Growth in Person Centred Counseling Skills - Case Study Example

Growth in person centred counseling skills Introduction Person centred counseling skills aim to help in finding their own directions by fulfilling their unique potential and understanding their self worth. As the name signifies, the person centred approach is based on placing utmost importance to the client, his rights, his experiences, and his feelings. In person centred counseling the focus is on building good interpersonal relationship between the client and the counselor. Through this the client becomes comfortable and sheds all his inhibitions while discussing his problems. Growth in my understanding of person centred counseling As a diploma student I knew what Rogers meant by the person centred approach. I had basic knowledge of how a counselor should deal with the client. I thought that the main areas that a counselor should work on are, to be very nice to the client and display an understanding towards his feelings. Now, as a BA Hon degree student my understanding of the person centred approach has reached a newer height. I have discovered the deeper meaning of this approach in promoting the well being of the client. One discovery that speaks volumes is that a client should never be considered a client but a human being, a person. This change in the perception has brought me closer to the attributes of a good counselor. This has helped me in looking at the same information with a more humanistic angle. Now, I understand that a person knows what he should do but he is in the dilemma whether he should do that or not. He has two different feelings for the same person or situation. That is why he approaches the counselor to help him in finding the right direction. I have learnt that a counselor should not be biased or prejudiced towards the positive thoughts of the client and should not look down upon his negative thoughts. The counselor should be emphatic towards both the sides of the client. He should indulge in therapeutic relationship with all aspects of the client’s thoughts and feelings. Earlier, I felt that in a person centred counseling the client just lets his feelings known to the counselor and the counselor very emphatically deals with his problems. Now, this understanding has soared to a higher level. I feel that for building a greater interpersonal relationship and providing a satisfying therapeutic approach to the client’s needs, the counselor should not only listen to his problem but also his suggestions of how to proceed with the therapy. Only then can it be termed as a real person centred approach. Hence, my understanding as a diploma student has moved a step further as a BA Hon student as I have realized that the conventional way of listening and responding to a client is no more acceptable. To be really successful as a humanistic counselor, I should not only provide understanding and companionship, but also pay attention to the mutual comfort level of my relationship with the person I am dealing with. This is a growth in my understanding of the subject. Attributes that facilitate person centred counseling According to Carl Rogers – the originator of person centred counseling, the following attributes of the counselor helps in the growth of person centred skills: Congruence, Unconditional positive regard Empathy Congruence: The demand of this attribute is to be very transparent, open, real and genuine with the client. I think that the counselor should be as natural as possible. He should not behave as if he is a professional taking care of the client’s needs. Rather, he should try to bring across the message to the client that his thoughts and feelings are in complete congruence to him. At the time of counseling not only the counselor’s mind and body but also his inner spirit should be there for the client. A person seeking a counselor’s help should not be treated as an object or just a client but as a special human being. Unconditional positive regard: This can be described as a non-possessive warmth, respect, acceptance, prizing and caring for an individual. The person should be made felt that he is significant irrespective of his mental condition. According to Nelson-Jones “unconditional positive regard does not mean that therapists need, from their frame of reference, to approve of all their clients’ behaviors. Rather, unconditional positive regard is an attitude and philosophical orientation, reflected in therapist behavior, that clients are more likely to move forward if they feel prized for their humanity and they experience an emotional climate of safety and freedom in which, without loosing their therapist’s acceptance, they can show feelings and relate events.” (2006, p.103) Even if a client is feeling negatively about someone or he is accepting that he has done something wrong, I think the approach of the counselor should be to give him unconditional positive regard instead of lecturing him on the good and bad. The client needs some one to listen to his inner feelings. By giving him positive regard the counselor is not supporting the mistakes he has done, rather giving him a chance to realize his mistake by allowing him to discuss his mental status. Empathy: I think the counselor should get into the shoes of the client to be able to empathise with him completely. The counselor should try to feel what the person is feeling and also let him know that he understands his pain. It proves helpful as the client gradually start creating an emotional climate that indirectly helps the counselor in understanding the client in a more accurate way. I don’t think the counselor should be diagnostic and judgmental. Instead, he should try his best to be with the client in a very sensitive and gentle way. He should be a patient listener. In this process the counselor gets the scope to observe the client in order to devise ways to better communicate with him. Thus, building a special non-possessive bond with the client is empathy. Relationship between the counsellor and the client Based on the above-mentioned attributes the relationship between the counselor and the client can be very fulfilling. Neilson-Jones rightly points out what Rogers felt about achieving a growth promoting relationship: “ Rogers believed that in therapy ‘it is the quality of the interpersonal encounter with the client which is the most significant element in determining effectiveness’” (2006, p.101) The first step that ensures that the counselor is heading towards the right direction is his ability to build a good interpersonal relationship with the client. If the counselor is unable to build a good rapport with the client, his chances of turning him into a better human being are minimal. Hence to facilitate a growth in the client the quality of relationship between the counselor and the client is of utmost importance. According to the uktherapists.com: “… Rogers placed great significance to the relationship between the therapist and client, with emphasis on the therapists ability to: a. be congruent, to be herself with the client and, when