Brain C-13
That would be like having Charles Manson the mass-murderer as a client. Yes Brain C-13 he killed a lot of people however he does have the possibility or the potential for change. So hes here and my task is to help him to be the best person that he can be from what appears to be the worst.
You see the person as having intrinsic value apart from his behaviour and you see his behaviour as having an understandable story behind it. And that will allow us to be able to remain in a helping position with our client. There may be some types of people such as Charles Manson that we would not be able to maintain an unconditional positive regard for. What are some other types of clients that you may have trouble with? Perhaps sexual offenders serial killers rapists child abusers.
Could that perhaps be why they are some of the hardest to cure or change? Its hard to find people who are able to work with those types of individuals. Its difficult for a counselor to work in those circumstances and still separate himself to such an extent that he becomes a part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It can be a challenge to keep from reacting judgmentally and lose ones effectiveness in that way. So what should we do if we cannot maintain unconditional positive regard for a client? Have him seek someone else perhaps. In this circumstance you might say "Im not sure Ill be able to help you as much as you may need." Make a referral and own it as your problem that you dont have the skills to help him.
When you say to the client "I dont feel that I have the skills that you need to get the help that you need" you show you are accepting responsibility for your limitations rather than blaming the client. Along with that goes the ability to be non-judgmental. I need to be able to regard the clients behaviour in terms of behaviours which work well and which do not work well for the clients functioning rather than in moral terms. So we need to be aware of the range of judgmental terms to bee left out of the counseling relationship and left out of our counseling vocabulary. Rather than say to a client "Do you think thats wise or do you think thats right?" Im going to say "Does that work well for you.
