What it means to have a Client-Centered Therapist
Finding a new therapist can be a difficult process to navigate, especially when it comes to knowing what to look for. There are a few different schools of thought surrounding how Psychotherapist’s “do” therapy, often grounding themselves in various theoretical orientations, and techniques that we call “modalities”. Depending on what you are experiencing, you may be looking for a therapist who specializes in something in particular, such as a therapist who is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, as this modality is well known to provide clients with tangible techniques for them to practice at home.
That said, my clients often report to me they are looking for something more than just understanding how to change thoughts, feelings and behaviours. They are looking for someone who can hear and validate their experiences. Someone who they can explore the past with, in order to see how their previous traumas are appearing in their everyday adult lives. This is where client-centered therapy comes into play, as it allows the client’s needs to come first, and the appropriate technique or modality to come second.
When seeing a Client-Centered therapist, your session would focus on where you see a misalignment between your feelings and thoughts and the life you would like to lead. A Client-Centered approach comes from a belief that our clients have all the abilities and skills within them to find solutions to their problems, and the therapist can assist with directing them to those solutions. It is with empathy, unconditional positive regard and ongoing goal setting that our clients can find the path they need to venture, and reinforces their knowledge in being able to get there. While many Psychotherapists have a variety of training experiences in various modalities, they frequently look to understand first what the client is looking to tackle, what the client’s personality and goals are and what the client brings to therapy already in terms of their strengths and skills in coping. The modality is then just a secondary tool to this exploration, and can be used to support the conversation and offer some resources for trying new ways to cope.
Client-Centered Therapists do still use modalities, but in a bit of a different way than a therapist who focuses their work in one modality in particular. For example, a Client-Centered therapist can touch on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques in exploring a client’s worries and finding balanced thoughts. They can then move into a Narrative Therapy approach by considering the ways in which their beliefs, and stories of how to handle various situations are holding them back, and consider how to adjust the beliefs themselves. They could then move the session into Internal Family Systems therapy, wherein they consider the origins of the belief system, and how it once had supported their ability to survive a difficult circumstance, and begin to feel “unstuck” from a version of themselves in the past and into a redefined self in the present. All of this can happen even just in one session!
Questions for your new therapist
Here are some ideas for questions you can ask a therapist in a consultation call, to identify if they are a client-centered therapist and if they fit what you are looking for!
What modalities are you trained in, and how do you see them working in therapy? This is a good way to determine how the clinician works with modalities, and how they integrate them into therapy. When looking for a client-centered therapist, you are looking for a collaborative, strength based approach here.
What would our first session look like? A client-centered therapist tends to keep your first session quite broad in exploring all the things that make you, you! The people you have for support, the experience you have with other therapists, and the role you see therapy fitting into your life in the present.
Do you align with being a client-centered therapist, and what does this mean to you? This question could help identify if your therapist is hoping to be very exploratory with you, to be collaborative in working with you and to see you with unconditional positive regard.
What do you think makes therapy work for your clients? It helps to have a therapist who is quite in tune with the changes they are seeing from their clients and how their role as a therapist supports that change!
What made you decide to be a therapist? I love when clients ask me this, because therapy can be a very vulnerable space to be in, and it is good to know what draws the therapist to this work! Oftentimes, your therapist may mention their own experience of mental illness, their work and schooling background and what they are passionate about. It is a great way to get to know your therapist to see if you feel they are a good match for you.
Resources: Yao L, Kabir R. Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian Therapy)
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Written by: Bethany Hanman RP
Bethany is a registered psychotherapist, and has completed a BA in Psychology at the University of Waterloo, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Addictions and Mental Health at Humber College and a MA in Psychotherapy at Wilfrid Laurier University. Bethany works with teens (16+) and adults support them through anxiety, depression, self-esteem, addiction and relationship conflict. She is currently accepting new clients!