The Counseling Sessions With Gloria. Paper Example

Carl Rogers and Gloria - Counselling (1965) Full Session

Rogers had client-centered counseling with Gloria. Rogers's conversation devices used during this session are in line with the enactment of core conditions of his person-centered therapy that includes genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard (Moon, 2007). According to Rogers, the three conditions and sufficient and necessary in inducing therapeutic change. Person-centered therapy is when the client does most of the talking, and the therapist should not try to judge or interpret what the patient says. They are only allowed to restate the clients' statements to enable them to understand the patients' thoughts and feelings (Ann Reitan, 2013). Rogers exercised all these during the session, and that made their conversation interactive, and patient Gloria was able to explain herself so well. Through their 30 minutes conversation, Gloria managed to accept herself and felt "whole" again.

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Gloria, 30years old and recently divorced, is finding it hard adapting to her single life (Moon, 2007). She brings men to her house, and she does not know the effect this has on her children who love and adore their father. She is worried about her 9-year-old daughter and also feels guilty of lying to her about her current sex life (Moon, 2007). Gloria is okay with her current situation of being divorced but very disturbed about the well-being of her children especially her little girl, who appears so inquisitive. She shares her dilemma will Carl to get a solution.

Mental illness, according to Rogers, reflects distortions of the actualizing tendency, based on faulty conditions of worth (Ann Reitan, 2013). Therefore, psychotic people usually deal with negatively skewed situations of value. Stigmatization is a significant contributor to mental ill-health, and non-psychotic individuals are the perpetrators of psychological violence (Ann Reitan, 2013). The mentally ill people can decrease the self-abuse if the normative dismissal of them as worthless is stopped. Rogers believed that a therapist should be understanding and accepting regardless of what the client says. The therapist should give their clients a chance to pour their hearts out as Carl did with Gloria and that way to bring self-healing.

Successful person-centered therapy has four main goals that it deems to achieve. Every therapist should ensure that all these objectives are met by the end of the counseling session (Ann Reitan, 2013). By the end of the course, the client should become open to the experience, learn to trust themselves, develop an internal evaluation of themselves and have the willingness to continue growing. All these can be achieved through these three conditions: Congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard (Ann Reitan, 2013). During the session, Rogers used meta-statements to demonstrate his genuineness. Phrases like "'I guess I'd like to say...'" and "'...I might ask, "What is it you wish I would say to you?"'" were the meta-statements he used (Moon, 2007). He also used affiliative negative statements like "'life is risky'" to show his ability to comprehend with Gloria's dilemma exhibiting empathy (Moon, 2007). In his speech, "'I-I also feel that this is the very private thing that I couldn't possibly answer for you,'" Carl is withholding direct response to Gloria's request of advice. This way, the therapist manifest unconditional positive regard to Gloria.

The role of the counselor is to encourage the client to explore and understand themselves and their troubles (Ann Reitan, 2013). The counselors only offer the clients the support they need. During their conversation, Gloria dominates the talk while Carl merely restates her statements occasionally. The therapist allowed Gloria to explore herself as well as her troubles and understand them in her way. Rogers played the "non-expert" by acknowledging Gloria's ownership of her life (Moon, 2007). He also presented himself as the expert he was and guided Gloria accordingly.

The primary technique of person-centered counseling is a reflection, the restatement of what the client says (Ann Reitan, 2013). It will show an understanding of the clients' situation and display empathy. Restating Gloria's statements Rogers was able to understand the situation Gloria was in and empathize with her. In the case the existential approach technique was employed during this session, Gloria would be a devastated person than before since she will have to take the blame for her situation.

Fritz Perls and Gloria - Counselling (1965) Full Session

Fritz had a Gestalt therapy session with Gloria. A gestalt is a fascinating approach that has different interventions, techniques, and goals that makes it appear different from other methods (Holtzclaw & Perls, 1975). This therapy enables the clients to focus on their present and understand the current happenings in their lives; instead, what they perceive to be happening following their experience (Holtzclaw & Perls, 1975). In this case, the therapist has to find out what is happening at the moment and find the solution there and then.

Unlike in Rogers's case, Gloria did not explain her issue to Perls. Gloria stays focused on Perls as she keenly observes his demeanor and interventions. As they start their conversation, fritz did not even introduce himself to Gloria, as Gloria mentions that she is scared. The therapist responds with an encoded reference showing that the client has stage fright. Gloria makes his suspicion clear to Perls; she feels uncomfortable with his demeanor and fears he might attack her. Their session starts on a high note, and the therapist makes it even worse when he makes the client more frightened.

Perls believe that the mind is the cause of distraction as it works against the body and the best interests of a person (Ginger, 2018). In his view, the mind is never the center of a person but rather the center of the dishonesty a person thinks of him/herself. According to this approach, the mental health problem is caused by the mind's distortion, as well as the misuse of awareness in mind (Ginger, 2018). Perl argues that mental health originates from our minds following the bad things we think of ourselves. His belief about mental illness is demonstrated during the therapy session he had with Gloria. Most of his statements during the conversation have a neutral charge but appear negative following Gloria's perception. Like when Perls asked, "What are you doing with your feet?" Gloria takes it negatively, and she feels he is demanding an explanation from her.

The main goal of Gestalt therapy is raising the client's awareness of how they function in their environment. It focuses on what is happening at the moment than the content of the discussion (Ginger, 2018). In the counseling session, Perls is concentrating on what is happening at that moment by asking Gloria what she is doing with her feet. He wants Gloria to know her behavior at that moment and the way it affects her mental stability. In his statement, "That is the Fritz of your imagination," the therapist explains to her that it's her imagination but not the truth.

The counselor assists patients in developing their self-awareness of how they are at that moment (Ginger, 2018). By doing that, the clients will be able to rectify their issues affecting their lives. Throughout the counseling session, Gloria did not explain to Perls, the challenges she is facing, but the therapist tried to help develop self-awareness by engaging her in a talk. Just from nowhere, Gloria started to state her perception of Perls, and through her statements and words, the therapist could understand her problem. By making weird statements and asking funny questions, Perls managed to push Gloria out of hide-out and faced reality and expresses her genuine feelings.

Gestalt therapy employs several techniques during a counseling session (Ginger, 2018). In the Perls counseling session with Gloria, they used the 'here and now' technique. The therapist confronts Gloria's current thoughts and feelings. He made statements like "you are a phony," which prompt Gloria to explain her true feelings (Holtzclaw & Perls, 1975). The confrontation made Gloria's verbal expression congruent with her mood. If the existential approach was used in this case, the client might fail to express her genuine feeling since she will be made to believe that she is the cause of all her problems.

References

Ann Reitan, PsyD. (2013, February 24). Humanistic Theory and Therapy, Applied to the Psychotic Individual. Retrieved from https://www.brainblogger.com/2013/02/24/humanistic-theory-and-therapy-applied-to-the-psychotic-individual/

Ginger, S. (2018). Fritz Perls, the Father of Gestalt Therapy. Gestalt Therapy, 20-27. doi:10.4324/9780429475283-3

Holtzclaw, M. J., & Perls, F. (1975). The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy. The Family Coordinator, 24(1), 118. doi:10.2307/583095

Moon, K. A. (2007). A Client-Centered Review of Rogers With Gloria. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(3), 277-285. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2007.tb00475.x