Unconditional Positive Regard In Counselling

Improved Essays
An ideal counselling relationship is one where the therapist is able to understand and connect with the patient's frame of mind while showing interest and providing warmth, without getting emotionally involved in the situation.(Schwebel, M et. al ,1959). From this, it can be gathered that a genuine sense of understanding and interest is important for the success of a counselling relationship. Rogers C.(1967) states that genuineness, warmth , empathy and unconditional positive regard are a few essential qualities that a therapist should possess, Rogers further reported that there exists a logical entwinement between these traits such that they cannot exist without the other. In order to provide a constructive and positive personality transformation …show more content…
Unconditional positive regard is when the counsellor communicates a sense of caring and warmth to the client which is not contaminated by any evaluations and has no conditions placed before it. The therapist accepts the client wholly as a person without any stipulation (Rogers C. et al,1967). When the therapist shows unconditional positive regard to a client it fosters self-unconditional positive regard within the client, this in turn helps increase self worth ,self confidence and appreciation. (Rogers C. et al,1959). In order for a client to feel comfortable enough to express the inner fragments of self which are usually kept hidden, the need for the client to feel unconditional positive regard from the therapist is great. When the client feels that the therapist will accept all aspects of self and not depict hostile behaviour to anything it encourages further sharing of information which indeed helps to reach the core of problems (Schmitt, 1980). By expressing unconditional positive regard the therapist conveys a sense of prizing or valuing the client and embracing all their aspects without possessing any evaluating attitudes (Rogers C. et al,1992). Rogers (1992) reports that for a constructive personality change to take place the client needs to be able to express and share all feelings and concerns without the fear of being judged for anything that is said, this is only possible when the …show more content…
The greater the degree of these qualities present within the client the more the client will be engaged in therapy which eventually will result in a higher positive personality change (Roger C. et al,1967). When the client is able to perceive these traits it helps ease into the therapy and also urges the client to express them self in a deeper manner which subsequently helps unravel fragments of self that the client might be just scarcely aware of(Roger C. et al,1992).Though Bohart A. (2011) places more stress on the need for empathy in a counselling relationship and Schnellbacher J. (2008) reports genuineness is the vital element Roger C. (1967)'s justification as to how only the presence of all the three qualities together provides the best chance for a counselling relationship to be successful is widely accepted in today's

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Escape From Babel Summary

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Although not completely conceptualized until the concluding summary in the book, the title, Escape from Babel, is a biblical reference that alludes towards a characterization of the competing doctrines in psychotherapy at the twilight of 20th Century. Within the multitude of contending theories and models, each replete with their own distinctive verbiage and techniques, Scott D. Miller, Barry L. Duncan, and Mark A. Hubble suggest that a voice of unification can be found through focusing on the common factors that emanate from under each theories penumbra. Further, the already existent and thorough research literature on effective therapeutic approaches and outcomes provide the critical ingredients to efficiently and effectively work in the…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is accomplished by the client’s need to resolve frustration of unsettled feelings from incongruences in their lives (Henderson & Thompson, 2011). The counseling process continues with the counselor being genuine, accepting, and empathetic in order to help the client self-examine, understand where they are and where they would like to be, and act towards a goal (Henderson & Thompson,…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A strong relationship counselor-client is crucial to the success or failure of counseling. Henderson & Thompson (2011) explain that counselors focus all their attention to the child and not on the problem. Counselors “focus on the present than the past, feelings rather than thoughts and behaviors, understanding rather than explaining, accepting rather than correcting” (Henderson & Thompson, 2011, p. 193). This theory is relevant to the case because this theory is non-directive, it provides the client the opportunity to empower himself to achieve his full potential. This theory provides the client to become self-actualized, thus the counselor assists the client to achieve greater genuineness, learn to accept his present condition, and to understand his concept of self and his ideal self.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I agree with your statement of embracing the philosophy that views each client and situation as individual and unique. I have several friends who had negative counseling experiences during their childhood. They mentioned the counselor not relating or understanding them. Our professional philosophy should include positive reinforcement.…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This requires a give and take and free flowing conversation devoid of facades. This requires the therapist to self-disclosure and the therapist and patient relationship to be purposeful. However, boundaries do exist in these forms of relationships in order to foster a search for patient’s…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Warmth (treating people in a way that makes them feel safe); genuineness (the ability to be honest with others as well as oneself); respect (a positive regard of a deep and honest acceptance), and empathy (accurately perceives what people are experiencing, and the ability to communicate what was perceived back to the client (Kilpatrick & Holland, 2009, p. 33). The combination of all four of these characteristics can formulate a great therapeutic relationship. William Pinsof whose work is known for developing the therapy about therapeutic alliances within family therapy uses the term of “therapist and patient systems” instead of “client and therapist” (Johnson & Wright, 2002, p. 6). Pinsof suggests that there are two dimensions in the alliance and modified the definition as the “content dimension” and the “interpersonal dimension”. There are four parts to his theory within the interpersonal dimension; individual, subsystem, whole system, and within-system (Johnson & Wright,…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many different techniques, methods of delivery that counsellors can use, there are then many different clients and topics that as counsellor may face or specialise in during their careers in the counselling sector (Horvath 2005). A vital part of all counselling sessions is the relationship between the client and the counsellor, while this is known as the therapeutic alliance, the way of working with the client, the more specific therapeutic relationship is a relationship that has been shown to be instrumental of successful outcomes for the clients (Clarkson, 1947,1995). The difference in a therapeutic relationship is that it is based on empathy, congruence, unconditional positive regard towards the client from the counsellor. This is something that needs to be part of the counsellor’s interactions, to not only support clients but also improve themselves as a counselling counsellor (Horvath 2005), (Tryon & Winograd, 2001).…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lastly, therapists must assess the relevance of the counseling to the presenting issue of the clients (Ripley & Worthington,…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humanistic Theory and Therapies Schneider and Krug (2015) report that therapeutic outcome studies are finding that the therapeutic environment, the relationship, and the personal styles of the therapist and client are essential features for all therapeutic modalities. These salient therapeutic features are parallel to the central qualities of humanistic therapy, including empathy, therapeutic alliance, enhancing and deepening emotions, the self of the therapist, and the therapeutic relationship (Angus, Watson, Elliot, Schneider, & Timulak, 2015). Moreover, research is demonstrating that it is not the theories and techniques that heal, but the human dimensions of therapy, like the relationship, which promote healing (Schneider & Krug, 2015).…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Transgender Case Study

