ABSTRACT
As illustrated in the last point, one of the field conditions that will shape the client’s expectations will be the setting in which they are seen. They will also be influenced by the way in which the therapist presents themselves; warm and welcoming, ‘professional’, distant, austere and indeed whether the therapist believes change is possible/likely. There will be many other field conditions that will shape the client’s expectations in the present, a sample of which could be: their preconceptions about what therapy is, the client’s sense of entitlement, what their friends/relatives think about the client attending therapy, their experience of change, their willingness to stay with uncomfortable feelings. In fact anything in the client’s history could influence their expectations.
