The Self of a Therapist and Self-Concept

Self in the Indian context focuses on the self, as the reflection of a consciousness that eventually identifies the individual as a part of the universe or cosmos. The Bhagwat Gita considers the present life as just a period of transition, because the real self (atman) never dies, and is born again in different life forms, unless it attains, the ultimate goal of existence, salvation. There are different ways described to attain salvation, karma-marga (the way of action), the jnana-marga (the way of knowledge), and bhakti-marga (the way of devotion). This comprehensive view about self focuses on human life, its importance, goals, and ways of living as a human being.

In Taitttiriya Upnishad, jiva or the being is comprised of 5 sheets of existence, which are known as the Panchkoshas, these include Annamaya kosha (the gross physical body), Pranamaya kosha (the vital energy or force of life), Manamaya kosha (the mental body that imparts knowledge of what is mine and the sense of I-ness), Jyanamaya kosha (the wisdom body which imparts higher intellectual functions like intuition and evolved emotions rooted in love and compassion for all), and Anandmaya kosha (the bliss body that is in closest with the atman). It is us who decide that in which layer of existence our conscious awareness rests in. There is always something that a person identifies more with, it could be crude emotions of survival, appearance, and caring of the physical body, or reflecting on intellectual debates and philosophies.

The western view on self initially, was seen as a unitary and stable entity but over the years, the self-concept is conceptualized as multi-dimensional and stable yet dynamic, it governs the way individual interacts with different aspects of their lives and organize, interpret and process all the relevant information related to them.

The idea of self establishes Individuals as independent entities, who are made up of a set of values, attributes, characteristics, and behaviors. These include the learned behaviors, judgments, ideas, and notions people hold about themselves.

To elaborate, an Individual’s self-concept is comprised of the feelings, memories, and beliefs that a person has concerning himself or herself, as well as the as characteristics, traits, behaviors, and descriptions that a person thinks represents him or her. An Individual’s self-concept is developed as a result of his or her interactions with the world especially, significant others and it is a multi-dimensional term that includes the self-image and self-esteem individual forms in different areas of his or her life like physical, emotional, social and even academic components.

Self-concept deeply influences three areas of human existence that have been noted by Baumeister, these include reflective consciousness of an Individual, their way of interaction in their interpersonal relationships, and the ability to perform executive functions of human life related to goal-directed and decision-making behaviors.

It is therefore important that an Individual’s self-concept is healthy and positive, and to guard these positive views about self, the person has certain self-motives that serve the purpose. These self-motives are fundamental aspirations that people continuously strive to achieve, like authenticity (congruence in one’s perceptions and actions), self-worth, and self-efficacy.

The “use of self” in therapy is in many forms including self-disclosure, changing belief systems, understanding the personality, integrating the client’s belief systems and attachments, and other themes that are used in therapy. Researchers analyzed the data obtained by interviewing 6 therapists and obtained the results that the way therapist makes the “use of self” has a significant impact on the therapy and it is under the umbrella of these three interconnected themes which are wellness, connection, and awareness.

Congruence: Integration of a Therapist’s self and awareness during therapy

The client-centered therapeutic approach revolves around the concept of self and self-concept, where the central aim is to facilitate people in such a way that they can enjoy an integrated sense of self and experience the present moment. This happens when people become honest with themselves and can accept and express their thoughts and feelings that were viewed as unacceptable by others and were painful for them. This state of congruence in the self-concept is a characteristic of a fully functioning self. Rogers said, “When the person comes to be what he is… in awareness as well as experience, a complete and fully functioning human organism.”

Strengthening and developing a person’s self-concept is the role of a therapist. As self-concept plays a very important part in the psychological health of an Individual. But at the same time Therapist’s self-concept must be healthy and congruent so that he can facilitate the process of therapy and build a strong and functional therapeutic relationship.

'We see the world not as it is, but as we are.'

These are the words of famous American author and educator, Stephen Richards Covey. A therapist is essentially a human being himself. He holds a self-concept and views about himself that influences how he sees other people and interacts with them. Rogers always encouraged the importance of how a therapist needs to be genuine and authentic throughout therapy because it encourages a better therapist-client relationship and the clinician can communicate effectively, clearly, and coherently. It is inevitable for a counselor not to bring his own self into the therapy.

Other than giving unconditional positive regards and showing empathy, congruence is also one of the very important facilitative conditions for effective therapy. Congruence, to define is the ability of a therapist to be authentic and genuine and is the state of consistency between the inner and outer selves.

