ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies various psychoanalytic, humanistic, behavioral, and postmodern counseling approaches that address the mental health of children and adolescents. It recognizes the role of the family systems and its application when working with children and adolescents. Psychoanalytic theory encompasses the exploration of unconscious and its role on behavior, interpretation of countertransference and transference within the counseling experience, and the influence of the anxiety on a child's personality. Adlerian therapy, developed by Alfred Adler, is built on the premise that within a social setting individuals' decisions and thoughts serve as a function to move them toward a goal. The primary goal of person-centered therapy is for the child to develop greater independence and autonomy. Gestalt therapy is focused on deeper awareness of self and the relational aspects of the counselor–client dyad. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and cognitive therapy (CT) are the most researched and identifiable cognitive behavioral therapies.
