Counselling Approaches: Client-Centred vs. Narrative Therapy

This essay provides a comparative analysis of two counselling approaches: client-centred therapy, as demonstrated by Carl Rogers, and narrative therapy with children, as presented by Stephen Madigan. The essay explores the commonalities and differences in these approaches, focusing on the therapist's role, the nature of the client's issues, and the overall impact of the therapeutic interventions. It discusses the importance of understanding human complexities and promoting mental health and wellness through effective counselling techniques. The essay also reflects on the potential role of the individual as both a client and a therapist, emphasizing the value of empathy, self-awareness, and the application of cognitive-behavioural therapy in addressing various life challenges, including pregnancy loss, fatigue, and emotional distress. The conclusion highlights the significance of a safe and supportive therapeutic environment for clients to explore their issues and develop coping strategies for a healthier and more fulfilling life. Desklib is a platform where students can find past papers and solved assignments.

Running Head: COUNSELLING 0
Counselling
10/19/2018

COUNSELLING 1
The essay brings about the discussion on the assignment of Counselling, which included two
videos by the authors, Carl Rogers and Stephen Madigan. The assignment focuses on the
aspects of human complexities and understanding throughout the life. The video by the first
author discussed the client centred therapy, whereas the second one mentioned about the
narrative therapy with the children. Counselling therapy refers to the aid to the
communication and facilitating change in an intimate relationship (Greene, 2017).
Counselling children and adults both differ in some or other ways, as their understanding
level and the way of perceiving things is different. Here, the essay enlists the therapist role in
understanding and discussing about the issues of the clients in both the videos. In the later
part, it discusses about the comparison and contrasting features in both the sessions, and the
role of any individual’s in these cases as a therapist and the client (Capuzzi and Stauffer,
2016).
The two videos/sessions, ‘Client-centred therapy’, and ‘Narrative therapy with children’,
discussed about the issues of women in her married life, and the problems faced by the
children in their early years. Carl Rogers demonstrated from the volunteers, Peter Ann, a
woman who faced the situation of feeling guilt and sadness, after putting off her from being a
mother, to become focused about her career. The case explains that the woman was suffering
as she earlier had miscarriage of twins. Two years have been passed and she is unable to
become pregnant in the future after being sufficiently healthy. The demonstration is followed
by the interaction between the client, Carl Rogers (therapist), and the groups in the session.
She faced the pressure from her family to must have a child, but she has no option to make
any change or control the situation on her own (Carl Rogers, 1985).
The other session described about the narrative therapy with the children, wherein the author
or therapist interviewed and discussed with Kristy (client), about the problems and impact of
those problems in her early years. She stated about her eight classes’ basketball practices she
had, which was 2 or 3 times a week. However, she exclaimed that earlier she was more
efficient in managing things, at ease and now the efficiency has been reduced. The therapist
in this session out of curiosity asked her several questions, knowing her behavioural patterns
and the aspects of her problems and how she managed them at the age of 14 years (Madigan,
2017).

COUNSELLING 2
Q1.
The commonalities found in both the sessions, included about the nature of the therapist to
understand and demonstrate the required changes, in respect to the client’s problems. They
both depicted about the complexities of issues faced during different stages of life that
affected their state of happiness, and wellbeing (Smith et al., 2015). Women in the first
session, faced maternity issues or health problems related to her pregnancy loss, and the girl
in the second session described fatigue, due to her hectic routine in everyday life (Williams,
Priest and Anderson, 2016). Therefore, these issues in both the cases may lead to a long-term
impact on their health causing mental health illness, which should be resolved timely. The
other similarities in both the cases, was the outlook of both the clients on their problems, they
were strong enough to deal with their issues. They had positive outlook towards life, and
were supportive for their closed ones or family (Vincent, 2016).
Along with commonalities, there were some differences also; one of the major differences
was the nature of problems faced by the clients. The women in the first session, described
about her issue, as she has been unable to become pregnant again, after facing the loss of
twins, i.e. miscarriage. The girl in the second session, by Stephen Madigan discussed about
the positivity the girl has despite of her hectic schedule and chaotic life. The differences with
these cases included about the therapist’s viewpoints about himself and the client. The author
in the first session stated his inability to make any change for the Peter Ann, and the author in
the next author was curious to know and explore more about the client’s story, how a person
as an individual do believe in themselves and practice self-recognition, throughout their life
(Jesse et al., 2015).
Q2.
The presence of the therapist, Rogers and Madigan in their sessions respectively, it has been
found that they contributed a lot in delivering a message to the audience or public about the
complexities people face in life. Here, women as a wife, or an adult both faced some or other
issues during their stage of life. To compare the presence of the therapist in both the sessions,
as Carl Rogers, in the first session stated he wanted to be the relationship with the client to be
safe, which can make the things expressed which could not be, and to experience the feelings.
Steven Mulligan in the second case helped the client to understand the meaning of the life,
going out of the way, and the small issues faced by her in daily life (Gu et al., 2015).

