{"id":4456,"date":"2016-04-09T13:11:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T13:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/counsellingtu.onpressidium.com\/?p=4456"},"modified":"2021-09-06T13:56:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T12:56:46","slug":"009-power-in-counselling-carl-rogers-biography-skill-of-challenge-and-psychopathology-vs-person-centred-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/009-power-in-counselling-carl-rogers-biography-skill-of-challenge-and-psychopathology-vs-person-centred-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast Episode 09"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

009 – Power in Counselling – Carl Rogers’ Biography – Skill of Challenge – Psychopathology<\/h1>\n\t
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In the ninth episode of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Ken Kelly and Rory Lees-Oakes talk about the role of power in the therapeutic relationship. Rory presents on the life of Carl Rogers, while Ken explains the skill of challenging. In ‘Ask Ken and Rory’, there is a debate about different models in psychopathology.<\/p>\n\t

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Power in Counselling<\/h2>\n\t

While in some modalities of therapy, counsellors may choose to portray themselves as experts, the person-centred approach\u00a0advocates reducing the power imbalance between client and therapist. Making the power balance completely equal is impossible, simply because the client comes to us in distress, wanting our assistance, while we are not distressed. And in fact, even in person-centred counselling, there are several good reasons to retain some power as the therapist.<\/p>\n

First, we are professionals, who must work within the law (e.g. on confidentiality). Second, the late psychologist Petruska Clarkson <\/a>spoke of the reparenting<\/a> aspect of working with clients, in the sense of setting clear boundaries for them. Third, clients need to see us as dependable and able to offer hope – for example, it could be really damaging if a counsellor collapsed in tears after hearing a client’s story. And last but not least, sometimes we need to refer clients to a more appropriate therapist or service. All these occasions are times when retaining an appropriate degree of power is both useful and important.<\/p>\n

However, there are ways we can avoid flaunting our power, and we must be open to clients’ sensitivities in this regard. Ken illustrates this using his experience of counselling in a GP surgery, where a huge, plush chair was provided for the professional and a small, rickety one for the patient\/client; he fetched another small chair in an attempt to equalise status. Other inadvertent displays of power include certificates\u00a0on the wall, family pictures in the therapy room, and expensive cars outside.<\/p>\n

The key is how you, as therapist, utilise your power: like all tools, it can be used for good and for bad.<\/p>\n\t