First Key Factor: THE RELATIONSHIP
This is the first post in five-part series: Five Key Factors of How Therapy Helps.
The core of how therapy can help is the relationship between the client and the therapist. It has many aspects in common with any authentic relationship. One key difference is that the therapeutic relationship is solely for the benefit of the client. For the therapeutic relationship to be client-centered, therapy has some different boundaries.
For example, the relationship exists almost exclusively within the sessions. But it’s still a real relationship, and the therapist is a real and, at least in my case, flawed person. I approach work with a client humbly, and my own flaws make it easy for me to listen without judgment.
When my clients sense this, it may put them at ease. I make whatever resources I have available to my clients—my curiosity about people, playfulness, knowledge, resourcefulness, and gentle candidness.
Factor Two: Assessment