In Psychotherapy, Healing, Change & Growth Take Place in the Act of Relating - Coursework Example

In psychotherapy, healing, change & growth take place in the act of relating Introduction Counselors play important role in helping humans who choose to seek help, in reaching a better quality and way of being, and start their healing journey. This is done through a process called therapeutic process. Therapeutic process is a client centered approach where the counselor and the client forge a positive relationship with an ultimate goal to help the client cope with existing and future problems (Corey 2009). The therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist is nurtured through supportive, trusting and safe environment. The therapeutic process must consider client’s prevailing environmental conditions and should be adjusted to meet the needs of the client. It involves the interaction and application of factors such as empathy, composure, confidence, unconditional positive regard of the client, pleasantness, client involvement and congruence. The therapeutic relationship depends entirely on therapist’s physical and intellectual capabilities as well as his or her personal characteristics. During and after the therapeutic relationship, it is upon the clients to follow the course of action or not. However, the counselor needs to remain friendly and firm in the relationship with the client to ensure that action is taken. The ultimate goal of therapeutic relationship is to promote the healing process of the client. It is hoped that after the process, the client would be in a position to cope up with the current and potential challenges. This will enable him or her continue with his or her normal activities. Successful therapeutic process enables the client to find meaning in life and a healthier way of being. Theoretical Framework of the therapeutic process It is present in Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis when he proposed that for patients to recover from their psychological problems, they needed a free environment where they could ramble continuously about what troubles them. Sigmund called the process free association (Reef 2001).The focus of Sigmund’s treatment model was not his relationship with the client but rather on solving their problem. In this approach, therapist is perceived as an expert who is superior and knows the clients’ problems better than the client. However, the client plays an inferior role during the counseling section. This is because the patient is considered too sick to take part in a therapeutic relationship with their helper. Therefore, he or she could not come up with sound tailor-made solutions for their problems. The Carl Roger’s Non-directive and Client-centered approach developed in 1940’s was hinged on some degree of relationship between the patient and the helper. The client is proactive in the therapeutic process. However, non-directive approach emphasize on the client talking about their problems while the therapist listens and encourage the client to pour out their feelings. Although this model has an element of relationship, therapeutic process give much emphasize to the client. The role of the counselors is to use their counseling skills in questioning and reflecting what the client has said. This helps them understand their feelings, attitudes and reactions better as they talk about them. The main focus of the entire process is on the client, who is expected to maximize this situation to come up with a clear understanding of their problem, as well as suggest a solution. The counselor takes a back stage and restricts their personality from interfering with the process. In the client-centered approach, intra-psychic is the most important as compared to intra-personal and inter-personal experiences. According to Grainger (2003), Carl Roger suggested that clients need to share their experiences in a subjective manner to heal successfully. This indicates that client’s feelings, understanding, thoughts and interpretations of their situation are important in the healing process. The client-centered approach acknowledges that therapeutic process involves contributions of the counselor and their client. Both individuals have significant contributions to the success of the process. The attitudes, personality and composure of the counselors (psychiatrists) influence the outcome of the therapeutic process. The counselors must help the clients to open up to so that they can heal (Watkins 2009). The counselor must create conducive environment for sharing. This is possible when trust is build between the client and the helper. Person-centered approach is dynamic, inclusive and is able to create genuine relationship between the counselor and client. The therapists are considered seasoned professionals with the capacity to help depressed individual heal and grow. Furthermore, he or she acts as a role model to be emulated in the client’s journey to healing. Apart from individual counseling, there is group counseling which a counselor can apply to a group of people facing nearly same problems. Sometimes, psychotherapy that targets the healing, growth and change in clients takes place in groups where relationships are important in bringing about growth. According to Jacobs et al (2008, p. 324) and Zastrow (2009), therapies in groups can be more rewarding, effective, exciting and efficient in solving individual problems. Unlike in the model where the client does all the talking while the counselor listens and uses their skills to help them, group counseling is a way in which clients can grow due to the emotional support they get from group members. It is in the trust that is created in groups that clients are able to try out new behaviors that they have learnt, without the fear of being judged. Through the sharing that takes place in groups, clients learn about what others are doing in trying to solve their issues. They also learn to keep quiet and listen to those who have been through the same experiences. As a result, clients gain deeper perspective of their condition as they listen to others who went through similar condition. Groups have been known to be very instrumental to the healing and growth of clients because of the social and emotional support available among the members. Feedback given by one’s group members can be helpful in helping clients to know how they are fairing on and areas that need further growth. Through