Rate Ann Marie Morreale-Lafoca

Hi and thank you for looking at my profile. I am a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience. True to the social work profession my approach to therapy is client centered focusing on strengths. I am accustom to many therapy models; however, I do not subscribe to just one or a handful. We are all truly unique and we can't always fit into a model. I have years of experience with children, adolescents, adults, senior citizens, individuals, relationships, families and groups. I have spent the later years helping people with chronic health care conditions, as well as their families, significant others and their communities.

When working with my clients I very much try to make the therapy experience a positive safe place. I fully believe in unconditional positive regard.

So, what is unconditional positive regard?

A general definition is the attitude of complete acceptance and love, whether for yourself or for someone else. When you have unconditional positive regard for someone, nothing they can do could give you a reason to stop seeing them as inherently human and inherently lovable. It does not mean that you accept each and every action taken by the person, but that you accept who they are at a level much deeper than surface behavior (Rogers, 1951).

In therapy, the idea is much the same, although with a more specific purpose: to build a positive, trusting relationship between the therapist and the client. It is a defining feature of client-centered therapy (and an important feature in many other forms of therapy), in which the client is accepted and supported by the therapist no matter what they say or do (Rogers, 2001). https://positivepsychology.com/unconditional-positive-regard/

I look forward to building a positive working relationship!