The severe limitations of rogerians approach to therapy

The severe limitations of rogerians approach to therapy This essay reflects on the above statement, and begins by defining what we mean by supportive and reconstructive, when relating these to the subject of counselling and psychotherapy. In then identifying the key theories of the Rogerian approach, and exploring some of these theories in greater detail, this leads to a deeper discussion and consideration of the question. Feeling supported in the therapeutic environment is a key element to how successful and effective therapy can be. Having an open, equal, honest relationship between client and therapist is the ideal situation, and where this kind of relationship exists it can greatly enhance the healing process. When the therapist is able to offer a safe space, the client feels able to express himself freely, without fear of being judged. If supportiveness is lacking, this negatively impacts the client. Feeling judged, fearful of what the therapist might be thinking, creates barriers and an atmosphere that feels unsafe and not conducive to effective therapy. The term reconstructive can be used to describe the process where major changes occur for the client during therapy. For clients suffering from post-traumatic conditions, including complex grief reactions, reconstructive therapy focuses on facilitating the client to recognise, understand and accept their feelings and reactions. Deeper self understanding can enable clients to see they have choices, and to regain responsibility for themselves and their reactions. The concept of being supportive can be clearly identified within several Rogerian theories, namely: The Core Conditions, The Self Actualising Tendency, and the Organismic Valuing process. The connections to supportive, seen in Rogers theories are explored and discussed in more detail later. Other key Rogerian theories considered in more detail include the idea of Phenomenology, The Self-Concept (or self), and Conditions of Worth. I observe the supportive tendency towards growth as being strongly embedded within the Rogerian approach. I also identify Rogers approach as reconstructive in the sense that major positives shifts and changes often occur during therapy. Considering the question of limitations this is harder to answer. As is the case with all psychological theories there will always be limitations and exceptions to effectiveness. For a great many clients and therapists the Rogerian way of working offers both a gentle and powerful therapy, that has stood the test of time. The Rogerian approach is also known as Person Centred counselling or Client Centred therapy. It originated from the pioneering work beginning in the 1930s which continued through six decades, of American psychologist and writer, Dr Carl Ransom Rogers (1902 1987). ( Mearns and Thorne 1999). Rogers talked about client centred or person centred therapy as not just a therapeutic way of working, but more as a way of being. Being real, genuine and true to himself. (Rogers, 1980) Rogers belief was that the client knows best. His approach was a radical move away from the analytical approaches of the time, where the therapist was thought of as the expert. Rogers was convinced that we each have within us the knowledge and resources to move forward, and that the role of the therapist is to offer the conditions that facilitate clients to help themselves. (Mearns and Thorne 1999). A helpful description of the Person Centred approach is offered by J K Wood: .. it is neither a psychotherapy nor a psychology. It is not a school à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ itself, it is not a movement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is not a philosophy. Nor is it any number of other things frequently imagined. It is merely, as its name implies, an approach, nothing more, nothing less. It is a psychological posture, if you like, from which thought or action may arise and experience be organised. It is a way of being. (Wood 1996, cited in Embleton Tudor, Keemar, Tudor, Valentine, Worrall, 2004) Phenomenology comes from the work of Edmund Husseri (1859 1938), Martin Heidegger (1889 1976), and Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1907 1961). (cited in Embleton Tudor, Keemar, Tudor, Valentine, Worrall, 2004, pp 18 24). Phenomenology is based around the idea that reality is not fixed. We each perceive our own reality, which is informed by our life experiences, biases, prejudices, and perceptual filters. We all experience reality in our own unique way. (Embleton Tudor, Keemar, Tudor, Valentine, Worrall, 2004) Rogers said: I do not react to some absolute reality, but to my perception of this reality. It is this perception which for me is reality. (Rogers, 1951) Empathic understanding can be described as a process of attending phenomenologically to the phenomenological world of another. From phenomenological thinking comes the phenomenological method, which contains three steps enabling us to be as open as possible to each new experience. The first step is to bracket all our pre-conceptions that we have taken on board and tend to automatically believe. Our challenge is to set these beliefs to the side on the basis that they are limiting and unhelpful and likely to impede our experience of this moment now. The next step is for us to describe rather than judge our experience. Our tendency is to analyse, evaluate and judge. The challenge here is to describe what we observe, rather than put our pre-conceived interpretation and judgement onto the experience. By staying close to felt senses we can be more open to accurately describing what we experience. The last step is to avoid putting a hierarchy on what we notice and experience. To be open to valuing everything we have noticed equally. These three steps combined, encourage non judgemental openness to experiencing, which sits well within Rogers Person Centred approach. Rogers believed that all human beings have within them an inherent tendency towards growth and fulfilment. He called this