person-centered therapy approach in psychology

client centered therapy

1. Person-Centered Therapy

2. Carl Rogers
In my early professional years I was asking
the question: How can I treat, or cure, or
change this person? Now I would phrase
the question in this way: How can I provide
a relationship which this person may use
for his own personal growth?
The good life is a process, not a state of
being. It is a direction, not a destination.

3. Relationship to Existing Theory
Based on concepts of humanistic
psychology brought to the US by Jews
fleeing the Nazis
Was developed as non-directive counseling
In reaction to the directiveness of
psychoanalytic theory
Falls into what has been termed the third
force in therapy
An alternative to both psychoanalysis and
behaviorism

4. Theory Development
First Period -- 1940s
Nondirective Counseling
Developed in reaction to psychoanalytic approach
Challenged the basic assumption that “counselor knows
best”
Second Period -- 1950s
Client-Centered Therapy
Reflects emphasis on the client rather than on
nondirective methods
Characterized by shift from clarification of feelings to a
focus on the phenomenological world of the client
Focused more actualizing as a motivational force

5. Theory Development
Third Period -- 1950s – 1970s
Openness to experience
Trust in one’s experience
Internal Locus of Evaluation
Willingness to be in process
Encounter Groups, Applied in education as
student-centered

6. Existentialism & Humanism:
Similarities
Share a respect for the client’s subjective experience
Trust in capacity of the client to make positive and
constructive conscious choices
Emphasize concepts such as freedom, choice,
values, personal responsibility, autonomy, purpose
and meaning
Parallel concepts with regard to the client-therapist
relationship at the core of therapy
Both adopt a phenomenological stance
Call for therapist to enter the subjective world
Both emphasize client’s capacity for self-awareness

7. Existentialism & Humanism:
Differences
Existentialists believe
that, as humans, we
are faced with the
anxiety of choosing to
create an identity in a
world that lacks
intrinsic meaning
Humanists believe
each person has a
natural potential that
we can actualize and
through which we
can find meaning

8. Major Philosophical Assumptions
Belief that people are resourceful, capable
of self-direction and able to live effectively
and successfully
People will move in positive directions if the
way is clear for them to do so
When people are free to do so, they will find
their own way
Has little faith in the role of experts who
direct others toward self-betterment

9. Major Philosophical
Assumption, cont…
Humanistic philosophy is
compared to the acorn, which, if
provided the right nurturing
conditions will automatically grow
in positive ways, pushed naturally
toward actualization as an oak
tree.

10. Major Philosophical
Assumption, cont…
Becoming increasingly actualized =
An openness to experience
A trust in oneself
An internal source of evaluation
A willingness to continue growing

11. Central Constructs & Tenets
Therapist can promote client growth by
demonstrating:
Congruence
Unconditional positive regard
Accurate empathy
Self-Actualization
These result in people being less defensive,
letting go of rigid perceptions and being
more open to self-actualization

12. Congruence
Genuineness & Caring
Real without False Front
Considered by Rogers as most important
Trying too hard to be genuine can lead
to incongruence
Therapist does not have to be fully self-
actualized in order to be effective:
However, Congruence must be present
in the counseling relationship

13. Unconditional Positive Regard

Refers to acceptance of the worth of
the person; not acceptance or approval
of all behaviors

14. Accurate Empathy
Able to grasp the subjective world of
another
Implies that the therapist will sense the
client’s feelings without getting lost in
them (losing own identity)
Easier said than done, learning it
sometimes feels silly (example of
mirroring in counselor training)

15. Self-Actualization
Tolerance of uncertainty
Acceptance of self and
others
Spontaneity and
creativity
Comfort with solitude
Autonomy
Capacity for deep
personal relationships
Sense of humor
Genuine caring for
others
Inner-directedness
Positive outlook on life
Looked at the healthy rather than the sick side of
clients and at the value of their moving toward self-
actualization through which they experience

16. Therapeutic Frame of Reference
Present
Past is important only as it contributes to
current awareness

17. Therapeutic Goals
To achieve a greater degree of
integration and independence
To focus on the person rather than on
the presenting problem.
No preset goals
Client with the help of a trusted, facilitating
therapist will set own course

18. View of Pathology
Clients come to therapy in a state of
incongruence (discrepancy between self-
perception and their experience in reality)
with resultant anxiety
Feel sense of helplessness and
powerlessness toward making appropriate
decisions to direct their own life
Since the drive toward higher levels of
psychological maturity are deeply rooted,
person-centered therapy can be effective
with normal and maladjusted persons

19. Therapeutic Objectives
Congruence
Increased trust in self
Increased willingness to explore
alternatives
Increased personal resources

20. Role of the Therapist
To establish a therapeutic climate (i.e.,
congruence, empathy, unconditional positive
regard) that facilitates growth and change.
Clients should be able to:
Feel understood and accepted without judgment
Lower their defenses to self-exploration and feel
more open to experience
Discover hidden aspects of themselves
Become more realistic
Perceive others with greater accuracy

21. Relationship of Counselor & Client
Quality of relationship determines outcome of counseling
2 people are in psychological contact
Client is in state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious
Counselor is congruent or integrated in the relationship
Counselor experiences unconditional positive regard for the
client
Counselor experiences an empathic understanding of the
client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to
communicate this experience to the client
The communication to the client of the counselor’s empathic
understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a
minimal degree achieved

22. To hear stories from counselors who
worked with Rogers’ about his perceptions
of the importance of Counselor-Client
relationship and approach to developing
and maintaining that relationship click the
picture.
http://www.odu.edu/~eneukrug/therapists/rogers.html

23. Clients should be able to…
Feel safer and less vulnerable
Accept themselves more as they are
Become truer to themselves and less
affected by others’ expectations
Become more self-directed
Perceive the past as less deterministic

24. Multicultural Contributions
Significant contributions to cross-cultural
communication
Person-centered philosophy and practice is
studied and practiced in many different cultures
Emphasis on core conditions increases the utility
of approach for understanding diverse
worldviews

25. Multicultural Limitations
Some clients desire more structure
Difficult to translate the core conditions into
actual practice in some cultures
Communication of conditions must be congruent
with client’s cultural framework
Internal Locus of Evaluation
Some cultures value collectivism more than
individualism

26. Gloria Video
Watch for Rogers’ use of techniques
and tenets related to his theory with
Gloria.
Click on the picture to play the video
clip.