Person Centred Therapy Demonstration: A Contemporary Approach (With Commentary)

[@martinratcliffe5987]

It's so helpful and reassuring to see how even experienced therapists make many percieved misteps and come away questioning themselves a bit. For me, it only cements how much the therapist really cares. To care enough to pick up on those mis-steps is itself a function of empathy. It's not all about perfect responses. It's about recognising how we might fail to meet the client.

[@clairerobert7233]

I absolutely love this format. Having the mock session and stopping it for commentary and letting us know what it is you're doing at each step is so helpful! I wish for more content like this!!!👍

[@sharynyorkville2737]

probably some of the most useful videos out there for psychotherapists in training. I would welcome a whole series of these. It's invaluable to have you commenting and reflecting on your session. Brilliant. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much these videos have helped me in my practice.

[@JonnyLindsay71]

This is great, for me it really helps to see someone I respect working and analysing the good and the not so helpful things we do when in the space with the client. I think its really important to students to see this. I feel sometimes I internally facepalm when something slips out that is “left field” or “my stuff” of just off the mark with the client. At best I brush it off and at worst it brings up “not good enough” feelings. Watching this demonstration helps me realise that it’s normal and natural and that as long as I am aware and can constantly try to regulate back to the clients experience it’s ok. Always a work in progress. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@lamyaandadam]

thank you so much for being so honest, real and vulnerable with us. thanks for modelling this for beginers like myself.

[@milladf1264]

I absolutely love these videos, they are so useful! There aren't many free role-plays out there, and as a trainee psychotherapist, I find it is essential to actually see the theory in practice, so thank you so much! Love your style, too.

[@poldylove4855]

appreciate the video Mick! got me thinking, learning, and laughing at the same time haha. Do more of these ok 😊

[@AndyHibberd]

For you Person Centred Therapy is about "Connecting with things at the experiential level" and you try to get the client to do that. You believe you know the direction the client should take and what they should talk about. I think if you're doing that you should call it something else because Person Centred Therapy would focus on accepting the client as they are, empathising with them whatever they want to talk about, and however they talk about it.

[@mickcoopercounselling]

Thanks for your comment Andy. I think where we disagree is that, for me, person-centred therapy is a broad church that embraces and values a range of different practices emerging from Rogers, not just one specific approach. For me, person-centred therapy is about the growth and diversity of the therapist, as well as the client, and the field as a whole: where we can all flourish and develop into the unique practitioners that we are. Of course, there does need to be some boundaries but I guess the question is where we put that, and what we see as right at the very heart of PCT. For some people it is non-directivity, for others the core conditions, for others emotions - for me, it's that valuing of difference. All the best. Mick

[@jrheartly7211]

I've just started a counselling course and have to do my first fake counselling video. This video has really helped thank you.

[@pookie_on_a_scootie]

Thank you SOOO much for these videos!! I love how genuine you are and acknowledge that the counselor doesn't have to be perfect like so many other role plays show.

[@darryllawson7571]

Thankyou very much for posting this. As a trainee councellor its been really useful to hear your reflections on what you felt went well and also the honesty to highlight where your felt things could have been done differently. Its interesting for me to hear the clients responses when you say you were leading and her reflection towards the end seemed to suggest she deepened her own understanding of what was happening both existentially and internally. 👍💙

[@heathergordon9907]

¹😊 😊

[@heathergordon9907]

¹😊 😊

[@heathergordon9907]

¹😊

[@amyforlaviesmith1544]

I think you nailed it when you asked if she felt supported by Josh. That was empathy

[@Summonick2]

Was good, I think better may have been to, if you suspected feeling not supported, would be to just try at the emotion in an empathetic reflection rather than making it a question.

[@BlueSpacePirate]

I find these demonstration videos incredibly helpful as a psychologist in training. I would love if you could do one with a client experiencing grief and loss.

[@RachelP-hh8uc]

This is great, I love your honestly and authenticity. Watching this is really helpful to me as I am currently in training :)

[@mrmartins3551]

That was super helpful, I could think with you and get the senses while trying to do my thing from this side, here. Thank you Mick!

