Individual Approach in Therapy - Essay Example

?Person-Centred Therapy Offers the Therapist All That He/She Will Need to Treat The Person-Centred Therapy The person-centred theory sees theclient as their “own best authority on their own experience” (Mulhauser 1). The theory views the client as an individual who is wholly able to achieve their growth potential. It holds that accomplishing potential needs demands a favourable environment considering that under severe conditions, an individual can fail to develop and grow well. When an individual is denied positive attention and acceptance, he or she may start losing touch with the meaning of their experiences. As a result, their natural tendency to develop in a particular direction consistent with their meaning may be obstructed. The person-tendency therapy is based on three main conditions that offer a conducive climate for therapeutic change and growth. The conditions include empathic understanding, congruence, and unconditional positive regard (Mulhauser 1). In consideration of unconditional positive regard, the counsellor recognizes the client non-judgmentally and unconditionally. The client or the patient is free to investigate all feelings and thoughts be they negative or positive, without the risk of being condemned or rejected. The patient is free to express and explore without the need to do anything in particular or fulfil any particular behavioural standards to enjoy positive recommendation from the counsellor. In regard to empathic understanding, the counsellor precisely understands the client’s feelings, meanings, and thoughts from their (the client’s) perspective. When the counsellor views the world from the perspective of the client, it indicates that the perspective is of value and that the client is being constructed (Mulhauser 1). In congruence, the counsellor acts genuinely and without external influence. Professionalism does not precede the counsellor, and thus, he or she is transparent and straight with the patient. There is no hidden knowledge or an air of authority in existence, and the patient does not have to contemplate the nature of the counsellor. All the three main conditions are thought to give the client the capacity to grow and develop in their own way. They also expand their identity and become individuals who are independent of other people’s influence when they need to think or act in a particular manner (Mulhauser 1). The conditions make the person-centred therapy an important component for the therapist in his/her treatment of the patient. This is because the therapy sees the patient as their best “therapist”, able to fulfil their own potential for development. Provided that the therapist will offer a conducive environment based on the three conditions of client-centred therapy, the therapist will have all that he/she needs to treat clients. Advantages and Disadvantages of Person-Centred Therapy Advantages of Person-Centred Therapy The person-centred therapy feels good to the patient. Many patients have never experienced unconditional acceptance. The therapeutic relationship that comes into being with focus on the person presents a new form of relationship for patients and establishes a platform for individual discovery and growth (Bea & Tesar 122). Person-centred therapy is mainly concerned with the present rather than the past. Thus, the therapy depends on shorter historic periods compared to the psychodynamic therapies (psychodynamic therapy mainly concentrates on the unconscious material). Client-centred therapy can be shortened to a level of being performed in a few sessions, or short periods like one weekend or a day. This benefits patients who have problems that need immediate attention or those who lack the time for longer sessions. The closeness and emotional support of the person-centred clients can be beneficial in establishing a rapport with the patient who has been conventionally disenfranchised from the society. If the counsellor is capable of engaging the client in discussing their thoughts, the fact that the counsellor is generally non-intrusive and non-directive can be beneficial to multicultural patients with disabilities who do not trust the authorities. The patient may feel less threatened by the interaction they have with the person-centred counsellor. The therapy is based on the patient’s innate ability to understand the issues being confronted, and thus they have the capacity to create answers to the issues that they are facing. The relationship between the counsellor and the patient is very important in this form of therapy. The counsellor offers support and encouragement to make the client capable of developing a reasonable solution to the issues confronting them. Disadvantages of the Person-Centred Therapy The person-centred therapy is not based on scientific concepts. Instead, it depends on hypothetical constructs. The period of the therapy is not certain, and its endpoint is not clearly defined according to Bea and Tesar (122). These uncertainties develop sophistication in reacting to managed care questions due to the fact that managed care groups generally need evidence of rapid symptom reduction. Furthermore, just like psychodynamic therapies, the person-centred therapy lacks an empirical body of evidence. This form of therapy is not effective for severe types of somatisation, anxiety, and depression. Yet again, the therapy is not concerned with intrapsychic conflicts assumed by psychodynamic theorists (Bea and Tesar 123). The non-directive method is both a disadvantage and an advantage. The disadvantage is related to the reality that some individuals favour a direct approach considering their racial or ethnic backgrounds. They perceive the counsellor as an authoritative figure, and they look forward to him to offer answers and directions to their problems. According to them, talk cannot solve many problems. Instead, they feel that action is the solution to their issues. If an individual attempts to clarify what they are suggesting or repeats what has already been said, they feel