Person-centred counselling is a collaborative process that gives you the time and space in which to unravel painful experiences and express thoughts and emotions it might be difficult to in everyday life.
The aim is not to discover a cure for the more difficult aspects of life or even to arrive at a point of completion.
Person-centred counselling should help you become more accepting of yourself and more able to ‘find the courage to be.’ The original theorist of person-centred theory, Carl Rogers, defined ‘the good life’ as ‘living fully in a wider range’ because you have ‘underlying confidence in yourself as a trustworthy instrument for encountering life.’ (On Becoming a Person, 1961) As a counsellor, this is what I hope my work with clients might help them to feel.
Sessions can be based on what feels most relevant to you. I will ask you at the beginning of each session what the focus should be. I will check in periodically that the counselling is covering what feels relevant to you. And I will try and make sure I am not misunderstanding or missing aspects of your experience.
Some clients prefer to have open-ended counselling, which ends when they agree with me that they have a reached a natural ending point – at least for the time being. Some clients prefer to set a specific number of sessions and stick to that, which can work well as a way to focus on specific experiences and difficulties that are present for the client at that point in their lives.
Read more about person-centred counselling on the BACP website…
Leave a Reply