Person-centred counselling
This is a humanistic model working with the ‘here and now’ aspects of what clients bring.
This type of counselling is about the counsellor meeting the person with respect and listening to what is said without judgement. The therapist works on the principle that the client is the expert on their life and the former’s role is to show empathy, be congruent and walk alongside the client in their difficult places. The therapist is a companion that helps the client to tap into their own resources to find and take control of what needs to change in their own lives.
The therapist is a catalyst that enables the client to challenge thinking and behavioural patterns they have gotten into. So where there is little or no self-love, -worth or –confidence, the client is encouraged to find creative solutions to build these, not just for the moment, but as tools which will assist them for the rest of their lives. Some clients find they have insights and vivid dreams because the counsellor models compassion and care, which they may not be offering to themselves, they then learn to listen to what is most important to them without criticism.
The therapist invests her/his self as a person in the relationship in service to the client. The most important aspect of this counselling is the therapeutic relationship. Most clients are surprised at what they share with their therapist because they will talk about their most intimate thoughts and feelings – which then enables them to secure a different way of thinking and being in the world.
This model works well with both young people and adults. People who need more direction or want an ‘expert’ to tell them what is wrong and what to do may find this therapeutic model difficult.
https://www.bapca.org.uk/about/what-is-it.html