“Joel is a 36 years old man who has come to counselling because he feels unhappy

and unsatisfied in his life. Joel’s mother died when he was 12 and Joel grew up with his

father, who he describes as a good man, who worked hard to support his son, but struggled

with anger and alcohol issues and was never able to fully recover from the death of Joel’s

mother. Joel felt that his father was distant and so caught up in his own grief that he was

never able to love Joel. Joel describes himself as a rebel in his teens, who gave his father a

hard time but that he worked hard and went to university, which he saw as a way out of the

small town he grew up in and a way to escape his father. He now has a successful career in

corporate law and is married with a young son, Oliver, who has just had his first birthday.

Joel was initially happy in his career, as he enjoyed the challenge and the money that came

with his job. He has been able to give his wife, Anna, all the things that he missed out on as a

child: they have a big home in a good suburb and Oliver will go to private school. Anna does

not have to work and they plan to try for a second child next year. Despite all of the positives

in his life, Joel still feels unhappy. He loves his wife and son, but is feeling oppressed by the

constant demands of parenthood and feels that is work is suffering because he has to commit

more time at home. He enjoys work less than he did and he feels that his relationship with

Anna is also suffering as he finds himself wanting to spend more time away from home and

is stressed and frustrated with the situation and worries about whether he can really be a good

father and husband. He is also disappointed in himself for not being able to have more control

over his life.”

After reading the Joel condition I use Person-centred therapy. Unlike the other

therapy, person-centred therapy focuses on the surface/conscious mind, unlike other therapies

that dig-deep into the unconscious mind. In this approach, the therapist show core conditions

set by the rogers to the client to take him to his fullest potential. The purpose of Roger’s

humanistic therapy is to increase a personal feeling of self-worth, reduce the level of

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incongruence between the ideal and real self, and help a person become more of a fully

functioning person.

The Most common misunderstanding about person-centred therapy is that there are

three core conditions needed for successful therapy. According to Rogers, there are six core

conditions needed for the therapy those are;

1. Two people are in psychological contact.

2. The client, is in the state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious.

3. The therapist, is congruent or integrated in the relationship.

4. The therapist demonstrates unconditional positive regard (UPR) for the client.

5. The therapist demonstrates an empathic understanding of the client’s internal

frame of reference and endeavours to communicate this to the client.

6. The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathic understanding and

unconditional positive regard (UPR) is achieved.

(Rogers,1959) emphasized that these conditions are a matter of degree, and each

condition is not an all or nothing stipulation. Thus serving as ideals rather than

regulations.

Persona centred therapy is based upon that individuals are resourceful and capable to

taking responsibility of their actions in their lives and solving their own problems. Person

based therapy emphasizes emphatic harmony, therapists presence, acceptance and support the

client along with the authenticity and congruence in the therapist’s. In Joel’s case, his

therapist’s primary focus on the quality of the engagement and collaboration between himself

and Joel, for creating the optimum conditions to inspire personal growth and autonomy

within Joel’s life (David J. Cain,2010).

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Person centred therapy focuses around the theory that individual are with the vast

potential for understanding themselves, trustworthy, and being capable to resolve their

problems with the limited advice/interventions of the therapist. Therefore, Joel is having

doubts about his ability to be a worthy father to Oliver, a person centred approach to Joel’s

therapy may prove effective help in gaining a level of trust in himself to be father and

husband he wants to be, and encourage Joel’s journey in discovering his true self (Corey).

Joel has somehow developed a perception of himself based on the beliefs and

expectations of others such as his father, employer, wife, etc. It is hoped that throughout his

therapeutic journey and relationship with his therapist develops, he will begin to recognise

and appreciate the importance of personal growth/evaluation of not only his experiences but

of himself as human being. This evaluation enables Joel to make accurate decisions and

judgments about how he will proceed in his life. Therefore, the successful development inner

self may be the appropriate direction and goal of Joel’s therapy. Also, it will help the Joel’s to

gain a heightened sense of independence in order to better equip for the any future concerns

he may encounter (Roundy,2015). The approach of non-directive therapy was associated with

the increased understanding, greater self-exploration, and improved self-concept. Further

development of person- centred therapy has seen a shift in concentration toward the core

conditions.

Primary element in ensuring the success of the therapy is Joel himself. Therefore,

therapist have to pay specific attention to the frame of reference of Joel fosters, in addition to

his utilization of inner and outer resources. In the therapy it is most important that Joel

therapist show emphatic understanding to the experiences and worries to which Joel is going

through ensuring the non-judgemental and genuine perspective. It is important for the

therapist to remember that he is the guest in the Joel’s world of experiences (Cox, Bachkiorva

& Clutterbuck,2010).

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In order to be adequately learn/trained Person centred therapy, a practitioner must not

only learn the guidelines of the person centred therapy, which goes far beyond the knowledge

of principals such as unconditional positive regards, emphatic understanding, and

congruence- but practitioner have to pay attention to the own personal development. This is

because, along with the knowledge of the theory, personal growth is equally important as the

therapist self is a fundamental element of the therapeutic journey (Wikins,2002).

