The Formation of My Viewpoint on Person-Centered Therapy (Essay Sample)

Personal Model of Helping
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Personal Model of Helping
Introduction
People argue that many do not help during emergencies because they develop apathetic mindset and behavior (Walters, 2008). In designing a Personal Model of Helping, responsiveness to emergencies and suitability to a client’s situation are paramount factors to consider. This proposal was designed by Latane and Darley. The personal model of helping is vital in explaining the process of assisting starting from the perception of the problem itself to the actual addressing of a situation. It therefore goes without saying that a personal model of helping is the most effective means of solving problems such as family matters, personal issues, drug problems, and both interpersonal and intergroup misunderstandings in the society. It is thus important to critically analyze the effectiveness of having a personal model of helping in relation to clinicians and participants. Furthermore, how and why a personal model of helping is formed based on personal viewpoints in relation to multicultural issues, its limitations and strengths, and issues that may or may not be solved with the model should be given equal attention.
The Formation of My Viewpoint on Person-Centered Therapy
Various theories have different viewpoints on how best to solve or adjust a personal problem. Although a mutual respect is built on the trust of clients and their clinicians, a sustainable observation of the inner experiences rather than the physical attributes must be undertaken. In this regard, my viewpoint on personal helping has been prompted by the information gathered from the lectures of this course and personal experiences and beliefs on humanity. Clear understanding of the theories and the choice of the most suitable option for a Personal Helping Model is the most overwhelming task for any individual, including clinicians (Millar, 2007). A person-centered therapy enables clients to have a bigger role to play in ensuring their well-being by following directions of a clinician. This model is important for the clients who have to adopt a culture of self-centered approach in solving personal problems.
For the above to succeed, an agreement and trust between a patient and a clinician must be established. This enables the patients to face issues and problems they encounter with increased responsibility to their full capabilities. My primary view on helping is that an individual should be able to take care of his or her personal problems. This can be achieved through the person-centered therapy approach. The viewpoint has been prompted by the belief that the number of clinicians is fewer than those of patients and that it is possible to reduce the burden on the clinicians if people are empowered to take care of their issues.
The Relationship Between the Clinician and the Participant
Professionalism and good communication should be essential in defining the relationship between the clinicians and the participants. The relationship should be guided by ethical considerations and moral obligations of the clinicians as a sense of responsibility to their patients. Thus, the clinician is expected to practice professionalism through creating a conducive environment, empathy, and respect for the clients. The person-centered therapy approach requires the clinician to facilitate and mediate the problem-based issues and processes of the client by focusing on his or her positives and strengths rather than the weaknesses (Walters, 2008). A professional and respectful treatment of the clients would boost their self-esteem; hence the recovery process is enhanced through progressive person-centered initiative methods under the mentorship of the clinicians. However, positive behavior and responsiveness to the required behavioral changes is directly related to the participant’s perceived empathy and mutualism from the clinician. The clients need to be directed, listened to, and encouraged to seek the answers for their personal problems.
Approaches to Change
The person-centered therapy enables patients to consciously identify their humanistic worth through sustainable and mutual counseling. Clinicians should actively listen to their client’s issues, counsel them, asking leading and rhetoric questions, respect, encourage, and guide. The person-centered approach involves both therapeutic approaches and other methods of solving and instilling change on clients. One of the borrowed concepts that the clinician may use alongside this approach is the Rational Emotive Theory concept, especially for those clients who have negative thoughts on their self-worth (Ahmad & Bradby, 2007). The clinicians may also apply the psychoanalysis concept to underscore the varied needs of the participants. Generally, due to varied needs, every client should be treated variously with a different approach besides the person-centered one.
Problems that Can Be Addressed by the Person-Centered Therapy
According to Carl Rodgers, the developer of the person-centered therapy, the progress of clients depends on their imagination and the perceived credibility and mutualism of the clinician. The clinician is merely an initiator, mediator, and facilitator of the process on the client’s needs and issues. The clients only require the critical understanding of the values and the concepts of the progress process, which then depends on their input, and not of the clinicians (Walters, 2008). This therapeutic approach, however, is not appropriate for the clients with chronic conditions such as phobia, depression, and other related psychopathologies. This is because it is applicable to the patients who have understanding of their self-consciousness and only need guidance of the clinicians. The above method is based on the simple issues surrounding human experiences that are appropriate only for counseling and mentorship of less-severe conditions. Therefore, the same makes it inapplicable to the broader perspective of the personal model of helping.
Multicultural Issues
Treatment of clients with diverse multicultural issues may be done using the existential therapy which helps in identification of the client’s heritage and point of views from different perspectives of cultural context. One of the major challenges of this method would be the perception of discrimination by the clients, who, in an unconscious state of mind, may feel that a challenge to what they are accustomed is basically discriminatory (Ahmad & Bradby, 2007). Existential therapy approach in multicultural environmental issues and problems would make the client experience separation, a scenario that varies from their beliefs. The method makes them believe that they can challenge their previously accustomed beliefs, which could be unhealthy for their progression process. The clients would appear to learn of their ‘victim of circumstances status’ and the need to beat the odds of the culturally-skewed mindsets that form their cultural practices. Through person-centered therapy concept, the clients are attended to in accordance with their studied social stratification and classification criteria as ethnicity, race, religion, cultural beliefs, and socio-economic status (Millar, 2007). For effective application of the therapy, the planning process of progress must consider all the characteristics that make an individual different and unique.
Limitations and Strengths of Person-Centered Therapy
A major limitation of the person-centered therapy is that its success or failure depends on the proficiency of the clinician in understanding and creating a warm environment for the patient. The magnitude of the psychopathologic condition that the client offers to share with the clinician and the approach the clinician uses determines the outcome. The success can tremendous as the approach allows the participants to effectively take care of their processes under the mentorship and assistance of the clinician. One of the limitations, however, is that it depends on the relationship between the clinician and the client (Crenshaw, 2008). The clinician must be able to establish a warm, empathetic, and friendly connection with the client in order to convince him or her to apply the person-centered therapy in solving problems. Furthermore, the clinician must be able to help the patient to live a potentially fulfilling lifestyle, which is the primary goal of this approach.
Besides, the strength of the person-centered therapy is that it is applicable to all the age brackets and is very effective in distracting individuals from their problems for a better result. The method solves the mild sensory, physical, and cognitive problems involving clients across all age brackets who need to regain their self-worth and consciousness. Meanwhile, the debates and continued interests in this therapy makes it a very important approach, especially in guidance and counseling of family, personal, or group matters. It is a...