Relationship Between Client And Therapist

These correct conditions which are required within person centred therapy in order that the client can achieve self actualisation and personality change were outlined by Carl Rogers and he believed that if this 6 conditions were met, it would facilitate change within the client: Two persons are in psychological contact- both client and counsellor are present physically and psychologically. The client is in a state of incongruence, (which will be discussed in more detail) the communication of the counsellor’s empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard is met at a minimal level. The last condition mentioned involves 3 other conditions, which are essential attitudes and qualities necessary for the counsellor to posses for successful therapy; empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard and congruence. (Rogers C, 1957).

Albert Ellis views the therapist as a teacher and does not think a warm personal relationship with a client is essential. In contrast with Beck, he stresses the quality of therapeutic relationship. Beck argues that therapeutic relationship is usually highly directive, confrontative and persuasive (Frey & Wellman, 2007). In concern with the theories, that is, cognitive theory and rational emotional behavioral therapy theory, they share common characteristics.

The foundation of therapy starts by building rapport with the client and applying strategies when necessary to overcome a variety of barriers. It is imperative to have rapport with a client and to be aware of barriers to facilitate a good treatment outcome. This will take practice and the use of methods and strategies ready to be implemented when needed. There are many components to building a good client rapport such as: intimacy, vulnerability, exploration of inner challenges, self-awareness, staying present; inner resiliency, empathy, anxiety management, and self-integration, and relationship acceptance. The two types of barriers are internal and external and this is for both the client and the therapist. The common barriers to rapport are countertransference and transference. Strategies for overcoming barriers are: Pause Moment and self-awareness. It also requires skills such as being genuine, sensitive, open, and

When it comes down to having a successful outcome in most therapies, the relationship between the client and counselor must have a therapeutic alliance. In reality therapy, there is no difference in the fact that a supportive relationship must exist. According to Corey, “The therapeutic relationship is the foundation for effective practice, if this is lacking, there is little hope that the system can be successfully implemented” (2013, p. 343).

The therapist believes the clients are completely capable of healing themselves; he or she just needs the proper environment in which to realize this. The therapist focuses on the person rather than the problem, and with the aid of thorough discussion and a caring, empathetic environment the client will realize he or she can become self-reliant in creating goals and coping with problems.

Reality therapist have the assumption that the client does not have the ability to connect or have close relationships with others. The therapist purpose is to guide the client into relationships that are satisfying and to help them develop behaviors that are beneficial for advancing these relationships. Another assumption is that labeling clients with a diagnosis is inaccurate. Glasser believes people are acting out behaviors, for the purpose of helping themselves to cope with the pain and frustration of their current unsatisfactory

The final core condition is congruence or genuineness, this trait has to do with the person-to-person nature of the helping relationship and it is only through maintaining an absence of façade and sustaining a consistency between what I as a counselor say and present in non-verbal terms in response to the what the client verbalizes. Genuineness is key to the helping relationship as Roger’s says “It is only by providing the genuine reality which is in me, that the other person can successfully seek for the reality in him” . I agree with Roger’s core conditions as an aid to developing a safe environment and trust within the helping relationship that will encourage the client to delve deeper and truly work with their problems; without these characteristics the client may feel reluctant to truly expose themselves and may only work superficially with their difficulties preventing long term growth and healing.

Rogers himself was aware of the criticism expressed about his theories by people who prefer other therapeutic approaches. He describes in Chapter 5 in his book ‘Client-Centred Therapy, three questions raised by other viewpoints’. One of the questions from therapists with a psycho-analytical orientation is how a Person-Centred therapist deals with “transference”, which is “the repetition by the client

The main focus of this essay has to be on the three ‘core conditions’, as utilised by the counsellor to promote a positive movement in their client’s psychology. They are intended for maintaining a focus on the client’s personal growth, and detract from the therapist’s own outside world. The three core conditions are the professional apparatus or tool-kit of the therapist, and the use of each is a skill in itself but the combined forces of all three in an effective manner requires an abundance of skill or experience. These are, as have already been mentioned, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. They are separate skills but are intrinsically linked to each other. If used correctly, they can guide the client to a state of self-realisation, which could lead to the development of a healing process.

