The Therapy Relationship

Research into the significance of the therapy relationship has shown that it is one of the most significant factors in a good therapy outcome.

The quality of the relationship that is created between the client and the therapist (Lambert, 2013 & Wampold & Imel, 2015) consistently turns out to be more important than the type of therapy in itself.

What this means is that the type of therapy (for example Psychoanalysis, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or any other Counselling approach) is SECONDARY to the quality of the Therapy Relationship.

Of course, if you can create an effective therapy relationship as well as using a highly developed psychotherapy approach such as our CORE Programme then client outcomes will generally be very good.

Key Features of the Therapy Relationship

Carl Rogers, founder of the ‘humanistic’ (person-centred) approach to psychotherapy, suggested that the key elements of the therapy relationship are:

Unconditional Positive Regard.

The therapist accepts and supports the client with whatever they say or do in a non-judgemental way.

This is crucial as one of the factors most likely to prevent a person presenting themselves for psychotherapy is that they will be negatively judged for something they have done.

Empathy.

Empathy is the ability of the therapist to understand (or feel) what the client is experiencing from within their frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another person’s position.

Congruence.

Congruence is the authentic quality of the therapist to be who they really are within the therapy relationship.

This often means being able to share common experiences and being able to disclose personal information without the artificial restrictions imposed by some ‘governing bodies’ who state that a therapist should be ‘blank slates’ within therapy.

Arrange your FREE initial consultation here.

If you’d like to find out more about the therapy relationship and recovering from mental health problems then why not arrange a free initial consultation with us.

During this consultation we will discuss your particular issues and the different types of mental health counselling we offer (including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT) without you having to commit to any counselling going forward.

The consultation lasts around 50 minutes and is a great opportunity to meet with either Paul or Joan and decide if you would like to proceed with any support.