groups, clients are likely to feel understood and supported when a member of their group identifies with their feelings and experiences. This brings healing to painful experiences. Therapeutic relationships The relationship between a counselor and their client should be collaborative in nature. This enables them to develop trust and spirit of teamwork. The client and the counselor may have to confide in each other during the counseling session. Therefore, the counselor must always ensure that he or she become confidential. In addition, if a counselor wants to record the talk with their client, he or she must seek consent from the client (Dryden and Reeves 2008). Depressed or psychologically disturbed persons should not be forced by people or circumstances to speak. There should be given time to open up and expressed themselves. When clients are willing, they easily open up and enable their therapist to achieve growth and healing. On the other hand, the therapist should feel free to counsel the client. Araya (2000) claimed that a counselor should not proceed with the session if he or she feels he has no competence. The counselors should recognize their limits and work within the boundaries of their professional competence. For example, the issue brought by the client should be within the therapist mandate and capacity to handle. If the therapist suffered identical psychological problem as that of the client and has not worked through it sufficiently, he or she is not competent to handle the situation at hand. In such a situation, the therapist must explain the circumstance to their client and explore alternative courses of action. The nature of collaboration also relates to the goals of action as relating to client’s issues. When the client talks about his or her problems, he or she is helped to relieve feelings. The process should then be followed by appropriate action. If relevant action is not taken to prevent the problem from recurring, the clients could find themselves in the same situation in future. According to Rubin (1999), therapists must be firm with appropriate course of action to ensure that their client follows up on their goals of action. However, therapist should be cautions not to impose goals on their clients. Their relationship should also be based on trust and confidentiality. This will enable the client to open up inner most feelings and thoughts without the fear of being judged by their therapist, or being seen as inadequate. The therapist must ensure that they listen to the client’s story just as it is, without attempting to change their way of thinking or negating their feelings. In this helping relationship, the client determines the general direction of the process. On the other hand, the therapist increase client’s insight into the problem and help them gain self-understanding through the questions they ask. Corey (2009, p. 241) asserts that any kind of healing, change and growth in the life of a client takes place in the relationship with their counselor. Therefore, the counselor and the client must have good working relationship so that the client would feel safe to disclose extremely personal information. The therapist must listen to the client attentively and intelligently to understand client’s issues in-depth. This enables them know the direction to take in therapy. When people are listened to attentively, they are able to listen to themselves even as they tell their story. Good relationship enables the therapist assist the clients to talk about themselves through questioning and probing. Furthermore, the client is able to benefit from the skills and competencies of the therapist gained through working through similar cases in their past. Counseling is also about offering support and affirmation. Good relationship between the therapist and the client provides an opportunity to affirm client’s worth. As a result, client’s self esteem is boosted. Affirmation is about validating acceptable feelings and achievements of the client. This is possible when a therapist is keen and attentive to client’s concerns (Steinman 2009). Counseling is a journey and counselor must always be reliable and dependable so that the client completes the journey successfully. Apart from just talking about problems, client will encounter a lot of challenges along the way and will need support to enable him or her conquer the problems to proceed to the healing level. Some clients may resist changing and growing. In such a time, a therapist must analyze the situation and confront him or her with love and understanding. It is only in a relationship of trust that a client can be challenged by their therapist. Such confrontations also come with alternative ways of thinking and acting. Helpers need not restrict themselves to counseling only; they can also teach their clients specific life-skills necessary to help them move on with their lives. The relationship between the client and the therapist at this point is very necessary in determining how their clients will respond to the training. In addition, therapists are required to have the knowledge and capability of training clients into different areas of capacity growth. The therapist Talking about problems cannot simply lead to healing, change and growth without the necessary input from the therapist. Whereas emphasis is laid on the clients to talk about their issue and come up with their own solutions, a therapist influence significantly the success of a therapy session. Carl Roger’s person-centered approach recognizes the importance of a therapist. Self-aware therapist who is psychologically present in the sessions determines the extent to which a client is willing to open up and work on their problems. In a healing relationship, therapist must be composed, friendly and reliable to help clients relax and willing to conduct a deep introspection that could be the beginning of change. In addition, therapists should be warm, congruent, with empathy and unconditionally positive towards the client. Apart from personal attributes, counselors should continually improve their counseling skills by undergoing supervisions during and after their on job training. Their supervisors help them to debrief, sharpen their skills as well as address personal matters that could have been caused by their interaction with the clients. Consequently, they become more effective and efficient in the counseling and are more likely to achieve the goals of the counseling