Person-Centred Counselling in Action

`the first systematic, comprehensive text about this approach since Carl Rogers' own Client-Centred Therapy... Their discussion of empathy, acceptance and congruence is central and should be required reading for all trainees working to understand the richness of these core concepts... outstanding' - Counselling, The Journal of the British Association for Counselling

`(Mearns and Thorne) have succeeded in bridging that gap between the outer and the inner... it has total integrity to the Person Centered way of being a counselor - not just in what they say but in the way they say it. I felt understood by this book!' - Ann Weiser, PCA Letter Network

`relates most closely to Samaritan work, with its emphasis on the importance of empathy, acceptance and congruence to establish a trusting, caring relationship' - The Samaritan

`unique in that it is the first comprehensive and systematic text concerning the client-centred/person-centred approach since Rogers' Client Centred Therapy... the rationales, the insights into felt sense, the importance of unconditional positive regard, the skilful conveying of tenderness and building of trust are well explained and described with lots of case study examples' - Guidance Matters

`Without doubt the clearest description of the person-centred approach to counselling that I have read, apart from Carl Rogers' own writings. I enjoyed reading it and the warm human way in which it is written conveys the essence of the person-centred approach... I felt that I had got to know both Dave Mearns and Brian Thorne through their offering the reader their own congruence and I found this aspect of the book at times quite moving' - Social Work Today

`demonstrates the lasting truths and importance of the approach, so often misleadingly caricatured as involving merely passive reflecting... The book conveys the profound respect for the person, for his/her autonomy and uniqueness, which is inherent in the Rogerian approach' - British Journal of Medical Psychology

`gives real insight into person-centred counselling... This is a gentle book; an absolute delight to read (I couldn't put it down) as it held me in the realm of my own feelings. And yet I learnt so much from those feelings. I would like to thank both authors for sharing so much of their intimate selves. I recommend this book to trainee counsellors, trained counsellors, clients and those involved in the helping professions. It is a book that has influenced me and that I would not want to be without' - BPS Counselling Psychology Review

`a marvelous book; highly recommended. Someone has finally written an easily accessible book about the theory and practice - mostly practice - of the kind of therapy that makes the most sense to many focusers. Hurrah!... easy to read and beautifully laid out... even just skimming through is a fascinating process. The authors' collective voice is gentle and unassuming, yet backed by experience. I didn't feel that they were telling me how to be; rather, that they were keeping me company in living with the questions. The book itself practices what it is about; it is person-centered' - The Focusing Connection

`It is an excellent book and will be of enormous benefit to all those needing to learn how person-centred therapy should really be practised. This book could very sensibly be placed on the reading lists of all counselling trainers and trainees... Particularly appealing is the manner in which each of the core conditions is clearly portrayed as an on-going strand of a therapeutic process. I have not previously found this concept so coherently described... this is the most informative and useful book I have read in a long time and I have no doubt that if Carl Rogers were still alive today, he would not only agree but also acknowledge experiencing some envy' - Changes

`an important book... a most sophisticated text. The authors show both their scholarly authority as well as their clinical experience by interweaving theory with practice... It speaks to the realities of the therapeutic relationship so readily recognizable to all honest practitioners... Mearns and Thorne have written a book for all counsellors and psychotherapists. Although the person-centred approach is widely practised in the UK, it has lacked a key British text. The authors have collaborated well to provide an answer to this need. The reader will be left both grateful and hungry for more' - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (May 1990)

`The authors have done a fine job... They succinctly lay out person-centred therapy's philosophy and assumptions, and in successive chapters define its major therapeutic concepts... Mearns and Thorne provide a readable update on developments in this immensely important therapy, especially useful for cognitive-behaviour therapists such as myself who may have been largely out of touch with it since the days when it was still called `client-centred therapy'... This book reminded me that person-centred therapy is a thorough-going, well-articulated school of psychotherapy which aims to be grounded in empirical findings... Mearns and Thorne have brass-tack advice and tips useful to therapists of any persuasion... readable and succinct, and full of useful details and how-to tips. It appears very well suited for consideration as a text for therapists in training and for others who want an up-to-date statement of the person-centred therapy approach' - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (January 1991)

`Stimulates a re-exploration of the doctor-patient relationship' - British Medical Journal

`truly allows the reader to enter the world of the person-centered counselor' - Contemporary Psychology

This practical and comprehensive guide is written for counsellor trainers and their trainees, as well as for counsellors already in practice wanting to familiarize themselves with the person-centred approach to counselling.

Dave Mearns and Brian Thorne explain the theoretical principles of the person-centred approach by relating these principles to actual practice. Drawing on one particular case-study the two counsellors present an extensive exploration of the core conditions of empathy, acceptance and congruence, and provide a step-by-step account of both the counsellor's and the client's experience of being involved in a trusting, caring relationship characterised by power-sharing and mutuality.