In the person centred counselling theory, which is what I practice, there is often a lot of reference to the counsellor being truly ‘’present’’ in the room and ensuring we offer the core conditions of Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard and Congruence to our clients
‘’To be with another in this way means that for the time being you lay aside the views and values you hold for yourself in order to enter another's world without prejudice’’ Carl Rogers
This week I had to truly reflect on this quote as there are times when some of the content I hear can be challenging. I am a person in my own right with my own values, morals and opinions but in order to be truly present with my clients there are times when I have to be aware of my genuine response to what I hear but be very cautious and mindful of not allowing that to impact my client in any way. Fortunately, through the process of Supervision and writing my process notes this is something that I am able to successfully do.
I am mindful that when I began my counselling journey I was worried about some of what I wanted to share with my counsellor at the time and was anxious that what if they had their own opinion on what I was going to share. At the time I was holding a lot of guilt and shame at what I wanted and knew I needed to bring. Being able to sit with a person whom I knew was able to really be with me in the room and not allow their own judgement to impact their response was one of the most healing things I experienced and this over time allowed me to let go of some of the ‘’ugly’’ feelings I was holding onto. My hope is that reading this will enable you to take a risk and start your own journey.