Helping Relationships

Knowing about helping relationships

1. Introduction

Firstly lets define a helping   relationship, perhaps the key reference point, is the work of Carl Rogers who suggested that a helping relationships could be defined as one in which:
... one of the participants intends that there should come about in one or both parties, more appreciation of, more expression of, more functional use of the latent inner resources of the individual. (Rogers 1967: 40).

1.1 Identify different forms of helping relationships

We can see that this definition can apply to different types of relationships for example counseling-client, parent-child and teacher-pupil   relationship. In identifying different forms of helping relationships there are several.

Firstly lets look at offering advise.   A friend may come to you for advise if they feel you have the knowledge or have experienced a particular thing they are going through.. An example of this is, they may believe their   partner is   cheating on them but have no direct proof. They know you have gone through the same and want to know how you found out   and what you would do or would have done differently.

Another form off a helping relationship is offering practical help. A person has had an operation on their arm and is struggling getting washed and changed. To help you offer to help them bathe and get dressed.

Yet another form is by offering guidance. It could be   someone who is struggling with a decision or may be it is a younger relative being lead astray in their crucial exam years at school. By concentrating on the good parts and offering lots of encouragement you could influence them and help them choose the right path.

In many friendships one can take on different roles and a person may come to you simply to sound off about personal problems or work. They are not normally looking for advise   as they already know what their intentions are. They simply want that person to listen to their problems and offer...