that this is an ineffective way of resolving issues of considerable magnitude. Actually, the patient may see the counsellor as being manipulative since they perceive, based on past experiences, people of authority as being controlling or manipulative. In order to overcome this disadvantage, the counsellor needs to perform a thorough job in understanding the philosophy of person-centred therapy and the unique function that the counsellor plays during the therapy. Person-Centred Therapy on Disorders CRC Health Group (1) states that the person-centred therapy can be used as a treatment for people with any form of disorder or condition that would benefit from conventional psycho- or talk therapy. Both residential and outpatient treatment programs for a number of disorders, addictions, and other mental and behavioural challenges usually incorporate talk therapy in the detailed treatment plan. Although the therapy does not address any particular diagnosis or disorder, the therapeutic approach may be very valuable in the treatment of a number of disorders and conditions (CRC Health Group 1). Addictions like alcoholism and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are treated with the application of psychological and medical therapies so that the healing process is comprehensive and long-term. The client-centred therapy is one of the effective therapies used to treat eating disorders and depression in eating disorder residential programs and in depression treatment facilities respectively. Rogers noted that the process of self-actualization and self-discovery happened in response to the therapist’s supply of constant empathic understanding of patient’s experience Rogers (312). The therapist’s empathic understanding is based on the attitude of respect and acceptance. Self-discovery has shown to be beneficial to individuals with eating disorders, during cocaine addict rehabilitation, in the treatment of alcoholism, and for patients recovering from trauma. The therapy permits the individual to unite with his/her essence, and thus he or she is well equipped to go beyond the limits of addiction and other compulsions (Casa Palmera 1). Criticism of Person-Centred Therapy The person-centred therapy postulated by Carl Rogers has been heavily criticized. One of the criticisms of the theory relates to the fact that it is based on little theory. In fact, the therapy has been referred to as a theory thin according to Casemore (4). The therapy has been criticised based on its opposition to diagnosis, its emphasis on the patient’s self-assessment as the way to determine the result of therapy, and the ambiguity of its principles. The person-centred therapy may not work well with individuals who find it hard to talk about themselves or individuals with mental illnesses that distort their views of reality. In the present day, only a few of the mental health professionals use the person-centred therapy. However, its principles have greatly influenced the practice of the majority of therapists (Harvard Health Publications 1). John Norcross and James Prochaska in their book Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis have heavily criticised client-centred therapy from various perspectives. They state that from the theoretical point of view, the client-centred therapy is open to intense scrutiny. Rogers advocates for a treatment based on some type of extinction. Troubled reactions are thought to be conditioned by the regard for parents and contingent love. The therapist must reverse the process through the establishment of a social-learning environment. The environment must be free of positive regard conditions and contingencies. The client is permitted to talk about his or her troubled behaviour in the absence of punishment or reinforcement. Consequently, the lack of contingencies results in the termination of talk about the problems. It is difficult to determine from the verbal extinctions alone if the behaviour of the client has changed or stopped talking about it. Relying on extinction is lengthy and can result in difficulties such as unplanned recovery of the exterminated responses (Norcross and Prochaska 153). From the psychoanalytic point of view, the therapy exemplifies how an individual’s views can be altered by people he or she is most likely to consult for psychological treatment. The therapy actually offers a transference relationship based on the all the components of maternal love. Patients are promised good things that will be fulfilled by unconditional love. Even research has indicated that the responses made by Rogers to his clients were highly conditional on expressing the feelings of the client. When clients expressed certain feelings, he was likely to express empathy or show interest. To scheme unconditional love is a disservice to the clients as love from the actual world, in the real sense, is conditional. Such deception can motivate patients in believing that in comparison to the rest of the universe, people who could love them are only therapists (Norcross and Prochaska 154). From the cultural point of view, the therapy disregards the environment beyond the therapeutic relationship and this often results in ineffectiveness and naivete. The social setting in humanistic theories is regarded as an impediment to self-realization, instead of a platform in which the self is realized or lost. Rogers’ downplaying of the real world or reality confirms the public view of psychotherapy as self-indulgent, expensive talk, and unrealistic about an individual’s inner potentials and feelings. Reality is not just composed of emotions shown in a 50-minute session, social institutions, political power, economic considerations, and family relationships that generally wield more influence on selfhood than it is (Norcross and Prochaska 154). Rogers’ obsession with individuation, self-actualization, and selfhood is culture specific. His position reinforces and reflects how individualism is highly regarded in the Western culture. It is important to note that not all the cultures share the emphasis on self. In fact, the term “self” does not exist for most cultures. His description of an ideal person does not fit across the cultures. Some of the ethnic groups prefer an external locus of function and assessment quite well. The person-centred therapist may be nondirective in the manner in which they address issues in therapy. However, the underlying values are non-directive. The value on autonomy and separateness over connectedness and interdependence expresses a masculine and Western perspective (Norcross and Prochaska 154). Paul Wilkins has also criticized the client-centred therapy. He suggests that the non-directivity principle is the core of person-centred therapy. However, as stated before, it is at times criticized as defiance of the unavoidable greater authority of the therapist in a therapeutic association or as something not practical. It is suggested that because therapists are full of expertise and knowledge, and the client possesses none, it is the therapist who has authority over the session. Therefore, there is an unavoidable imbalance of power. In fact, Rogers’ second condition necessitates that the client to some level becomes anxious and vulnerable, and thus, it is probable that it will invoke and provoke a sense of absence of control and a feeling of powerlessness. The person-centred therapy seems to verify this inevitability. Under such circumstances, whether it is the wish of the therapist or not, some of the clients are most likely to follow what they see as directions from him or her (Wilkins145). For a person-centred therapist to pretend that he or she is non-directive is to reject reality and this results in the avoidance of the problem of power imbalance in such therapeutic relationships. It is also suggested that therapists possess the experience, knowledge, and skills that make them ethically and professionally mandated to use them to the advantage of the client. Person-centred therapists tend to avoid this and thus they disadvantage and deprive their clients of certain benefits. This is highly attributed to the fact that what is meant by non-directivity in person-centred therapy is deeply entrenched in misapprehension (Wilkins145). Another individual who has criticised the therapy is Greg Mulhauser. The criticism expresses a misapprehension of the actual challenges of constantly showing unconditional positive regard, congruence, and empathic understanding. This is particularly true of congruence. At times, some of the therapeutic methods used in other traditions rely on the willingness of the counsellor to hold back, “mentally formulate hypotheses about the client, or conceal their own personal reactions behind a consistent professional face, there is a real challenge in applying these techniques with the openness and honesty which defines congruence” (Mulhauser 1). It may also indicate something of unwillingness to take seriously practical research on the effectiveness of counselling and the fact that the quality of the client-counsellor relationship is an indicator of the therapeutic effectiveness. However, this statement is to some extent controversial because one can argue that to get a quality relationship, one cannot entirely rely on the person-centred therapy core conditions (Mulhauser 1). In other words, the core conditions do not define a quality relationship between the client and therapist (or the counsellor). Conclusion The client-centered theory views the client as being able to fulfill his or her own needs for growth. It is based on three main conditions including congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathic understanding. These three conditions offer a suitable environment for therapeutic change and growth. In regard to unconditional positive regard, the counselor is able to identify the client non-judgmentally and un-conditionally. In relation to congruence, the counselor is genuine and real. In other words, the counselor is transparent and present to the patient. In empathic understanding, the counselor accurately understands the feelings, thoughts, and meanings of the client from his or her point of view. The therapy has both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages of the therapy is that it feels good to the patient. The therapeutic relationship formed offers a new type of relationship for the patient, and creates a platform for personal discovery and growth. On the other hand, the therapy is not based on scientific concepts. Instead, the therapy entirely depends on hypothetical constructs. In regard to treating disorders, Rogers offered evidence that the process of self-actualization and self-discovery occurred in response to the counsellor’s offer of constant empathic understanding of the patient’s experiences. For instance, Paul Wilkins suggests that the core of the client-centred therapy is the non-directivity principle. The therapist is full of expertise and knowledge, and the client has none, thus, the therapist has much authority over the counselling or therapy sessions. Works Cited Bea, Scott & Tesar, George. “A Primer on Referring Patients for Psychotherapy.” Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 69.2 (2002): 113-114. Print. Casa Palmera. Client Centered Therapy. Casa Palmera, 2009. Web. 17 May 2012. Casemore, Rogers. Person-Centred Counselling In A Nutshell. London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2011. Print. CRC Health Group. Client-Centered Therapy What is it? CRC Health Group, 2011. Web. 17 May 2012. Harvard Health Publications. Carl Rogers’s Client Centred Therapy: Under the Microscope. Harvard Health Publications, 2006. Web. 14 May 2012. Mulhauser, Greg. An Introduction to Person-Centred Counselling. Counselling Resource, 11 May 2011. Web. 14 May 2012. Norcross, J. C., & Prochaska, J. O. Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Print. Rogers Carl. On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy. Mariner Books. 1995. Print. Wilkins, Paul. Person-Centred Therapy: 100 Key Points. Oxon, OX: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print. Read More