Summary and Reflection of Interview With Carl Roger on the Use of the Self in Therapy

Michael Baldwin meets with the leading humanistic psychotherapist, Carl Roger who has an interest in the subject of using self in therapy, offers to give his contributions in brief, and presents important principles in therapy. Roger highlights the main principles of becoming a good therapist such as the use of myself in therapy has had a positive healing effect on patients just as well as his presence to the clients. Mr. Roger presents a story of a schizophrenic patient who had lost hope and did not even care for himself. However, Mr. Roger told him that he cares about him and whatever that happens to him. He sobbed for some time and that was a turning point in his life.

The ideas of using self and taking control of a therapy session are important to the author as they are the characteristics of a good therapist. For instance, to reveal his good therapy skills Mr. Roger presents the story of another client whom he did help and got an emotional attachment towards him and felt like he was the closest individual who is reliable to them. For that reason, the patient recuperated well over time as therapy is gradual. For that case, they feel a strong wave of relief inside them thus respond to the counseling methods. In addition to that, Roger gives emphasis on the need to understand the different feelings that encroach inside the therapist and whether they are necessary to be expressed or not. Expressing feelings can have either positive or negative impact hence an assessment is crucial.

These ideas have a strong impact on my understanding of the process clinical work. Majorly, the ideas have made me have a different perspective to psychological counseling. In therapy, the counselor must be a role model for the clients. Presenting oneself like model to a patient can help them feel that they are not in any way different and they can accept their conditions and move on with their lives. For instance, behaving like a father figure to a young client can help them appreciate that it is not always over as one can seek help from their father for guidance on various issues. The existence of a leaning ground is good as that prevents depression. The maturity level and expressions of a therapist is a crucial ingredient to a successful therapy session. Exhibiting high levels of maturity when dealing with various issues relating to different circumstances helps in recuperating patients as that would always enable a therapist to assume an informed counselors role. Maturity helps a therapist to be open to all sort of evidence coming out through speech or even body language of a patient.

Limiting goals to the process of therapy and not the eventual outcomes is a good aspect to be a good therapist. Psychological counseling does not follow any order nor does it have specific timelines upon which a patient is expected to have appreciated some things about themselves or rather responded to some degree. For that reason, focusing on the process of therapy and being able to pay attention to every detail is crucial. In addition to that, a therapist has to be real and not give false hope to any patient. Many patients need to feel appreciation or be able to live within their means thus understanding them can make a therapist help them appreciate what they have and build on it.