Congruence is a way of living or being in present, during the therapy that governs that how what is being experienced is in sync with what is being communicated to the client, this helps the client and therapist to grow positively. A clinician needs to be authentic while the interaction, using the awareness of the present moment, knowing how his words can be subjectively interpreted by the client, using appropriate self-disclosure, and qualities like sensitivity and openness to unconditionally accept the client are closely related to congruence. Congruence has two components, the ability of a clinician to be aware of what one is experiencing internally and the willingness to be able to be transparent and communicate those experiences in a constructive manner.

Use of self-disclosure in the therapy

Anderson and Anderson stated that self-disclosure includes, personal experiences of the therapist, professional experiences of a therapist, and responses of the therapist to the client in the moment. Appropriate self-disclosure by the therapist can certainly have a positive impact on the therapy. Self-disclosure gives an insight of the therapist’s life to the client hence, it strongly impacts how the client feels about the therapy and therapist. Although, if not carefully used it can blur the therapeutic boundaries and hinder the client’s progress, so appropriate self-disclosure is important.

While the psychoanalytic perspective views self-disclosure as an issue of countertransference that needs to be dealt with, the humanistic perspective encourages the clinician to use self-disclosure carefully to facilitate therapy, like in form of impact messages which are the therapist’s emotional reactions to the client’s verbal and non-verbal communication, can be valuable.

Therapist’s Self-concept

A healthy self-concept promotes a therapist to reflect on his own beliefs and understand that how he sees the world may be distorted as a result of his conditioning and beliefs, and accordingly to modify or change those beliefs during the process of therapy. The awareness of a therapist that his truths may be flawed and the world is not necessarily as he thinks it is, is crucial for the therapy to function effectively. With this awareness, the chances of a discrepancy between the verbal and non-verbal behavior of the therapist are also eliminated and the client gets a message that there is no hidden agenda that the therapist is having and he feels safe in the relationship.

Self-concept is very useful in understanding and explaining the behaviors and attitudes of a person. People tend to stay true and faithful to the perceptions of self, “good or bad, this is who I am this is me.” It is like a firmly held value. A therapist’s self-concept similarly guides his interactions and behavior with the client.

The state of incongruence leads to a state of anxiety when the therapist is not able to experience the therapy, the flow is blocked because of his anxious feelings. The therapist loses touch with the client also and is not able to process his words and respond accordingly. He might also express some secondary emotion other than the primary emotion in the process and all this hinders the therapeutic progress of the client.

Whenever people perceive that there is something that they lack in themselves, they feel a need to overcome that deficiency by making up for it in communication. The extent to which we relate and compare ourselves with other people helps us to build our self-concept. If the therapist’s self-concept is not congruent he might consider putting on a facade making up for everything he thinks he should be like rather than who he is.

Rogers also relates self-concept with the adjustment process, which he believes is a person’s internal affair that occurs within an individual. “Psychological adjustment” according to him is achieved when an individual can organize and accept all his perceptions about himself and perceptions about him in relation to others within his conscious self. And the therapist has to have adjustments to be ready to organize and modify his and his client’s perceptions.

For example suppose the therapist has managed to stay in denial for some elements of his personality that he rationalizes and moves on, like not eating medicines on time because medicines and drugs and have ill effects on the body so there is no harm in missing a few dozes. In such a case, it would become very superficial and appear unconvincing if he tries to deal with a client who has a similar issue of not taking his or her medication on time. Threats to one’s perceptions and one’s beliefs also elicit using defense mechanisms that secure the ego integrity of the individual.

Every individual has certain roles, norms, and meanings which are attached with their relationship and profession in society. It is required that the state of congruence is achieved between the personal beliefs of the person, the various social roles they are entitled to, and their actions and behaviors. The more congruent people are in terms of genuine expressing themselves in a given role, the less neurotic they feel and instead, they feel more agreeable, open to experience, extraverted, and conscientious. This is how the degree of authenticity affects the internal attributes of a person, like the Big 5 traits of personality. Sometimes, Incongruence occurs as a result of discrepancies, this is when people try to avoid changes and guard their beliefs if not possible then changing their beliefs is what is needed, because Incongruence is not a comfortable state to stay in.

Self not only distinguishes us from the non-self but impacts various areas of our lives. A therapist’s self-concept hence is equally crucial and facilitates the process of therapy. The use of self in therapy provides the client with a window through which the client and therapist interact, concepts like beliefs, self-esteem, congruency, and flexibility come into action at the time of therapy. A therapist’s self-concept when strong, stable, and healthy yet flexible progresses the therapy and has a positive impact on it.

References

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