Person Centered Therapy

Currently we live in a complex and hectic world that offers different experiences for different people and as such brings different difficulties and tribulations unique to each and every individual. At times the tribulations that individuals are met with in the course of their lives may throw them into frenzy or stop them right in their tracks (Geldard & Geldard, 2012). When talking to friends, religious bodies and family do not work to help an individual overcome a difficult time in their life, they turn to counseling. Since its invention counseling has been a crucial tool in assisting individuals in times when situations do not allow individuals to look elsewhere for help. Counselors in turn are trained in concepts that allow them to help clients. Person centered counseling in particular is an aspect in therapy that has recorded massive success (Geldard & Geldard, 2012). Person centered therapy or counseling is a talking therapy that puts the client at the very center of their own therapy. This paper is aimed at proving that, person centered therapy, through the application of appropriate concepts, establishes a relationship between a therapist and their clients and allows the client to develop self-awareness.

Looking at the video Role Play: Person Centered Therapy that was recorded by the Australian Institute of Professional Counselors, we are guided through the process that takes place in a person centered therapy. The session starts with the therapists and the client sitting in close proximity in a comfortable looking scenario that oozes of coziness. This scenario may have been created in that manner to ensure that the client is completely relaxed and hopefully enable him to open up. The therapist then begins by urging the client to open up. The therapist assures the client that opening up in the session would help him as it had so done for many before him. After the client is comfortable enough to start talking, the therapist guides the client on through the session using leading questions and listening to the responses that the client gave. The therapist urges the client to continue talking by applying the use of audible but soft approvals as well as the use of nodding. The client all through the session opens up about where they were in their life and what exactly was bothering them with the therapists at times repeating what the client had told them. Self-structure loosens to accommodate the previously denials as the changes due to counseling are gradual (Tolan, 2003).The session then ends with an affirmation of the client’s difficulties and the appointment of another session.

In the role play video, the therapists uses a number of counseling tools and skills to get the client’s trust and to create a rapport with the client which in turn allowed the client to open up. In self-structure, there are important experiences that an individual tends to accept. Behind the acceptance of the experiences there is a drive in the individual known as actualization tendency (Tolan, 2003).The first skill that the therapist used was normalizing. Normalizing is a valuable counseling technique employed by therapists to help their clients see that the experiences they have been undergoing are normal for someone in the position that they are at the moment (McLeod, 2009). Normalizing in the video is shown by the therapist when the client is hesitant to open up. At the beginning the client stated that they had not done therapy at a previous time. The therapist then assures the client that they are not the first person to question their decision to be in therapy and then continues on guaranteeing that the session would be helpful to the client as it had been to many previous clients. Normalizing in this instant was greatly successful in building rapport between the client and the therapist. It enables the client to accept therapy as a channel to go forward with and in turn allowed for the acceptance of the particular counselor

The second counseling skill that the therapist uses in the video is empathy. Basically empathy is a counseling tool where the counselor or therapists shows an expression of the esteem and reverence that they have or possess for the client, whose experiences as told to the counselor may be quite diverse from the counselor’s experience (Rogers, 1995). In the video, the therapist achieves the use of empathy when she summarizes what the client had told them and offers a series of positive verbal responses. Counselors agree with the reasons given by the client staying in a terrible relationship (Tolan, 2003). Empathy in the video is also achieved by the therapists by the sheer interest that the therapist offers to the client. The therapists take time to listen to the client. Empathy in  a counseling session if achieved properly leads to the relationship between the client and the counselor being strengthened, stimulates the client’s self-exploration, eases communication and allows the client to open up more, focuses attention to the client and ensures that the counselor understands the client’s situation(Geldard & Geldard, 2012).

 The third counseling skill that the counselor uses in the video is the reflection of feeling. This is a tool in counseling where the counselor uses a feeling word to respond to a client with the aim of restating and exploring the client’s affective message (Rogers, 1995). It is basically aimed at validating the client by conveying in accuracy an understanding of what the client is feeling. In the video reflection of feeling is achieved and may be the one skill that has been used repeatedly by the counselor. The achievement of reflection of feeling by the counselor is shown when she regularly repeats what the client has said and at times uses softer words in her responses. Reflection of feeling ensures that the counselor is able to convey the understanding of the client’s situation as well as manage the emotions of the client (McLeod, 2009). This skill also ensures that the counselor gains understanding of the client’s emotional responses to life as well as authenticate those feelings.

Counseling is the creation of a relationship between the client and the counselor. This is characterized by the use of single or combinations of psychological theories coupled with a set of communication tools that are predefined and modified over a long duration. They are also characterized by the experience of the counselor in the field and his intuition as well as other interpersonal influences to cope with the clients concerns, goals, and problems. Counseling is aimed at facilitation as opposed to coercion or giving advice (Geldard & Geldard, 2012). During a session the counselor is supposed to determine which counseling tool or concept they would employ and which would be most effective in relation to the specific situation of the client. Constant approval of the client is especially crucial and the therapist should completely avoid suggesting ideas to the client or showing judgment to the client’s scenario (McLeod, 2009). This is especially evident in the video as the therapist does not at a single time offer advice but instead facilitates the client.

There are a number of counseling concepts that counselors employ in their sessions. One of them is congruence which is in fact the genuineness of the counselor and is aimed at building trust in the relationship between the client and the counselor. Congruence has been described as the most important part of counseling and, particularly, in client centered therapy (Rogers, 1995). Congruence allows building trust between the counselor and the client as it allows the counselor to show their own personality during the session. A counselor encountering a client with honesty and openness depicts congruence (Tolan, 2003). According to the video, the counselor established congruence with the client before they continued with the counseling session.

The second counseling concept that counselors use is unconditional positive regard. This will entail the counselor not judging what the client tells them but instead fully accepting what the clients says with warmth (Rogers, 1995). In order to grow and fully attain the potential of people, it is very crucial that they are appreciated and valued for who they are. It means that even if the counselor does not approve of the actions taken by the client, they still have to approve and accept the client. It is therefore paramount to maintain a positive approach to the client.

The third counseling concept that counselors use is empathy which entails the counselor making the client feel that they completely understand what the client is going through (Rogers, 1995). The therapist should be able to accurately and sensitively understand the feelings of the client as well as the experience that the client is undergoing. Counseling is highly dependent on trust between the client and the counselor. It is therefore crucial for a counselor to properly identify relevant concepts to be used as well as to develop appropriate application of the concepts in building trust with the client. Upon applying the concepts mentioned above the counselor creates an environment where the client is able to open and consequently heal psychologically (McLeod, 2009).

References

Geldard, D., & Geldard, K. (2012). Basic personal counselling: A training manual for counsellors. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Australia.

McLeod, J. (2009). An Introduction To Counselling. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.

Rogers, C. R. (1995). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Tolan, J. (2003). Skills in person-centred counselling & psychotherapy. London: SAGE Publications.