Moreover, Kaslow, Grus, Campbell, & Fouad, et al. (2009) stated that the client/therapist relationship is built on trust and kindness, empathy, and positive regard. Interpersonal and professional relationships are key. Affective skills are based on personal and cultural context (Kaslow, et al. 2009).

Focus on present and future except for the past in terms of exceptions; not focused on the past in terms of cause of changing the past

The ‘principle of non-action’ (Carl Rogers 1961 p.8), as the Actualising theory suggests, shows that change happens anyway, given the right conditions to promote growth and understanding. The Person-Centred approach is all about the therapeutic relationship and its importance above all else. The emphasis is that it is the client who ‘knows what hurts, what direction to go.’ (Carl Rogers. Becoming a person p12). Meaning that the practitioner need only embody certain conditions, to promote growth and actualisation within their client. There is a focus on ‘meeting’ the client in their process and facilitating the Actualising Tendency (Carl Rogers. 1961), without appropriating the content to the counsellor. In order for this to be achievable Carl Rogers says the counsellor must embody what he calls the three ‘Core Conditions’. The first of these is Unconditional Positive Regard (‘UPR’); this is somewhat elusive as it depends on the attitude of the therapist and is somewhat immeasurable but if present has huge therapeutic qualities on its own. The

This essay will explore the counselling relationship along with the benefits and limitations as well as discussing other factors that have an important impact in relation to the outcome of counselling. Counselling is an interpersonal relationship between the client and qualified therapist, the relationship involves communicating with the client and using skills to explore the client's feelings. The counselling/ therapeutic relationship can be used in all types of counselling such as psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural, person centred and cognitive therapy. As mental health disorders increase so does the need to deliver effective counselling, which means that the therapeutic relationship is more crucial than ever. (Miller, Hubble, Duncan and Wampold 2010; Norcross and Lambert 2011).

The origins of disturbance and dissatisfied growth are caused my repeated empathetic failures (Berzoff et al., 2011). The client displays lack of empathy to others since he did not meet the necessary elements to have empathy for others. When assisting clients with their psychological development skills during therapy, according to Kohut, empathy is a significant clinical tool to use during sessions (Berzoff et al., 2011). Furthermore, Kuhot postulates that an empathic environment can provide the psychological nutrients and substance that are essential for mental health (Berzoff et al., 2011). In order to assist the client, the therapist must explore the essential pieces from the three poles and therapist would support three poles as the tripolar, self-consisting of: the grandiose self, the idealized imago, and the twinship. The therapist would provide a healthy environment to help the client have a secure base and feel empathic to help him overcome the triggers from his traumatic experiences. Furthermore, the role of the therapist must represent the self-object for client and help him explore how to express his feelings and to discover his inner self. The client needs a parental figure to feel confident of the self and the therapist was able to fulfill this position. The therapist must work through these elements so the client will increase the

Therapists basically explore avoidances, thoughts, feelings, relationships and life experiences. A patient sometimes may be aware of his condition but not be able to escape or explain it. Through the analysis of a patient’s early experiences of attachment figures and how they have affect him, he will be able to free himself from the bonds of past. To accomplish that, the psychodynamic therapy, focuses on interpersonal relations, on the affect and expression of emotions helping the patients through discussion to describe feelings which are troubling them and they do not recognise. Patients usually attempt to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings. At some cases, they present avoidance, defence and resistance by missing sessions or change the topic when certain ides arise. They also view the therapist with suspicion because they may have feelings of disapproval, rejection or even abandonment. This kind of therapy based on research has shown that leads to on-going change, even after it has ended.(Jonathan Shedler, American Psychologists;University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine; February–March 2010)