Discusses how certain other therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioural

therapy often appear much more stimulating for both the counsellor and the client, with the

therapist playing a significant role exhibiting a interpretation, master of complex skills of

analysis, and insight into the client’s circumstance’s and requirement for change. Person

centred therapist exhibits a somewhat quieter persona, that’s why it is beneficial and

appropriate choice of therapy for Joel, who had faced anger and rejection throughout his

childhood. Therefore, development of open and calm therapeutic relationship that will be

built on the trust and unconditional positive regard undoubtedly helpful for the Joel to move

forward.

Roger’s theory is often hard to understand and difficult to interpret, as empathy and

unconditional positive regard can be unmistakably defined. It is presumed by the new student

that simple portrayal of these conditions is required for the person-centred therapist.

Unfortunately, new students hold misconception that it is all that required to them to display

empathy and unconditional positive regard. But it is not that easy to be stimulated to a client

with any degree of effectiveness, as clients are not so easily support by solaced by

incongruence.

Joel’s therapist needs to be active and assertive, and at times offer interpretations,

observations and suggestions. These offerings will not take down Joel’s power, so Joel will

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open to these offerings, take what is good or relevant and discard the rest. Both the Joel and

therapist are equally important in the relationship, while Joel remain not only the centre of

attention, but also the centre of his own evaluation of himself. Joel’s therapist also try to

create dynamic power within the relationship so as to empower the Joel to see himself

worthy, most important judge mediator within his life (Mearns, 2002). Therapist role is not to

control the therapeutic environment, nor the evaluate or interpret Joel’s thoughts, behaviour,

and decisions. Rather, he is only there to create a positive and dependable relationship and

environment so Joel can undergo personal growth he is capable of. Power is the fundamental

feature of the person-centred therapy, so it is essential for the Joel’s therapist to encourage

him to discover and exercise his own power, rather than taking responsibility for him (Joel).

Therefore, rather looking for the answer from the therapist to fix the problems, Joel will be

encouraged to reflect on he feels about his responsibilities as a father, his relationship with

his wife and his job.

(Rogers,1951) believed that whilst symptoms do arise from the past experiences, it

will be beneficial for the client to concentrate on the present and future rather than the past.

Which is also applicable to Joel’s situation. Rather than liberating Joel from his past

experiences such as troubling relationship with his father and death of his mother, Joel’s

therapist will support Joel in achieving personal growth and self-actualization. It is the Joel’s

role to take responsibility for making improvement in his life, think about what is wrong in

his life and what can be done about it.

Person centred therapy has been described as being more attitude oriented rather than

skill oriented, with the three fundamental elements reflecting the attitude and nature of the

therapist towards the client, they are as follows;

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 Unconditional positive regard is displayed by the therapist towards the

clints. Rogers believed that for a client to achieve personal growth and live

their life to the fullest potential it is imperative that they are valued as

themselves. Joel is feeling oppressed by the constant pressures of parenthood

and throughout his session has advised that he is wanting to spend more and

more time away from his wife and son. Joel’s therapist hold his opinions and

personal thought regarding Joel’s feeling of resentment towards his home life,

wife and child it is important for the therapist to say non-judgemental and

exhibit a kind and caring to ensure that Joel feels valued and respected as a

person.

 The therapist is Congruent toward the client congruence is also known as

genuineness is the most fundamental elements in counselling according to

Rogers. In therapy, therapist displaced genuineness by allowing Joel to

experience them for who they really are. To ensure a successful therapeutic

relationship, Joel needs to be sure that therapist is being genuine and

trustworthy.

 The therapist has an empathic understanding towards the client- therapist

capacity to have a sensitive and understanding approach towards Joel’s feeling

and experiences. Therapist perhaps pointing out the similarities in his feelings

regards his disappointment in relationship with his own father, and the fear

and feelings he is experiencing surrounding his own son.

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References

Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy (9th ed.). (S.

Dobrin, Ed.) Cengage Learning.

Cox, E., Bachkirova, T., & Clutterbuck, D. (2010). The complete handbook of coaching. Los

Angeles, Calif.: SAGE.

David J. Cain, P. A. (2010). See larger image Person-centred Therapy Over Time.

Psychotherapy in Six Sessions Video Series. Washington, US. Retrieved 06 30, 2015

Freeth, R. (2007). Humanising Psychiatry and Mental Health Care: The Challenge of the

Person-centred Approach. Radcliffe Publishing. Retrieved 07 01, 2015

Mearns, D. (2002). Developing Person-Centred Counselling (2nd Edition). London, GBR:

SAGE Publications Ltd. (UK). Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

Rogers, C.R. (1957) Counselling and Psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Rogers, C.R. (1961) On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

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Wilkins, P. (2002). Counselling and Psychotherapy in Focus Series: Person-Centred Therapy

in Focus. London, GBR: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

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