ABSTRACT Most people can report what feeling, thought or other perceptions they are consciously focusing on. Fringe consciousness refers to the unclear, vague aspects of our experience that exist in the background of this, and it is likely to include an ‘unclear felt sense,’ in person-centered therapies and focusing, and the ‘periphery of awareness’ in Gestalt therapy. Yet, there is no systematic research on the properties and role of fringe consciousness from the perspective of the lived experience of clients. We developed a semi-structured interview to explore the experience of fringe consciousness in past counseling or therapy. We recruited 15 undergraduate psychology students for individual interviews and used inductive thematic analysis. The participants were readily able to describe the properties, content, and the various potential benefits and problems of fringe consciousness during past therapy sessions. There were eight themes: being in therapy, feelings toward the therapist, negative impacts, connections with feelings, functions of fringe consciousness, awareness of a deeper meaning, understanding oneself, and positive transformation. The various ways that a client relates to their fringe consciousness are relevant for person-centered, experiential, and integrative approaches to counseling and psychotherapy.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to clarify what occurs during Asking—the fifth step of Focusing – from a creativity perspective. In an experiment, participants engaged in a six-step Focusing process by answering a series of online questions. In Step 5, participants responded to three questions that directly reflect the content of Asking: ‘What does your body tell you is giving rise to this whole bodily feeling?’ (Q5-1), ‘What does the felt sense tell you is the most painful or constricted part of this whole concern?’ (Q5-2), and ‘What would feel like a relieving or easing direction for this whole situation?’ (Q5-3). They also reported their creativity self-efficacy after each question. Results indicated that participants’ creative self-efficacy was highest after Q5-3 in the Focusing condition. Participants who reported higher creative self-efficacy tended to address the queries in a more in-process manner compared to those with lower creative self-efficacy. Through text mining analysis, we explored potential reasons for this increase in creative self-efficacy. The thought flow during Step 5 of Focusing is discussed.

ABSTRACT This study investigated non-binary counselors’ use of self-disclosure of their gender identity with clients. It aimed to discover the circumstances in which counselors do or do not self-disclose their gender, and to understand their rationale for these decisions. Four non-binary counselors were interviewed and their responses were analyzed with Thematic Analysis. Results showed disclosures of gender are prevalent but infrequent, often done through providing pronouns and pre-therapy discussion. Gender is disclosed when deemed helpful for either the client, the therapist, or the therapeutic relationship. Therapist self-disclosure (TSD) of gender is done to model behavior, normalize client experiences, and acknowledge shared experience. Common concerns around TSD of gender are therapist safety, pulling focus from the client, and the relevance of the disclosure. Unique considerations for non-binary counselors are gender fluidity, use of pronouns in a professional setting, and explanation of gender identity. The implications from this data are disclosure of gender can be informed by general TSD practices and TSD of sexual orientation due to similarity, and there is a need for specific training on disclosure of gender identity.

ABSTRACT This paper explores what starting from a position of intracon- nection means in PC practice. It builds on my previous paper in this journal on the illusion of separateness to suggest the practice implications of this approach. I consider the implications of intraconnection for the concept of autonomy and argue for a concept of relational autonomy and the importance of homonomy. I argue that non- directivity does not mean that the therapist keeps out of the relationship and only responds to the client’s expressions. Instead, this requires an emotionally responsive therapist, willing to be present and open to transformation with the client. This necessitates courage and an ongoing commitment to self and intersubjective awareness. I focus on integrity and the meaning of this in relation to congruence in the therapy relationship, which involves awareness of the societal and cultural context of this relationship. Our increasing congruence is a lifelong process of learning, coupled with humility and a not- knowing stance. This enables presence which is the condition for encounter.

ABSTRACT This paper is a duo ethnographic dialogue between two person-centered practitioners and academics. It is a reflection on increasing age, facing one’s own mortality and evaluating life in the person-centered approach. We explore the phenomenology of increasing awareness of failing bodies, the end in sight and our emotions about that. We then consider our thoughts about leaving the world in the state it is currently in and no longer being able to take an active part or contribution. We conclude with contemplating life after our deaths, our legacies and our beliefs about human potential for collaboration or destruction and the relevance of this to the principles of the PCA.

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a study that explored how person-centered therapists affected by significant personal losses experience existential touchstones, and how these experiences inform their way of being with clients. Using a heuristic inquiry approach, alongside my own heuristic journey, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three person-centered therapists and analyzed thematically. The findings both support and challenge the limited existing literature on therapist grief, suggesting that grief is a unique and identity-shaping experience that can also foster personal growth. Lived loss reshapes therapists’ subjective experiencing within therapeutic encounters. Participants described how their own experiences of loss, when supported by grief education and supervision, deepened their empathy, strengthened relational connections, and enhanced their therapeutic practice. The study highlights how personal grief, when acknowledged and integrated, can become a transformative resource in therapy, underscoring the value of experiential understanding in the development of therapeutic presence and practice.

ABSTRACT This study, the first of its kind in Iran, evaluated the effectiveness of a two-day Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) group workshop among Iranian mothers of adolescents aged 12–17 years, aimed at reducing fear and self-blame and increasing self-efficacy. During the pandemic, we recruited mothers struggling with their adolescents’ behavior (e.g. aggression, withdrawal, or refusal to talk). Participants matched for age and presenting issue were randomly assigned to experimental (18) or no-treatment control (18) condition. The experimental condition involved an intensive two-day EFFT training workshop (delivered either in person, n = 11, or online, n = 7) to help mothers more effectively manage their child’s challenging behaviors. All mothers (both experimental and control) completed two self-report measures, the Caregiver Traps Scale (CTS) and the Parental Self-Agency Measure (PSAM), pre- and post-intervention. Results included significant reductions in maternal fear and self-blame on the CTS in the experimental group (d = .77) but little or no pre-post change in the control group (−.02). Reported maternal self-efficacy on the PSAM improved somewhat (but not significantly) in the experimental group (.29); there was no change in the control group (−.05). Post hoc analyses indicated significant pre-post improvement for in-person (mean d = .86) but not online delivery (.16).

ABSTRACT This commentary critically examines the interpretation offered by Sommerbeck et al. (2025) of the Dominic case presented by Mearns and Cooper (2005). While I acknowledge that person-centered therapy grounded in empathic understanding responses (EUR) is a legitimate form of practice, several of their criticisms of Mearns appear to rest on misreadings, overly definitive assumptions, and a narrowing of interpretive possibility. Such readings overlook the ambiguity, nonverbal process, and moment-to-moment fluctuation that often shape therapeutic encounters and are essential for understanding Mearns’s way of being with Dominic. I suggest that many of Mearns’s responses – including those that may appear strong or authoritative – can be understood as arising from his deeply engaged presence and his attunement to Dominic’s tentative movement toward greater depth of contact. These dimensions of practice cannot be fully captured within the EUR approach as interpreted and applied by Sommerbeck et al. The aim of this commentary is not to dispute EUR itself but to reopen interpretive space and to show that Working at Relational Depth (WRD) – far from violating core person-centered principles – can also be viewed as an expression of them.