Page 47 - Part A
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Counselling Skills
Key elements of psychodynamic theory
There are key elements of psychodynamic theory that provide counsellors with the
tools to enable them to create a positive outcome for their clients. The key elements
are as follows:
• The importance of the role played by the unconscious mind and its
influence on people’s behaviour
• Our behaviour is determined by our past experiences, our genetic
inheritance and what is happening to us now
• The belief that all our internal experiences relate to our relationships with
other people
• The belief that insight is more important than feelings or emotions
• Psychological problems have their causes in our unconscious mind
• The way to address these problems is to probe the unconscious, and bring
issues in the unconscious mind into the conscious mind to produce insight
• Insight is achieved when the person realises what is causing the problem,
although this doesn’t mean the client’s problems will be solved, but can
often be the start of the most important therapeutic work.
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