Last week I experienced a type of therapy. It is person centered therapy
I am in my first year of therapy training and in class during the week our teacher( a T)asked me to step up for a demonstration.

It was amazing, T was so gentle and kind and attentive. I got so much out of that twenty minutes that I wonder what my other therapists have been doing.
My teacher trained in America and had a whole different attitude to previous ts. She is all about "The Relationship" between client and t.

I would like to have some sessions with her but I think it would be a conflict of interest, not sure.

I felt so listened to and loved in those few minutes it blew me away.

[ECHOES]

Originally Posted by button30

Last week I experienced a type of therapy. It is person centered therapy
I am in my first year of therapy training and in class during the week our teacher( a T)asked me to step up for a demonstration.

It was amazing, T was so gentle and kind and attentive. I got so much out of that twenty minutes that I wonder what my other therapists have been doing.
My teacher trained in America and had a whole different attitude to previous ts. She is all about "The Relationship" between client and t.

I would like to have some sessions with her but I think it would be a conflict of interest, not sure.

I felt so listened to and loved in those few minutes it blew me away.

What a nice experience! Maybe she could direct you to someone who practices her orientation?

[Syra]

Originally Posted by ECHOES

What a nice experience! Maybe she could direct you to someone who practices her orientation?

I've heard wonderful things about some PC therapists. You could go to the ADPCA website to see if you could find someone in your area. http://www.adpca.org/node/464

Originally Posted by ECHOES

What a nice experience! Maybe she could direct you to someone who practices her orientation?

It was a beautiful experience Echoes and I never thought of that, I will ask her if she can refer me. It was so natural and warm.

Originally Posted by Syra

I've heard wonderful things about some PC therapists. You could go to the ADPCA website to see if you could find someone in your area. http://www.adpca.org/node/464

Thank you Syra, I will certainly check them out.

[RiverX]

Originally Posted by button30

Last week I experienced a type of therapy. It is person centered therapy
I am in my first year of therapy training and in class during the week our teacher( a T)asked me to step up for a demonstration.

It was amazing, T was so gentle and kind and attentive. I got so much out of that twenty minutes that I wonder what my other therapists have been doing.
My teacher trained in America and had a whole different attitude to previous ts. She is all about "The Relationship" between client and t.

I would like to have some sessions with her but I think it would be a conflict of interest, not sure.

I felt so listened to and loved in those few minutes it blew me away.

Theres loads of person centred Ts everywhere, maybe you could keep searching till you find one that really works for you. One with whom you experience being set free to be yourself.

I do have concerns about therapy dynamics where the therapist becomes the centre of the piece : s - and for that matter of the client's emotions. (It's happened to me tooo many times) Im glad you had that expereince, we should be reclaiming our s in therapy, rather than losing them, do you recon?

riv.x

Thats how my therapy is. Its very healing.

[Anne2.0]

Originally Posted by button30

Last week I experienced a type of therapy. It is person centered therapy

This type of therapy has been around since the 50's. Many T's saw it as an alternative to behaviorism (predecessor to CBT) and certainly to psychoanalysis. Many T's consider themselves to be psychodynamic in nature, meaning that they pay attention to many of the core concepts in psychoanalysis (e.g. defense mechanisms), but they have a person-centered approach. At its core, this just means that you reflect back to people what they say to you and make sure you have understood them and that they hear you. My friends in clinical psychology school learned this first, and they got super annoying practicing it on the rest of us, as to me at least, someone repeating, "what I hear you saying is . . . . " makes me want to smack them, after about 3 iterations of this. I have interviewed T's who seemed to only have this trick up their sleeve, and they couldn't even restate what I'd said properly. Fail and fail.

Like any T approach, it's not the be-all-end-all of therapy. I wouldn't strive, if I were in T school, to make this my one trick pony.

[Asiablue]

Mine is person-centred. The central tenet of person-centred therapy is Unconditional positive regard, Empathy and Congruence ( genuineness)

It's is a softer approach, it's very much about what the client brings in to the room. The sessions are led by the client.

To be honest, at first i found it too open, not structured enough and just felt like tea and sympathy almost. I felt for a long time i wasn't getting anywhere. However i did get somewhere with it, i stopped (mostly) feeling depressed and suicidal, i don't have the same pervasive self-hatred, i've had good results.

However, i think it's very much about the relationship you have with your therapist rather than what theoretical school they are from. If you like this approach, by all means look for a therapist who practices it, but find one that is eclectic and has "other tricks up their sleeves" and is able to work on multiple levels.

Originally Posted by RiverX

Theres loads of person centred Ts everywhere, maybe you could keep searching till you find one that really works for you. One with whom you experience being set free to be yourself.

I do have concerns about therapy dynamics where the therapist becomes the centre of the piece : s - and for that matter of the client's emotions. (It's happened to me tooo many times) Im glad you had that expereince, we should be reclaiming our s in therapy, rather than losing them, do you recon?

riv.x

I hate therapists like that too River. sometimes it feels as though they are the actor on the stage and we are the audience and they are reciting some boring monologue. It really was a truly magical experience. T said that she wants to walk in the clients shoes, experience their pain and heartaches but be there to take it away.

