Experiments (Individual Counselling)
“Would you like to try something?”. Maybe this question most easily represents a whole bundle of techniques which aim to have an influence on the self-perception of the client. One could also call this experiments in self-experiencing: “What happens if you: – allow yourself to breathe more deeply?, … sit up more?, … quietly look at me for a moment?, … speak with a really loud voice?, … carefully feel this sluggish feeling in your stomach area?”. These randomly selected questions, which always seem rather strange without their context, all serve a function. They seek to direct the attention of the client towards something which has, in his experiencing so far, been in the background and diffuse. Through the change in focus it moves into the foreground of the experiencing, and thus it is easier to give a name to, maybe for the first time, and it can be expressed and understood. Other resonances emerge, and the question of affirming or negating arises anew. A counselling session without perception and behavioural experiments is metatheoretically incomplete.