directional process in life the actualising tendency. (Rogers, 1980). Rogers saw life as an active process, and that regardless of the environment living things can be counted on to move towards maintaining and enhancing themselves. He recognised that the actualising tendency can be frustrated by adverse circumstances and events, but saw that this striving for growth always remains even in the most difficult of conditions. An example he gives is of the potatoes kept in the cellar of his childhood home that still grew in the semi-darkness, desperate to live, growing sad spindly sprouts towards the distant light in little cellar window. (Rogers, 1980). According to Rogers, humans have the ability within themselves to know what is good for them. He termed this ability organismic valuing. Trusting in our inner knowledge and intuition supports our self actualising tendency. The self actualising tendency becomes suppressed when organismic valuing gets lost through negative introjects and limiting beliefs. This usually stems from childhood, as a result of taking on conditions of worth from significant close others (for example parents, siblings, teachers). When worth or love is only expressed if we conform to certain conditions imposed by others, we take on board negative and distorted beliefs, often carrying them throughout our lives. Our locus of evaluation becomes external, constantly seeking direction, approval and reassurance of others. The Rogerian ideal is to have an internal locus of evaluation. With an internal locus of evaluation we are able to trust our own judgement, rely on our gut feelings, and have confidence in our own ability to know what is right. (Rogers, 1951) The self-concept is a persons conceptual construction of themself. Self-concepts often are not in balance with the actualising tendency and the organisimic valuing process. Self-concepts begin in infancy and develop over time. They are shaped by our perception of the attitudes and behaviours towards us of significant others. The need for positive regard and to feel approved of by others is a fundamental and powerful want. Conflict occurs when this need isnt fulfilled, and negative self-concepts become embedded. (Dryden 2007, pp 149 151). Rogers believed that peoples personalities are made up of two components, the organismic self and the self concept. The organismic self is the self I was born with, the real me. The self concept is the person I have become during my life in order to receive positive self regard from others. Introjects from those close to me, like my parents and others, have forced values inside me that arent in harmony with my organismic self. These become conditions of worth, causing me to behave in certain ways in order to receive the positive self regard from those close to me that I need. Small children have an inbuilt need to be loved by their parents. The child will feel like it is going to die if this need is denied. The locus of evaluation for the organismic self is internal, inside me. The locus of evaluation for the self concept is external approval is sought from outside. An example of organsimic self verses self concept comes from my own life: When I was in my mid teens I came under the influence of a powerful older man. For many years I felt controlled by him. I sought his approval in all areas of my life and my own personality became more and more subdued. He influenced my work, my social life, my romantic / sexual relationships, my family life my opinions and values. I felt I didnt have any of my own opinions any more. When I attempted to break free from his influence, he would react very badly and wear down my self esteem even further, making me feel powerless, worthless and useless. I suffered a lot of anxiety and unhappiness during those years. He also had the power to make me feel very good, if he chose to. His approval was so important to me. It was only in my thirties I managed to fully break free from his influence. I was able to begin returning to the real me, to re-discover my organism self, and accept myself as a worthwhile person with my own views and values. The following two examples illustrate the power of interjects in creating conditions of worth: Jake talked about his experience as a small child where he didnt want to eat and would find any excuse to get out of eating. As a punishment for refusing to eat his parents would shut him out of the flat, leaving him on the landing outside the flat, locked out. Jake described how this made him feel I felt completely rejected, I was thrown out of my house. This example shows how in this case the behaviour of his parents had a very negative effect on the his sense of worth and self concept, as a small child. Jake felt that a minor misdemeanour could take away the love of his parents and the security of his home of which he was not worthy anymore. These events seriously negatively affected Jakes conditions of worth for many years. When I became pregnant in my late teens I felt very frightened and alone and not able to share this traumatic event with my parents. Shortly after having a termination my secret came out. The reaction from my mother was angry and judging, I remember her words how could you do such a thing. I took this to mean how could I have sex, and how could I have an abortion. I felt very ashamed and guilty and bad about myself. This affected my romantic and sexual relationships and my views on sex and pregnancy for many years. This example shows how one sentence from my mother (a negative introjection of her values) had a huge affect on my conditions of worth and had long lasting negative consequences. In contrast, my fathers reaction to the news of my unplanned pregnancy and that Id had a termination was completely different. He was sensitive and supportive, not judgemental and very understanding of my decision. This had a very positive effect on my view of my father, and my relationship with him. It also helped to balance the strong negative reaction I felt to my mothers response. I still look back on this memory as a time when I realised what a wonderful man my father is. My respect and affection for him has only grown since this experience. Looking back it is clear to me that he offered me empathy, congruence and UPR at a time when I really needed it. Rogerian therapy is built around the premise that if certain conditions are present then healing will occur. 1. Psychological contact between the counsellor and the client 2. The client is in a vulnerable or anxious state 3. The counsellor is congruent 4. The client experiences unconditional positive regard and feels accepted by the counsellor 5. Empathic understanding of client by counsellor The client receives the empathy and unconditional positive regard and congruence Rogers claimed that as long as these conditions were there, this was all that was needed. He described them as being necessary and sufficient. (Rogers, 1951) Of the six conditions, three are core, these are Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR), and Congruence. These three conditions need only be minimally present, in order for therapeutic personality change to take place. Returning to empathy, I see this as being able to put myself by the side of the client, and to understand their feelings. Phenomenologically I will never be able to fully know how someone else feels, but believe that empathy takes me close enough. Rogerian counsellors demonstrate empathy by active listening in a sensitive way, and reflecting feeling words back to the client, and also by tone of voice, body language and mirroring facial expressions. Paraphrasing can be used to summarise what the client is saying, with clarification whenever there is any confusion about what the client is trying to communicate. (Mearns and Thorne, 1999) Unconditional Positive Regard can be defined as respecting the client as a human being and not judging. It may be that there is sometimes something to do with the clients actions or behaviours which the counsellor doesnt agree with, but this doesnt stop UPR being offered. It is about giving respect to a fellow human being without conditions. From the clients point of view, receiving UPR will improve their own feelings of self-worth. If they have been in a cycle of behaving badly because this has always been what has been expected by others, then the cycle can be broken by UPR being offered by the counsellor. In order to offer UPR, it is important that the counsellor has a high degree of self awareness and has worked through her own issues and is clear about any biases or prejudices, and able to put these to the side. (Mearns and Thorne, 1999) Congruence means being real and genuine, the counsellor being able to be herself and to be open and honest with the client. Being congruent means removing pretence or acting, and being fully present. Receiving congruence and seeing the counsellor isnt perfect and has vulnerabilities, reassures the client that it is ok to be imperfect and vulnerable. (Mearns and Thorne, 1999) Person centred counselling can be an extremely powerful therapy and can have an enormous impact in enabling damaged people to heal themselves. One of the basic criticisms of Person Centred Counselling is around its theory which is based around our built in motivation to self actualise, grow and achieve. The reality of todays world is that there are many people who dont demonstrate this self actualising tendency. What Rogers didnt explain was if everyone is basically good deep down inside, why arent societies better and better as a result? It is also argued by some that person centred counselling is limited. It can be seen as being a passive soft kind of therapy, with the balance of power with the client, and the counsellor not offering the client advice or solutions. Is this a weakness or a strength? My view is that it is a strength and one of the key reasons why person centred counselling is so effective. The counsellors role isnt that of an expert solving the clients problems, but as someone able to reflect back the clients thoughts and feelings, in a respectful and honest manner, enabling the client to begin to heal himself. Taking this further and coming back to the title question, I see that the fact that Rogerian counselling offers a safe and supportive space for the client, this is what then enables the reconstructive process to take place. Clients come to therapy for a variety of reasons, but they all have one thing in common, they are in emotional pain. The gentle yet powerful elements of Rogerian therapy allow the client to be safe enough with the counsellor to express their emotional pain. In order to get to this place of safety, there has to be a strong level of trust between the client and the counsellor. This trust grows, through the counsellor offering empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. For major shifts to happen first the client needs to be open and honest and be able to express their distress. The next step is for the client to take the risk of moving out of their comfort zone and challenging themselves. This is when the greatest shifts can occur. In order for either of these steps it is absolutely key that the client trusts and feels secure with the counsellor. The person centred values promote and encourage this by offering an equal non judgemental honest real relationship. To return to the question, in my view and my experience, Rogerian therapy is both supportive and reconstructive. I feel its only limitations lie within individual clients. If a client is not ready to explore themselves honestly, to open up and challenge themselves, then change wont occur. The client has to be ready to engage in what can often be painful self exploration. When a client is ready and wants to do this, working in the Rogerian way can have powerful life changing results. The Rogerian approach is a way of being, and this way of being can be applied to all aspects of life. In terms of therapy, I see this approach being very valuable. Other tools and skills can be offered to clients, in a person centred way, which I see as greatly enhancing the therapeutic process.