COUNSELLING 3
If the therapist were not present during both the sessions, it would be difficult to make them
speak their heart out, and discuss their problems and seek answers to their questions in their
minds. Women in the first case, was encouraged by the author to become confident, and
realize her potential and experience her more positively (Wenzel, 2017). The audience
through this interaction between the authors and the clients also gained an understanding
about the complexities and the perceptions of an individual to set themselves free from such
issues, and lead a normal life. Contrasting the presence of both the authors, in these cases it
can be understood that, by the time the clients represented themselves being strong, enough to
deal with the issues of pregnancy loss and the hectic life or fatigue affecting their health.
Therefore, due to the absence of the therapists the client might not have an understanding
about their perspective, and the strength and resistance they require dealing with the problems
of life (Simpson, Lee and Lionel, 2015).
Q3.
Discussing about the therapist role and the client’s issues, it has been analysed through the
sessions that maintaining health and wellness is important to every individual to overcome
the complexities of life. If I were the client, in these cases I would have used some effective
approaches being more proactive and positive towards life. In the first case, I would have
been attending the psychotherapy sessions, taken proper medications, and attaining sense of
balance, through cognitive-behavioural therapy, as it is most helpful in treating patients with
the pregnancy loss or issues of miscarriages (Sturnieks et al., 2018).
Discussing about the second case, it has been found that the anger outburst are most common
and explosive features of the hectic and disturbing routine of adult’s life. Henceforth, being a
client in the situation in the second case, I would practice effective time-management skills,
to control my mood and anger due to the chaos in the activities of daily life. In addition, to
the time-management skills, I would engage myself in spirituality or meditation and yoga to
get relief from the stress of daily life. The therapies would also include interacting with the
friends, family members, or any therapist who would understand these issues, and help to
recover from their influence on the health of the individual. I would manage time enough to
complete the homework on time, completing those eight classes and attending weekly games
activity (Bjerrum, Pedersen and Larsen, 2017).
Q4.

COUNSELLING 4
After discussing, the role of being a client, to any individual it is also important to discuss an
individual’s role as a therapist. With respect to these two cases, or sessions if I were to be a
therapist, I would apply the aspects of cognitive behavioural therapy to both the clients in
their cases, which include combining the elements of cognition or cognitive behavioural
therapy with the spiritual values and beliefs. Cognitive therapy to the adults experiencing
issues of fatigue, tiredness, or restlessness due to the hectic daily schedule helps them to treat
their physical, social, mental, and emotional state of wellbeing. I would suggest them to cope
with the stress by practicing a positive and healthy life-style through maintaining a balanced
and nutritious diet. In the second case or session, to describe and deal with the health
problems of the woman maternity and physiological issues or health, it is essential to gain an
understanding about the maternity and the pregnancy related aspects of the women (Silk et
al., 2018).
As a therapist, I would involve in understanding and creatively determining methods to help
the woman with the problems affecting her mental and emotional health. Understanding the
client or the woman’s problems, or questions in her mind and then catering to her health
needs would be appropriate to deal with such cases. The essential role of the therapist also
involves making the person or individual realise about believing in self, and understanding
the meaning and essence of life.
Q5.
To discuss the aspects of the session, or the interaction of clients with the therapists in both
the cases, it has been understood that the clients felt safe to talk and discuss about the
problems and their impacts on their health and daily life. It can be exemplified from the
second case, when the author Steven Mulligan motivated and encouraged the girl and stated
that she kept herself on a right track, and the way that she perceives things, and the problems
of her life. In addition, in the first case, the author encouraged the women to believe her and
accept the changes (Walter and McCoyd, 2015).
Carl Rogers in their interaction with the women or client has shown the signs of positive
listener and understood keeping himself in her position, and described her to become positive
towards handling these hurdles of life. He made her comfortable during the conversation in
the session, and developed a mutual relationship with her to discuss the issues, which she was

