Identify 2 approaches to helping a client using Person Centered Therapy.Counseling

Since its introduction in the 1940s, "Person Centered
Theory" in counseling and therapy has been utilized in many more current therapeutic
practices.  Generally speaking, Person Centered Theory takes the focus off the counselor
(listening, making decisions, and prescribing behavioral change) and puts it back on the
client.  In this way, the client is trusted as someone who is both
competent and independent.  He is considered to be someone who can bring about his own
change.

The most important approach to helping in Person
Centered Theory is to build a personal relationship with the
client. This is also a practice in "Reality Therapy"
(a more modern idea that utilizes many ideas of Person Centered Therapy).  The client
must know the counselor trusts him to make decisions that lead him toward positive
change and growth.  He must also, in turn, trust the therapist to listen to, encourage,
and support him.

In the process of building a personal
relationship (and therefore trust) with the client, the next approach in Person Centered
Therapy is to create a safe environment in which the client can practice making
changes.  This means the counselor must provide acceptance and care for the client.  The
client, in this approach, is allowed to make mistakes and process through them, rather
than be told exactly what to do.

Two essential elements for
Person Centered Therapy to be effective are time and communication.  More recently, this
therapy has been utilized in group therapy situations.  Though each client may be
working toward a different goal, as they process through the behavioral changes
necessary in achieving that goal, they can receive feedback, encouragement, and support
from others doing the same thing.