Zappos, an Electronic Commerce Information System

Abstract As times evolve, so do the tools businesses use to keep up with the competition. One tool widely used is an information system. Such a system allows businesses to input process and store information. Zappos. com is one of the many businesses that use an information system. The system that Zappos. com uses is an electronic commerce information system. This system allows Zappos. com to provide great customer service, which is the company's mission. Many employees are needed to run the different components of the electronic commerce information system, some employees are new and others are seasoned workers. There are managers that train and oversee the production and service provided by employees. The electronic commerce information system has many components. Some workers are in charge of inputting and creating the graphics that appear on the Zappos. com webpage. Other customers are in charge of processing payments and shipping information. A customer must have access to the internet and one of the Zappos. com approved methods of payment to make a purchase. The use of an electronic commerce information system has enabled Zappos. com to be efficient and save money. Unfortunately, should such an information system crash, the website would be unable to run. Although the webpage is very user friendly, there are some improvements that would make it better, such as pictures, advanced search options, and experienced customer service. Zappos. com, an Electronic Commerce Information System With the development of new technology, people have changed the way they do things. From ordering movies and food, to shopping for merchandise, more and more customers are resorting to the internet to satisfy their needs. In order to succeed, companies must keep up with growing trends. Online shopping is one of the fastest growing trends nationwide. In order to provide this feature, companies must have the necessary system in place to provide accurate information such as prices, quantities, and shipping information. One tool many companies use is an information system. Rainer (2009) defines an information system as â€Å"the planning, development, management and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management† (glossary). Zappos. com is an online store that is used my thousands of customer nationwide. Zappos. com offers anything from clothing to shoes for the entire family. There are many features that make Zappos. com an excellent place to shop. One of these features is that customers are given 365 days to return items, as opposed to 30 or 90 days allotted by other online stores. The second feature is that shipping is free both ways. There are many components that make up the electronic commerce information system employed by Zappos. com. Some components allow customers to view the merchandise in stock, while other components store transaction histories. All of these components work together to provide customers with a hassle-free easy internet shopping experience. In addition, components from the online platform also communicate with different operational components. Zappos. com uses this system for many of its operational tasks such as processing payments and keeping up with growing customer trends. Overview and Structure of the Organization Mission: The mission of Zappos. com is to provide the best customer service possible to its customers. There are many internet stores available online. In order to fulfill its mission and stand out above the rest, Zappos. om must provide popular merchandise as well as process transactions fast, accurately, and efficiently. Foundation: The first step in running a successful online organization is to properly train employees. Zappos. com starts by training employee's the core values and organizational culture established by the company. Once the basics have been established, employees are trained to perform different duties. Managers help train and guide new and seasoned Behind the Scenes: To make Zappos. com a successful online business, a special department is in charge of finding merchandise that is in high demand. Once the merchandise has been selected, another department is in charge of taking pictures and preparing information that the customers can see and read when they access the Zappos. com website. After a customer picks out merchandise, a department oversees the processing of the payment and the shipping of the merchandise to the customer. Should there be any issues or concerns, a customer service department is available to assist customers. Inputs, Outputs, and Organizational Usage Webpage Zappos. com is divided up into different sections. Employees enter information such as sizing charts, or lists of brands. Other sections include house wares, beauty, and handbags. Employees are in charge of developing and maintaining these different sections. Merchandise An information system calculates and predicts growing trends. Reports are analyzed to determine the merchandise that will be purchased. Once merchandise is purchased, pictures and descriptions of items are entered into a system to be displayed online. The quantity of merchandise is also imputed to provide accurate information of available merchandise. Transactions Customers view different merchandise online. Once they decide to purchase an item, they must input various information. The first step is usually to indicate the quantity and size of the merchandise. Second, customers enter or create their login information. Third, customers input their address and contact information. Finally, payment information is entered so that customers can get a confirmation that their transaction is being processed and when their merchandise will be shipped. Impact of the Information System on the Organization Efficiency An electronic commerce information system allows Zappos. com to be more efficient. Information that is inputted into the system such as prices or details on merchandize can be viewed by employees in different states. In regards to training, material can be inputed into the information system so that employees can study and review it during their down time or on time allotted for training. Cost Effective An electronic commerce information system allows