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    He states that psychotherapy must provide an affirmative stance related to the clients’ identity and that this is essential to promoting a sense of support and, ultimately, better mental…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The counseling process is not about your personal values; it is about the values and needs of your clients. Your task is to help clients explore and clarify their beliefs and apply their values to solving their problems” (Corey et al., 2014, p.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A foundation of self-awareness is crucial in connecting with others. Understanding one’s role in a relationship is necessary to be effective and know if one is fulfilling needs and expectations. For this reason, it is important to understand the identity of the counseling profession as well as gain insight into one’s individual identity as a professional counselor. Nuekrug (2014) supplied an insightful overview of the requirement, role, and responsibility of a professional counselor. However, each individual will carry out these components differently based on their personal beliefs, values, and personal histories.…

    • 1702 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Rogers’ Person-Centered Theory When developing his theory, Carl Roger’s biggest idea is that “people have a fundamental tendency to develop in healthy directions” (Cloninger, 2013, p. 269). Rogers (1961) theorized an actualizing tendency which is evident in all humans – “the tendency to express and activate all the capacities of the organism, or the self” (p. 351). He described that these tendencies not only include biological needs, but “higher” human motivations as well – like complexity and social responsibility (Cloninger, 2013). Rogers summarizes that a self-actualizing person is in touch with their organismic valuing process, which is the “inner sense within a person, which guides him or her in the directions of growth and health” (Cloninger,…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Client perception between the counsellor and client is also another crucial aspect in counselling. This can cause problems in counselling as the client has to aware of the counsellors unconditional positive regard and empathy towards them. If the client is unable to establish this unconditional positive regard and empathy being displayed by the counsellor then this may result in them being unwilling and reluctant in being fully honest and truthful with the counsellor and thus hinder both the communication and the therapeutic alliance between them (Rogers, 1957;…

    • 2431 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This innate motivation within the client creates a desire that allows the person to become his or her own teacher and leads back to that very path where they want to go and becoming the person they really want to be. Throughout the book developing one’s self and helping others realize there potential is one of the main goals throughout the book. According to Rogers a person feels good when in the process of developing themselves, at an early stage in the therapist-client relationship a good feeling of congruence should be established. Rogers defined congruence as ‘’an accurate matching of experience and awareness’’. A therapist practicing person centered therapy must feel accepting, honest and open with there client, so that there reactions fully show an accurate awareness of his or her feelings and there…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays