by Joy Hewitt , The College Counselling Service, Stoke on Trent College.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was one of the most prominent American psychologists of his generation. His view of human nature led him to develop the Person-Centred counselling approach and his educational theory. Rogers rejected learning which was primarily directed, cognitive and basically concerned with the fixing of certain associations. He argued that this form of learning did not give the learner a chance to develop responsibility, independence and higher-level thinking skills. Rogers was an advocate for experiential learning which stems from the learner’s appreciation of what he/she is learning as satisfying his/her real needs and wants. An experiential learning environment creates open-ended opportunities which stimulate within the learner a continuity of investigation and questioning. Curzon (1997) stated that “experiential learning has the following important elements: it possesses a quality of personal involvement and stimulates the feelings and cognitive aspects of personality; it is self-initiated … it is pervasive and can effect the learner’s entire personality; it is evaluated by the learner as satisfying a need; its essence is ‘meaning’ (pp.126-127).”
Rogers’ educational theory emphasized the need for the facilitator to create a nurturing environment in which the learner could be free to move at his/her own pace and in his/her own direction. Rogers’ basic assumptions are that individuals are essentially trustworthy and capable of self-directed growth if they are involved in a nurturing or facilitative relationship. Rogers (1997) stated that “the individual has within himself the capacity and the tendency, latent if not evident, to move forward to maturity. In a suitable psychological climate this tendency is released, and becomes actual rather than potential (p.35).” Rogers called this the actualizing tendency which stimulates the creative fulfillment of the personality and the reduction in, or satisfaction of, physical and psychological needs. A person-centred counsellor therefore believes that psychological difficulties are caused in the main by blockages of the actualizing tendency. In Stress Management Training the person-centred facilitator can enable the learner to explore in safety their inner experiences, long denied or distorted. Ellis (1987a, 1987b) continuously reiterated the need to challenge the assumptions, beliefs and negative self talk that sustain clients’ self-defeating patterns of behaviour. Egan (1975) wrote “so often we seem to choose our own misery. Worse, we choose to stew in it rather then endure the relatively short-lived pain of behavioural change. [Facilitators] can and should challenge [learners] to search for incentives and rewards for managing their lives more effectively. They should also help [learners] to understand the consequences of not changing. But in the end it is the [learner’s] choice (p.326).”
One disadvantage of person-centred facilitation is that it may not place enough emphasis on problem solving techniques. Bott (1990) as cited in Palmer, Dainow and Milner (1996, p.25) stated that “in practice, …, counsellors have found it helpful to integrate supportive/expressive, transferential and behavioural principles (Egan, 1986). This is possible because, while they differ in their descriptions of what people are like, they share a common perspective in locating difficulties within the individual and helping is seen in terms of working with mental processes with a view to self-actualization, resolving intrapsychic conflicts or increasing skills and abilities.” Bozarth and Temaner Brodley (1986) as cited in Palmer, Dainow and Milner (1996, p.508) stated that “client-centred psychotherapy is a way of establishing ‘rapport’ and an understanding of the client that provides an opportunity for the therapist to apply other approaches, techniques, and interventions.” Merry (1990) as cited in Palmer, Dainow and Milner (1996, p.509) argued that integrated practice combining experiential, process-orientated learning and cognitive learning runs “counter to client-centred theory … since the [facilitator] has determined how time will be used, what means of expression will be used, and maybe even what ‘theme’ the [learner] should explore.” As an integrative, person-centred Stress Management facilitator I have developed a conceptual framework which enables me to borrow ideas, methods and techniques from all theories and approaches which have been interwoven into my practice. I have integrated didactic instruction such as lectures scripts, daily relaxation exercises on CD’s and questionnaires with experiential learning. Didactic instruction may provide a stable, structured cognitive learning process. However, this may seem remote, non-practical or sterile to some learners. Experiential learning allows active involvement by the learner in the search for self-actualization.
Rogers could be said to underestimate the contribution of ‘teaching’ as a way of transmitting information. Rogers (1983) stated that “the initiation of such learning rests upon the teaching skills of the leader, not upon his scholarly knowledge of the field, not upon his curricular planning, not upon his use of audio-visual aid, not upon the programmed learning he utilizes, not upon his lectures and presentations, not upon an abundance of books, although each of these might at one time or another be utilized as an important resource. No, the facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities which exist in the personal relationship between the facilitator and the learner (pp.105-106).” Rogers was emphasizing that there are ‘ways of being’ with others that can foster exploration and encounter. However it could also be argued that an invitation for exploration could be experienced as the giving of insight by learners.
Aspy’s (1972) research has shown that a humane atmosphere is not only pleasant for all concerned it also promotes more and more significant learning. Rogers (1983) illustrated the attitudes that characterize a facilitative relationship which are genuineness, acceptance and empathic understanding. When the facilitator is a real person, being what he/she is, entering into a relationship with the learner without a front or a façade, he/she is more likely to be effective. Prizing of the learner includes prizing of the feelings, the opinions and the person of the learner. It is an acceptance of the learner as a separate person, having worth in their own right. The facilitator’s prizing or acceptance of the learner is an operational expression of her essential confidence and trust in the capacity of the actualizing tendency. Empathic understanding establishes a climate for self-initiated experiential learning. The learner is understood from their point of view, not the facilitator’s. Thorne (1992) stated that this condition involves a willingness and ability to enter “the private perceptual world of the [other] without fear and to become thoroughly conversant with it (p.31).” With empathic understanding the facilitator is sensitive to the feelings of others and responds to their ideas and opinions assisting them to understand their own world and their behaviour in it without judgement, advice or guidance. Rogers (1997) stated that this “process involves a loosening of the cognitive maps of experience. From construing experience in rigid ways which are perceived as external facts, the [learner] moves toward developing changing, loosely held construings of meaning in experience, constructions which are modifiable be each new experience (p.157).”
Rogers (1951) began to explore the notion of ‘student-centred teaching’ in Client-centred therapy: its current practice, implications, and theory (pp.384-429). Barrett-Lennard (1998) noted that in this exploration Rogers had offered several hypothesized general principles, “we cannot teach another directly: we can only facilitate his learning. The structure and organization of the self appears to become more rigid under threat: to relax its boundaries when completely free from threat. The educational situation which most effectively promotes significant learning is one in which 1) threat to the self of the learner is reduced to a minimum, and 2) differentiated perception of the field of experience is facilitated (p.184).” When Stress Management Training is perceived by the learner as having a personal relevance then significant learning can take place. Learning which involves a change in self-organisation can be perceived by the learner as a threat to the self which needs to be resisted. Rogers (1959) as cited in McMillan (2004, p.23) explained “this resistance in terms of inconsistency-the person wants to avoid inconsistency and so rejects experiences that are contradictory to the self-concept. When an experience is perceived as inconsistent with self then the person will feel threatened; if the experience is one that is only subceived [edge of awareness] it will produce a state of anxiety as the cause of the threat is unclear. In either case the person will defend themselves in order to maintain the current structure of the self.” However if an external threat to the self can be minimized, the learning which would otherwise be threatening to the self can be gradually assimilated into the self enabling development to take place.
Rogers (1969) illustrated how a person-centred facilitator can accept and encapsulate both the intellectual content and the feelings content of a learner’s communication. This communication is reflected back to the learner with appropriate emphasis to develop mutual understanding between the learner and the facilitator. In this growth-enhancing environment the learner discovers what it means to be autonomous, creative and self-disciplined in their efforts to reach their goals. Experiential learning can enable the learner to explore their negative thinking about a situation at ‘their’ pace and in the direction he/she chooses. The ABC Form used in Stress Management Training can be integrated into this facilitative approach. The ABC Form can enable a verbal communication about the event (A), the beliefs and thoughts about the event (B) and the emotional response to the event (C) to be put into a visual representation. Learners engaged in Stress Management Training continue to work through issues/difficulties/problems in between the sessions. The ABC Form can therefore be used in the form of a daily diary where the visual representation can become a point of reference for the learner’s developing awareness of personal triggers and patterns of negative thinking. The ABC Form can also be used by the learner as a catalyst to activate positive thinking. To think positively the learner has to deliberately think the direct opposite of the negative thought. This can also be recorded to become a positive thinking point of reference for the learner.
The facilitative teacher is realistic about learner capabilities and potentialities. This enhances the learner’s intrinsic motivation by pitching assigned tasks and standards at the correct level. He/she knows how to select relevant materials which are of interest to specific learners. He/she knows how to adapt and supplement course materials and lessons with the right degree of challenge for effective motivation. The personality and behaviour of an individual will affect the way that they react to learning situations. Friedman and Rosenman (1959) identified two main personality types. Type A could be described as ‘the Hurrying Achiever’ who is a very hard worker, a perfectionist, seldom satisfied with their own and never satisfied with another person’s performance. They are seldom as effective as they would like to be and are always short of time. Type B could be described as ‘the Relaxed Listener’ who is generally observant of what goes on around them and takes life as it comes. They are seldom impatient, work steadily, are not easily irritated and are seldom short of time. A movement in personality and behaviour from Type A towards Type B would be of benefit for the learner. However a person-centred facilitator does not aim at a preferred end state for the learner. The facilitator enables the learner to become involved in a process of change which can continue throughout their lifetime. However this has to be the self-initiated choice of the learner.
