YEAR 1 essay 1 - Copy - ‘Demonstrate your theoretical understanding of Roger’s core conditions, PDF

Preview

Summary

‘Demonstrate your theoretical understanding of Roger’s core conditions, and describe these as experienced in counselling practice triads'...

Description

‘Demonstrate your theoretical understanding of Roger’s core conditions, and describe these as experienced in counselling practice triads' Introduction Carl R Rogers (1902-1987) the most influential American psychologist, the creator of Person-Centred Approach. The approach associated with Rogers, also has been a name as ‘Nondirective’, ’Client-centred’ or ‘Rogerian’. The starting point of the Rogerian approach to counselling and psychotherapy is best expressed by Rogers himself. “It is that the individualist has within himself or herself vast resources for self-understanding, for altering his or her self-concept, attitudes and self-directed behaviour-and that these resources

1

can be tapped if only a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided.” (Rogers, 1986: 257) The therapist creates a special relationship with the client, which is very important in this approach; however, the client's success in treatment is in their control. The therapist is simply there to facilitate in a non-directive manor. Rogers developed his theory based on his experience while working with emotionally troubled people and stated that we have a remarkable capacity for self-healing and personal growth leading towards self-actualization. Carl Rogers feels that “life is an active process” (Rogers, 1980: 118). His theory states that humans are always striving to grow, change and actualize. Rogers believed that the most important factor in successful therapy is the climate created by the therapist’s attitude to their client. He asserted that the therapist should be, understanding, genuine and warm to improve the client’s conditions. Rogers consistently emphasize the role of the relationship between client and the therapist as of primary significance in therapeutic process. In 1957 he published an article entitled “The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change” in which he claimed that there are six necessary and sufficient conditions, which are necessary and required for therapeutic change. 1. Two persons are in psychological contact. 2. The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious.

2

3. The second person, whom we shell term the therapist, is congruent or integrated in relationship. 4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client. 5. The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavours to communicate this experience to the client. 6. The communication to the client of the therapists empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved. No other conditions are necessary. If these six conditions exist, and continue over a period of time, this is sufficient. The process of constructive personality change will follow. (Rogers, 1957: 95) Rogers determined that 3 of the six conditions were core to the therapeutic process and named them as a core conditions.

Core Conditions 1. Congruence 2. Unconditional Positive Regard 3. Empathy Rogers believe that a therapist, who will follow those core conditions, will help their client to more confidently express their true feelings, feel safe to talk about any issue without fear of judgement or critical comments. My journey with the “Core Conditions” I would like to start with the Empathy.

3

EMPATHY – is perhaps the most well know of Rogers’ therapeutic conditions. Carl Rogers describe the importance of empathy as he saw it: “To my mind, empathy is in itself a healing agent. It ia one of the most potent aspects of therapy, because it releases, it confirms, it brings even the most frightened client into the human race. If a person is understood, he or she belongs” (Rogers, 1986: 376) Empathy- is the ability to feel and understand what the other person feels. In other words, empathy is the experience of trying to fully understand another person’s world. Rogers beautifully presented the meaning of empathy on his lecture with students as: “The way of being with another person which is termed empathic has several facets. It means entering the private perceptual world of the other and becoming thoroughly at home in it. It involves being sensitive, moment to moment to the changing felt meanings which flow in this other person, to the fear or rage or tenderness or confusion or whatever, that he or she is experiencing. It means temporarily living in his life, moving about it delicately without making judgements, sensing meanings of which he is scarcely aware, but not trying to uncover feelings of which he is totally unaware, since this would be too threatening. It includes communicating your sensing of his world as you look with fresh and unfrightened eyes at elements of which he is fearful. It means frequently checking with him as to the accuracy of your sensing’s, and being guided by his responses”. (Rogers, 1974) Empathy is also about understanding a client’s perceptions, reactions, and feelings. One of the most common methods to experience empathy is to listen carefully to what a client is saying, not only through words, but also through all forms of non-verbal and bodily communication.

