Theoretical Paper To what extent can the core conditions of therapeutic change championed by Carl be present in an individual psychodynamic therapy encounter?

Abstract

Content and FocusPerson-centred therapy (PCT) and psychodynamic therapy frequently comprise two of the modalities that counselling psychologists are exposed to during their training, while the key concepts drawn from these domains continue to inform the practice of chartered counselling psychologists. Rogers’ ideas came at a time when psychodynamic thinking had established a firm grip over therapeutic orthodoxy and challenged the practice of psychoanalysis, even as they circumvented its theoretical underpinnings. This paper explores the extent to which the six necessary and sufficient, or core, conditions of therapeutic change can manifest in a psychodynamic therapy encounter. The author reviews relevant literature that juxtaposes PCT and psychodynamic understandings of therapeutic theory and practice whilst examining each of the conditions sequentially in the light of some key psychodynamic concepts.ConclusionsThe question posed by this paper requires an idiosyncratic answer that can be neither authoritatively nor objectively obtained. It is argued that our discipline’s epistemological position might facilitate a diffusion of the core conditions into the implicit theoretical apparatus that Sandler (1983) has identified as guiding the practice of psychoanalysts. I reflect on my personal journey of grappling with this issue before tentatively arriving at the conclusion that the conditions can indeed be present in psychodynamic practice, even if noticeably absent from psychodynamic theory.