Question

Empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard are core aspects of Rogerian therapy. According to Rogers, these aspects allow the therapist to facilitate positive change in the client. Is it possible to be fully empathetic and congruent with someone who is not of your race and/or culture? If someone from another background was your therapist, what would he/she need to know to act with empathy or congruence toward you? ( 300 word response please)

Answer 1

Difference between living environments, cultures, and backgrounds bring in a lot of difficulties in empathizing and being congruent to someone. The experiences and cultural influences that a person goes through in his life based on race, culture, and even geographical differences cannot be empathized to completely by another person belonging to a different scenario. Living in the exact same settings and going through the same experiences alone can bring a complete understanding. We do not have the memory of the things that we have not experienced, hence, while trying to empathize with someone who has been in a situation that we have not, restricts us from recollecting the feeling of the experience. We can only try and be considerate about what we hear from that person. Though, being aware and learned about other cultures and living conditions may help us better in being congruent to that person.

If a Therapist is from a different background than the Client, firstly he/she must have enough patience and listening ability. He/she should not try to jump to conclusions soon and give ample amount of time to understand the Client and try their best to get a little trigger of the experiences and culture that the Client has come from. Experiences seem to vary a lot more than anything else, so keeping it aside to self-realization he/she must also be well read and constantly updated about cultures from all over the world. This may make him/her much more comfortable in understanding the Client and empathizing with them. This will also allow the Client to feel much more comfortable in opening up and sharing their stories and experiences, helping the Therapist a lot more in the process of the Therapy.