This condition is simply implying there is a problem perceived by the 'client'. The difficulty though that is people can be so incongruent with their 'selves' that they are detached from themselves, unaware or dissociated. Maybe they are so unaware that there is indeed no 'problem' to them, as they are not aware. This lack of awareness can be a real problem as the organism may not sense a way of living healthily. They may not sense danger or hunger for example. If a client is incongruent they probably would not enter therapy anyway, but they may be referred by professionals such as social workers or psychiatrists. I believe that a client needs to be in a state of congruence to some degree for therapy to be helpful. The incongruence can create feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, stress call it what you will, but the client needs to have some awareness that there is a problem, otherwise what's the point? Rogers hypothesized that the two people Therapist and Client must be in Psychological Contact. Psychological contact is when both parties are fully aware of the other. There may be moments for the client when they are unaware of the other, so it is important for the the therapist to be in the relationship, by way of communicating empathy. Sometime therapists seem to be keen on eye contact possibly for this reason, but when deep internal processing is happening then eye contact may lack. Eye positions may be at the floor or another direction, and I believe that therapists should provide unconditional positive regard for this , and 'allow' it to happen without distraction - although this may conflict with the idea of a need for psychological contact.
I will expand on the idea of Unconditional Positive Regard in another of my posts. I think think UPR is the most interesting of the core conditions, so look forwards to writing about that. |
Chris Rudyard MNCS AccreditedProfessional, experienced counsellor & psychotherapist in Liverpool Archives
July 2023
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