PRINCIPLES OF

COUNSELLING
PRINCIPLES OF COUNSELLING

EMPATHY TRUST

UNCONDITIONAL
CONGRUENCE
POSITIVE REGARDS

NON JUDGEMENTAL CONFIDENTIALITY

 EMPATHY
• Definition of Empathy

Empathy is a
multidimensional and complex
social phenomenon consisting
of cognitive, affective, and
relational processes (Smith,

2006).
 Carl Rogers introduced
empathy as one of the
necessary conditions of
successful counseling, and
humanistic counseling
practice places empathy as a
core value (Association for
Humanistic Counseling,
RELATION EMPATHY BETWEEN CONSELLING

As a consellor, you must

to build the relationship with
the client through all the
skills you need. Yet all
these skills will be hindered
without the use of empathy.
 Rothschild (Campbell & Simmonds, 2011)
describes empathy as the ‘connective tissue’
of good therapy which hones the tools of
insight and intuition, but also points out that
the neurological, psychological and somatic
mechanisms of empathy can lead to
compassion fatigue or vicarious
traumatisation
SYMPATHY AND EMPATHY ???
• Definition of Trust
TRUST

Rousseau et al. (1988),

defined trust as a
psychological state that
comprises the intention to
accept vulnerability due to
positive expectations about
the intentions or behavior
 Cook and Wall (1980)
suggested two main
factors of trust : faith in
the good intentions of
the other party and the
degree of confidence in
their capabilities and
reliability.
 McAllister (1995), on the other hand,
explained the phenomenon using a cognitive
dimension based on objective reasons to trust
someone in certain circumstances, as well as
an emotional dimension, which is motivated by
an interpersonal relationship.
 RELATION TRUST BETWEEN CONSELLING

Trust in counseling is achieved through

compassionate and mindful communication
that is relationship focused. Trust happen
when a counselor fosters emotional intimacy,
‘‘letting the client know that he or she has
actually been heard.’’ This process creates a
‘‘positive feedback loop’’ confirming
understanding between counselor with client
 CONGRUENCE
• Definition of Congruence
According to
Lietaer (1993)
congruence define as
awareness, the ability to
be aware of one’s own
internal experience and
the transparency, the
willingness to
communicate to the
other person what is
 According to Gillon (2007) defined
congruence :
“That the therapist is his actual self during
his encounter with his client. Without
facade, he openly has the feelings and
attitudes that are flowing in him at the
moment. This involves self-awareness; that
is, the therapist’s feeling are available to
him – to his awareness – and he is able to
live them, to experience them, in the
relationship, and to communicate them if
 RELATION CONGRUENCE BETWEEN CONSELLING

The condition of therapist

congruence is the least
understood of all the core
conditions and has been
open to considerable mis-
understanding and mis-
interpretation over the years.
Being congruent, a counselor seen as a process
of awareness and openness in the moment,
escapes the problem of claiming some greater
ontological validity for certain aspects of self.
 When I am being congruent, as well as being
open to my experience, I am also doing different
things at different times depending on the person
I am with, the situation and the specific in-
therapy context in which I am being congruent
(Wyatt, 2000).
The counselor must be congruent
which involves being aware of :
• Feelings of the client
• Awareness of client
• Expressions of the client
 UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD
• Definition of Unconditional Positive Regard
Rogers (Sommers; 2014) defined unconditional
positive regards as follows:
“To the extent that the therapist find himself
(herself) experiencing a warm acceptance of each
aspect the client’s experience… he is experiencing
unconditional positive regards… its means there
are no condition of acceptance no feeling of “I like
you only if you thus and so.”
It means a “prizing “ of the person, as Dewey has
used that term…. It means a caring for the client as a
separate person
 RELATION UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE
REGARD BETWEEN CONSELLING

Offering unconditional positive regard

often relies on listening and responding non-
judgmentally to whatever a client is
experiencing at a given moment. Although
this may imply a passive quality,
unconditional positive regard is more active,
openly warm, valuing process (Gillon, 2007).
 For Roger, unconditional
positive regard was based
on an underlying belief that
consistent warmth,
acceptance and prizing of
clients were needed to
facilitate client growth
toward their potential.
Here, Roger describing
how positive or accepting
feeling toward clients are
what allow clients to feel
safe enough to explore their
self-doubts, insecurities,
and weaknesses.
 NON JUDGEMENTAL
• Definition of Non Judgmental

Non Judgmental means

that of, relating to, or
indicating an attitude and
approach that is open and not
integrating a judgment
whatsoever.
 Carl Rogers strongly believed that each
person is unique, that each person should be
responsible for the conduct and direction of his
or her own life, and especially that one person
should not impose beliefs and values on
another. (Don Baucum, 1999)
 RELATION NON JUDGEMENTAL
BETWEEN CONSELLING

The counselor need to provide an

environment in which the client does not feel
under threat or judgment. This enables the
client to experience and accept more of who
they are as a person, and reconnect with their
own values and sense of self-worth.
 CONFIDENTIALITY
• Definition of Confidentiality

Confidentiality is the state of being secret.

It is mainly associated with professions such
as law, medicine, and counseling.
Confidentiality ensures that information is
only accessible only to those authorized to
have access.
 Confidentiality is a central aspect of
counseling. The counseling process depends
on the client feeling sufficiently safe to be
able to talk openly and honestly about
whatever it is that is bothering them.
(McLeod & McLeod, 2011)
RELATION CONFIDENTIALITY BETWEEN CONSELLING

There are 2 main practical ways in which

counselors can ensure that confidentiality is dealt
with in an appropriately ethical manner :
1. Being a counselor involves developing a
capacity to store client information in separate
‘boxes’ in one’s mind, and only to open each of
these boxes when required to do so.
2. The client is informed about the limits of
confidentiality, then they are in position to
decide about whether or not to disclose certain
areas of information.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION…..!