Tony Merry (1948–2004)

I read the initial five chapters of this book for university assignments, so my review relates to the first half of the book only.

I found the first two chapters a little dry, they being overviews of the development of person-centered groupwork. There's actually a fair bit of 'personality' in them, but I guess I'm not that interested in who was on a particular committee and what they were doing half a century ago. Useful, nevertheless, in providing some dates and references for the assignments.

The next three chapters I found more engaging and interesting, most particularly Peggy Natiello's chapter, Sexism, Gender Dynamics and the Person-Centred Approach, which sadly seems more relevant now than when she wrote it in 1999. For her contribution, I've increased a 3-star rating to 4.

Not essential, but useful and interesting, nevertheless.… (plus d'informations)

Essential reading for the course I'm doing, but beyond that it's generally enlightening and thought-provoking.

In examining the different ways of working that are generally identified as belonging to the person-centred approach, the book has helped me to reflect upon what I feel is acceptable to my own principles, and that which lies outside them. Not that I'm now without questions or am free of tension between what I believe and what I find myself practicising, but I am better informed and more able to reconcile those tensions to find the path that feels right for me in being in relation with my clients.

I find that I position myself in principle toward the classical client-centred pole, but perhaps in practice, at this stage in my development, veering toward a need to introduce some elements of instrumentality as a prop for a lack of confidence in my ability to embody Rogerian attitudes. My supervisor is helping me to explore this!

Despite misgivings about the title, I found Richard Worsley's chapter, Integrating with Integrity really helpful. His description of how he, in his view, fully maintains a Rogerian attitude whilst giving some rein to his spontaneity and inventiveness was attractive, and I'm now less dubious about having shelled out for his book, Process Work in Person-Centred Therapy, which I'll try to read at some point this year.

I'm rather turned off from Eugene T. Gendlin's Focusing approach, and the process experiential approaches that developed from it, as I'm unhappy with the unequal therapist/client power dynamic inherent in these approaches, although that is an issue they address and seek to redress by therapist ethical awareness of not intruding upon the client's experiencing and autonomy. I've got a couple of Gendlin's books, so I will give him a fair crack of the whip at some point.

Over against my wariness of the experiential approaches is a recognition that the present UK health care provision via the NHS values brief interventions, outcome measures and manualised treatments above the freer-spirit of client-centred therapy, so if I want to work in that setting, the practical (venal?) part of me is attracted towards Counselling for Depression, a manualised integration of client-centred and experiential modalities which the NHS accepts as part of its approved methods of providing therapy from a person-centred orientation.

If nothing else, this book has shown me that I've got a long way to go and, in the best Rogerian sense, that the process has no final end.… (plus d'informations)

I borrowed this book from my college library to help with an assignment and ordered a copy shortly thereafter, as it's such a fantastic resource that I wanted it permanently at hand without worrying about having to continually book it in and out.

As a dictionary it is, naturally, an alphabetical listing of the key concepts related to the person-centred approach to counselling and psychology. The writing is clear, comprehensible and concise, with lots of cross-references to facilitate the following of linked concepts and streams of theory development. It's well-referenced, too, which makes it an excellent resource for locating citations for assignments.

Although not designed to be read from cover-to-cover, that's what I'll be doing to strengthen my understanding of person-centred theory. On a practical note, living as I do in the UK, I found that ordering it directly from the publisher's website was cheaper than any of the other available purchasing options.

Update Now that I've finished reading I have little further to add - an excellent resource which will be at my elbow when reading other related text-books.… (plus d'informations)