ABSTRACT
Although it follows from the whole concept of the non-directive attitude, it is worth emphasising that, whatever experience and knowledge person-centred therapists bring to the practice, their job is to immerse themselves in the client’s experience and to respond to that and only that. Theory and knowledge inform practice and they can be helpful in preparing therapists and sustaining them but they must not get in the way of paying high-quality attention to what the client is saying and experiencing. When as therapists we ‘know’ something about what our client is going through, has experienced and is likely to experience we can become distracted from what they are actually telling us and/or experiencing in our presence. This runs counter to what person-centred theory tells us is likely to be helpful. What is helpful is to track the client’s experience as closely as possible and to trust that, if you do this, the clients will do what they need to do. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is by a story.
