Within our blog post we will look in more depth at what person centred therapy is, how it was developed and some advice to help with including this in your coaching approach where appropriate or to build on your existing methods.

There are particular approaches which can be taken into account to deliver the most effective person centred therapy to help your clients reach their goals and maximum fulfilment from life and relationships.

What Is Person Centred Therapy

Firstly, let’s look at the history of what led to person centred therapy to what it is today. It was original developed by Psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1950’s. It is also referred to as Rogerian therapy amongst other names.

It differs from methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which follows a set of techniques and specific actions. That are led by the counsellor or coach with them being viewed as the expert

Rogers believed in a person centred approach. He felt that every person is able with the right support from their coach can reach the fullest potential, regardless of any struggles experienced throughout their life

A person centred approach puts the client in control and in the driving seat. They are viewed as the expert and client’s point of view and understanding of their life experience is to be treated with empathy. With person centred therapy the relationship and trust between the coach and client is very important for the approach to work effectively.

It is not focused on goals or specific plans given by a coach, it is led by what the client and their pace during sessions. A coach should be there to aid the process and provide a safe and non-judgemental environment for clients to feel they can be genuine and open.  

Why Person Centred Therapy?

When planning your coaching program and sessions, there are many reasons to use person centred therapy and is sometimes mixed with other approaches where needed. A person centered approach is suitable for people of all ages and can be used by coaches from various backgrounds.

It has been used previously across many different areas to help clients such as to improve self-esteem, grief, anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. However, it tends to be most effective with clients who are happy to embrace looking within and being open about their past life experiences, self-assessment and keen for personal growth.

If during an initial coaching session with a new client notice they prefer to have control and structure to coaching and seem less open to new experiences, then person centred therapy may not be for them or could take longer to achieve the desired result due to its open nature.

Person centred therapy is an approach to use because it provides the ability to heal any past challenges without judgement. It focuses on not seeing life experiences or perceptions taken on due to others as failings or mistakes. They are purely there to be self-evaluated and assessed to aid adjusting one’s self-worth or perception of themselves.

In doing so in a trusted environment with a coach this can aid helping a client to re-frame their viewpoint which can help them to builder stronger relationships, a better view of the world and fulfil their fullest potential and personal growth.

Creating The Right Environment

Regardless of whether delivering your coaching online or face to face, in fact person centred therapy can also be used in group sessions. As part of this approach there are three essential core elements that need to be followed for this method if used in your coaching program.

Unconditional Positive Regard: This element refers to ensuring to give your client in the coaching sessions complete acceptance. Using tools such as active listening and positive body language to reassure the client that this is a safe space. They must feel you always have a positive view of them. This allows them to trust they are safe to share their views and they are accepted by you as their coach.

Empathetic Understanding: Whilst this element may seem simple, it is important to get right. A large reason why person centred therapy applies to clients is because they may have changed over time themselves and own self-esteem to fit in with others and their point of views, rather than their own of their life. Therefore, showing empathy to their experiences is essential. Ensuring to see what they share truly from their point of view, not your own. In doing so, it will help them to look even deeper at how life experiences have shaped them and build a plan themselves on how they want to change that in the future.

Be Genuine: Within safe boundaries it is important for a client to see you are being genuine so they can over time see their coaching sessions are a safe space to share and it is a trusted relationship. To do this if comfortable coaches can share in an open and honest approach about their own feelings. This can help clients to see your own self-awareness and help them to seek that deeper insight about themselves, whilst trusting you as the right person to open up to.

Combined they focus on ensuring that it creates a same, trusted un-judgemental environment for clients to feel comfortable being fully open and honest. In doing so, they will share the right life experiences and experience self-analysis to help them learn from and achieve personal growth.

Therefore whilst, person centred therapy may at initial glance seem a simple method due to it not being coach led, with the client being the ‘expert’ in this approach. This will only be effective if the right parameters and relationship is built between the coach and client.

How Can We Help?

We hope our blog post has been helpful to explore more and look deeper into what person centred therapy is and how it can be used as part of your coaching program. As we detailed, creating an environment which is empathetic, genuine and non-judgement for your client which lets them take the lead with their progress and approach to the sessions is important with person centred therapy.

As part of CoachHive we provide various tools and resources which can be used to help you effectively deliver person centred therapy as part of your coaching business. Right from the simple to use booking system, to working with your client to decide the right roadmap for them and their personal growth looking to achieve.

It can all be tailored so you can deliver a personal service to your clients from day one. With the ability to provide them as hands on or hands off approach as they feel need as part of the person centred therapy.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help your coaching business please feel free to read more about what we offer or about CoachHive itself on our website.