4

Truly listening is a very powerful tool, if we can carefully listen to the other person, we will be able to recognize the feelings that have been expressed by the client and understand the sources of those feelings. “This kind of sensitive, active listening is exceedingly rare in our lives. We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.” (Rogers, 1980: 116)

Offering client empathy by non-verbal body language we have to be aware of our own facial expression (mirroring and sharing the emotions of the client), effective eye contact without staring, remaining relatively relaxed, open posture ( arms and legs uncrossed), leaning forward from time to time. Sitting at a comfortable angle and distance. Looking genuinely interested and listening attentively. Attending involves full SOLER contact and means that we are physically and emotionally available to the client, totally concentrated and we are giving 100% of our self. My experience with the core conditions started at Unit 1. Being a new student of counselling course with just a little knowledge of this subject I was excited, full of enthusiasm and waiting for the new challenge. During the first Units we were exploring the core conditions and all the aspects of how to play the role of counsellor in our trails. At the first didn’t seem to be difficult but in the real world when we had to apply the theory into practice I really opened my eyes and I get scared. After the first trial I had a lot of doubts and thoughts:

5

-

Can I be expressive enough as a person to communicate, can the client understand me correctly?

-

Can I be able to give reflective feedback?

-

Can I let myself entre fully into the world of client feelings and see these as he does without losing myself?

-

Would I be able to respond effectively through words but also by body language?

-

Paraphrasing – would I be able to choose the right words to restating client’s thoughts and feelings.

-

What will happen if the client will not feel any connection with me, would I feel big disappointment in myself?

The most important - can I offer the client all the conditions, that he/she will feel safe and trust me enough to start the emotional journey with me? In my private life but mainly at work, quite often I receive feedback from my friends or employee that, they can trust me and they feel comfortable in my companion. They are not afraid to talk to me about any problems, worries, concerns or issues especially from private life. They can feel that I really listen to them and truly understand what’s going inside the person without making any judgement. They can feel free to express any form of emotions. Sometime someone will cry, sometime I can see and feel the frustrations, anger, disappointments or guilt. Recently one of my staff came to me before the shift start, asking, if she can go home, as she is not feeling well and not able to work. I could see from her face that there is something wrong, she looks so sad, unhappy, upset, tense also very tired.

6

-

I asked her, Nora what is going on? You know, that you can talk to me about anything? What is the problem?

-

She started to cry

-

I give her time…… after a few minutes she started her story saying:

-

I’ve been with this guy for over 3 years, last weekend for the first time we had sex and he is the first I had sex with. You know me Joanna, my family has strong believes. I want to married him,

-

She start cry again.

-

Last night I found out, that he is married back home in India, I confront him and he admitted. He told me, that last year his family forced him to married that girl but, he loves me, but he can’t change anything.

-

She continue……..it’s hurts so much, I never love and trust anybody like him, I’m crushed, my heart is broken, how I’m going to live without him………………..

-

I lock the office door so nobody could disturb us and we were talking for over an hour.

I try to make her feel comfortable so she could share all her concerns; I could sense that she is in that stage, where she feels vulnerable and insecure. I offered her my understanding of her feelings and respect. Letting her know that I’m here for you and I give her my warmth, acceptance and support. Letting her know that I’m not here to judge you or criticise so you could be yourself and trust me. What I offered to Nora- I’m asking myself Is this Empathy? Knowing the meaning, the description of this word, makes me feel more appreciate, more understanding others people world and I guess I’m already applying empathy in my life in different situations with different people. 7

I agree with the meaning of Empathy stated by Rogers: “…Then, in my experience, there are other situations in which the empathic way of being has the highest, priority. When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled, anxious, alienated, terrified, or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity- then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship offered by an empathic person (who must, of course, possess the other two attitudes) provides illumination and healing. In such situations deep understanding is, I believe, the most precious gift one can give to another“(Rogers, 1980: 160a) I believe too, that deep understanding it is a very valued gift, which we can offer to another person.

CONGRUENCE- according to Rogers is one of the most important attribute in counselling. “Congruence, or genuineness, involves letting the other person know “where you are” emotionally. It may involve confrontation and the straightforward expression of personally owned feelings – both negative and positive. Thus, congruence is a basis for living together in climate of realness” (Rogers, 1980: 160b) Congruence is also often called genuineness. It means, to be yourself in your relationship with other people, without any pretence or façade. Genuineness demand a significant depth of selfknowledge

