Person Centred Therapy: Overview and Analysis

Person Centred Therapy: Overview and Analysis Person-centered Therapy Ong Khai Lun Abstract This article discussed about Person-centered Therapy which is developed by Carl Rogers. Carl Rogers who is the Humanistic psychologist believed that there are needs that needed to be fulfilled by individual in order for the wellness of the individual. Person-centered Therapy is developed based on the Humanistic approach in the psychology field. In this article, whole of the Person-centered Therapy will be discussed, the core elements that need to be practiced by Person-centered therapists will be discussed and the critical condition in order for the therapy to be success will also be discussed in this article. This article is to help understand Person-centered Therapy and what requirement that needs to be followed when practicing Person-centered Therapy. Introduction In Person-centered Therapy, Carl Rogers believed that the client should focus on the present and the future as opposed to Gestalt Therapy that focused only on the present. Carl Rogers also believed that by focusing on the present and the future, the client would be able to understand more about himself or herself (McLeod, 2008). In Person-centered therapy, the client will be the main focus rather than the focus on how good is the therapist. This is due to Rogers believed that the self-healing ability and the personal growth that helps lead the client towards self-actualization (McLeod, 2008; Love Pinkowitz, 2013). The main purpose of Person-centered Therapy is to allow the client to have the opportunity to develop the sense of self where the client will be able to realize how their attitudes, their feelings and their behaviors that are being affected negatively (Love Pinkowitz, 2013; Swartout Swartout, 2012). Based on Person-centered Therapy, the self-concept is main element of our experiences and self-concept is influencer that will mold our perception towards the world and the perception towards the individual himself or herself. For example, an individual who is very confident towards himself or herself will behave confidently. The self-concept might not always fit the real world but as every individual is different in nature, the way we see ourselves and others see us might be different. For example, individual A might be a fun person to the eyes of others but individual might see himself as boring person, so individual A behave as a fun person to increase his or her self-esteem. The way individual A sees himself or herself might reflect how individual A values his or her self-esteem. In Person-centered Therapy, those who came for the therapy will not refer as ‘patients’ instead they will be referred as ‘clients’. This is due to the therapist and the clients are viewed as equal partners. The client is responsible to improve his life or her life and not the therapist (Corey, 2009). This is the part where Person-centered Therapy differs from psychoanalysis, where the patients is diagnosed by the psychologist and treated by the psychologist. The clients will be consciously and rationally make decisions for themselves about what is the right things to do and what should be done. The therapist in Person-centered Therapy is viewed as a friend that will listen to the problem and encourages the clients on an equal level rather than the therapist that view himself or herself as superiority in the session (Corey, 2009; Hagner, Kurtz, May Cloutier, 2014). Hagner, Kurtz, May Cloutier (2014) state that there is no absolute counseling technique to be applied in Person-centered Therapy as every counseling relationship that built with the clients are unique by itself. The quality of the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist is more important compared to the therapy techniques. There are three important elements that should be practiced by Person-centered Therapists is congruent, unconditional positive regard and emphatic. The first element that needs to be practice by Person-centered therapists is congruence. Congruence means that therapists need to be genuine in the therapeutic relationship. The therapists need to fully involve himself or herself in the therapeutic relationship in order for the wellness of the clients. The client is allowed to experience the therapist’s experience as Person-centered therapists can use their own experiences to enhance the therapeutic relationship (Cornelius-White, 2008). The second element that needs to be practice by Person-centered therapists is unconditional positive regard. Carl Rogers believed that in order for an individual to grow and fulfill his or her potential, it is very important that the individual is valued as himself or herself. This means that Person-centered therapists need to care about their clients deeply and genuinely