Menerjemahkan Empati dan Penerimaan dalam Sesi Konseling

Abstract

Giving empathy and acceptance for clients is such an important technique that needs to be done by every counselors. Despite of the counselors' psychological approach, empathy and acceptance are still mandatory skills that need to be mastered. While many references had cited the need to perform this skill, a detailed and practical example to do these skills is still rare to be found. This article reviews several references which show conversation between counselor and clients. One of the conversations chosen is a conversation by Carl Rogers in a Person-Centered counseling. The other conversation was done by Natalie Rogers in a Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy session. Following the conversations, explanation and analysis related the empathy and acceptance are given. The conversation samples given were categorized in four settings, which are (1) responding clients' question, (2) giving response for clients' blocking, (3) reflecting clients' emotional story, and (4) reflecting clients' emotional expression that was directed to counselor. The explanation showed that empathy and acceptance are difficult skills to be mastered. Nevertheless, those skills are still playing important roles in counselor sessions, especially when handling clients' emotional condition.