Zappos. com to be an online store. This saves the company money that would have been spent covering overhead charges as an actual physical store. Rather than having merchandise in one location, Zappos. com is able to offer a variety of merchandize to customers nationwide with the use of an information system. Downfall One negative aspect is that Zappos. com is an online store. Should the electronic commerce information system crash, the website would be shut down. This in return would upset customers that are loyal shoppers. In addition, money would be lost because there is not a physical location where people could go to in order to complete their transactions. Contingency Zappos. om has two locations, one in Las Vegas, and another location in Kentucky. This has allowed Zappos. com to function operations from one location to the other should one system be down. This ensures that while little issues may occur with the site, major issues have never prevented the site from working. Hardware and Software Back Operation Zappos. com must have all the necessary hardware to successfully run an online business. Examples of such hardwa re include cameras to take pictures of merchandise and computers to upload the information to the webpage. Many customers do not feel safe entering their bank information online. As a result, telephones are important so that representatives can assist customers that choose to call. Webpage The webpage designers at Zappos. com would need different hardware as well. Many designers use notepads to organize the content. Graphics programs are also necessary to add slides and transitions to the webpage. Photoshop software also enables designers to tweak pictures so that they appear as professional as possible. Customers To begin with, customers must have access to the internet in order to shop t Zappos. com. Some customers like to use their laptops, desktops, or cell phones to access the site. Many people use internet explorer, while others use Mozilla Firefox. To prevent viruses or other cyber attacks, many customers have some type of internet security software. Recommended Improvements Shoes The Zappos. com website features many shoes and customers can look at multiple views. Unfortunately, t here are not any pictures that show how the shoe would look on an actual person. One improvement the system could use would be to show a picture of a model wearing the shoe. For this improvement, a picture would be taken of a model wearing a shoe. The picture would then be uploaded into the information system so that it is available to be viewed by customers nationwide. Customer Service Zappos. com has a wonderful option to chat live with representatives online. Unfortunately, the service can sometimes be slow because agents have to take time to research the problem. There are so many products offered that sometimes the wait can be long. To fix this issue, agents can be trained to be experts of different areas. This would allow the agents to know their products better so that customer wait time is minimal. For this improvement, agents would have to be better trained in specific departments. In addition, the online chat would have to be set up to allow customers to click on the department that can best assist him or her. Advanced Search Zappos. com offers many products. When trying to narrow down search results, customers have to check different specification. It would be time efficient, to have an advanced search where a customer can enter all the specification of the produce he or should would like to see. To do this, Zappos. com would have to have an advanced search field that would allow customers to choose between different specifications. Conclusion Gone are the days when data had to be inputted, processed, and stored manually. Information systems have revolutionized the way businesses function. Zappos. com is an online store that uses and electronic commerce system to function successfully. Recap major points throughout essay. References Rainer, R. K. , Jr. , & Turban, E. (2009). Introduction to information systems: Supporting and transforming business (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Local Studies

Mobile Restaurants or simply street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street foods are also classed as both finger food and fast food, and are cheaper on average than restaurant meals. According to a 2007 study from the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2. 5 billion people eat street food every day. Today, people may purchase street food for a number of reasons, such as to obtain reasonably priced and flavourful food in a sociable setting, to experience ethnic cuisines and also for nostalgia. Historically, in places such as ancient Rome, street food was purchased because the urban poor did not have kitchens in their homes. What makes a restaurant awesome? Some would say great food and the right ambiance? Great food is subjective and varies with each person’s experience and background. However, to be considered awesome, a restaurant has to take the overall dining experience to a higher level. That means food that leaves an indelible mark on your taste buds and imprints lasting memories in your mind in an ambiance that carves out a special place in the heart to share with other people. Each serves gourmet food with the freshest ingredients, and combines nature elements, artifacts or a sense of history in its atmosphere. Simply put, these restaurants have a story to tell that is spread via word-of-mouth. I can proudly say that these restaurants are found only in the Philippines. Inspired by the outdoor markets of Mercato Centrale in Florence and the Boroughs Market in London, Mercato Centrale at Bonifacio Global City is an innovative weekend lifestyle market with unique, great tasting food finds that you won’t find anywhere around the metro. Mercato also has an extensive selection of healthy and organic fruits, vegetables and livestock, all located in a clean, comfortable, well-ventilated and organized setting. On top of a fantastic food selection, Mercato will be full of fun activities, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment that will keep your family coming back for more every weekend.

Italian Verb Conjugations Conoscersi