in order for the growth and potential development of the clients. This also means that the therapists need the attitude of a ccept their clients as how the clients are (Corey, 2009). Thus Person-centered therapists need to always carefully maintain positive attitude toward their clients. The third core element that needed to be practiced by Person-centered therapists is empathy. By practicing empathy means that the therapists have the ability to understand what the clients’ experience and the clients’ feelings at the current moment. There are six critical conditions that need to meet in order for therapeutic change for the clients; therapist-client psychological contact, client incongruence, therapist congruence, therapist unconditional positive regard, therapist emphatic understanding and client perception (Corey, 2009; Cornelius-White, 2008). Therapist-client psychological contact is a relationship that needs to be established between the client and the therapist. Client incongruence means that there is an existence of incongruence between the clients’ experiences and the clients’ awareness. Therapist congruence means that the therapists need to be congruence in the therapeutic relationship. The therapists need to fully involved in the relationship and also they can use their own relationship to facilitate the therapeutic relationship. Therapist unconditional positive regard means that the therapists need to accept their clients as they are. This will help to increase the self-concept of the clie nt. Therapist empathic understanding requires the therapist to have empathic understanding towards the clients’ inner-self. Adequate empathy will allow the clients to believe their therapists have unconditional love towards them. Client perception is where the clients perceive the therapists’ unconditional positive regards and the therapists’ emphatic understanding. These six critical conditions are then summarized into three important elements; congruent, unconditional positive regard and emphatic (Maslow, Fazio, Ortigara, Kuhn Zeisel, 2013). As a conclusion, Person-centered Therapy requires the clients to concentrate in his or her present and future, which the clients will be able to know himself or herself more. Besides that, Person-centered Therapy will concentrate on the clients self-healing ability and the self-concept of the clients. In order to promote the self-concept of the clients, the therapists would need to practice three main elements; congruent, unconditional positive regard and emphatic. Aside from that, for the therapeutic relationship to be successful, the therapists need to ensure six core conditions to be presence; therapist-client psychological contact, client incongruence, therapist congruence, therapist unconditional positive regard, therapist emphatic understanding and client perception. References Corey, G. (2009).Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy(8th ed.). Belmont,  CA: Brooks/Cole. Cornelius-White, J. D. (2008). Reexamination of Rogers (1959) Collection of Theories on  the Person-Centered Approach. Person-Centered Experiential Psychotherapies,  7(3), 201-208.   Hagner, D., Kurtz, A., May, J., Cloutier, H. (2014). Person-Centered Planning for  Transition-Aged Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal Of Rehabilitation,  80(1), 4-10. Love, K., Pinkowitz, J. (2013). Person-Centered Care for People with Dementia : A  Theoretical and Conceptual Framework. Generations, 37(3), 23-29. Maslow, K., Fazio, S., Ortigara, A., Kuhn, D., Zeisel, J. (2013). From Concept to Practice:  Training in Person-Centered Care for People with Dementia. Generations, 37(3), 100-  107. McLeod, S. A. (2008). Person Centered Therapy. Retrieved from  http://www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html Morhardt, D., Spira, M. (2013). From Person-Centered Care to Relational Centered Care.  Generations, 37(3), 37-44. Swartout, K. M., Swartout, A. G. (2012). Shifting perspectives: Applying person-centered  analyses to violence research. Psychology Of Violence, 2(4), 309-312.  doi:10.1037/a0029910 Why Did Margaret Thatcher Win? Why Did Margaret Thatcher Win? The essay has been divided by 3 parts, equally with the 3 periods of time that Mrs Thatcher campaigning to be in power. Each part Id state the key events and policies circulated by Mrs Prime Minister and the Conservatives Party and also the opposition partys activites, together to conclude the factors that contributed to Mrs Thatchers 3 consecutive General Election victory and her 11 years in power. Why did Tories/ Margaret Thatcher win the 1979 General Election? The period of time from 1974 to 1979 is when the two dominant British political parties were under controlled by their two leaders: Jim Callaghan for Labour and Margaret Thatcher for Conservatives. The February 1974 General Election