Rogers (1969) stated that “the facilitator endeavors to organize and make easily available the widest possible range of resources for learning (p.164).” Rogers (1969) also asked the facilitator to regard himself/herself as a flexible resource to be utilized by the learner as he/she chooses. Some of the Stress Management Training exercises are a resource to guided imagery which is a method of inducing relaxation. These succeed by diverting or re-focusing attention away from the physical aspects of anxiety. May and Johnson (1973) concluded that mental imagery permits the client to enter more fully into the learning experience and that creating automatic, affective responses within the learner, mental pictures prove equally as effective as the real situation. It is this functional equivalence between real and imagined stimuli that is the crucial aspect of imagery’s power to mediate individual change.
Some of the Stress Management Training exercises are a resource to enable the individual to learn the skills of Passive Progressive Relaxation and Active Progressive Relaxation. Relaxation counters the Fight or Flight syndrome where the individual reacts to an alarm signal with muscular tension. Muscle tension may have been present for long periods of time within an individual. Muscular relaxation is the first intervention to be made in the stress spiral. When a body is relaxed the individual is much less likely to feel the effects of stressful situations.
Physical relaxation can also reduce the learner’s breathing cycles and heart rate. Muscle tension leads to faulty breathing habits. Garssen and Rijkin (1986) described how muscle tension affects the movement of the diaphragm and produces a compensatory over activity of the intercostals muscles, resulting in feelings of tightness in the chest and breathlessness which in turn contribute to the stress spiral. The more stressed an individual is, the shallower their breathing is likely to be. The healthy average number of breathing cycles per minute is between six and ten. Shallow breathing reduces the amount of oxygen which is available to the body. This causes the bodily system to work less efficiently and is a major contributor to chronic fatigue which regularly accompanies stress. Hyperventilation is another way in which the body can respond to threat. Krista (1986) described how extra oxygen is taken in which disrupts the gasses in the lungs resulting in depleted supplies of carbon dioxide in the body. This can cause dizziness, faintness, sweating, numbness and chest pains. Exercises that develop deep abdominal breathing and which slow down the rate of breathing can contribute to a relaxed breathing pattern which counters stress.
Relaxation skills can be used before, during and after any stressful situation. A person-centred facilitator integrates these relaxation techniques into their practice as a resource which can be utilized by the learner. These coping strategies enable the learner to feel more in control of their daily life and their psychological, physical and spiritual health. This boosts their self-confidence and self-esteem. Goldman (1996) stated that relaxation training works well for individuals suffering from anxiety and suggested that exercise or sport may be a better form of relaxation for depressed learners.
I evaluate the integrated, Person-centred Stress Management Training in a client-centred way after each session. This provides an opportunity for the individual to review their learning. It ensures that the learning process is continually benefiting him/her. Goals can be developed from the new insights. Goals are ‘what’ the learner wishes to achieve, in other words, the outcomes he/she values and regards as important for coping with their concerns. This way of working also highlights the relationship between the facilitator and the learner who learn together about themselves and the process of change within Stress Management Training. Integrated, Person-centred Stress Management Training is time-limited to eight sessions and is flexible enough to be used by a diverse range of learners. “The evidence of client gains from Stress Management Training cannot be ignored, whatever the therapeutic component, an intervention is valuable if it works (Stress Management Training, session 7, Research notes).”
Appendix
Appendix 1 Physical, emotional and behavioural signs of stress.
Appendix 1
Physical, Emotional and Behavioural Signs of Stress
Physical signs
Palpitations-throbbing heart
Pain and tightness in the chest
Indigestion
Breathlessness
Nausea
Muscle twitches
Tiredness
Vague aches or pains
Skin irritation or rashes
Susceptibility to allergies
Clenched fists or jaw
Fainting
Frequent colds, flu or other infections
Recurrence of previous illnesses
Constipation or diarrhoea
Rapid weight gain or loss
Alteration of the menstrual pattern in women
Behavioral signs
Accident proneness
Poor work
Increased smoking
Increased consumption of alcohol
Increased dependence on drugs
Overeating or loss of appetite
Change in sleep pattern, difficulty in getting to sleep and waking tired
Loss of interest in sex
Poor time management
Impaired speech
Withdrawal from supportive relationships
Taking work home more
Too busy to relax
Not looking after oneself
Emotional signs
Swings in mood
Increased worrying
Irritability
Feeling tense
Drained, no enthusiasm
Cynical
Feeling nervous, apprehensive, anxious
Feelings of helplessness
Loss of confidence
Lack of self-esteem
Lack of concentration
Withdrawal into day-dreams
Stress Management Trainer’s Notes, Handout 3, National Extension College,1994.
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