Originally Posted by Starry_Night

Thats how my therapy is. Its very healing.

You have such a great relationship with your T starry, I am so jealous.

Originally Posted by Anne2.0

This type of therapy has been around since the 50's. Many T's saw it as an alternative to behaviorism (predecessor to CBT) and certainly to psychoanalysis. Many T's consider themselves to be psychodynamic in nature, meaning that they pay attention to many of the core concepts in psychoanalysis (e.g. defense mechanisms), but they have a person-centered approach. At its core, this just means that you reflect back to people what they say to you and make sure you have understood them and that they hear you. My friends in clinical psychology school learned this first, and they got super annoying practicing it on the rest of us, as to me at least, someone repeating, "what I hear you saying is . . . . " makes me want to smack them, after about 3 iterations of this. I have interviewed T's who seemed to only have this trick up their sleeve, and they couldn't even restate what I'd said properly. Fail and fail.

Like any T approach, it's not the be-all-end-all of therapy. I wouldn't strive, if I were in T school, to make this my one trick pony.

Yes, Carl Rodgers founded it. I am reading his book about it, on becoming a therapist- its very interesting. I really think that this type of therapy would benifit me personally as I have tried the CBT and I think it is too pushy for me, right now I need support and love not someone telling me I ruined my life by the choices I have made- empowerment pffftttt.
I think most T's are eclectic now, they learn so many different theories that it would be impossible to use only one type for every client and based on the clients needs it would depend on the type of therapy, correct me if I am wrong. All t's use the reflection tool, it can be annoying but it does help to feel that you are being heard and understood.

Originally Posted by Asiablue

Mine is person-centred. The central tenet of person-centred therapy is Unconditional positive regard, Empathy and Congruence ( genuineness)

It's is a softer approach, it's very much about what the client brings in to the room. The sessions are led by the client.

To be honest, at first i found it too open, not structured enough and just felt like tea and sympathy almost. I felt for a long time i wasn't getting anywhere. However i did get somewhere with it, i stopped (mostly) feeling depressed and suicidal, i don't have the same pervasive self-hatred, i've had good results.

However, i think it's very much about the relationship you have with your therapist rather than what theoretical school they are from. If you like this approach, by all means look for a therapist who practices it, but find one that is eclectic and has "other tricks up their sleeves" and is able to work on multiple levels.

Tea and sympathy this is it exactly- thats what friends are for and we don't have to pay them either. What really struck me about this t was her openness- I found it refreshing. She moved her chair right in front of mine and took my hands in hers, I told her my problem about being stuck in time at the moment and I cant move past this stage of my life. She reflected back what I had said about my relationship ending but she said he and after the third time I corrected her and said she. She took it on the chin and apologised and said it was a big mistake making assumptions for any client. She didn't offer any advice or opinions and just listened and sat with me, she didn't try force it, she just wauted till I was ready. I told her I had a big ball of stress in my stomach. She asked what the ball was telling me and after I acknowleged those feelings I have repressed I haven't felt the pain in my stomach or had anxiety since.

[Syra]

Originally Posted by Anne2.0

This type of therapy has been around since the 50's. At its core, this just means that you reflect back to people what they say to you and make sure you have understood them and that they hear you. My friends in clinical psychology school learned this first, and they got super annoying practicing it on the rest of us, as to me at least, someone repeating, "what I hear you saying is . . . . " makes me want to smack them, after about 3 iterations of this. I have interviewed T's who seemed to only have this trick up their sleeve, and they couldn't even restate what I'd said properly. Fail and fail.

Like any T approach, it's not the be-all-end-all of therapy. I wouldn't strive, if I were in T school, to make this my one trick pony.

I believe PC therapy is much more nuanced and complex than just reflecting, is not covered well in overview courses. PC therapy isn't just a technique, it has an entire view of the person and the process. I agree with you that some people/therapists see PC therapy as simply reflecting, and that gets very old very quickly.

[Asiablue]

Originally Posted by Syra

I believe PC therapy is much more nuanced and complex than just reflecting, is not covered well in overview courses. PC therapy isn't just a technique, it has an entire view of the person and the process. I agree with you that some people/therapists see PC therapy as simply reflecting, and that gets very old very quickly.

I agree, my T has never done the reflecting thing ever. I absolutely hate that. And i would either tell her to stop saying it or i very quickly would have found a new therapist. In fact it enrages me lol it's so formulaic and unnatural and patronising.

In class we are thought to reflect all the time BUT it doesn't happen Irl much, my own t for example never does it but she doesn't do a lot of things she is supposed to. PCM therapy is about so much more than this ! It's about feeling what the client feels not just understanding it! As our teacher t described , if a client was so low and they were drowning in the river the t would have to get into the river and help the client out, feeling the water and struggling against the water but the t has to keep one leg above the water - on the bank so they have the strenght to help the client out without drowning.