Person-Centered Therapy
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: These three therapist characteristics create a growth-promoting climate in Person-Centered Therapy.
Congruence, unconditional positive regard, and accurate empathic understanding
MI differs from traditional PCT because MI is more ______ and intentionally focused on facilitating change.
What is directive?
A client spends most of the session talking about problems at work, but becomes noticeably quieter when mentioning their relationship with their mother.
What might a person-centered counselor do with that shift, and why?
Acknowledge or explore the shift without assuming what it means, etc.
How are congruence and unconditional positive regard different from one another?
Congruence = counselor being genuine/authentic
UPR = accepting and caring for the client without judgment
A person-centered therapist believes the client has the capacity for growth.
What, then, is the therapist's primary role?
To create a therapeutic relationship/climate that facilitates the client's own capacity for growth rather than directing or fixing the client
“Part of me wants to change, but another part of me doesn't.” This describes a central concept in MI.
What is ambivalence?
A client says, “I don't even know why I'm crying. This isn't that serious.”
Give a person-centered response and explain what makes it consistent with PCT.
Acceptance, empathy; don't minimize the client experience
Why is empathy more than simply repeating what a client has said?
You need to understand the client's experience from their perspective and communicate that understanding; could explore the meaning and feelings behind their words
A student says: “PCT sounds easy. You're basically just listening and letting the client talk.”
Identify two reasons this statement misunderstands PCT.
The therapist is actively listening and responding; communicating empathy; demonstrating congruence and UPR; attending to the therapeutic relationship; reflecting meaning/feelings; using immediacy; following the client's experience without becoming passive
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
A client says, “My doctor keeps telling me I need to exercise, but I'm fine. Everybody acts like it's some huge problem. I'm not changing my whole schedule just to go to a gym.”
1. Precontemplation
2. MI emphasizes understanding the client's autonomy and evoking their own reasons for change instead of imposing.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: A client has spent several sessions talking about feeling overwhelmed by family responsibilities. Today, they say, “I think I finally figured out what I need to do.”
What would you want to hear from the client next before moving forward, and why?
Explore their "understanding," how they got there, what it means, etc.
How do the therapist’s personal characteristics and the therapeutic relationship work together to promote client growth in PCT?
Therapist's being genuine, accepting, and empathic can help create a relationship where the client feels understood and supported; can also help increase client's capacity for growth