ABSTRACT
Undoubtedly one of the most commonly asked questions of trainee therapists is: ‘What personal qualities do you have that will make you a good therapist?’ Apart from cliché answers such as I want to help people and I have always been a good listener, there is a need to look at what personal strengths and weaknesses impact upon our work with clients. It has long been recognised that one’s personal attributes affect not only one’s work with clients but also one’s own personal and professional development (Rogers, 1961). Indeed in recent years even therapeutic models, which in the past have placed little importance on the client-patient relationship, are now emphasising the value of personal attributes (McLeod, 1998). It has been suggested that the most important element in counselling is the ‘personhood’ of the counsellor (Gibson and Mitchell, 1999) and that the most powerful impact on the client may be that of observing what the counsellor is or does. The counsellor must be willing to invite the client to interact with a person (the counsellor) who is also struggling, evolving, risking, evaluating self, problem-solving and experiencing all the normal human emotions from grief to ecstasy.
