DISCUSSION - 5

2. Since Madison is now responsible for caring for her siblings and other household duties, I am sure she is feeling overwhelmed, anxious and maybe even angry. If Madison is in a state if incongruence, it is important that the therapist maintains a state of congruence (Corey, 2015). As Madison's therapist, I would display congruence by careful reflection of her feelings and considered judgement (Corey, 2015). I would want to hear Madison's feelings and thoughts before interjecting my own.

3. Continuing on my point about therapist's congruence, I think that being authentic will go a long way with Madison. I do not think that a therapist should constantly share their personal experiences and self-disclose, but if there were a time it was truly beneficial to the client and appropriate, I would share (Corey, 2015). 

4.Regardless of my personal feelings of Madison and her situation, my unconditional positive regard is necessary. Corey (2015) states that according to person-centered therapy, the counseling relationship will be inhibited if the counselor feels one way about the client but acts another. I would do my best to show Madison that I am rooting for her, regardless of the circumstances. 

5. Showing Madison that I understand her frustrations and why she may be shutting people out and becoming closed-off is also of importance. I do not want to just tell her "well you should do this" because it is much easier said than done, especially from the outside looking in. Instead I would want to say something like "I know you have to care for your brothers most weekends, that must be really hard." or "Taking care of your brothers is a big responsibility, it must make it difficult to spend time with friends." These statements acknowledge what she is going through as well as showing her I understand. 

6. Unconditional positive regard is a huge aspect of the counseling relationship and is best identified through empathetic identification with the client (Corey, 2015). Unconditional positive regard also involves the  counselor's willingness for the client to feel whatever is going on deep inside of them (Amadi, 2013). This means that the counselor must be comfortable in the relationship in order to allow this to happen. Rogers defined unconditional positive regard in this manner "if the self-experiences of another are perceived by me in such a way that no-self experience can be discriminated as more or less worthy of positive regard than any other, then I am experiencing unconditional positive regard for this individual." (Amadi, 2013). Displaying empathy to Madison is important because she will then be more willing to open up and share her feelings. Unconditional positive regard in this case may also mean allowing Madison to come to conclusions on her own and respecting those decisions as her therapist (Amadi, 2013). As her therapist, I want to make sure she feels comfortable doing so with me. This likely will not happen over one or two sessions, but building an empathetic relationship with Madison will go a long way. 

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