Counseling Theory- Person Centered Therapy

 

I need this back on Feb 1st by 6pm 

As you may have gathered through your required readings and the video for this module, the psychodynamic tradition has a rich history and has evolved over time to adapt to trends toward briefer forms of treatment. Concepts from the theory, such as defense mechanisms, transference, and counter-transference, are also used by most non-psychoanalytic counselors to supplement their work with clients.

Tasks:

• Person Centered therapists do not use therapeutic techniques. Instead, they try to create a therapeutic relationship characterized by empathy, acceptance, and genuineness. Explain if you, as a therapist, would feel comfortable working with clients without techniques or would prefer to use techniques. Include information from the chapter readings to support your response.

Grading CriteriaMaximum PointsQuality of initial posting, including fulfillment of assignment instructions16Quality of responses to classmates12Frequency of responses to classmates4Reference to supporting readings and other materials4Language and grammar4Total:40 

Client-Centered Approach

© 2014 Argosy University

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In this video of an individual psychotherapy session, the counselor uses a client-centered approach while
the two explore concerns about her child. While watching the video, reflect upon the following questions:

• How does the counselor illustrate the client-centered “way of being” in the session?
• How does the counselor illustrate a client-centered “way of understanding” the problem?
• What client-centered techniques does the counselor use in the session?

Interviewee: I’m worried. This week my children’s school counselor called, she wants to meet with me in
person, but I don’t have any time in my day to meet with her. I keep putting her off, I am afraid she is
thinking I am a failure as a mother, I am starting to think I am too.

Interviewer: You’re worried that you are failing your children because it’s difficult for you to meet with
the school counselor.

Interviewee: What if I am a failure; I just can’t be there for my children like I should be. If I am not on my
full time job, I am at one of my classes or doing my schoolwork. What if my school is getting in the way of
me being a good parent? Am I being selfish? Maybe I should drop out of school to have more time with
my children; I just don’t know what to do.

Interviewer: You have so many responsibilities, it is difficult to find the time you want to spend with your
children. I mean, it must be challenging to find openings in your schedule for meetings or appointments,
so challenging that you are wondering if it’s all worth it.

Interviewee: I am, I never thought I’d get to this point of my studies anyway. I didn’t do very well in
school as a child. In fact, I really didn’t like school until college. It was so hard to focus and reading was so
hard for me in the beginning they put me in the slow reading group, which was so embarrassing. I
thought I was never going to learn to read well. My teacher and parents thought I just wasn’t trying hard
enough or that I wasn’t paying enough attention. They would get really frustrated with me because it
would take me so long to get anything done. Eventually my school counselor convinced my parents to
have me tested. The results indicated that I had a learning disability.

Interviewer: School was tough for you in the beginning, so tough in fact that you never imagined that
you would be in college someday, not to mention applying to graduate school and hoping to become a
counselor.

Interviewee: I still wonder sometimes if I’m cut out for this.

Interviewer: Those early doubts about your potential creep back into your mind sometimes.

Interviewee: They do, I see myself in my children, I don’t want them to go to what I went through. When I
go into their school building it brings so much of it back, I begin to feel those awful feelings again like, I
am a failure.

Interviewer: You have feared that you were failing at many times in your life, which brings us back to
your fear that you are failing as a mother. What is that fear like for you?

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Interviewee: Terrible, it consumes me sometimes, it’s just awful.

Interviewer: Can you describe it some more?

Interviewee: Well, I start to think about failing as a mother, my heart feels heavy and I feel like I can’t
breathe. My throat feels like it’s closing up. After the teacher called yesterday I had to sit down and tell
myself to breathe. I just kept thinking that my children are alone at this, I am not there for them as I
should be. I just kept hearing my teachers and parents, and parents’ voice was saying I wasn’t paying
attention enough.

Interviewer: And this is how you feel when you go into the school?

Interviewee: Usually, yes. Honestly, I avoid my children’s school, it just brings back too many bad
memories of my days in elementary school. I think that might be part of my avoidance of the school
counselor too, maybe it’s not just my fault, schedule keeping me from meeting with her. On top of it all, I
don’t want to hear what she might have to say. What if she wants to tell me that my children are failing?
That they aren’t trying hard enough? That they just need to focus better? What if she wants them tested
for learning disabilities? What if they’ve got learning disabilities from me and how am I going to pay for
those tests? Honestly, what scares me most is that she wants to tell me that I’m neglecting my children.

