ABSTRACT
As Tolan (2003: 129) notes, all relationships have rules and, of course, this includes the relationship between therapist and client in person-centred therapy. These rules include those to do with boundaries of time, space and allowable behaviour (from either party and between them), the issue of confidentiality and perhaps how and by whom payment will be made. These rules are about safeguarding the client and the therapist and perhaps about meeting the needs of the institution or organisation under the auspices of which therapy takes place. It only takes a moment to realise that at the outset, most of these rules are likely to be known by the therapist but not by the client. One of the initial tasks of therapy is to make them explicit and to agree how they will operate.
