ABSTRACT
The play therapist is the central provider of the environment to the child, as well as to parents and other caretakers. And it is the play therapist that facilitates therapy through the use of knowledge, skills, and the very person of the therapist. Empathic understanding involves entering the client’s world as if it were their own without losing a sense of self as the therapist. The idea of pure empathy, entrance into the client’s world, can be threatening for many play therapists due to the nature of the pain involved in the client’s world. Carl Rogers described unconditional positive regard as experiencing a warm acceptance of all aspects of the client’s experience. Unconditional positive regard is also frequently referred to as acceptance. Cited as the third condition for change, Rogers described congruence of therapist, also labeled genuineness, as the ability to feel free to be self within the therapeutic relationship, able to experience congruence between experience and awareness of self.
