Gestalt and Person-Centered Therapy Debate Free Essay Example, 1000 words

Moderator: Dr. Harris do you agree with Dr. Andrew? Dr. Harris: Not at all. I believe the best therapy to give the patient is to allow them to communicate their own feelings without interruption. An individual is able to feel like a unique entity unlike Gestalt’s therapy where the client is not made to feel so important. Dr. Andrew: I don’t agree with my friend on this. This is because as a psychologist I am not allowed to contradict or disagree with my patient. Do you think that is right? That is not the way we should be treating our patients. As the professional here I have the mandate to suggest what is right for my patient and I should not watch them make wrong decisions in the name of person centered therapy. Moderator: Dr. Harris can you respond to that? Dr. Harris: Maybe there is something that my friend here does not understand. The whole process in person centered therapy is aimed at freeing someone from all the obstacles and allows or promotes normal growth and development. During this time the client is supposed to move from more rigid person to a more fluent person (C. We will write a custom essay sample on Gestalt and Person-Centered Therapy Debate or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Rogers). Moderator: What conditions are necessary to make this person less rigid? Dr. Harris: Thank you for that. One of the conditions is that as a therapist I should be congruent. Secondly I must develop a positive unconditional regard for my client and finally I should be able to show empathy for my patient. If all these conditions are present then the process of person centered therapy proceeds without difficulty. Dr. Andrew: You realize that those conditions are very difficult to come across especially with the kind of the world we are living in. It is high demanding and full of hustles. This is the reason I prefer Gestalts therapy because I don’t have to set these conditions for my patient. My process of treatment is experimental based on the patient’s development and I have a chance evaluate my client anytime as opposed to your method where you don’t interrupt. Moderator: Based on what Dr. Andrew has just said in relation to the 3 conditions you have just told us. Don’t you think that person centered is a conditioned process? Dr. Harris: It is a conditioned process that is the truth. I would like to tell you that conditioned processes are some of the most reliable processes of therapy. Let us refer back to the B. F Skinners conditioned experiments. Skinner was able to end up with the same results every time he rang the bell. This is actually what the therapy does and it becomes easy to treat a patient.