person-Centered approach is an aspect of the holistic model. The quality of the client-therapist relationship forms the foundations of this modality. The therapist aims to be non-directive and intervene in the client’s process as little as possible in order to allow the client to come to his or her own conclusions.
There are many other modalities that have a place in the holistic model- a mere handful of which this article only has enough time to just briefly touch upon.
Fritz Perls (1893-1970) developed Gestalt Therapy in the 1940’s with a focus on increasing the client’s self-awareness. Attention is given to what is happening for the ‘whole’ person on an emotional, somatic and energetic level. The here and now experience is an important aspect of this modality.
Dora Kalff, a Jungian therapist, developed Sandplay Therapy in the 1950’s. The placement of figurines in the sand tray is thought to symbolize and externalize the client’s inner world and facilitate the emergence of unconscious processes to become conscious and tangible via the sand tray.
Viktor Frankl founded Logotherapy in the 1940’s and 50’s following his experience as a Word War II holocaust survivor. Frankl was a psychiatrist prior to the holocaust and during the war was a prisoner at the infamous concentration camp, Auschwitz. He kept a detailed diary of his experiences and after the war published ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’. The underlying tenant of Logotherapy is that the ability to find meaning in our experiences is the key to our survival and will drive and motivate us to endure and survive the suffering associated with living.
Michael White and David Epston developed Narrative Therapy in the 1980’s. Language and storytelling is a fundamental feature in every society across our globe and can be traced back to caveman civilization. We create a sense of self and form an identity by the stories we create from our experiences. Narrative Therapy provides the client an opportunity to re-tell and perhaps re-author their story and in the process gain new meaning, clarity or closure. The writing process facilitates an externalization of the client’s inner landscape and an opportunity to be an ‘observer’ of their story and defuse from unhelpful thoughts and feelings they have become enmeshed with.
In 1984 Natalie Rogers, daughter of Carl Rogers foundered the Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute. Art therapy assists the client to engage with their creativity and connect to their feelings on a deeper level. Much about the client’s inner world can become understood when externalized with an art therapy process.
The Integral Psychotherapy modality was founded by Ken Wilber in 1998 and is holistic in the way it embraces Eastern spirituality and Western depth psychology. Every dimension of a client’s human experience is thought to inform the quality of their here and now existence, be it somatic, cultural, emotional, social or even political.
Non-Western and indigenous cultures include the practice of shamanism, meditation and Buddhism. Likewise, the holistic model incorporates spirituality, ritual and altered states of consciousness when appropriate or if considered to assist in a positive therapeutic outcome for the client.
In summary, every client presents with a unique circumstance and life story.
From a holistic perspective, it is important to investigate the most appropriate therapeutic approach and associated tools and to be mindful that these may change over time during the therapeutic journey. David Tacey says in the Jung Reader (2012), ‘the key element is not the knowledge of the therapist or a professional system of answers, but the attitude of humility before the inner life. Therapy occurs when the therapist is amazed, even confounded, by the patient’s neurosis. The neurosis is the result of a one-sidedness in the patient, and the aim is to find the missing pieces that can restore the psyche to health.’ The bottom line is, healing has an opportunity to begin once the client feels deeply heard and understood by another human being.
Would you like to experience the benefits of Holistic Counselling for improved well-being and self-empowerment?
Call Jackie on 0405 313 876 to book an appointment at our counselling rooms in either Armadale or Malvern.