Book review

Book Review : J. Tolan, Skills in Person-Centred Counseling and Psychotherapy.

Wilkins, O.

Review | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages:

Book review

Book Review Essay : The Mystical Power of Person-Centred Therapy: Hope Beyond Despair

Thorne, B.

Review | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages: 133-140

Keywords: person-centered therapy, spirituality and psychotherapy, therapist as a person, social and political implications

Abstract: This essay focuses on Brian Thorne’s passion and courage in his latest book, as once again
he extends our comfort zones as therapists and persons. Among others, he rejoins themes such as
spirituality and love to the core of healing, while contrasting this with the contract mentality based
on fear that dominates today’s psychological milieu and diminishes the depth of both our characters
and our therapy. Each topic explored encourages us to revivify ourselves and our practices with new
perceptions and constructs (as does Thorne himself), while holding fast to the PCA roots of authentic
empathic relatedness. Finally, Thorne looks at worldwide warring ideologies knotted in their tangled
nexus and sees even here the possibility of weaving a healing web of connection to the One/All
through inspirited person-centered principles.

Editorial :

Elliott, R., Mearns, D., Schmid, P.F.

Editorial | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages:

Interactive Resonance in Work with Children and Adolescents: A Theory-based Concept of Interpersonal Relationship through Play and the Use of Toys.

Behr, M. - Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany

Article | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages: 89-103

Keywords: play therapy, therapy with children and adolescents, client-centered psychotherapy, special education, self psychology, interpersonal interaction, attachment behavior, nonverbal communication

Abstract: Play therapists give evidence of Interactive Resonance by playing with the child and by responding to the child’s play through their own playing activities on a bodily level, by verbal or nonverbal means. This enhances their capacity to be primarily supportive and encouraging and to give the child space, thus increasing the child’s symbolizations on a deeper level. This concept is supported by developmental psychological theories: Stern’s theory of self and the theory of attachment behavior enrich the client-centered theory of personality and of empathic interventions. They indicate how empathy and authenticity can be offered in play interactions with a child or an adolescent. Brief descriptions of how in practice the therapist reacts to the child’s actions present examples of how to proceed in games with rules, role playing, fights, and setting boundaries.

Organism and Subjectivity: 1. The Concept of 'Organism' and 'Actualizing Tendency'

Spielhofer, H. - ÖGwG, Vienna, Austria

Article | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages: 75-88

Keywords: actualizing tendency, anthropology, experience, need, organism, theory of personality, self

Abstract: The conceptualization of being human and the theory of personality in Rogers’ work are mainly based on ‘axioms’ of the organism and the actualizing tendency, which is assumed to be inherent in the organism. In spite of their primary importance for the theory of the person-centered approach, these axioms are not distinct and are likely to be misunderstood. This is because Rogers does not distinguish between the organism or the body as a biological substratum and the organismic experience as a psychological category. These phenomena need to be placed on different epistemological and ontological levels. To explicate the term subjectivity, a fundamental distinction will be made here between the body as a physical entity and organismic experience, which is not considered as a predetermined development process regulated only by conditions of worth that are represented in the self.

Book review

Review : H. Kirschenbaum (Producer), Carl Rogers and the Person-Centered Approach. VHS-Video.

Thorne, B.

Review | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages:

Small is Beautiful: Small-Scale Phenomenological Research for Counselor Self-Development

Worsley, R. - University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Article | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages: 121-132

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, heuristics, phenomenology practitioner researchunconditional positive regard

Abstract: This article offers an example of how small-scale, phenomenological research can enable personal and professional development in person-centered experiential psychotherapists and counselors. It gives a phenomenological account of the author’s experience of meeting with a co-researcher who has anorexia, and of the impact of this exploration on the author’s ability to accord unconditional positive regard to clients with anorexia. The research method is rooted in Martin Buber’s conceptualization of relating as I–Thou. It draws upon both heuristics and hermeneutics.

The Characteristics of a Person-Centered Approach to Therapy and Counseling: Criteria for Identity and Coherence.

Schmid, P.F. - Institute for Person-Centered Studies, Vienna; University of Graz, Austria; Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco

Article | From volume/issue: 2.2 | Pages: 104-120

Keywords: person-centered therapy, experiential therapy, image of the human being, person, we, presence

Abstract: This article looks in two directions in order to contribute to the search for the identity and future of the person-centered and experiential paradigms: into the interior of the person-centered and experiential ‘family’ (where are we and what are our relationships?); and to the outside (where are the other orientations and what could be our contribution to the realm of psychotherapy as a whole?). It examines criteria for a coherent and distinguishing person-centered conception after the paradigm shift we owe to Rogers, gives reasons for the necessity for ongoing dialogue and mutual challenge among the branches of person-centered and experiential therapies, and discusses some of the consequences for psychotherapy in general.