Humanistic Approach By Analysing Client-Centred Counselling

In this essay I will be reviewing the humanistic approach by analysing Client-Centred counselling. I will be exploring the founder and theories of the approach and evaluating the effectiveness and limitations of the Client-Centred therapy. I will then discuss some of the ethical issues that may take place within the approach. Lastly I will be comparing Client-Centred therapy with the Gestalt therapy and reflect my own response to Client-Centred counselling.
The Client-Centred approach has been working on allowing the client to guide themselves through their own life and problems with the help of their relationship with their counsellor since the 1940’s; completed through the equality and respect that is created between the two individuals

Rogers explores six conditions which he believes needs to occur in order for there to be a change in personality, however there are three ‘core’ conditions; congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regards (Rogers, 1957). Congruence in counselling is very important as it somewhat helps the sessions to be more effective as the client is able to expose themselves with the counsellor giving genuine gestures. The counsellor will need to accept and trust that the client will be able to move into the right direction and be able to fulfil their desires and goals. Empathy is when the counsellor will listen to what the client is saying and understands the problem as if it were their own; this will make the sessions flow easier as the remarks would relate exactly to how the client is feeling. Unconditional positive regard is when the counsellor comments positively on what the client has just said, this should be present during counselling sessions as it helps the client to feel accepted and they will be encouraged to talk more about their feelings as they know that there is somebody there to support

They have different methods during sessions; however they all believe that every person has the ability for growth and self-actualisation. Looking at two theories; the Gestalt theory and Client-Centred therapy they both introduce the ‘here and now’ experience into their sessions, this is so that the clients begin living in the present rather than their earlier stages of life, this helps bring the client to grow and move forward. The Gestalt therapy focuses on bringing the client to awareness, whereas in Client-Centred therapy the counsellor mainly listens and encourages the speaker to talk. Both therapies could be effective to curing the client although bringing the clients actions and words to their attention could be seen as more helpful as it helps them realise. The Gestalt therapy states that there is an important relationship between the environment and the client. The client’s perspective may change based on their experiences of the environment which they have been living in, this shows that the Gestalt therapy explores the sociocultural background as well as the individual whereas Client- Centred therapy lacks the views of the different cultures and backgrounds. This supports that the Gestalt therapy is effective as it analysis the client’s needs and the sociocultural aspects (Reeves,