[@neilgibson7432]

Thanks very much for the videos that you produce. They are so helpful and really bring learning to life. It was very interesting to notice Martha’s sing song tone change as the session went on and it felt that the narrative really became her own, as opposed to giving throw away statements which appeared to be a form of protection for her. It felt like we were seeing her mask come off. Thanks again to both of you.

[@anwvererere]

mate this is so bloody invaluable, thank you so much! I have my second roleplay on my CSK-L2 course tomorrow and this is great for learning

[@aps-pictures9335]

I think from a person-centred standpoint you’re fine for most leading so long as it’s from a genuine authentic place of what you’re feeling and seeking clarification on, so long as it’s fully client focussed.

[@MrDehno1]

Great video Mike. It's amazing how honest you were with yourself in regards to your own feedback. I learned a great deal from this video and thought they would have been great questions to ask at the end. Well done buddy and thank you for the videos.

[@shanalaffy3783]

Thanks for this video Mick an interesting watch. I really agree with what you said at the end about the therapist’s role being in part to support self learning and interpersonal awareness. I really prefer the second half of the session that is more directive and integrative, I think that’s what facilitated the deeper work. Sometimes if clients are stuck and we just follow them with pure PC approaches, how do they ever get unstuck? I am saying that as an integrative couples therapist though so being more directive is my approach. Thanks for sharing!

[@michaelshannon9169]

Ive read Carl Rogers: Client Centered Therapy. The reason I did was because therapy never worked for me. I needed to understand what the logic of therapy was and realised that some ppl do respond to talking about their emotions, it can bring about some change, some relief. I always wanted solutions. I used to go to therapy thinking therapists would have the answers but they never did. Like this video, it was based on merely talking, talking emotionally. I am still a bit sceptical of the whole idea of this approach but if it works for some then ok.

[@juancontrerass]

A person-centered therapy approach for those who know how to apply it can help you gain a better understanding of yourself so you can find solutions to what you are experiencing. However, if you are not a therapist familiar enough with reflections, paraphrases, metaphors, etc., it will be a waste of time. For example, in this video, the therapist for the first 7 minutes focuses on the past with questions about what you did yesterday, what you felt yesterday, etc., when you should be focusing more on what is underlying.

[@michaelshannon9169]

@@juancontrerass talking about feelings will not work for everyone, bottom line.

[@riveranalyse]

What do you think would have worked for you as an alternative? (Genuine question)

[@michaelshannon9169]

@@riveranalyse I dont think any form of therapy would work to be honest. Ive tried CBT too, didnt work, visualization techniques (a la cybernatics), nothing, meditation only helped me understand how I am but not how to change that, if that can even be done. I truly think the only types of ppl that can be helped by therapy are mostly what I would call 'typical ppl'. These ppl tend to have next to no self-awareness, no psychological capacity, no introspection, no depth perception of life. They are highly susceptible (most advertising is directed at these ppl) to suggestion and impressions, very assuming.

[@riveranalyse]

@@michaelshannon9169 It sounds like your experiences to date have been pretty bad. And I get your disillusionment, I even share parts of it as someone in the field! I agree with you about the lack of depth and nuance in the way a lot of people work (as evidenced in this video) but I do think if you found someone you connected with from within the right modality you could definitely get something out of it. Problem with that is it takes time and money to find the right person and each wrong one will only put you off more in the meantime!

[@kanguruguru]

My feeling is that Mick is urge to lead Martha to the place where she should feel more strong in her mixed feeling. Mick is already let himself playing the role of Carlo or good friend, want to help her out at that place. He is worry about her. Self-reflection here might do a better thing here, first to build a climate, where client starts re-feeling her disappointing feeling again, she should not walk away with her "independency" from the negative feeling. Let her go down with her feeling towards her boyfriend again, to expose her real expectation and why feel unsafe about this relationship, that might connect to her experience in the past more.

