THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP

Therapeutic Relationship

Therapeutic Relationship

Introducution

This paper revolves around Sam, a 75-year old individual, who is suffering from diabetis and he was also engaged in mental health service after experiencing episodes of physical agression.

Older adults (like Sam in this case) often face multiple challenges in obtaining counseling services due to physical, financial, and cultural obstacles. Limited physical mobility and restricted access to transportation can make attending appointments difficult. For those coping with such a loss of independence, “nonessential” activities such as therapy may quickly be cut from the list of priorities (Sweet, 2004).

Discussion

Cognitive-behavioral approaches also tended to expend far more energy describing the intervention strategies than the relationship that would be the context for those interventions. Albert Ellis, founder of rational-emotive behavior therapy, purported that a warm therapeutic relationship was preferable but not necessary for treatment (Schaap, 2003).

Some behavior therapists maintain that the therapeutic relationship functions as a motivator or catalyst: mobilizing Sam expectancies, keeping them in therapy, and increasing compliance. They assert that when the client-therapist relationship is collaborative and characterized by respect and regard, the client is more likely to continue with therapy. Others point to the importance of the client-therapist relationship in gathering comprehensive information. They purport that therapy is initially foreign and uncomfortable. Sam may have a number of reservations and be apprehensive to disclose personal information. A therapist that communicates warmth, understanding, and a nonjudgmental attitude will elicit more candid responding. Without rapport, the therapist risks formulating a treatment plan based on incomplete information (Rosenfarb, 2002).

Behaviorists such as Robert Kohlenberg contend that the therapeutic relationship provides useful interpersonal data. They conceptualize the client-therapist interaction as a “sample” of the Sam behavior, assuming that a client will engage in behaviors in session that typify his or her interaction or response style outside therapy. The Sam in-session behavior, as well as the therapist's reaction to the client, provides valuable information regarding how the client is behaving in his or her natural environment and how others may be reacting (Ford, 2005).

In Sam's case, it can be said that the therapeutic relationship has a larger role in facilitating change.

In the transtheoretical model of therapeutic change developed by James O. Prochaska and John Norcross, behavior change is seen as a process that unfolds over time and involves movement through a series of six stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. Each stage represents a period of time and a series of tasks that must be completed before movement to the next stage is possible. Although the amount of time an individual spends in each stage will vary, the tasks to be accomplished during each stage are assumed to be the same. The stages of change model provides a way of thinking about client readiness to change (Blaauw, 2004).

In the precontemplation stage, individuals (like Sam in this case) do not intend to change their behavior in the near future. Most individuals (like Sam in this case) in this stage are unaware or under-aware of their problems, although their intimates—family, friends, neighbors, ...