saw a hung parliament as a result and Labour was the largest party (Owen and Howe, 2011). The leader of the Labour party was Harold Wilson. In April 1976, he was succeeded by Jim Callaghan, who was the first and remain the only Prime Minister to hold the role in all three offices of state, which are Home Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964 70), Foreign Secretary of State from 1974 before holding office at number 10 Downing Street (BBC News, 2001). Meanwhile, Margaret Thatcher successfully challenged Edward Heath for leadership of the Conservatives party to be the first woman to lead a major political party and the Tories had got its very first woman leader. The economy at such this point wasnt an alliance with the Labour government t o leave them in a well-controlled position. After the quadrupling of oil prices in 1973-74 of the O.P.E.Cs oil prices crisis, inflation rose sharply to over 24% and the sterling pound ( £) reached an alert point in the international currency market. During 1971 and 1974, inflation had been arrived at a rate of 9.3%, but had a peak of 27% in 1975. Between 1974 and 1978 the average of inflation was 17.3% and later on fell down to 9.3% in 1979 (Visitor6 Website, 2012). To keep up and to survive with costly goods in such an inflationary era, its inevitable for all the workers to claim for higher wages to live with the situation. Greater paid amount for workers was campaigned by the unions, in fact, they would favour a rise in wages up to 22% for fireman, 14% for bakers, despite the limit of 5% of the government policy (ibid, 2012). In consequence, the strikes began. Strikes carried on by truck drivers and oil tanker drivers, garbage collection services stopped in Liverpool, resulting in rubbish all over and pile up on the streets. Even worse, the grave-diggers went on strike, dead bodied were not buried, making this the most depressed chaos ever and making the government looks like it couldnt cope with the situation (ibid, 2012). This, was so-called, the Winter of Discontent, which was a significant factor contributing to the victory of the Conservative in the 1979 General Election, as the Labour government was seen with nothing to rely on. Another thing to note is that, by April 1976, after two days Callaghan holding the Prime Minister Office, the Labour party has lost its majority to be a minority government of 1, as a result of the resignation of the formal Cabinet Minister John Stonehouse, and the 2 backbenchers left to establish a new Scottish Labour Party (BBC On This Day Website, 2005). This was also a miscalculation of Callaghan, when he had the right to call an election by October 1978, but he didnt as the economic performance started to get a little bi t better, and then the Winter of Discontent (WoD) appeared. Meanwhile, the Conservatives were getting every single opportunity out of their excellent media campaign. Mrs Thatcher was more than welcome for the attraction of the media and to provide journalists lots of photo-opportunities. The Tories also managed to get an efficient use of TV broadcast, and also the influence of their poster Labour isnt working delivered by advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, imitating a queue of jobless people (Bunn, 2010a). The Conservative manifesto advanced greatly away from the Keynesian economic policies which had been adopted since 1945 by all government. Instead of applying demand management like previously, Mrs Thatcher adopted the idea of monetarism policies, which stated by the Chicago economist Milton Friedman that money supply is the main reason rising the rate of inflation, hence for the government to be able to control inflation, public expenditure shall be cut down and the amount o f money circulated in the business flow should be well under controlled, although all of this would lead to further unemployment rate (Owen and Howe, 2011). To be focused on lowering the rate of inflation, the Tories reckon that small inflation would create greater developing environment for firms and businesses, therefore providing greater demand for jobs because of the non-fluctuation condition in the market (Visitor6 Website, 2012). Other policies including leaving the market opened and free movement of the economy, breaking down the excessive power of the Trade Unions and tax cuts. The Conservatives party now seen as the party of Law and Order, giving Britain a new begin to escape from the so long chaos (Owen and Howe, 2011). The 1979 General Election results putting the Conservative back into power after with the total win of 339 seats, winning a solid majority of 44, marking the first of the 4 consecutive Genereal Election victories in the following years of the Tories, and Ma rgaret Thatcher became the first woman to be the Prime Minister and serving on number 10 Downing