PCN 500 Grand Canyon Week 3 Discussion 1

Do you think it is possible to combine client-centered and existential approaches in therapy? Why or why not? Explain what a combined approach might look like.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Client-centered and existential approaches in therapy

Introduction

What is the difference between client-centered and existential approaches in therapy? Both focus on the client’s experience and take a non-directive stance. Client-centered therapy and existential therapy both aim to help people understand their lives, but they do this through different lenses. The therapist’s role in client-centered therapy is to provide empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. The therapist’s role in existential therapy is to help the client understand how their choices are influenced by their view of existence — whether that means making meaning of one’s life, death rituals or how other people perceive them around others who share similar beliefs about existence!

Client-centered and existential approaches in therapy both focus on the client’s experience and take a non-directive stance.

Both client-centered and existential approaches in therapy are non-directive. This means that they focus on the client’s experience and take a supportive stance rather than directing or judging the client’s thoughts and feelings. Both of these approaches are humanistic, meaning that they focus on helping people understand themselves better through listening to them and understanding their needs.

Client-centered therapists believe that clients should be listened to carefully so that their problems can be identified, understood, and resolved as well as possible at any given time (Kohlenberg & Kelechi 2003). In addition, some clients may not know what is wrong with them but still feel like something is wrong with them due to past experiences or feelings they have had throughout their lives (e.g., depression). Client-centered therapists try their best not only because this could help someone find peace within themselves but also because doing so would make everyone happier overall if everyone were happier!

The therapist’s role in client-centered therapy is to provide empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence.

The therapist’s role in client-centered therapy is to provide empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence.

Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts, feelings and emotions by experiencing them yourself. This can be done through sharing your own experiences with a client or by listening attentively to their words and body language during sessions. It also involves being able to reflect on what you are feeling in order for it to become more understandable for others (e.g., “I am sad because my car won’t start today”).

Unconditional positive regard stands for the belief that all humans should be treated as respected individuals regardless of their race/color/gender etc., without any bias towards anyone else based on those factors alone; thus if someone is treated with respect then they must have been deemed worthy enough by society at large! It means being kinder than necessary when interacting with others – whether socially or professionally – but not being overly generous either; instead giving each person exactly what they need without holding back any information about yourself which could potentially damage relationships over time.”

The therapist’s role in existential therapy is to help the client understand how their choices are influenced by their view of existence.

In existential therapy, the focus is on helping clients to find meaning in their lives. The therapist’s role is not to provide answers but rather help the client understand how their choices are influenced by their view of existence.

Existential therapists help clients develop a sense of self-worth and autonomy by helping them identify what they value most about life, what bothers them most about themselves or others, and how those things affect their actions. This can be done through individual sessions or group settings where participants are encouraged to express themselves freely without fear of criticism from others (or even from themselves).

Existential therapy focuses on how we make meaning of our existence, and how making meaning impacts our happiness.

Existential therapy focuses on how we make meaning of our existence, and how making meaning impacts our happiness. In this approach, the therapist guides clients through a process of self-discovery that includes exploring their past, present and future selves. Through this process they can learn to value themselves more deeply, which leads to improved self-esteem and increased feelings of contentment—two important components for improving mental health in general.

Examples include:

• Life changes are often considered “existential” because they affect how individuals think about themselves or their lives as a whole (e.g., death). A common example would be when someone loses their job due to economic recession; their loss may cause them great grief even if there were other factors involved (such as lack of training).

Client-centered and existential approaches focus on the client’s experience, but they look at that experience through different lenses.

Client-centered and existential approaches focus on the client’s experience, but they look at that experience through different lenses.

Client-centered therapy focuses on how clients make meaning of their existence. It attempts to help them understand themselves better, gain confidence in their abilities and accept themselves as they are. The therapist’s role in client- centered therapy is to provide empathy, unconditional positive regard (UPR) and congruence for what you want from life; it’s about giving yourself permission to be who you want to be rather than forcing yourself into someone else’s mold.

Existential therapy helps clients explore their purpose in life by examining whether there are deeper meanings beyond physical needs or wants – such as love or belonging – that motivate us towards action

Conclusion

Both client-centered and existential therapies are useful for treating mental health problems. They each offer a different perspective on how to understand and treat people’s experience. While the two approaches differ in some important ways, they share many commonalities as well. Both take into account the centrality of human existence in therapy; both consider the feelings of those involved; both look at what makes us happy or sad; both focus on helping individuals make sense out of their lives through therapy sessions