Lesson 11:-Techniques of person centered counseling.
However, external influences may have a role in the individual's restricted ability to make
choices and live a meaningful life. Life is considerably more of a battle with negative internal
forces for the existential therapist than it is for the humanistic therapist.
In comparison to long-term treatment approaches, short therapy necessitates the rapid
creation of a therapeutic bond. These therapies address issues like a loss of meaning in
one's life, fear of death or failure, estrangement from others, and spiritual emptiness, all of
which contribute to substance misuse problems.
Humanistic and existential treatments delve deeper into issues surrounding drug abuse
disorders, frequently serving as a trigger for clients to seek out alternatives to narcotics to
fill the gap they are experiencing. The counselor's empathy and acceptance, as well as the
client's insight, aid in the client's recovery by allowing her to make new existential choices,
beginning with a well-informed decision to use or abstain from substances.
These therapies can help the client develop self-respect, self-motivation, and self-growth,
which will make his treatment more effective.
Because they tend to facilitate therapeutic rapport, increase self-awareness, focus on
potential inner resources, and establish the client as the person responsible for recovery,
humanistic and existential therapeutic approaches may be particularly appropriate for
short-term substance abuse treatment. As a result, clients may be more likely to consider
recovery as a lifelong process of striving to realise their full potential, rather than a short-
term fix.
These treatments may not always immediately attack substance usage because they try to
address the underlying reasons of substance abuse problems.
Empathy, promotion of affect, introspective listening, and acceptance of the client's
subjective experience are all beneficial features of humanistic and existential methods in
any sort of brief treatment session, whether it's psychodynamic, strategic, or cognitive-
behavioral therapy. They aid in the development of rapport and lay the groundwork for
meaningful participation in all elements of the treatment process.
A focus on lived experience, true (therapeutic) connections, and acknowledgement of the
subjective nature of human experience unites a wide range of therapeutic methods. The
emphasis is on assisting the client in comprehending how past experiences, current
perceptions, and future expectations influence reality.
The ability to choose new ways of being and acting is facilitated by becoming aware of this
process.
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Humanistic and existential methods can assist clients focus on the idea that individuals do,
in fact, make decisions about substance addiction and are in charge of their own recovery in
these situations.
Skills That Are Required
It's critical to be sensitive to "teachable" or "therapeutic" times.
These models do not rely on a comprehensive set of methodologies or procedures by their
very nature. Rather, the therapist's own philosophy must be compatible with the theoretical
basis of these systems. In order to assist the client in making significant change, the
therapist must be willing and able to engage the client in a sincere and authentic manner.
Humanistic and Existential Therapies used at any level of recovery to build a foundation of
client respect and mutual understanding of the relevance of their experiences.
Client-centered therapy, for example, can be employed right away to create rapport and
clarify difficulties as the session progresses.
When a client is able to access emotional experiences or when hurdles must be overcome to
assist a client's entry into or maintenance of recovery, existential therapy may be most
helpful (e.g., to get someone who insists on remaining helpless to accept responsibility).
Narrative therapy can help the client see treatment as an opportunity to take control of his
or her life and start a "new chapter." Throughout therapy, Gestalt techniques can be
employed to foster a true contact with the therapist and the client's own experience.
By focusing on the intangible components of human experience and awareness of untapped
spiritual capacity, transpersonal therapy can help people grow spiritually. These methods
develop self-awareness, which boosts self-esteem and allows clients to take on more
responsibility, giving them a sense of control and the ability to make decisions. All of these
approaches can be utilised to help people with substance addiction disorders achieve their
goals in therapy.
Number and time of sessions:
Many parts of these approaches can be found in other therapy systems, but empathy,
meaning, and choice are at the centre of humanistic and existential therapies. They are
especially beneficial in the short-term treatment of substance abuse disorders because they
improve therapeutic rapport and conscious experience as well as acceptance of
responsibility.
Within this paradigm, episodic treatment might be constructed, with the treatment plan
concentrating on the client's tasks and experiences in between sessions. Outside of the
meetings, humanistic and existential treatments presume that a lot of growth and change
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happens. These therapies can be lifelong journeys of growth and transformation when they
are focused on wider issues.
First and initial Session
In short therapy, the first session is critical for forming an alliance, generating therapeutic
rapport, and establishing a climate of mutual respect.
Initiate to develop the alliance
The therapist's genuine approach to the client can help to establish the foundation for an
open, collaborative therapeutic partnership.
Make a point of emphasising the client's freedom of choice and the possibility of significant
change.Outline the therapy's expectations and objectives (how goals are to be reached)
Reflective listening, exhibiting respect, honesty, and openness; evoking trust and
confidence; and following other values that emerge from these therapies can all help to
build the partnership.
The therapeutic relationship serves as a vehicle or venue for psychological development.
The humanistic therapist strives to build a warm and accepting therapeutic connection with
the client, believing that the client's inner desire will manifest in a healthy way.
The treatment will be less effective unless the therapist succeeds in engaging the client
during this early stage. The degree of significance perceived during the initial therapeutic
contact determines the degree of motivation felt by the client following the first session.
A negative experience may discourage a highly motivated client from returning, whereas a
great one may encourage a lowly motivated client to perceive the possibility of treatment
being beneficial.
The Humanistic Therapy Approach
Apart from behaviourism and psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology is concerned with
human potential and the individual's unique personal experience, and is often referred to as
the "third force." Many of the principles of behaviourism and psychoanalysis are important
to humanistic psychologists. They place a premium on understanding behavior's
antecedents, as well as the significance of early experiences and unconscious psychological
processes. Humanistic psychologists, on the other hand, would argue that people are more
than just a collection of behaviours or objects of unconscious forces.