Street (Bunn, 2010a). Thatchers first term in power: 1979 1983 The first two years of the Thatcher Government were a remarkably difficult time in British politics. As stated above, Thatcher was massively inspired by the idea of monetarism, which believe the biggest demon of government is inflation, and to be in a good hand of controlling inflation rate, government need to control the flow of money supply (EconomicHelp Website, 2007). Indirect taxes were increased, government expenditure was lowered down and higher interest rate as government was fighting inflation (ibid, 2007). In the first Budget introduced in 1979, income tax rates were cut by 3%, from 33% to 30% but VAT was increased to a single rate of 15%. Interest rates were kept high, even raised up to 14%. The result was an economic recession (1979 81) in which manufacturing productivity fell by nearly 20% (BBC Budget Website, 1997). The subsequent rise in unemployment made it difficult to reduce government spending, which, as percentage of GDP, increased until 1983, although thereafter it fell noticeably. On the other hand, as a result of the recession, inflation fell significantly. By 1982, it was at 5% which was the average of the OECD and then reached its bottom for almost 20 years at 2.6% in 1986 (Owen and Howe, 2011). The turning point for the Conservatives Party during this tough period before the 1983 General Election was the Falkland War. Four months before the Falkland conflict, Mrs. Thatcher was the most unpopular Prime Minister on record according to the early 1980s opinion polls (Owen and Howe, 2011). After the island attack, her popular ratings increased from 41% in April and to 56% in May 1982 and when the invasion was finally over in June, her approval ratings was favourably reached 59% (IPSOS Website, 2007). Nevertheless, even before the Falkland factor happened, the economic was slightly recovered from the recession, backing up Thatchers image, and also there was obviously public support behind the governments decision of fighting and getting back the island. The Economist conducted a survey showed that 83% seen the decision of sending the naval task force to Falkland was right, followed by 85% in a later week and 85% in early May (ibid, 2007). Hence, the Prime Minster was doing what t he people also desired to do and expected to do so, and with the successful achievement of the invasions outcomes, Mrs Thatcher was seen as a strong and patriotic leader. Adulations were honoured to Mrs Prime Minister by the tabloid press across the nation (Owen and Howe, 2011). There was clearly the Falkland factors behind the Conservative win on the 1983 General Election, but theres others factor supported Thatcher too, such as what was happening on the side of the opposition party. The Labour was divided, and appeared to middle-class voters as extremely left-wing and too close to the Unions. Their Manifesto for the 1983 election, later describes as the longest suicide note in history by Sir Gerald Kaufman, was the most left-wing manifesto ever as believed (Rayner, 2013). The party wished to exit the EEC by the end of the next term and non-business with all nuclear weapons. It would not let the market to be left freely and pledged to more state intervention in the economy with the association of the Trade Unions in paying and other decisions. It also wanted to nationalised again all the assets to the state, including the bank of England. Finally, the party was saying to end one of the most popular policies of the Tories, The Right to Buy council tenant houses (Bunn, 2010b). Adding all of the elements stated above, the result was a second victory for Margaret Thatcher and a landline winning for the Conservative Party with 397 seats and an overall majority of 144 (Bunn, 2010b). With that massive amount of majority, Thatcher would be able to perform even more radical reforms in her next following term in power (Rayner, 2013). The second term in power: 1983 1987 Not long after the 1983 election, Thatcher in 1984 attended a summit of European Union leaders at Fontainebleau, France. She has been wrangling many years to claim for the rebate that Britain should have earned as contributing a massive amount to the budget of the EEC, for example Britain was the most imported agriculture-products country and paid heavily for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP)s financial statement (Zijlstra, 2005). I want my money back with this legendary saying at the summit, Mrs Thatcher put British Euroscepticism into words clearer than anyone else before. The event was seemed to be successful for the Iron Lady, but on the other hands, distanced herself with other EU leaders in the area (Owen and Howe, 2011). The key event associated with Mrs Thatchers second term in office is undoubtedly the Miners Strike Defeat (1984 85). Since 