Client-Centered Therapy: The Importance of Respecting Client Autonomy
What is client-centered therapy?
Client-centered therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, emphasizes the inherent ability of individuals to direct their own lives toward growth and self-fulfillment.
This therapeutic approach is rooted in the belief that people possess the inner resources necessary for their own personal development, and it prioritizes autonomy and agency - the client’s ability to make their own decisions - in the therapeutic process.
The therapist creates a non-directive, supportive environment, characterized by three core conditions: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence.
Unconditional positive regard means seeing the inherent goodness and worth in a person. The approach sounds something like “you are worthy just as you are.”
Empathy is when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider the feelings and thoughts one would experience.
It isn’t an expression of sympathy or pity, but rather a deeper understanding and validation of someone’s internal experience.
Congruence speaks to the therapist-client relationship where there is a sense of genuine care and authentic connection between two individuals.
By fostering a space where clients feel accepted, understood, and genuinely engaged with the therapist, this empowers them to explore their thoughts and feelings freely.
This autonomy allows clients to make choices and take responsibility for their own lives, trusting in their own potential to solve problems and achieve personal growth.
As therapists, we must respect the “Grey Area”
As therapists, we must respect client autonomy by making space for the grey area in our sessions.
The grey area is the nuances and subtleties within the human experience and/or event being shared.
Humans can be quick to label what something is to help meet one’s need for certainty, however, these labels can overlook the complexity and unique experience someone goes through.
For example, we might label a relationship as “toxic” due to an unfortunate series of events or harmful communication patterns without helping someone to take responsibility for how they might contribute to this toxicity.
The label can perpetuate a level of shame where someone wouldn’t want to take accountability for their contribution to the toxic dynamics and would rather hide behind the overarching label.
So, this can overlook what might be going on more deeply. I am a big advocate for respecting what I call the “grey area” as a therapist, which means exploring what’s going on beneath the surface and considering the fuller picture of a situation.
Does this always happen in sessions with therapists?
Unfortunately not…I’ve been on the other side of this failure to honor the grey area myself as a client and have heard from others the impact of being quickly judged or told what something is by their therapist.
So, I encourage you to be aware of when you might feel diminished or not fully understood. If you find yourself doubting yourself or feeling disempowered in a therapy session, this blog is designed for YOU!
An example of two extreme points of view around a client presenting with relationship struggles with the middle circle demonstrating ways to touch on the "grey area" with a client around a situation free of judgment, projection, or labeling by the therapist.
A key distinction between coaching and some styles of therapy is the capacity to be directive.
Therapists have a lot more space and room to be more directive in their approach and even at times are expected to tell people “how it is” without much pushback.
As a Therapist in practice, and as a teacher and mentor to developing nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness coaches, I am constantly sharing with my students the power of respecting a client’s autonomy and reinforcing a sense of agency in the client’s journey.
Therapists can be known to insert themselves more than coaches. I think there’s more room in the therapy field to be matter-of-fact about what a certain situation means, what might be going on, or what is wrong/unhealthy due to their authority and power to diagnose.
For example, a therapist may present insight or an opinion in a manner that they know the absolute truth rather than leaving room for further discussion or input from the client.
The therapist holds a stance of authority which can make the subtleties harder to overcome as they’re less obvious to detect. In this instance, this can perpetuate further suppression on the client’s end.
For example, if a therapist who’s been through a divorce tells a client presenting with marital concerns that it doesn’t sound like she and her husband are a good fit that can be quite jarring to a client depending on the individual.
Or, if a therapist questions why a client is with their husband in the first place, this can lead to feelings of shame and being dismissed. Missing out the deeper complexities at play in the said relationship.
On the other hand, just to be clear, if abuse is present, that’s a different story within the relationship. These statements from the therapists and the tone in which they are presented matter and even more so if a client likes and respects their therapist’s opinion strongly.
However, these absolute statements can lead to submission from the client without making room for the grey area, which is counterproductive to the ultimate aim of client-centered therapy.
*Therapists go to school and go through an extensive apprenticeship for a significant amount of time - there’s a stronger level of credibility that is held with holding a clinical degree and license.
Regardless, a helping professional must be considerate of respecting a client’s autonomy and making room to not “know it all” as this is in the best interests of the client’s growth.
As therapists, we need to honor how much we do not know about the inner workings of the human mind and a person’s deeply ingrained drives.*
How might a client encounter judgment from their therapist?
As I spend more time working with people, there is a fine dance to be found between respecting a client’s autonomy and providing some direct guidance as people do value an external opinion.
One way to do that is with consent to ask someone if they would like to hear your perspective or observations on the matter.
Another common tactic to respect autonomy is to elicit feedback on what you offer as a suggestion, idea, or tool to ensure the client has an opportunity to more fully consider for themselves their own thoughts on your input or “advice.”
