1.Personal Counseling Theoretical Paper (20 pts)
Students are required to write a paper that describes their personal theory of counseling. This paper is an exploration of your own beliefs about the nature of people, problems, and change, and the counseling theory(s) that fits best with    your beliefs. You may use any counseling theory(s) from the course and research literature. Papers should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.  The paper is expected to be of high quality and should be a minimum of five pages with at least 5 references. Papers should include a sound rationale for your personal counseling approach and must include the following format.

Introduction -Provide a general overview of the paper.

The Nature of People  – Describe your view of the nature of people, and describe which theory seems closest to this view. A description of mental health or effective functioning

should be included in this discussion.

The Nature of Problems .  Describe your view of how people develop problems, challenges, or ineffective functioning develop.  Also describe which theory seems closest to your view.

The Process of Change Describe your view of how people change in the counseling process.  Include your view of the role the counselor should take and what the therapeutic relationship should be like to facilitate change. Indicate which theory seems most congruent with your views.

My Theory in Practice Describe techniques, strategies, and tools that you believe would assist in the process of change and with which theory they seem most consistent.

Multicultural Considerations Summarize how cultural differences factor into your view of people, problems, and the process of change.

Summary -Summarize the key points of your discussion.