RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING: SONS AND THEIR MOTHERS:

a person-centred dialogue

Richard Bryant-Jefferies

ISBN 1 85775 648 7

Counsellors, psychotherapists and other health and social care professionals are frequently faced with adult men who are seeking to establish their adult identity and resolve issues concerning their relationships with their mothers. Using fictitious dialogue the author offers the reader an opportunity to enagge with the process of therapy and supervision to inform their own practice and/or gain insight into what can occur within the therapeutic exchange.

This volume of the Living Therapy series concentrates on one man (Peter) in his struggle to claim an independent lifestyle and resolve the effects of what he experienced as a rejecting and loveless childhood. From the time that he enters into therapy, the client finds himself on a journey towards a greater realisation of his need to move on, encountering past experiences that were major factors in his own conditioned development, and engaging in new experiences which contribute to a process of redefining himself and his potentialities.

Included in this volume is material to inform the training process of counsellors and many others who seek to work with people experiencing these relational dynamics. Sons and Mothers: A Person-Centred Dialogue is intended as much for experienced counsellors as it is for trainees. It provides real insight into what can occur during counselling sessions. 'I hope it will raise awareness of, and inform, not only person-centred practice within this relational context, but also contribute to other theoretical approaches within the world of counselling and psychotherapy. Reflections on the therapeutic process and points for discussion are included to stimulate further thought and debate.'

From the Author's Preface

"For those who are specifically interested in the Person-Centred Approach the book can serve as an easy-to-read introduction to the concepts and methods founded by Carl Rogers and continuously elaborated and developed since within the world-wide person-centred movement. Relationship Counselling: Sons and Their Mothers presents the state of the art of this approach to counselling and psychotherapy and Richard Bryant-Jefferies’ descriptions show his thinking and working in up-to-date relational categories.

In the last decades the centrality of relationship for counselling and therapy has become important to almost all orientations and modalities. Within the person-centred world the importance and impact of the encounter between client and counsellor has become acknowledged to an increasing extent. Such a relationship-oriented understanding of person-centred work equally focuses on both the intrapersonal and interpersonal. The inner process in the client and the counsellor and the process between them are mutually related and important for the facilitation of the client’s personality development and move towards autonomy and mature interrelatedness. Person-centred theoreticians and practitioners around the globe have become more and more aware that it is the acknowledgment of a common ‘We’ of our existence that builds the foundation for a facilitative relationship and therefore it is the presence of the counsellor that supports the client in their endeavour to become the person they want to be. Therefore it is the encounter, the relationship between the persons involved, that is the core of counselling, and it is respectful dialogue that constitutes the nature of the person-centred counselling process (Schmid, 2003). These aspects are clearly visible in the narrative of this book and the explanations and interpretations given. It not only clearly explains what is going on in both client and counsellor, it also reflects the relationship between them and between the supervisor and the counsellor." "

Peter F. Schmid, Professor at the University of Graz, Austria, Faculty Member of Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco, and founder of person-centred training in Austria, from his Foreword.

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