David L Rennie is Professor of Psychology at York University in Canada. He has extensive experience in counselling practice, instruction, supervision and research. He is the co-editor of Psychotherapy Process Research: Paradigmatic and Narrative Approaches (SAGE, 1992).
This book contains powerful new ideas about person-centered theory and practice. Supported by intensive qualitative research into the clientÆs experience of counseling, Person Centered Counselling highlights the significance and pervasiveness of reflexivityùdefined as self-awareness and agency within that self-awarenessùand explores surprising ways in which clients contribute reflexively to the counseling process. Vivid examples highlight activities, show the therapy in action, and illustrate how counselors can use their own experiences creatively to facilitate their attunement to themselves, their clients, and their relationships with them. The theoretical framework of the book covers matters such as the use of images and metaphor, counselor transparency and the assistance of clientsÆ agency, while emphasis is placed on the client/counselor relationship through such crucial areas as the working alliance, power dynamics, and metacommunication. This volume is highly practical with language that is connected closely with the thoughts, feelings, and actions of clients, counselors and counselor trainees. The concepts it applies have implications for all levels of practice and all forms not only of person-centered and experiential counseling but many other approaches to counseling and therapy as well.