appropriate, communicate her feelings to him b. have unconditional positive regard for the client, accept him for who he is and not what he does, have respect for him and his views c. be empathic, experience the clients subjective frame of reference as if it were her own and communicate this to him, sometimes bringing his feelings into focus from the edge of his awareness, thus enabling him to symbolise them. The therapist creates an environment, or relationship, hitherto denied to the client, that is conducive to growth; she facilitates change using personal skills, communication of understanding, and by modelling another way of being.” (para 20-22) Importance of non-verbal behaviour The term communication has been stressed a lot in the above citation. This signifies that the base of a good relationship between a client and the counselor is, good communication between them. Since counseling involves face-to-face communication, not only verbal but also non-verbal communication plays an important role in building a good relationship. Infact, about seventy percent of communication is non-verbal communication, which consists of gestures, touch, eye contact, body language, facial expression etc. The counselor communicates congruence, unconditional positive regard, empathy and tenderness not only through his words but also through his non-verbal communication. So the counselor should not only sound interested but look interested too. In this context Anthony rightly states “When face-to-face with my client, their body language and physical actions will tell me when it is appropriate to simply be with them on a mutual basis when they are distressed. Or, in the knowledge of my clients feelings because of the tone of voice or facial expression, I know when it is appropriate to intervene with insight, within the trust and genuineness of the therapeutic relationship.” (para.3) Quality and effectiveness of responses Another important strategy of building a good relationship is to respond well to the client. Through the verbal or non-verbal quality of the counsellor’s response, the client is able to feel the warmth and tenderness of the person he is sharing his experiences and inner feelings with. For the counselor too, it is important that the client responds well to his questions. The more he responds the easier it becomes to understand his condition and enhance his growth process. Use of questions The counselor uses two types of questions while dealing with the client: Open-ended – e.g. Tell me how you feel after your wife’s death. Closed ended – e.g. Do you feel insecure after your wife’s death? Through the open-ended question the client gets an opportunity to let all his feelings known to the counselor. The counselor gets the total picture of the client’s psyche and can determine the areas in which the client needs more help. Whereas through the close ended question the client tells only those things that the counselor wants to know. This way the counselor misses out very crucial facts as the client hardly gets an opportunity to elaborately describe his situation. Seager et.al. in Messer and Jones point out that “…by their very nature closed questions require only a limited response….Also, this format ensures that an interview is directed by the interviewer rather than the interviewee” (1999, p.100) If the counseling session is directed by the counselor then it means it is not following the person centred approach. In this approach the session is based on the mutual co-operation of the client and the counselor. Hence, use of open-ended question would ensure that the counselor is giving adequate importance to the client. Ability of the counselor to open and end therapeutic counseling The most important task for a counselor is to establish trust. He should try to do it as soon as he starts the counseling session. Hence opening a therapeutic counseling session requires lots of warmth and comfort level. Since each counseling session has an objective, opening the session with a statement or question that establishes that objective with the mutual consent of the client is advisable. If the counseling session is not the first one then it becomes easier to open the session as it requires reviewing of what happened in the previous counseling and what growth has the client noticed in himself since then. While discussing about the objective of the session or reviewing the status of the previous plan of action, the counselor should never be dominating but let the client speak and take active part in deciding the direction of the session. Until and unless the therapeutic counseling is two-way flow of communication, it cannot be termed as a person centred counseling. Closing a counseling session is as important as opening a session. If the counselor falters during the opening of the session, then he has the time and opportunity to make up for the mistake, during the rest of the session. But closing the session unsatisfactorily means not being able to do full justice to the set objectives. There is no scope for improvement and the counselor might have to wait till the next session to rectify the mistake. There are chances of complete wastage of purpose, time and effort. If the following advise of the Supervisor’s Guide to Career Development and Counseling for Civilian Employees is followed, a counseling session can be immensely successful: “Bring the session to a satisfactory end, wind up loose ends, make final summary remarks, make a list of follow-up activities, and clarify important points.” (para.21) Conclusion I feel that my person centred counseling skills have developed a lot since the time I was a diploma student. Now I realize that if we pay attention to small details like framing of questions in the right way, opening and closing of the counseling session, quality of response while dealing with the client, non verbal communication skills etc, then we can make significant growth in not only the quality of our counseling but also the well being and mental status of the person we are counseling. Word count: 2155 References Messer, D., and Jones, F., eds., 1999. Psychology and Social Care. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd. Nelson-Jones, R., 2006. Theory and Practice of Counselling and Therapy. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Anthony, K., 2000. Counselling in Cyberspace. [online]. Available from: http://www.kateanthony.co.uk/index.php?MenuOption=Counselling [cited 24 March 2007]. Army Study Guide. 2006. The Counseling Process. [online]. Available from: http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/counseling/the-counseling-process.shtml [cited 25 March 2007]. Supervisor’s Guide to Career Development and Counseling for Civilian Employees. 1999. Chapter 5: providing Career Counseling. [online]. Available from: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cgpc/cpm/home/sgfch5.htm [cited 25 March 2007]. The Rogerian Approach to Counselling Theory. n.d. [online]. Available from: http://www.uktherapists.com/articles/counselling/01.htm [cited 24 March 2007]. Read More