ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an idealised vision of healing relationships particularly from a person-centred perspective. It explores how current mental health services and policies place considerable constraints on developing relationships of any depth and quality. The chapter looks at some of the current types and characteristics of relationship and the emphasis on developing communication skills rather than developing our selves and our attitudes. It also serves to introduce Rogers' theory of therapy which consists of the six conditions he identifies as necessary for psychological growth, otherwise referred to as 'constructive personality change'. The chapter concerns therapeutic relationships with mental health professionals who may or may not be therapists and in which the context may or may not be therapy. Although the person-centred approach to relationship is most often described in the context of therapy, it can apply to a wide range of health care and non-health care settings.