COUNSELLING 5
facing in the family. As she felt pressure from her family members, even though her
relationship with her husband was stronger. Showing love and strength towards herself along
with her family members was one of the aspects that were depicted through the session in the
first video. These are some of the aspects of the two sessions were both the authors made
easy for the clients to interact and discuss their issues safely (Jaffe, 2017).
To conclude the above discussion it has been analysed that every individual faces some of the
issues related to the health and wellbeing in different stages of life. It has been depicted
through the two videos or sessions by two authors who are therapists in their roles, and
assume responsibilities towards contributing and healing such persons. Adults and the
children both, experience problems in their daily life and encounter issue affecting their
health in the longer-term. Therefore, therapist plays an integral role in understanding and
guiding them to a right path, and exploring new ways to deal with such issues. There can be a
greater effect of the personal recovery in such cases as the clients in such cases need to
engage or involve themselves in healthy habits that may improve their lifestyle and strength
to deal with the problems in an appropriate manner.

COUNSELLING 6
References
Bjerrum, M.B., Pedersen, P.U. and Larsen, P. (2017) Living with symptoms of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder in adulthood: a systematic review of qualitative evidence. JBI
database of systematic reviews and implementation reports, 15(4), pp.1080-1153.
Capuzzi, D. and Stauffer, M.D., 2016. Counselling and psychotherapy: Theories and
interventions. John Wiley & Sons.
Carl Rogers (1985) Evolution of Pyscho-therapy. [online] Available from: https://search-
alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work
%7C1865902 [Accessed 19/10/18].
Greene, R.R. (2017) Carl Rogers and the person-centred approach. In Human behaviour
theory and social work practice (pp. 119-138). United Kingdom: Routledge.
Gu, J., Strauss, C., Bond, R. and Cavanagh, K. (2015) How do mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A
systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical psychology review, 37,
pp.1-12.
Jaffe, J. (2017) Reproductive trauma: Psychotherapy for pregnancy loss and infertility clients
from a reproductive story perspective. Psychotherapy, 54(4), p. 380.
Jesse, D.E., Gaynes, B.N., Feldhousen, E.B., Newton, E.R., Bunch, S. and Hollon, S.D.
(2015) Performance of a culturally tailored cognitive‐behavioral intervention integrated in a
public health setting to reduce risk of antepartum depression: A randomized controlled
trial. Journal of midwifery & women's health, 60(5), pp. 578-592.
Madigan, S. (2017) Narrative Therapy-Informed Relational Interviewing-Emotionally
Preparing Conflicted Couple Relationships for Possible Re-unification, Separation,
Mediation, and Family Courtrooms. Fokus på familien, 45(02), pp. 138-158.
Silk, J.S., Tan, P.Z., Ladouceur, C.D., Meller, S., Siegle, G.J., McMakin, D.L., Forbes, E.E.,
Dahl, R.E., Kendall, P.C., Mannarino, A. and Ryan, N.D. (2018) A randomized clinical trial
comparing individual cognitive behavioural therapy and child-centred therapy for child
anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(4), pp. 542-554.

COUNSELLING 7
Simpson, C., Lee, P. and Lionel, J. (2015) The effect of bereavement counselling on women
with psychological problems associated with late pregnancy loss. Journal of Asian Midwives
(JAM), 2(2), pp. 5-20.
Smith, B., Tomasone, J.R., Latimer-Cheung, A.E. and Martin Ginis, K.A. (2015) Narrative as
a knowledge translation tool for facilitating impact: Translating physical activity knowledge
to disabled people and health professionals. Health psychology, 34(4), p. 303.
Stephen Madigan (2002) Child Therapy with experts. [online] Available from: https://search-
alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work
%7C1857649 [Accessed 19/10/18].
Sturnieks, D.L., Yak, S.L., Ratanapongleka, M., Lord, S.R. and Menant, J.C. (2018) A busy
day has minimal effect on factors associated with falls in older people: An ecological
randomised crossover trial. Experimental gerontology, 106, pp. 192-197.
Vincent, S. (2016) Being empathic: A companion for counsellors and therapists. United
States: CRC Press.
Walter, C.A. and McCoyd, J.L. (2015) Grief and loss across the lifespan: A bio psychosocial
perspective. Berlin: Springer.
Wenzel, A. (2017) Cognitive behavioural therapy for pregnancy loss. Psychotherapy, 54(4),
p. 400.
Williams, D.R., Priest, N. and Anderson, N.B. (2016) Understanding associations among
race, socioeconomic status, and health: Patterns and prospects. Health Psychology, 35(4), p.
407.