The Person-Centered Journal, Volume 9, Issue 2, 20 81
Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Jon Rose, Ph.D.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Palo Alto Health Care System
and San Francisco State University
This issue of The Person-Centered Journal is a few months late. After several years without success at meeting our deadlines (under various editors), I think it is time to admit we are not able to meet our goal of publishing two issues per year. We expect Volume 10 to be published in December of 2003, and I will propose at the Annual Meeting of The Association for the Development of the Person-Centered Approach that The Person-Centered Journal should continue as an annual publication in December of each year. It is particularly important for our institutional subscribers that we begin to publish on a dependable and predictable schedule.
We have several promising articles in the pipeline, and have added a few well-qualified reviewers to our editorial board. Please encourage authors you enjoy at conferences to submit their work to us for publication. If we continue to receive work at the current rate, we should have no problem publishing each December.
On a brighter note, I think this current issue (Volume 9, Number 10) was worth the wait. Veribeth Brinker’s essay on her experience as a client in Client-Centered therapy is a wonderful contribution to the literature from a perspective too seldom shared. It is followed by a comment by her therapist, Bruce Cushna, who speaks to his former client’s continued courage and accomplishments, while adding information about her situation that was not well understood at the time of her therapy.
This issue contains two articles examining theoretical perspectives on empathy. Barbara Hunter examines changes in the self that can occur from imagining what is would be like to experience the life of someone whose reputation is repugnant. Rose & McIntyre examine to definition of empathy and share their thoughts on whether we need a different name for the experience described by Hunter. Haugh Merry’s book, Regarding Empathy, reviewed in this issue by Rowena Gomez, provides a broader perspective on empathy that will be of interest to readers wishing more discussion of this important topic.
Cochran, Cochran & Hatch describe a marvelous model for teaching conflict resolution to elementary school students. Their examples and candid discussion of the risks involved should be of great value to parents and readers working in education.
Carl Rogers was the first psychotherapist to record and publish verbatim transcripts of therapy sessions. Kathy Moon continues this tradition in publishing a complete child therapy session. I commend her courage in doing this, because I know all too well the difficulty of being fully present (and simply not screwing up) when the experience and problems presented are constantly changing and there is only a brief, fixed amount of time to work. I can always think of better things to have done (or not done) after the session! However, sharing only the best interventions makes the art of counseling seem unattainable to those in training, and denies all therapists access to learning the values of being real with our clients, even when that involves making mistakes. All this should not be taken to mean that Moon’s work needs any apology. Her case is highly complex, with all the emotional, logistical and legal problems of trying to restore faith, love and relationships following severe physical abuse. As such, it is certain to be treasured by future child therapists grappling to apply client-centered principles and behavior to similar clients and families. Moon’s unconditional positive regard for her child client and his family are clearly communicated to all in this transcript, and provide a wonderful yet approachable model for her peers.
Lisbeth Sommerbeck takes another look at applying Client-Centered therapy to highly challenging populations in her re-examination of Roger’s work with schizophrenic patients in a State hospital. Inspired by comments from the late John Shlien (1918 – 2002), Sommerbeck draws on her own experience as a therapist and the theoretical work of Prouty to discuss how timing and clients’ readiness to enter into a therapeutic relationship may have more to do with the pessimistic findings of the Wisconsin Project than simply the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Prof. Shlien was a member of our Board of Directors, and I sure he would have been pleased to know his journal is still able to contribute to his immortal memory, through the further development of his previously unpublished ideas.
We also include in this issue reviews of two additional new books of interest to Person-Centered readers. I hope you will find our current journal was worth the wait.