Interviewer: You seem to be feeling overwhelmed with anxiety right now. There is so much you don’t
know yet about the situation. It seems like a lot of fear flood you when you think about the possibilities.

Interviewee: Yes, like I am drowning.

Interviewer: Like you need someone to throw you a life preserver?

Interviewee: I could use some help. It would be so nice to feel less alone with all of this. Now, that I think
about it, I remember feeling so relieved when they told me I had a learning disability. I finally knew the
reason why I struggled so much. My teacher and parents finally understood that I was trying hard enough,
but that I just needed to learn in a different way with some added support. It was like being thrown a life
preserver at the time.

Interviewer: So you grabbed it when it was thrown to you?

Interviewee: I got a tutor who understood my learning style, he was like my interpreter. After my
tutoring session I remember feeling like he really spoke my language. My teacher really started to speak
my language too, she pushed me in a new way and I began to read. It felt like a whole new world open up
to me, it was such a relief.

Interviewer: You were not a failure after all.

Interviewee: I didn’t fail, that’s right. I began to do much better in school and eventually got good enough
grades to get into college. I always had to work harder than my friends did, but it was worth it when I
would succeed. I think the whole experience made me even more hardworking and persistent. I just never
gave up because I began to believe in myself. I didn’t blame myself anymore, I understood that what I
needed to do and I just did it.

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Interviewer: You never gave up, and now you’re in college and pursuing your career, you believe you
love. You told me when we first met that you dreamed of becoming a counselor for a long time.

Interviewee: I have, it is happening, it really is.

Interviewer: Your determination and hard work has helped you reach your full potential and pursue your
dream, but you are torn between pursuing your dream and wanting more time with your children.

Interviewee: It would be such a mistake to quit now, I just can’t do that. This training means too much to
me and it means a lot to my family. It will mean that I can provide better financially for my children and I’d
be happier, my mom’s happy, everyone’s happy, right?

Interviewer: When you mentioned how much your dream means to you, what feelings did you notice?

Interviewee: Excitement, hope.

Interviewer: Are you feeling excited and hopeful at this moment?

Interviewee: Yes, I feel a mix of both along with the same worry I mentioned earlier.

Interviewer: When you focused on the worry, you described feeling like your heart was heavy, your
breathing was more difficult and your throat was closing up. How does that compare to when you were
feeling excited and hopeful?

Interviewee: I don’t know.

Interviewer: That’s all right. Let’s just sit for a moment while you bring up the thoughts you were having
about pursuing your dream of becoming a counselor.

Interviewee: Okay.

Interviewer: Now, try to picture that happening. Imagine being in that place where you have reached
your goal, you are more financially stable and you’re fulfilled in your career. What are you experiencing as
you imagine that state of things?

Interviewee: Lighter, calmer, and I don’t know, maybe at peace.

Interviewer: Tell me more about those sensations.

Interviewee: There have been moments when I’ve had those feelings in the past when things were not as
overwhelming, like when my children were each born or when I graduated from high school, the burdens
were lifted so I felt lighter, my breathing was easy and I felt kind of peaceful. It’s hard to describe.

Interviewer: You described it wonderfully. What would it be like to think about your children’s situation
when you are in that place, that lighter easier more peaceful sensation.

Interviewee: I never tried it. I feel those sensations now and thinking about the situation at the same time
feels less overwhelming. I don’t feel less fearful about talking with the school counselor. Going into the

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school brings fear and shame back to me. I wonder if she’d be willing to meet with me somewhere else;
somewhere I feel more comfortable.

Interviewer: You’re beginning to explore options so that you can talk with her and help your children.

Interviewee: I never thought about options like that before. I just thought about the school setting and
feeling judged and I wanted to avoid it.

Interviewer: What other options come to mind?

Interviewee: I could talk to her on the phone instead of meeting with her in person, that would be easy
for me to, maybe she could talk at a time when I’m not at work or school.

Interviewer: You’ve now been focusing on your son situation again. So how are you feeling now?

Interviewee: Relieved, I feel more hope, maybe less panic.