What the heck is a theoretical orientation?

A counseling theoretical orientation, or “theory” for short, is what guides a counselor or therapist in working with their clients. Think about it like a roadmap to understanding human behavior. It is a belief about how people live, change, and die. It’s a path forward to helping people with their problems.

Most of these theories were created by one individual a long time ago and have had to be updated as time has gone by. Adlerian psychology, sometimes called Individual Psychology, is this way too. Many of the old translations have lost modern applicability (for example with the gender binary inherent in heteronormative ideas about love and relationships), but contemporary practitioners keep it fresh if they know how to think critically!

Individual Psychology uses holism to conceptualize a person’s unique way of solving problems, usually rooted in unresolved childhood narratives. It also posits that lack of belonging (even if it’s to yourself) and discouragement are at the root of all pathology. Bringing these things into the awareness of the client, reorienting them toward a higher Purpose, and creating belonging for others are the way out of much suffering. Of course, this doesn’t explain or apply to every single problem in life, but that’s why it’s a theory. It’s big and broad, and most things can be conceptualized using it if you look hard enough.

Individual Psychology is also a Humanistic theory. Decades later, the therapist Carl Rogers came up with the theory that the “authentic, unconditionally positive regard” of the therapist was everything- and that the relationship is what heals people, and he coined this Person-Centered therapy. This was later confirmed by Common Factors. Adlerians are inherently person-centered, as we seek to understand the world through another’s eyes and feel with their heart.