8

When we are congruent and the way how we act and what we say is compatible with how we are feeling and what we are thinking. This involves the counsellor being open to his or her own feelings as much as is possible, it means being my real self without simulation. In “On becoming a person” Rogers describe the meaning of congruence as follows “It has been found that personal change is facilitated when the psychotherapist is what he is, when in the relationship with his client he is genuine and without “front” or façade, openly being the feelings and attitudes which at the moment are flowing in him. We have coined the term “congruence” to try to describe this condition. By this we mean that the feelings the therapist is experiencing are available to him, available to his awareness, and he is able to live these feelings, be them, and able to communicate them if appropriate” (Rogers, 1961:61) Congruence supportive communication and is significant in relationship. Congruence is “what is communicated verbally and nonverbally. This is an area that I admit that I could have a problem with. My facial expression sometimes can say opposite of what I say. I tend to refrain from saying something; consequently, my expression may say otherwise. At work when I deal with some difficult issues, probably my staff can see my frustration or anger even when I did say, no I’m ok. Such behaviour leads to distrust. As a manger, I most definitely do not want to suggest any hidden agendas. I want to build an open and trusting relationship with employees. I will strive to improve in congruence supportive communication. In counselling we cannot pretend or afford to not to be real. Congruence it is a core value that therapist must hold in order to create a proper alliance with the client.

9

UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD - also called non- judgmental warmth or acceptance. “The individual’s return to unconditional positive self-regard is the crux of psychologicalgrowth in the theory. It is the factor that reunifies the self with the actualizing tendency… Rogers hypothesises that one must perceive reception of unconditional positive regard in order to correct the pathological state. The communication of unconditional positive regard by a significant other is one way to achieve the above conditions” (Bozarth,1998: 84) Unconditional positive regard expecting the therapist to be accepting no matter what the client is communicating or experiencing without making any judgmental comments. Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) is quite often misunderstood as the meaning of to be ‘nice’ to the client. “Unconditional positive regard does not mean that we have to adopt an attitude of being ‘nice’, or over-friendly, or behaving in any way that is false. To do this would be a therapeutic disaster. It probably does make the process easier if we like our clients as people, and even feel great affection for them, but it is not a condition of counselling that you must like everybody. It is true that there are some people whom we like on first sight, with others it may take longer, or it may not happen at all”(Merry,1999: 137)

We have to offer non - judgmental acceptance to the client so he can feel safe enough to work through their negative feelings.

10

In 1961 Carl Rogers wrote: “Can I free him (the client) from the threat of external evaluation? In almost every phase of our lives- at home, at school, at work – we find ourselves under the rewards and punishments of external judgment. ‘That’s good’; ‘That’s naughty’; ‘That’s worth an A’; ‘That’s a failure’; That’s good counseling’; ‘That’s poor counseling’. Such judgments are a part of our lives from infancy to old age” (Rogers, 1961: 54) Rogers expect and believe in people’s honesty, the client should be accepted as they are not as they want to be or how the therapist feels they should be. Rogers stated that the client should be wholly accepted with no exceptions. If the therapist accepts the client the way he is, that is one step closer to self-acceptance. If the therapist can demonstrate Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) regardless of what the client says the core condition has been applied and the therapist create a relaxed and trustworthy environment for the client.

Summary To be counsellor is a privileged occupation. The relationship which she or he creates with the client is kind of unique journey into his private world. I believe that it is important to understand that Empathy, Congruence and Unconditional Positive Regard are core concept and unique in the person-centre therapy. All core conditions are necessary in therapeutic relationship. Rogers’s main idea was to create an environment for the client, in which he will eventually be able to independently understand and express his feelings. 11

Rogers believed that the equality between the client and therapist are essential to a healthy and positive therapeutic relationship and he felt that if the therapist behaving in a such a way were to be seen as ‘the expert’ it would put the relationship in some kind of danger, as it is the client who is the one with all the answers know, not the therapist.

References Bozarth J (1998). Person-Centred Therapy:A Revolutionary Paradigm. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. 84. Merry T (1999). Learning and Being in Person-Centred Counselling. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. 137-138. Rogers Carl R (1957) The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology,21, 95-103. Rogers Carl R (1961). On Becoming a Person. London: Constable. 54. Rogers Carl R (1961). On Becoming a Person. London: Constable. 61. Rogers Carl R. (1974). Carl Rogers on Empathy. Available: http://www.talkingtherapy.org.uk/counselling/reflecting-feelings/. Last accessed 2 January 2014. Rogers Carl R (1980). A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 116. Rogers Carl R (1980). A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 118. Rogers Carl R (1980). A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 160a. Rogers Carl R (1980). A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 160b. Rogers Carl R. (1986). Carl Roger on the Development of the Person-Centered Approch. Person-Centere Review. 1 (3), 257-259. Rogers Carl R. (1986). “Reflection of Feelings.” Person-Centere Review. 1 (4), 375-377. 12

13...