In order to decide whether to accept a certain treatment or not, a patient must have the correct information on his illness, the treatment, and the consequences thereof. With people that are psychologically ill, it is not always easy to ensure that they have access to the right information. In order to solve this problem, this essay proposes a model of client-centered psycho-education that focuses on the patients’ inner frame of reference. This inner frame of reference is for a large part co-determined by the psychological disturbance they suffer from, giving the therapist the opportunity to practice a modified form of empathy that makes use of his expectations regarding the patient and his illness. The model is developed and explained according to three examples of alcohol-dependency, schizophrenia, and unipolar depression.
client-centered psychotherapy, alcohol-dependency, schizophrenia, unipolar depression
The tPeP (Journal Person-centered experiential Psychotherapy) is the scientific journal for Dutch and Flemish psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, that work from, or are interested in a client-centered perspective.
