The Power of Relationship
What is considered the foundation of healing? The power of relationship is the origin of all treatment modalities, theories and interventions.
Carl Rogers the grandfather of this theory says, “Realness in the facilitator of learning. Perhaps the most basic of these essential attitudes is realness or genuineness. When the facilitator is a real person, being what she is, entering into a relationship with the learner without presenting a front or a façade, she is much more likely to be effective. This means that the feelings that she is experiencing are available to her, available to her awareness, that she is able to live these feelings, be them, and able to communicate if appropriate. It means coming into a direct personal encounter with the learner, meeting her on a person-to-person basis. It means that she is being herself, not denying herself.”
I often hear his work being discounted as trivial and ineffective. The relationship is the foundation of all evidenced-based practices. I find myself at training seminars with renown speakers touting “new innovative” techniques and interventions. There is generally a significant focus on how to connect with people at the core of these treatment modalites.
The power of relationship and the correlation to healing is greater than we give it credit for. How do we make these connections with others? It seems that a fundamental belief that we are all connected opens the door for this healing. A connection with someone does not need to take weeks, months or years. Have we not all experienced a time when we have met someone and in the first 10 minutes we have found a warmth and feeling of relatedness? Relationships are not developed only in what we say but in our attitudes, gestures and how we carry ourselves in the world. Do we walk by “stranger” on the street with no eye contact or gesture of acknowledgement of their being?
The power of relationship is imperative in a therapeutic relationship with clients and patients in order for healing to occur. It is also imperative for all healthful living. How is your relationship to yourself? We are part of the world we live in, so connect and embrace it. Healing will be present.
Carl Rogers the grandfather of this theory says, “Realness in the facilitator of learning. Perhaps the most basic of these essential attitudes is realness or genuineness. When the facilitator is a real person, being what she is, entering into a relationship with the learner without presenting a front or a façade, she is much more likely to be effective. This means that the feelings that she is experiencing are available to her, available to her awareness, that she is able to live these feelings, be them, and able to communicate if appropriate. It means coming into a direct personal encounter with the learner, meeting her on a person-to-person basis. It means that she is being herself, not denying herself.”
I often hear his work being discounted as trivial and ineffective. The relationship is the foundation of all evidenced-based practices. I find myself at training seminars with renown speakers touting “new innovative” techniques and interventions. There is generally a significant focus on how to connect with people at the core of these treatment modalites.
The power of relationship and the correlation to healing is greater than we give it credit for. How do we make these connections with others? It seems that a fundamental belief that we are all connected opens the door for this healing. A connection with someone does not need to take weeks, months or years. Have we not all experienced a time when we have met someone and in the first 10 minutes we have found a warmth and feeling of relatedness? Relationships are not developed only in what we say but in our attitudes, gestures and how we carry ourselves in the world. Do we walk by “stranger” on the street with no eye contact or gesture of acknowledgement of their being?
The power of relationship is imperative in a therapeutic relationship with clients and patients in order for healing to occur. It is also imperative for all healthful living. How is your relationship to yourself? We are part of the world we live in, so connect and embrace it. Healing will be present.
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