In a conversation between Carl Rogers (the founder of person-centred therapy) and Martin Buber (a theologian and philosopher) the two men disagreed on many aspects of therapy. However, they found one area that they could whole-heartedly agree on, and this was that in the therapeutic encounter one of the most valuable things a therapist could give to a client was the permission to be:
Rogers: 'I give [the client] permission to be.'
Buber: 'I think no human being can give more than this. Making life possible for the other, if only for a moment. I'm with you.' (Carl Rogers Dialogues, London: Constable, 1989)
