Rogerian Therapy: Client Centered Therapy

Allowing for our ethical codes of conduct, if the client is someone we feel we can proceed with, then as always, the first stage would be to develop a good rapport and gain the clients trust to develop an honest and open relationship with them. The client centred approach as always is the best method for this – to put the client at ease in a non-judgemental space where they can express their emotions and explore what it is they want to achieve with therapy. In giving the therapist an

The following essay is a case study of a client named John who is suffering from major depression and was sent to see me for treatment by his concerned wife. I will provide brief background information about John then further discuss interventions and strategies I believe can be applied in each session with my client in order to make John's life more manageable. In the essay, I will be writing as the therapist, and the sessions are based on a ten week period.

At the beginning of the semester, the framework for professional clinical counseling was presented during the class session. The objective was to study what the world calls “counseling” and how it is designed to provide the correct treatment to these people. The professional clinical model calls for a trained professional to handle the catharsis of the client in a controlled environment on the basis of a fiduciary relationship. Deliberate and guided questions are asked from the therapist to encourage catharsis. Once the professional compiles sufficient evidence via resources and intuitivism, a treatment plan would be prescribed. The client has a choice of accepting the treatment or

Roger is a 36 year old male who is seeking therapy for a number of different issues to include: agoraphobia (a fear of open spaces), drinking in order to get to work, unable to make friends because of his agoraphobia, being overweight, not having a long lasting relationship (though he claimed this was not a problem), and homosexuality which goes against his religion (though he does not see this as a problem either) (Wedding & Corsini, 2013, pgs14-15). For his treatment he agreed to have 10 sessions in front of a classroom at the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago free of charge.

Client-centered therapy: An approach to counseling where the client determines the general direction of therapy, while the therapist seeks to increase the client's insightful self-understanding through informal simplified questions. The client is the focal point of the sessions, the therapist takes a "back seat" to learn about the person, and watch as the client moves toward the achievement of their full potential through creativity.

Rogers worked with many others in developing the idea that clients could heal themselves, if only the therapist provided ‘facilitative’ or core conditions of, ‘empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard.’

Joel himself is the primary element in ensuring the success of his therapy. Therefore it is vital that his therapist pay specific attention to the frame of reference Joel fosters, in addition to his utilization of inner and outer resources. Similarly, it is of upmost importance that Joel’s therapist display an empathic understanding of the experiences and worries Joel is undergoing whilst ensuring a non-judgemental and genuine perspective is communicated. It is also important for Joel’s therapist to remember that she is a guest within Joel’s world of experience (Cox, Bachkirova & Clutterbuck, 2010)

It is inevitable that in psychotherapy there are numerous theories. Theories arise out of scholarly investigations of ideas on human behavior. Human behavior is an extraordinarily interesting subject and therefore produces a plethora of ideas from a variety of theorists. These theorists are influenced by their education, culture, and time period. One influential theorist is Carl Rogers. His contributions to human behavior have changed many of the theories that preceded him, and his theory contributed to many theories that followed.

Person-centred therapy came about through Roger’s theory on human personality. He argued that human experiences were valuable whether they were positive or negative so long as they maintained their self actualising tendency. Through one’s experiences and interactions with others Roger believed that a self-concept/regard was developed. Carl Rogers believed that a truly therapeutic relationship between client and counsellor depends on the existence, of three core conditions. The core conditions are important because they represent the key concepts and principles of person-centred therapy. These core conditions are referred to as congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. Congruence is when the therapist has the ability to be real and honest with the client. This also means that the therapist has to be aware of their own feelings by owning up to them and not hiding behind a professional role. For example, a therapist may say ‘I understand where you are coming from’’ to the client. However the therapist has expressed a confused facial expression while saying this. The clients can be become aware of this and may feel uncomfortable in expressing their feelings, which might impact their trust and openness towards the therapist. Therefore the major role of the therapist is to acknowledge their body language and what they say and if confusion happens the therapist needs to be able to

Among the three main approaches to insight therapy (psychoanalysis, client-centered, or group therapy), the one that l believe has the most reasonable way to deal with psychological problems, is client-centered therapy. Client-centered therapy is an insight therapy that emphasizes providing a supportive emotional climate for clients, who play a major role in determining the pace and direction of their therapy (pg. 459). According to Carl Rogers, the man who devised client-centered therapy, three elements were necessary to promote positive changes in therapy: Genuineness (honest communication), Unconditional positive regard (therapist remains supportive, non-judgmental) and Empathy (therapist understands issues from client’s point of view) (pg. 460). In following these three elements, client and therapist were working together equally and helped client become more aware of themselves and even feel more comfortable with their therapist and the idea of therapy. Some people don’t seek help because they feel therapy might be too intimidating for them or it’s a step that they fear having to take. I can agree with this, because from my personal experience, l had pushed off therapy for so long because l was afraid to admit that l needed it.

realized that this was impossible as clients often look to practitioners for some sort of guidance or

Person-Centered and reality therapy both have good techniques that enable the client-therapist relationship be successful. They are very similar yet distinctly different from each other. They are similar in the fact they both put the client in the front of the therapy and the therapist is there to guide the clients in the issues or conditions they are facing. Both of these types of therapy depends on the therapist ability to communicate and respect the clients. They also enable to the clients to gain a better understanding of how their inner and outer world work together or separately in determining their behaviors.

It is important when working with clients that consideration is given to the methods and approaches used with regards to specific client’s needs and personality as well as consideration regarding presenting issues. Here a case study of Jane is used to argue /evaluate and assess how both a psychodynamic counselor and cognitive behavioral therapist (CBT) would view the case study of Jane from their perspectives. Consideration will be given from both a psychodynamic approach and CBT approach of how a therapist might work with Jane. The main similarities and differences of both the psychodynamic and CBT approaches will be analyzed. This will lead into an evaluation of which is the most appropriate approach in working with Jane by

Counseling skills has provided me with a valuable insight into the helping relationship and how it is both created and maintained in order to encourage growth and development in the client. The factors involved within the helping relationship include considering Roger’s core conditions, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy as the three main characteristics necessary in a helping relationship. In order to fully incorporate all three of Roger’s core conditions, I as the counselor must be self-aware, as a lack of self-awareness may inhibit truly listening and understanding the client; self-awareness can be enhanced through exercises such as Johari’s window. Counseling skills such as body language and active listening also

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.