As a supervisor to counsellors, hypnotherapists and other therapists I find it really useful to take a look at the different models of therapy. This can help me to understand the model my supervisees are working from. I am an Integrative therapist which means I have my model of therapy that integrates various models. As a client looking for a therapist you may be confused by all the different types of counsellors and therapists around, some may say they are humanistic, existential, person centred, client centred, psychodynamic, behavioural etc. Which do you choose? The humanistic model covers existential, person centered, client centred therapies as well as some others. In this article, I discuss the humanistic model of person centred/ client centred therapy developed by Carl Rogers.
In the Counselling Directory (1) it defines humanistic existential therapies as:
‘Humanistic therapies focus on self-development, growth and responsibilities. They seek to help individuals recognise their strengths, creativity and choice in the ‘here and now’.
The humanistic approach was developed by Carl Rogers (1902-1987). He believed that we are all born with the innate ability towards psychological growth and that in the right circumstances we move towards self actualisation. He felt that in a therapeutic relationship, what really matters is the relationship a therapist has with his or her client, and that psychological change can happen if the therapeutic relationship met the following conditions (2):
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.
3. The second person, whom we shall term the therapist, is congruent or integrated in the 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.
Of these 6 conditions, the three core conditions that relate to the activities of the therapist are:
• Empathy (understanding the clients own frame of reference)
• Unconditional Positive Regard (being non-judgemental with the client)
• Congruence (being authentic with the client)
A therapist is usually trained in counselling skills which helps them to convey these core conditions to their clients. Look out for a later article where I will write about counselling skills
Marcia Tillman is a Supervisor, Trainer, Hypnotherapist and Integrative Counsellor (which includes the humanistic model) working at Abbey Place Clinic, Faversham, Kent. At her Kent clinic she sees clients from across the South East including Canterbury, Sittingbourne, Whitstable, Medway and Maidstone. She also she sees clients from London and across the UK.
Abbey Place Clinic is perfectly placed close to the town centre, public transport and local car parks. Only 1 hours train journey from London.
Tags: supervision, counselling, counsellor, faversham, kent, hypnotherapist, canterbury, london, uk, skype supervision, skype counselling, online supervision, humanistic, client centred, person centred.
References
(1) http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/humanistic.html
(2) (1957) Rogers, Carl. Journal of Consulting Psychology, Vol. 21, pp. 95–103