Developing Person-Centred Counselling

by Dave Mearns

Overview

Founded by Carl Rogers, person-centered counseling is an approach that acknowledges that the counselor is only a guest within the client's world of experience. In this text, 30 short chapters offer suggestions for the ongoing development of a person-centered counseling practice. Topics include offering the client an engagement at "relational depth," developing a spiritual discipline, and assisting the client's focusing. Coverage extends to person- centered perspectives on psychopathology. Mearns (affiliation not cited) is the author of several interrelated books on person-centered counseling. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761949688
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/24/2003
Series:	Developing Counselling Series
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dave Mearns is formerly Director of the Counselling Unit and Professor of Counselling at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Dave is author or co-author of four other counselling books published by SAGE: Person-Centred Counselling in Action, Second Edition, Experiences of Counselling in Action, Person-Centred Counselling Training and Person-Centred Therapy Today: New Frontiers in Theory and Practice.

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART ONE: EXTENDING THE THERAPEUTIC CONDITIONS
Don't Confuse Unconditional Positive Regard with 'Liking'
Offering the Client an Engagement at 'Relational Depth'
What Is Involved in Offering Wider Contracts to Clients?
Extend the Core Conditions to the Whole of Your Client - Introducing 'Configurations' of Self
Don't Get 'Hooked on Growth'
PART TWO: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNSELLOR
Counsellor 'Paralysis'
Diagnosis and Treatment
Beware of the Need to Appear 'Clever'
'Burn-Out' and How to Avoid It
Personal Therapy Is Not Enough
What to Do If You Are Not Perfect
Using the Large Unstructured Group to Develop Congruence in Person-Centred Training
Developing a Spiritual Discipline - with Brian Thorne
PART THREE: THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE
You Do Not Need to Be an 'Expert' on the Client Group or Issue to Work Expertly with the Client
Be 'Beside' the Client, but Not 'on the Side of' the Client
Getting beyond 'Transference'
Brief Companionship - with Brian Thorne
Becoming Aware of the 'Unspoken Relationship' between Counsellor and Client
Tapping the 'Unspoken Relationship' between Counsellor and Client
PART FOUR: THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS
Getting the 'Power Dynamic' Right
Let the Client's Locus of Evaluation Be the Guide to Your Working
Assisting the Client's Focusing
Be Aware of and Beware the Dynamics of Self-Concept Change
Confronting the Client
Trouble-Shooting 'Stuckness' within the Therapeutic Process
PART FIVE: PERSON-CENTRED PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
The Person-Centred Perspective on Psychopathology - with Elke Lambers
The Neurotic Client
Borderline Personality Disorder - with Elke Lambers
Psychosis - with Elke Lambers
Personality Disorder - with Elke Lambers
An Introduction to Client-Centred Pre-Therapy - with Dion Van Werde
Dealing with the Possibility of Psychotic Content in a Seemingly Congruent Communication - with Dion Van Werde