It has been proven through studies that clients get the best results from therapy when certain conditions are met in the relationship between the counsellor and the client. The counsellor needs to be warm, genuine, non-judgmental and empathic and the client must feel safe enough to be open. The counsellor values the client for who they are and wants to help them discover themselves.
In person centred therapy, the client and counsellor will collaborate and set goals for the therapy. The client will talk about the issues they want to address and feel comfortable talking about.
Many people feel pressured to become what others would like them to be, whether parents, family members, friends or society in general. This means that we move away from our real self and we become a version of ourselves which pleases other people and we start to put our own needs last (through fear of punishment or ostracism). This leads to unhappiness as we are what others want us to be rather than what we would like to be or who we truly are.
Our real self is often buried and we may or may not be consciously aware of our real wants and needs. Person centred therapy helps clients to discover their real selves.
