British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy
Core Conditions
The three core conditions, empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, present a considerable challenge to the person-centred practitioner, for they are not formulated as skills to be acquired, but rather as personal attitudes or attributes ‘experienced’ by the therapist, as well as communicated to the
These conditions can be expressed in plain English as follows: The counsellor is congruent (genuine). The counsellor experiences unconditional positive regard (UPR) – non-judgmental warmth and acceptance – towards the client. The counsellor feels empathy towards the client.
The Key Features of the Person – Centered Approach Empathy (the counsellor trying to understand the client’s point of view) Congruence (the counsellor being a genuine person ) Unconditional positive regard (the counsellor being non-judgemental)
These core conditions include therapist congruence (or genuineness), unconditional positive regard (acceptance and respect), and accurate empathic understanding.
Person-centred values These are the guiding principles that help to put the interests of the individual receiving care or support at the centre of everything we do. Examples include: individuality, independence, privacy, partnership, choice, dignity, respect and rights.
The first three conditions are empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. These first three conditions are called the core conditions , sometimes referred to as the ‘facilitative conditions ‘ or the ‘client’s conditions ‘. In other words, they are the conditions that the client needs for the therapy to work.
The core counselling skills are described below. Attending. Silence. Reflecting and Paraphrasing . Clarifying and the Use of Questions. Focusing. Building Rapport . Summarising. Immediacy.
Eventually, regarding oneself positively (i.e., as having worth ) relies upon living in accordance with experienced conditions of worth . Introjected values are adopted as one’s own, without consideration or reference to one’s true organismic values , resulting in incongruence with one’s real self (cf.
What skills does a counsellor need? Communication skills . You need excellent verbal communication skills to effectively talk to a range of different people. Interpersonal skills . Understanding of ethics. Patience . Compassion. Emotional stability. Knowledge of laws and regulations. Open-mindedness.
The four principles of person-centred care are: Treat people with dignity , compassion, and respect . Provide coordinated care, support, and treatment. Offer personalised care, support, and treatment.
A person – centred counsellor will help you to explore your own issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, and worldview, so you can become more self-aware and achieve greater independence.
Person – centered therapy seeks to facilitate a client’s self-actualizing tendency, “an inbuilt proclivity toward growth and fulfillment”, via acceptance (unconditional positive regard), therapist congruence (genuineness), and empathic understanding.
Assessment includes gathering info about: The presenting problem. A description of symptoms and level of current functioning. A history related to the presenting problem. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) diagnosis . Having the client take appropriate assessment instruments.
These include empathy , unconditional positive regard, congruence, and attitude versus technique. Rogers defined unconditional positive regard by individually explaining the key elements of the term.
Generally speaking, assessment serves four primary purposes in the counseling process : (a) screening, (b) diagnosis, (c) treatment planning and goal identification, and (d) progress evaluation (Erford, 2006). A more in-depth discussion of each of these purposes can be found in Chapter 6.