My last post addressed the benefits of counseling but when it comes to benefiting fully from the experience, the number one factor that spells “success or failure” is definitely the quality of the counseling relationship, in other words, the strength of the connection between the therapist and the client. There has been many studies pointing to the truth of that statement. It’s easy to see why.

Any change process is encouraged by the “human connection”; that is, the reality of the fact that both the client and therapist are on their own journeys and therefore have a deep empathetic understanding of the processes facing each other. This is true in spite of the fact that the client has an individual problem(s) not necessarily related to what the therapist’s life issues are. The power of this sharing of humanness and the feeling that the client is not alone but is connected to the therapist is the factor that encourages the change process to proceed regardless of the particular “techniques” that are employed.

It also is true that any close relationship takes not only time but also an energetic commitment to its’ health and functionality. As you can see, the counseling relationship is not only of a special kind but also very valuable to any goal of change that a client desires.