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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy In The Military

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Prior to taking this course, I knew there were several theoretical orientations which could be used, though I was unaware of how many or how they could be applied. Therefore, when the course began I felt that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) would be my orientation. However, as I read and learned about the styles I began to levitate towards Gestalt Theory, which is a person to person type of relationship, where the therapist reactions must be honest and immediate, and makes the assumptions that client can self-regulate when they are aware of the events that are happening around them, and change occur form being themselves rather than who they feel they should be. Becoming aware of the disowned portion of ones’ self, and by using a multitude …show more content…
With the population in which I want to work with, Veterans, First Responders, and Native Americans (First Nation), it seemed to be the most applicable.
Even though the United States Army is a collectivistic culture by nature, every aspect about the military is very directive and individualistic. Service members and veterans have a unique culture and contextual components that are only enhanced from the stress, loss, trauma, and experiences that are sometimes morally compromising although inherent to combat situations. Therefore, quite often when working with service members or veterans, the service member/veteran are suspicious of the therapist that have not serviced or don’t understand the culture of the Military, and the amount of effort needed to explain the individual experiences of deployment and the idioms of that world (Litz, 2014). …show more content…
Additionally, having the client focus on themselves through the use of language, “I” instead of “they”, while keeping the client focused in the present and not so worried about the past or future. Another aspect of Gestalt theory, body language, which is an important element to of the therapy, and being able to understand and pick up on the nonverbal communication of the client is critical. Two of the techniques I believe that I will employ are the empty chair technique, which can be useful when a client is stuck and does not know how to approach, or what to say to another individual, while raising awareness. Using this technique allows the client to become aware of what the other may be thinking by playing both role of the conversation. This also allows the client to practice what they may say to the other person when it is time. The internal dialogue exercise is the second technique that I would use. This is use to help integrate the disowned aspects of the clients’ personality by focusing on the constant struggle between the “top dog,” which is the demanding and righteous, and the “underdog,” which is the victim, using excuses and being defensive, helpless and powerless, which is usually though incorporating aspects of someone

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