REACTION PAPER TO PERSON CENTERED THERAPY
I believe that my reaction, as a client, to Person Centered Therapy, would be at least moderately positive. I like the fact that the approach views the client as their own best authority on their own experience, and as being fully capable of fulfilling their own potential for growth. I also like the fact that the therapist is non-directive. Being in such a therapeutic situation would allow me to feel free to be myself without feeling judged and I would respond well to this. It would also allow me to feel that I could progress at a pace that felt comfortable and right for me. I would not feel imposed or intruded upon by the therapist trying to force an insight or a particular direction to my reflections.
I do not believe that I would react all that well to any conceptual information the therapist shared with me about the theoretical framework of the approach. This is because I find the basic model a bit saccharine. I remember once listening to the song Starry, Starry Night on the radio (a song of heavy treacle) and when the DJ came back after the song had finished playing, he said, "Ya know, did it ever occur to you that sometimes people can be just a bit too sensitive?" That is kind of my reaction to the conceptual underpinnings of the theory.
As a therapist, I would find the Person-Centered approach applicable to a wide variety of clients. I think that striving to provide a client with unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding and congruence releases the client to explore all thoughts and feelings, positive or negative, without danger of rejection or condemnation. I also think these core components of the approach would provide the client with the feeling that I, as a therapist, understood his/her thoughts, feelings, and meanings from his or her own perspective, and that this, in turn, would help to facilitate a feeling of acceptance. Further, being congruent (authe...