Hi, I need help with discussion board-Initial Post-10 meaningful sentences-
Initial Post: Reflect on what you imagine it would be like for you to be a client with a person-centered therapist. How do you think you would react to a lack of structure and direction from a therapist? Additionally, if you were to restrict your counseling practice to the framework of person-centered therapy, how would this be for you? Be sure to connect your response to something you learned in Chapter 7. To clearly illustrate that connection, your response must contain the page number from the textbook in order to earn full credit.
Attached is chapter 7.
I also need reply (5 meaningful sentences) to the following post: This does not need to be connected to content in the textbook.
POST for reply: I think that the lack of structure and direction of client-centered therapy might be a little shocking at first, for me as the client. I think it would take some getting used to this manner of therapeutic change which “depends on clients’ perceptions both of their own experience in therapy and of the counselor’s basic attitudes” (7-3c). I can see how some might experience some anxiety at being the center of attention with little direction from the therapist. I know that I, as a more introverted person, would feel put on the spot. But I also agree that we create certain masks for ourselves through socialization, and that we can lose touch with our true selves if we do not tap into our more authentic selves. I think that the environment of a client-centered therapy session can be the perfect place to try out this form of honesty and self-disclosure, with a counselor who is nonjudgmental, expresses empathy, and unconditional positive regard. I think that after getting used to the process of client-centered therapy I would find it very useful. I think I would gain greater insight into my own situation and goals and become better at articulating what is on my mind.
I think it would be difficult to restrict my counseling practice solely to the framework of any therapeutic orientation, including client-centered therapy. I use techniques and concepts from areas such as CBT, psychoanalysis, existential therapy, Adlerian therapy, and more, so it would seem unnatural to suppress the tendency to think or act only in the client-centered perspective. However, I think it would be a useful exercise to try to become more competent in that particular perspective. I think it would enhance the skills of empathic listening, suspending judgment, and learning how to reflect back what the client is expressing. Being able to work within limits can strengthen the skills within those limits. For example, the counselor can take a closer look at how well they reflect content or feelings, where they might find it difficult to express unconditional positive regard, or areas they need to work on to become more empathic with certain clients.