1974, Mrs Prime Minister believed a strike could be expected, as when the miners had heavily tackled down the Heaths government. In addition, in the 1983 general election, the Labour party again was unable to be in power with Michael Foot being its leader, she said a strike would naturally arise (Craig, 2013). The National Coal Board was planning the strike by shutting down many of the uneconomic pits and stem financial losses running into billions (ibid, 2013). Ian MacGragor was appointed as the boards chairman by Mrs Thatcher, foreseeing the strike and stocking a massive amount of coal at power stations with orders and support from Nigel Lawson and later Peter Walker, the Energy Secretaries of State (ibid, 2013). The miners leader, Arthur Scargill, was negotiating with the Colonel Gaddafi of Libya and Mikhail Gorbachev for sufficient fund for the prolonging st rike. He was said to have got  £150,000 from Lybia, but by forecasting the strike long ahead, Mr Gorbachev agreed not to support the miners after Thatchers successful persuasion (ibid, 2013). By the end of 1984, the miners and their families facing financial shortage and poverty, returned to work and the strike was seen as admitting its defeat. This Miners Strike event was a direct hit on the Trade Unions, weakening its power, and as Thatcher wrote in her memoirs, What the strikes defeat meant was that Britain could not be made ungovernable by the Fascist Left (ibid, 2013). The 1980s also can be clearly seen as the era of privatisation. The nationalised assets had gradually been selling to private buyers and investors: British Telephone (1984), British Gas (1986), British Airways (1987), British Steel (1988). Electricity privatisation begun in the 90s, British Rail was privatised by Major later on. The Thatcherite support for privatisation was that it created more options and competitions in the market, hence provide the best service and offer best prices to customers, and also contribute extra funds to the Treasury (Owen and Howe, 2011). Approximately  £440m was raised by the privatising progress by 1987, which is the perfect condition for government to allow further direct tax cuts. Despite the increase in inflation rate, these were seen as the economic feel-good factors, putting the Conservatives Party on another term in power, but turn out to be Thatchers last election victory (ibid, 2011). Bibliographies BBC Budget Website (1997), http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/budget97/background/bud1979_92.shtml (accessed 7 May 2013). BBC News (2001) Elections Battle 1945 1997: 1979: The Thatcher Era Begin, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1979_over.stm (accessed 7 May 2013). Bunn, M. (2010a) 1979 UK General Election, http://suite101.com/article/1979-uk-general-election-a231103 (accessed 7 May 2013). Bunn, M. (2010b) 1983 UK General Election, http://suite101.com/article/1983-uk-general-election-a231863 (accessed 7 May 2013). Craig, J. (2013) Miners Strike: Margaret Thatcher Triumph, http://news.sky.com/story/1075351/miners-strike-margaret-thatchers-triumph (accessed 7 May 2013). EconomicsHelp Website (2007) UK Economy under Mrs Thatcher 1979-1984, http://econ.economicshelp.org/2007/03/uk-economy-under-mrs-thatcher-1979-1984.html (accessed 7 May 2013). IPSOS-Mori Website (2007) Political Commentary The Falklands Factor Revisited, http://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/273/Political-Commentary-The-Falklands-Factor-Revisited.aspx (accessed 7 May 2013). Owen, V. and Howe, C. (2011) Politics. Essex: Pearson Education. Rayner, G. (2013) Margaret Thatcher dies: time and achievements as Britains first female PM, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/8081313/Margaret-Thatcher-dies-time-and-achievements-as-Britains-first-female-PM.html (accessed 7 May 2013). Visitor6 Website (2012) The Reasons why the Conservatives won the General Elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987?, http://visitor6.com/political-thought/the-reasons-why-the-conservatives-won-the-general-elections-of-1979-1983-and-1987/ (accessed 7 May 2013). Zijlstra, T. (2005) The people want their money back, http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/1311/the-people-want-their-money-back.html (accessed 7 May 2013). Why Is Play Important? Why Is Play Important? The right to play is a childs first claim on the community. Play is natures training for life. No community can infringe that right without doing deep and enduring harm to the minds and bodies of its citizens. By playing, children learn and develop as individuals, and as members of the community. Letting children go out and play is one of the best things that parents can do for their childrens health. A mix of active, imaginative and creative play makes for a brilliantly balanced diet of play. Some children