i am confused about my orientation...

Did that catch your attention? If not, you are probably a psychology graduate student. I am not having those kind of orientation woes. I am pretty much set in that sense...to Micah's relief, I'm sure. Psychology and counseling students the world over have probably had their fair share of battles with determining the therapeutic, theoretical orientation with which they most align. I am glad that my fourth year mentor, Hillary, was honest enough to tell me that most Fourth Years* don't really know their theoretical orientation. Others have said that it isn't appropriate to foreclose on a decision before a psychologist has made a few dives into therapeutic waters.

So what is a theoretical orientation, anyway? It's kind of like a blue print or a set of guidelines for how a therapist will likely "do" his/her therapy. It's a philosophy of how people work, why they hurt, and how they heal. Does it surprise you that there are quite a few of these and that none of them have solved any of these questions? It surprised me.

There are lots and I don't feel like writing down the list and their definitions. Instead, I will just write down the ones that appeal to me. It's my blog, after all.*

1. First reject: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)- I rejected this because it made me yawn. As irony likes to reign in my life, I am not really that surprised that I am actually a lot more CBT in my practice and thinking than I realized.

2. Psychodynamic Therapy- This has several subcategories- object relations, analytic, self, and defense. I feel like I was rejected BY this orientation (long story), so I am not on speaking terms with this orientation, though I do enjoy thinking dynamically.

3. Existential- I am very existential in so many ways. I hate to admit that this, too, is an offshoot of psychodynamic therapy.

Current orientation? I realized that I kept calling myself a very "practical" therapist. That boils down to CBT. Darn it! But, I like to have fun and think about clients in existential terms. I think it's because I like to blame people for being irresponsible and anxious. No really, I think it's beautiful to think that we are all struggling to find meaning in a very messed up world. It ties in nicely (though Rollo May would hate to hear me say this) with my Christian beliefs. We're all trying the best we can, but we get stuck in bad habits, with negative or bad thoughts, and it makes us feel crappy (behavior+cognitions/thoughts+emotions---CBT strikes again!)

It's 2am.

Footnotes:

1. My doctoral program is organized by cohorts; rather than saying "freshman, sophomore, junior, senior" we refer to the cohorts by number. During 4th year, the most advanced students mentor first and second year students. 2. I am very impressionable. I think that I started this blog because I like Julie and Julia so much.