“You really listen and you really care.” These are the two main components of successful therapy according to Carl Roger’s theory of Person Centered Therapy. Rogers believed that the most effective way to provide therapy was to create a non-judgmental environment for the client where they could feel accepted, regardless of their issues, so they might form a bond with the therapist and experience positive growth. Through this bond, the therapist is able to gradually help the client to find their own solutions to their problems, without the therapist pushing them in a certain direction or imposing solutions onto them. Rogers thought it essential to focus on the person as a whole, rather than on the person’s problems in particular. Shedding the stigma of their problems, the client is able to step back and examine themself as a whole person and become aware of not only who they are, but who they have the capacity to become as well.
It is done in more professional manner and it focuses more on the present and future. It helps its clients to believe in themselves more and improve their skills and competence in what they want to do. Coaching helps people in determining their goals and how to achieve them. It guides people to have a balanced life. Mentoring is still different from coaching because in coaching, it is strictly a coach-client relationship.
Understandably a counsellor may also experience a sense of personal familiarity, whilst counselling clients, but must remain emotionally detached at all times. Relating to clients, in a positive, open manner, encourages the client to disclose in a comfortable, confidential environment and provides the counsellor with the ideal setting in which to communicate in a supportive way. Using their own life experiences, a counsellor can demonstrate empathy, compassion and understanding without becoming personally involved in the counselling process. Becoming More Self-Aware Self-awareness is something that grows over a period of time and with exploration. Techniques, to access information about oneself, can be learned, and personal experiences can affect personal thoughts and feelings.
Issues can arise at any stage of life when disharmony is felt between self-concept and the organismic self. To help a client move closer to self actualisation (true-self) where the locus of evaluation is internal, Rogers’ (1959) core conditions need to be in place: the client and the counsellor make psychological contact; the client identifies their need for help; the counsellor is more integrated and balanced than the client; the counsellor demonstrates ‘unconditional positive regard’ (UPR) towards the client; the counsellor is empathic to the client; the client experiences the empathy and UPR of the counsellor. If I did not
This is due to the fact that the therapist and client are seen as equal partners rather than as an expert treating a patient (McLeod, 2008). Nothing like other therapies, clients are responsible for improving their own life rather than the therapist. This is different from psychoanalysis and behavioural therapies whereby the “patient” is diagnosed and treated accordingly. Instead, the client consciously and rationally decides for themselves what the problem is and what should or can be done about it. The therapist is more of a friend who listens, standby their clients and encourages their clients.
Whether this is more effective and produces better results is a question open to debate. During a hypnotherapy session it is key that the client feels relaxed and comfortable, and the therapist needs to enable the client to have confidence in the process. Heap describes hypnosis as an ‘interaction between two people’ and also goes on to suggest ‘ therapists’ actions and communications should contribute to the creation of appropriate expectations, thus maximising the patients receptivity to suggestion’ (Heap, 2010, pg.2). A trusting relationship between therapist and patient is important to understand the client and their needs to resolve the issues they have sought your expertise. When undergoing hypnosis, an induction is required to ensure that the subject is sufficiently relaxed to experience the process fully.
The emphasis is on the quality of the therapist–client relationship and empathic attunement while tapping the client’s wisdom and resources (Cain, 2002). The Gestalt approach focuses much more on process than on content. Therapists devise experiments designed to increase clients’ awareness of what they are doing and how they are doing it. Perls asserted that how individuals behave in the present moment is far more crucial to self-understanding than why they behave as they do. Awareness usually involves insight and sometimes introspection, but Gestalt therapists consider it to be much more than either.
This puts the therapist in an easier position to determine what type of psychological mind set of their client. Some traits of an individual’s personality are more effective than others. The individual’s personality determines the effectiveness of the psychological theory. The therapist holds the responsibility of developing a synopsis of their client’s personality in order to determine what approach to will work best on their client. Even though therapist are considered experts in the areas of
On the other hand, others believe that the client’s privilege should be respected because they believe that therapy can help people to lead more peaceful and happier lives and that those who needed the help would not be willing to seek it if they weren’t under the impression that everything that was shared during their sessions would remain confidential. Also, during therapy embarrassing and shameful personal experiences may be shared and if presented in court, it becomes public record that anyone has access to which may embarrass the client. We must ask ourselves which takes precedence when they clash. The consequences vary
Instead, the client consciously and rationally decides for themselves what is wrong and what should be done about it. The therapist is more of a friend or counselor who listens and encourages on an equal level. One reason why Rogers (1951) rejected interpretation was that he believed that, although symptoms did arise from past experience, it was more useful for the client to focus on the present and future than on the past. Rather than just liberating clients from there past, as psychodynamic therapists aim to do, Rogerians hope to help their clients to achieve personal growth and eventually to self-actualize. This therapy allows the client to let go of their unrealistic expectations of their ideal self, and over time accept their real self.