session (Geldard and Geldard 2008). Therapeutic congruence Attitude of congruence is important for successful therapeutic process. Congruence is the ability of the therapist to relate to the issue of their client without hiding behind a professional veil. Congruence must be exhibited by the therapist at all times during the counseling session. It encourages the clients to be open and genuine about themselves and their problems (McWilliams 2004). If therapists are genuinely concerned about helping clients to arrive at a concrete solution to their problems, they will disclose their personal issues that relate to the issue of the client so that the client can learn from it. It is only in a relationship where both parties are feeling a genuine connection that this kind of deep sharing takes place. The relationship moves from a mere interrogation of a client’s issue to an earnest effort on the part of the therapist to bring their client to a point of ease in their situation. When clients perceive this kind of determination from their therapists, they become willing to put in personal effort towards change. A therapist can choose to open up on a very sensitive issue in their lives so that their client can benefit from it. There is lack of pretense in such a relationship and this fosters trust and enables clients to open up deep issues about themselves. If clients fail to sense this deep connection with their therapists, they are likely to just ‘talk about their problems’ without addressing their feelings, thoughts and behaviors concerning the problem. This means that a permanent and internal change and healing will not be achieved and upon termination, the client is likely to fall back into their problem (Madsen 2007). The therapist in such a relationship is expected to maintain confidentiality about the deep issues disclosed to them. This kind of approach replaces the original versions of therapy where entire responsibility of problem solving is left to the client to suggest solution. Unconditional Positive regard of the Client This is a core attitude that the client needs to experience in order to open up voluntarily in-depth and accept any manner of challenge from their therapists. Even in day to day life and in normal friendships, it becomes very hard for anyone to accept any correction or challenge before they have felt completely accepted by the figure of correction. This core attitude goes in hand with the value of respecting the client in their own right, and not trying to alter their perceptions. Unconditional positive regard refers to accepting the client totally for who they are without evaluating, censoring or disapproving particular feelings, actions or characteristics (Steinman 2009). Failure to regard clients positively leads to a mechanical discussion of client’s issues without hitting the core of their feelings, experiences and behaviors. A client who manages to only talk about their problems rather than disclosing his or her true feelings have not moved an inch in their healing and growth process. It is only when they feel safe to reveal their true feelings that they are ready to do constructive work towards change. The role of the therapist in communicating an attitude of unconditional positive regard is in willingness to listen attentively without interrupting, judging or giving advice. This helps to strengthen their relationship with their client in which the latter can comfortable conduct a self-introspection without the fear of condemnation. Therapists should not ask threatening questions. Questions that are too direct create a feeling of interrogation and this could hinder further self-disclosure. In the healing relationship, the client should be helped to share painful, hostile and abnormal feelings without the fear of being rejected by their therapist. The notion of talking about problems cannot be successful at all in bringing about any insight that can lead to change if it is not going to be conducted within the frames of a trusting relationship. Empathy According to Golding (2008), empathy refers to the ability of one person to understand and respect the perception of the other. The understanding person conveys back the message that he or she understands and accept the perception. Of all the attitudes of effective helpers, empathy is necessary in helping the counselor to build a good rapport with their client in such a way that the latter will consent to going on the counseling journey with their therapist. In Carl Roger’s previous approaches of non-directive and client-centered therapy, a lot of significance is placed on the ability of the clients to talk about their problems. Furthermore, therapists must apply their skills to aid deeper self-exploration. Little was said about the importance of the therapist’s empathetic attitude in helping the client to talk about their issue in a way that leads to deeper self-understanding. Empathy is the ability to feel and communicates with the client. It makes the clients feel that they are being understood and accepted for who they are. It is a building block to a trusting relationship. A counselor gets to communicate empathy in different ways. One of them is in their ability to listen attentively to the client without interrupting, judging them or giving advice. When this kind of listening takes place, the client gets also to listen to themselves as they talk and in the process, they could pick up any inconsistencies, maladjusted ways of thinking, or the causes of their problems. It is in such listening that the client finally announces that they have actually found a solution to their problems. It is also through the attitude of empathy that therapists can communicate an accepting relationship through their attending skills. As mentioned earlier, the basis of healing, change and growth is a helping relationship that begins when a client feel totally accepted and affirmed. In doing this, a therapist can apply the attending skills of portraying social warmth, friendliness, physical and psychological attending skills. The counselor takes a psychological journey with their client as they relieve their joys, pains, disappointments and achievements. This creates a consensus between a client and their therapist as all energies are directed towards helping the client in dealing with their issue. Therapists ought to be cautious against being so enmeshed in their clients issue until it becomes their own. According to Chapman (2007), the counselors need to be very firm and draw healthy boundaries concerning how far they can get into a client’s issue. Whereas a relationship of trust is encouraged between the two for healing and growth to take place, a counselor needs to be aware when they allow their own boundaries to be broken into by the client’s issue. A counselor should feel alarmed when they find themselves carrying the weight of their client’s issue when outside the counseling room. This is because it may affect the effective functioning of his or her other tasks. Such a counselor needs professional supervision to be able to investigate objectively the aspect of his or her client’s issue that is affecting counselor’s life. The fact is that if a client shares an issue which relates to something that a counselor has gone through but has not worked it out, the issue is likely to continue lingering in the counselor’s mind long after their client is gone. At times the counselor has to be able to say no to a client’s request if client’s action fails to conform to ethics of professional counseling. If a counseling relationship is going to lead to the healing, growth and change in the individual, it has got to be guided by certain rules to which the counselor should adhere to for the good of their client. In such a manner, the counselor can be said to be important in determining the course of the counseling process as well as the outcomes on the client. This is different from the models that place too much importance on the client’s talking. It is important to realize that when client and counselor relates there are certain aspects about the therapist that will positively influence client’s growth. However, it is also necessary for the therapists to realize that if their boundaries are not firm enough, they may end up engaging in practices that may be detrimental to the healing, growth and change of their clients. If the therapist enhances the counseling relationship, his or her personality is enhanced to perform during the counseling session. A counselor’s personality needs to be well balanced so that they are able to handle diverse client’s issues successfully. Counselors need to ensure that they posses acceptable value system to influence views of their clients about them positively. This would make the clients to open up. However, this does not mean that the counselor in the relationship is not expected to have issues of their own. Successful counselors take the initiative to notice hindrances and work on them immediacy so that they do not interfere with the counseling relationship. Worden (2009) asserts that the counselor in the relationship as proposed by Carl Rogers needs to be fully aware of themselves and their experiences as they navigate through the issues of the client. This means that a counselor should be aware of his or her own needs to be able to tackle them. The needs could include feelings of fatigue, stress or anger among others. The model requires therapists to possess repertoire skills and techniques with which they can help their clients to emotionally explore issues affecting them. When the counselor is free and able to conduct the counseling session, he or she is able to devote themselves to meeting the emotional needs of their clients. In addition, a counselor need to posses friendly and warm personality. It is the duty of the therapist to do what is within their means to lighten the moment for his or her clients. However, this does not mean that the counselor should be laughing when the client is crying. He or she should speak in a light-hearted manner once in a while. Their tone of voice, posture, gestures and facial expressions should portray therapist friendliness (Rutan et al 2007). The client can not be receptive or collaborative in the learning process if they have the slightest feeling that their therapist does not really care for them. A client is quick to note when a therapist goes through the motions of therapy in a mechanical way rather than in a fully involved manner. It is therefore important for counselors to keep in mind that the success of therapy in teaching life skills to clients lies in their ability to show concern for the individual first, before trying to be their role models. Speaking of modeling, counselors need to be aware of the fact they are best placed to model to their clients. If a relationship of warmth and trust has not been created between the two, any efforts by the therapist to teach any new skills to their clients will be taken as impositions. In contrast, ‘talking about problems’ does not give much room for the counselor to role model to the client as emphasis is laid on the client talking out. In such a model, due to the lack of a solid, warm and trusting relation from the counselor, a client may not be receptive to any attempts by the counselor to teach them any life skills. Furthermore, therapist must realize that his or her gender, culture, dressing manners and age can foster a good relationship with the client. A therapist who shares personality traits and mannerisms with the client is more likely to understand the client’s challenges. This will enable him or her help the client deal with issues disturbing him or her. It is extremely important for counselors to work on their value systems in order to do away with underlying prejudices and stereo-types that would influence the way they view their clients. It is only in a relationship of trust that a counselor can help their clients grow out of these stereo-types and biases. The Person of the Client In the person-centered approach, the client is always said to be right. However, for the client to maximize on their relationship with their therapist for healing and growth, they need to be involved in the process actively. Clients have to be willing to go through the process and determined to make it a success. It is one thing for the therapist to believe in the client’s ability to get out of their problem, and it is another thing altogether for the client to believe in the process itself. In this light, a client needs to come to a place of vulnerability through risking exposing their deepest self to their therapist and believe in the goodwill of the therapist in helping them grow. Pastorino and Doyle-Portillo (2008) asserts that clients are required to be trusting and honest in their self-revelation. Although it is the duty of the therapist to foster an environment where it is easy for a client