An approach that I want to speak more to requires a high level of attention to detail and respect for nuance or subtleties.
Therapists are taught about the notion of therapist countertransference with clients. This refers to the therapist's emotional entanglement with the client, often resulting from the therapist's own unconscious feelings and biases being triggered by the client's behavior or story.
This can cause the therapist to respond in ways that are influenced by their own personal experiences and emotional history, rather than remaining neutral and objective.
Neutrality is a key quality of quality client-centered therapy.
There is also a notion of client transference. This refers to the unconscious redirection of feelings, desires, and expectations from one person onto another.
In therapy, this often involves the client projecting feelings they have toward significant figures in their life (such as parents or partners) onto the therapist.
These feelings can be positive or negative and can influence how the client perceives and interacts with the therapist. For example, if a client has unresolved anger toward a parent, they might unconsciously direct that anger toward the therapist, even if the therapist hasn't done anything to provoke such emotions.
Both are important factors to consider and be mindful of on both sides of the working relationship to sustain mutual respect for each other’s individual and separate lived experiences.
The Client is in the Driver’s Seat
This brings me to my next point - the client is always in the driver’s seat.
It is YOUR journey - you decide where to turn next or if you are truly lost! You may be lost, but you are the one who will find the way again as we veer back on course together.
Therapists provide what I call the “right” conditions for change meaning we ask questions, we reflect, we observe, we suggest, and we listen, so you can tap into your internal potential and find the “answers” you seek from within to make change possible and navigate the course of your life the way YOU see fit.
You have the power, the control, and the responsibility to decide where we go, how deep, and how far.
What does client-centeredness allow for?
Therapists should challenge their clients to see new perspectives but should not present them as absolute.
A therapist’s knowledge is not equitable to understanding a client’s whole experience.
To me, it’s a disservice to true growth on the client’s behalf to present a conclusion of this kind without thoughtfulness or providing room for the client to further reflect afterward or “have the last word.”
For example, if a client shares for the millionth time how much they fight with their husband. Instead of saying, you two do not sound like a good fit, I would encourage the client to consider how they might contribute to the fighting or be projecting an unmet need onto their partner.
Not with the intention to encourage them to stay or not stay in the relationship, but for them to make a more well-rounded choice for themselves.
Also, it is most likely tied to a therapist’s lived experience and more of a reflection on the therapist than you as their client based on the idea of countertransference. Can you see the difference in the therapist approach in the examples outlined above?
Again, it is extremely important for your therapist to understand they do not have the whole picture. It may be well-intended, yet it can be extremely dismissive and disempowering.
Big life decisions like leaving a relationship, getting divorced, quitting a job, or moving to a new location are decisions that one should make for oneself.
As helping professionals we owe it to clients to ensure that happens at the end of the day. We can influence, shape, suggest, and directly guide but it cannot get in the way of a client’s ability to own their story and choice regardless of any proceeding plot twists.
My hope if you are ever confronted with what feels like an absolute by your therapist, is to speak up and pursue confrontation of some kind as a catalyst towards self-empowerment.
The absolutes can be seen as a dramatic turn and opportunity in the session that facilitates a client to take responsibility and own their own unique choice as a result of the strong reaction they have to the therapist’s perspective and stance on a matter.
Remember, that all the training and expertise aside, your therapist is an imperfect human being.
I remind my clients of this and encourage them to practice speaking up for themselves in our working relationship as it can be a safe and powerful way to cultivate your voice and see the discord as an avenue toward repair.
What impact does client-centered therapy have on your self-empowerment?
When therapists strive to become the source of truth for someone else’s life, this can be counterintuitive to the whole nature of a therapist and healing professional’s purpose to empower their clients.
Without keeping in mind that a therapist may not know it all and leaving the door open for the grey area that comes from the context of your experience, therapists can easily close the door toward self-understanding and self-insight.
This is something I have a strong eye for as someone who has been on the other end of oversimplifications and overgeneralizations of big life concepts like self-love, boundaries, healthy relationships, marriage, communication, and the like in therapy myself.
Conceptualizing the content or techniques in a therapy session is one step, however, the real magic and transformation happen when you start to engage with the content and material in your own unique way. This is you being the driver!
Your therapist may be a strong source of support and influence, but you ultimately choose the road you go down. This is where your insights lie.
We can try to think ourselves out of a painful pattern like addiction but that approach to healing can only go so far.
What I hope to inspire is for you to take responsibility in your therapy sessions, for you to be aware of potential transference and countertransference in your sessions, and leave room for the grey area.
If therapists overvalue their idea of what’s “right” or “healthy” it can overshadow the client’s best interests and personal pursuit of their version of these labels.
In summary, true therapy and healing require respect for the grey area in your human experience - there is so much we as humans do not know in our own lives, in your life, and beyond - and for me as a therapist, respecting my client’s autonomy and agency is the most potent way of empowering clients.