prefer to spend most of their time with creative play, some with imaginative play and others with active play. There is nothing wrong in liking one toy or game in particular, but a balanced diet of play is best for development. In other words, its good for your child to play in lots of different ways. Each type of play contributes in its own way to all-round psychological progress. Your child gets something different out of playing with different toys. Encourage your child to achi eve a balanced diet of play by offering a regular change of play activities. You can suggest new types of games and new toys. A balanced diet of play is as important as good food or love. According to Dr Richard Woolfson (an educational psychologist with 30 years experience and a qualified nursery and primary school teacher), a portion each of three types of play each day helps with every childs healthy development: Creative play is about drawing, painting, playing music, cooking, or making something (anything!). It doesnt matter what your child makes, or whether theres a perfect result. Through creative play, your child expresses his- or herself, learns about process, discovers cause and effect and gains pride in their achievements. Imaginative play starts in your childs head. It can be role-playing, creating a new game, giving toys a voice, inventing adventures or playing a word game. Through imaginative play your child begins to understand the world, investigates fact and fiction, and develops positive relationships with themselves and other people. Active play is how your child moves in the world. It is running, jumping, catching and dancing all of which build strength and boost coordination. Active play is also a great way to learn about teamwork, release tension and feel truly free. Play is a serious business, as far as children are concerned. Play makes an immense contribution to your childs development in lots of important ways.As a child plays, they learn all about themselves and what they can do. Play helps them make friends, enjoy company and discover the world around them. Your child has fun while playing and at the same time is exercising, discovering and developing both emotionally and physically. Thats what makes play so wonderful! Improving Confidence Through Play Play boosts your childs self-confidence in many ways: Exploration. By learning through discovery, your child develops belief in their skills and abilities. Movement. As soon as your child can move, they want to play. The I got there by myself expression shows your childs growing confidence. Playing is also a fantastic form of exercise and as the facts show us, children need regular exercise. Facts: Welsh children are the second most overweight in Europe According to recent research by the World Health Organisation -in Wales, 23% of boys and 17% of girls are obese. 60% of children spend up to 4 hours a day watching TV. Only 60% of children have regular opportunities to play outside. Imagination. Children use their imagination in pretend-play. This is a new and exciting experience for children, and they love it. Creativity. Every child can be creative in play. Your child will be delighted when you smile at their drawings and paintings. Socialising. Playing with friends is a great way for your child to learn important social skills like sharing and taking turns. Problem-solving. Your childs confidence is boosted by solving a puzzle they would rather do it without too much help. Language. Playing with others builds up your childs vocabulary, speech and communication skills. Individual Play Patterns The way your child plays depends on many different factors. First theres their age and stage of development play becomes more complicated as your child grows older. Personality matters too an enthusiastic child will get stuck in to toys immediately while a passive child may hold back. The range of toys and games available affects play a child who hasnt got a pedal toy, for example, wont learn how to make it move by pushing the pedals. Every child instinctively needs to play. But there are many distractions that can grab young interest. For example, a television programme or a computer game may attract your childs attention away from toys and games. A Balanced Diet of Play Some children prefer to spend most of their time with creative play, some with imaginative play and others with active play. There is nothing wrong in liking one toy or game in particular, but a balanced diet of play is best for development. In other words, its good for your child to play in lots of different ways. Each type of play contributes in its own way to all-round psychological progress. Your child gets something different out of playing with different toys. Encourage your child to achieve a balanced diet of play by offering a regular change of play activities.