As a result, humanistic psychology is frequently referred to as holistic in the sense that it
embraces and accepts a wide range of theoretical traditions and therapeutic techniques. For
many humanistic therapists, the need of building a collaborative, accepting, real therapy
relationship that values the client which is unique to himself.
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The humanistic approach is also holistic since it assumes that the client's psychological,
biological, social, and spiritual components are all interconnected. People have an inbuilt
ability for self-awareness and psychological well-being, according to humanistic psychology.
Abraham Maslow, who popularised the notion of "self-actualization," Carl Rogers, who
developed person-centered therapy, and Fritz Perls, whose Gestalt therapy focused on the
completeness of an individual's experience at any given time, are some of the prominent
proponents of this approach. The following are some of the most important characteristics
of humanistic therapy:
Empathic comprehension of the client's point of view and personal experience:
Respect for the client's cultural values and the ability to make decisions
Exploration of issues using a genuine and collaborative approach to assist the client in
gaining insight, bravery, and responsibility.
Exploration of the client's objectives and expectations, including articulation of what the
client wishes to achieve and gain from treatment.
Clarification of the therapist's role in assisting the client while respecting the client's
autonomy.Collaboration and authenticity are used to assess and improve client
motivation.
"Where do we go from here?" is a question that is asked professionally or informally
during contract negotiations.
Setting the tone for a true, authentic experience is a great way to demonstrate
authenticity. Throughout the therapeutic interaction, respect, empathy, and authenticity
must be maintained. Placing wisdom in the client's hands may be beneficial later in
therapy, but a client who is actively using or has recently stopped (within the last 30 days)
may be unable to make rational decisions regarding his well-being or future.
Client-Centered Therapy
Client-centered therapy, as defined by Carl Rogers, presupposes that the client has the
keys to healing, but adds that the therapist must provide a connection in which the client
can openly find and test his own reality, with the therapist's true understanding and
acceptance. Therapists must establish three conditions for clients to change:
1. Unconditional positive regard
2. A warm, positive, and accepting attitude that includes no evaluation or moral
judgment
3. Accurate empathy, whereby the therapist conveys an accurate understanding of
the client's world through skilled, active listening.
According to Carson, the client-centered therapist believes that
Each person lives in their own unique realm of experience, in which they are the focus. An
individual's most fundamental goal is to maintain, improve, and actualize his or her own
self. A person reacts to things according to how he perceives them, in ways that are
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consistent with his self-concept and worldview. The underlying tendencies of a person are
toward health and completeness; under normal circumstances, a person acts rationally
and constructively and selects paths toward personal progress and self-actualization.
A client-centered therapist concentrates on the client's self-actualizing core as well as the
client's positive forces (i.e., the skills the client has used in the past to deal with certain
problems). The client should also be aware of the therapist's unconditional acceptance.
This form of treatment tries to reflect what the client feels, remove resistance by
persistent acceptance, and help replace negative attitudes with positive ones, rather than
interpreting the client's unconscious motivation or conflicts.
Rogers' tactics are especially helpful for therapists trying to confront a substance-abusing
client's denial and encourage her to continue treatment. Motivational interviewing
strategies, for example, rely largely on Rogerian principles (see TIP 35, Enhancing
Motivation for Change in Substance Abuse Treatment [CSAT, 1999c], for more
information on motivational interviewing).
The Existential Approach To Therapy
The existential approach to therapy emphasizes the following six propositions:
1. All persons have the capacity for self-awareness.
2. As free beings, everyone must accept the responsibility that comes with freedom.
3. Each person has a unique identity that can only be known through relationships
with others.
4. Each person must continually recreate himself. The meaning of life and of
existence is never fixed; rather, it constantly changes.
5. Anxiety is part of the human condition.
6. Death is a basic human condition that gives significance to life.
In existential therapy, the central question is "How do I exist?" in the face of ambiguity,
conflict, or death. Through courage, a person gains authenticity and is thus able to
establish and discover his own significance in the present and future. There are crucial
decisions to be taken (for example, in order to have actual freedom and take
responsibility for one's life, one must be willing to face uncertainty and give up a false
sense of security).
An individual is a "being in the world" with biological, social, and psychological needs,
according to the existential viewpoint. Being in the world entails the physical world, the
world of interpersonal interactions, and one's own relationship with one's own self . The
"genuine" person appreciates symbolism, imagination, and judgement, and is able to
employ these tools to generate personal meaning on a regular basis.
Existential therapy focuses on unique issues that arise from a person's existence. These
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worries are identified by contemporary existential psychotherapist Irvin Yalom as death,
solitude, freedom, and emptiness. Existential therapy focuses on the discomfort that a
client feels when confronted with life's intrinsic conflict. The therapist's role is to assist
the client in focusing on personal responsibility for decisions, and the therapist may use
some humanistic approaches and strategies to do so. For example, Yalom sees the
therapist as a "fellow traveller" on the journey of life, and he employs empathy and
support to extract understanding and choices. He is convinced that group therapy's
relational context is an effective strategy since people exist in the presence of others.
Existential Therapy and Time
Although existential therapy was not intended to be used in a time-limited environment,
the basic ideas relating to the client's search for meaning in the face of death can be
employed in such a setting. Brief therapy, regardless of modality, must be focused on the
"now and now." The restrictions of time are a concern in both existential and short
therapies.
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