[@amyforlaviesmith1544]

You are a bridge builder. You kind of summarized well. And yes the last 30 minutes were more eclectic with lots of suggestions. I think if you had stayed CC it would have gone deeper. You missed lots of opportunities and she went back to this at the very end. You missed on her anxiety to be alone again when she spoke about not being able to talk about her feelings whilst she is thinking marriage and kids. If you cannot speak feelings with your life partner so who else can you speak to? And you tried that but you disregarded her anxiety of being alone. I think she pointed this out to you at the end. The Rogerian approach alone would have alowed that. Did you miss her tear at some point? It was a pleasure to come across this video. Thank you.

[@kierancbr600]

Love these videos so helpful to see a real session along with commentary calling out theories and misses. Please do some more

[@captainman2clever351]

I think you could leave more space for client, she really fears being abandoned if she asks for moree- he will leave her You then try to urge her to talk to him but she needs to explore this fear of abandonment,. She is unable to ask for more , she's afraid of wanting more If she went to him now , I don't feel she'd be able to tell him what she ñeeds and believe she deserves it. When she understands that she deserves more then she can ask for it.

[@amyforlaviesmith1544]

No I think the question how you respond to that was good

[@LukeTurner1512]

Especially in the first 20 minutes I am noticing that the client says “I don’t know” a lot, shrugs her shoulders. It makes me wonder what emotion is behind those words? Is she feeling confused, puzzled? If so what is she confused about? What’s it like for her to experience confusion? What could help her feel less confused? What questions would she like to ask? How else would she like to feel? Confident? Secure?

[@orcal2006]

Those are great questions. I guess this is something we should ask the client. We can guess, however only the client can reveal the truth

[@amyforlaviesmith1544]

Only watched a third so far. It’s going well. I see a struggle between her own values and how she is supposed to behave. My question is: is she a counselor herself, a student, does she know the PCA, or is she a real client? That will affect the way she handles everything. And in fact if she is a student or a PCA professional it could become a burden in her own private life. She does not want a guy who says “I love you” and cannot attend to their couple’s life, she wants to hear “you, I love”. She is trying to define her values as a woman and wife to be and her expectations about the man who is supposed to share her life for a long time and be someone who SUPPORT her (rather than disappoint). The only one who should be there for her. I think the comment on conditions of worth is valid but I disagree with accepting the way we feel as it is just ok to feel as such if she is in search of defining her values in regards to a husband’s Qualities that she will share for the rest of her life. She seems to sense that he is not good enough. I feel she blames herself for being too demanding and difficult which she reflected with her colleague, but I don’t think that in the case of her private life she should be like with a colleague. I think she is right to be demanding now or it will be too late. But if she does not want to be demanding, then she has not yet found the right one. This is where I would go. Will watch the two third later. (I have not practiced for ages so I just jumped on the wagon as I enjoy the psychotherapeutic approaches but I realize that what I say may be off track). I think values are important and not to be dismissed especially at a young age. They have to be defined. This is her trouble. She is swimming between what she wants and what is expected from her. She is growing too. So far I like the process. It is kind of PCA although perhaps the pure PCA would have a counselor speaking less??

[@Sawertix]

Under what circumstances would you highlight the clients beliefs or constructs in person centered therapy? She seems to have a rule that she has created that once you accept to do a task or plan to show up to an event, that you cannot back out of it. A rule where emergencies or even unexpected events become distressing or causing a sense of unease.

[@mickcoopercounselling]

If I had a strong sense of what they might be, I'd certainly be willing to check that with the client. Their beliefs and constructs, like their emotions, are part of how they experience the world and therefore part of what we would endeavour to explore

[@leylafetti7978]

Do you run course to qualify as a therapist

[@fnny47]

Aren't you asking lot of questions?

[@juancontrerass]

The beginning was pretty horrible for a person-centered therapy, Rogers focusing more on the present rather than delving so deeply into what you felt yesterday, or what you were thinking yesterday. In addition to telling him that he is kind for being aware of those uncomfortable feelings. Rogers himself in his book states that the focus of evaluation should be internal and that one as a therapist should refrain from making moral evaluations, whether positive or negative, because they are threatening.

[@liliantiemi8786]

Red Flag with the boyfriend there! You deserve better beautiful woman! 😊🩵