to trust them, clients should also take the extra step for their own benefit. Unlike in the models that allow clients to just ‘talk about problems’, the nature of self-revelation expected here is not just superficial talking about oneself, but that of deep-seated feelings thoughts, and attitudes. Clients have to come alive into the process in order to help their therapists help them. This encourages the emergence of a relationship between a client and a therapist that can overcome obstacles to growth, healing and change. To make the clients participate in the process, a counselor might need to give their clients take-away assignments after the session. Some clients do not take this kind of work very seriously and are not keen to perform the tasks they were given. Clients are also expected to avail themselves for their sessions as they have arranged with their therapists, unless something serious comes up that requires the session to be postponed. Clients have certain expectations concerning therapy that are pre-requisites for the success of the process. In this relationship, they expect that they will be accorded sufficient time in which they can be allowed to pour out their feelings without being judged. Although the person centered approach focuses on the attitudes of an effective counselor and how these help in the healing of the client, it encourages therapists to focus on their clients’ deep-seated feelings and thoughts. Clients also expect that they will be respected in their own right in terms of their person, feelings, thoughts, attitudes and what they say. They do not expect to be judged, criticized or victimized for revealing themselves in sincere ways. The duty of the counselor is to assure their client of the safety and professionalism of the contract they got into. Clients expect therapist to be confidential. Clients also expect that what they share with their therapists will remain between the two of them only. This is very important in fostering a relationship of trust with a client and determines the level a client will self-reveal. If a client doubts the confidentiality level of the therapist, they may refuse to engage in self-disclosure meant to help them heal. A client also expects that his or her values and self-worth be affirmed by their counselor. Most clients as they come to seek therapy are usually mixed up in terms of what is important or of a priority to them. Therefore, they need the help of their therapist in re-establishing these priorities (Greenberg 1998). The Nature of Therapeutic Healing, Change and Growth The caring relationship between a client and their helper is a pre-requisite for the healing and growth. Certain outcomes are to be expected if the relationship between the two passes the test of empathy, warmth, genuineness and the unconditional positive regard of the client. Clients who have successfully gone through therapy indicate that they are happier and stable in their lives. This is because there is a resolution of the original problem that had brought the client in for therapy. The client achieves an understanding of the problem and arrives at a personal acceptance of the problem. This is followed by action to change the situation. The problem is solved and client is capable of tackling similar challenges in future. This is because they have gained the problem solving skills. Above all, the client learns to understand themselves better. This enables them control the actions. Consequently, through a therapy session, clients are healed of their aches, pains, hurts and disappointments. This is orchestrated by the counselor’s attentive and empathetic listening. They also get to learn practically new and healthy ways of relating. One of the goals of therapy is to teach life-skills to the client in dealing with their issues. Anger management, communication skills, and assertiveness are some of the skills that can be taught on relating (Rogers 2008). Others learn practical life-skills such as planning, goal-setting or even budgeting. It is only in a relationship where a client has come to trust the competence as well as the goodwill of the therapist that a client will be able to attain to these heights of growth and development of the individual. Conclusion Therapeutic process helps psychologically depressed persons to heal and continue their normal lives. For therapeutic process to be successful, the client and the counselor should forge warm and positive relationships. Positive therapeutic relationship is key for the healing process. It is important for counselors to consider the environment surrounding the client before starting client’s healing process to design appropriate approach to assist the client. Confidence, composure and pleasantness are some of the attributes that counselors should posses to make the therapeutic process a success. In addition, counselors should be qualified to undertake therapeutic processes. Sigmund Feud developed a theory of psychoanalysis, which suggests that clients should be allowed to talk freely about their troubles to start the healing process. Sigmund Feud consider counselor superior than the client. On the other hand, Carl Roger’s non-directive and client-centered approach theory is the second theory in the therapeutic process that suggests both the client and counselor are important for the healing process. Non-directive and client-centered approach emphasizes that counselor’s traits and characteristics influence the healing process. A counselor can choose individual or group therapy depending on the situation and the number of clients involved in the healing process. To encourage the healing, growth and change of the client, a counselor should exhibit certain attitudes that communicate to the client that they are accepted and validated (Trout 2009). These attitudes are congruence, empathy and the unconditional positive regard of the client. Clients in the healing process should be regarded positively to enable them open up freely. Congruence has been defined as the ability of the counselor to be genuine as they relate with their client in the therapeutic process. Empathy is the ability of a counselor to get into the experiences of their clients. The person of the client is very helpful in the healing and growth process. There is need for them to be trusting, honest and self-revealing to benefit from the presence and the skills of their therapist. 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