The best way to understand someone else as they say is to walk a mile in their shoes. Client-centered theory follows this to be impossible. Only the client or individual can experience life as the client does. There is no way to fully understand how another person experiences their environment. The best we can do is to listen intently and ask why, ask for an explanation of every little detail to fully paint a picture of what they see.
If you have ever read a book and got some information on the environment, but never got how the characters interacted with their surroundings, then this may be a hard concept.
Remember different people will interpret things differently and this may make it difficult to be able to help someone if you do not understand how they could possibly see something different. And just because you do not see or do not understand does not make it impossible or not real.
Certain illnesses can add and subtract from a persons environment and will make it difficult even for the person to fully understand what is occurring. This can lead to make decisions based on false information and a misunderstanding of one's surroundings.
Instead of questioning why someone does something, or judging someone for their actions, ask questions to learn why they have made these decisions and try to understand how they came to their decision.
