Developmental Relational Counseling: A Model for Self-Understanding in Relation to Others

PERSPECTIVES is a special feature included in this issue of Journal of Creativity in Mental Health that provides mental health professionals with an opportunity to discuss their positions on a variety of creativity-related topics. In this column, Thelma Duffey and Shane Haberstroh share their perspective on helping clients develop awareness, relational functioning, and personal growth through developmental relational counseling. Thelma Duffey is Professor and Chair in the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She was founder of the Association for Creativity in Counseling and serves on the Governing Council for the American Counseling Association. Dr. Duffey has published in the areas of relational-cultural theory, addiction, and creativity in counseling. Her book, Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy: When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies, is published by the Haworth Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Shane Haberstroh is Associate Professor and Doctoral Program Director in the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was on the founding board for the Association for Creativity in Counseling and serves on the 20/20 Initiative for the American Counseling Association. He has published in the areas of creativity in counseling, addiction, and technology.Developmental relational counseling (DRC) is an integrative framework designed to help clients develop personal awareness and relational functioning and conceptualize personal growth. DRC emerged from both authors' clinical work and was significantly influenced by relational-cultural theory and guided by the Enneagram personality typology and cognitive and narrative therapies. DRC provides a roadmap for understanding the dynamics of personal awareness and relational functioning.