PERSON-CENTERED THEORY – CARL ROGERS

CARL ROGERS

Founder of Client-Centered therapy

client

Rogers minimized the causes of disturbances and the identification and labeling of disorders. Instead, he emphasized the importance of growth within the patient (called by Rogers the ?)

nondirective

His therapy evolved from one that emphasized methodology, or what in the early 1940s was called the ______ technique, to one in which the sole emphasis was on the client-therapist relationship.

Formative Tendency

○ Tendency for all matter, both organic and inorganic, to evolve from simpler to more complex forms

Actualizing Tendency

○ Tendency within all humans (and other plants and animals) to move toward completion or fulfillment of potentials

○ Tendency to maintain and enhance

Self-actualization

subset of actualization tendency and not synonymous with it

SELF-CONCEPT, IDEAL SELF

2 SUBSYSTEMS OF THE SELF

SELF-CONCEPT

○ Includes all those aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness by the individual.

○ Though it is not always accurate!

IDEAL SELF

○ One’s view of self as one wishes to be

○ Contains all attributes (usually positive) that all people aspire to possess

Awareness

the symbolic representation (not necessarily in verbal symbols) of some portion of our experience

Ignored or Denied, Accurately Symbolized, Distorted Form

LEVELS OF AWARENESS

Accurately Symbolized

freely admitted to the self-structure

Distorted Form

When our experience is not consistent with our view of self, we reshape or distort the experience so that it can be assimilated into our existing self-concept.

Positive Regard

– a person’s need to be loved, liked, or accepted by another person

Positive Self-Regard

– experience of prizing or valuing one’s self

Defensiveness, Disorganization

BARRIERS TO PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH

Defensiveness

○ Protection of the self-concept against anxiety and threat by the denial and distortion of experiences inconsistent with it

Disorganization

○ Behavior becomes psychotic because defenses fail

PSYCHOTHERAPY

For a person to grow psychologically, they must come into contact with a therapist who provides the necessary and sufficient conditions

Counselor Congruence

○ Aware of the organismic experiences and openly express these feelings

○ To be real or genuine

○ Counselor is a complete human being with feelings

Unconditional Positive Regard

○ When the need to be loved exists without any condition

○ Therapists accept the client without any reservations

○ "The fact that I care about you does not mean that I should guide your choices, but I allow you to decide what is best for you”

Empathic Listening

○ Means temporary living in the other’s life

○ Moving in without making any judgments

○ Therapist see things from the client’s point of view and that the client feels safe and unthreatened

SYMPATHY

is a feeling for a client

EMPATHY

is feeling with a client.

1

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client is very defensive and resistant to change

2

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

slightly less rigid and will talk about external events or other people

3

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client talks about him/herself, but as an object & avoids discussion of present events

4

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client begins to talk about deep feelings and develops a relationship with the counselor

5

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client can express present emotions and is beginning to rely more on their own decision-making abilities and increasingly accepts more responsibility for those actions.

6

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client shows rapid growth towards congruence and begins to develop unconditional positive regard for others. This stage signals the end of the need for formal therapy.

7

STAGES OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE

client is a fully-functioning, self-actualized individual who is empathic and shows unconditional positive regard for others. This individual can relate their previous therapy to present day, real-life situations.

THE PERSON OF TOMORROW

1. More adaptable

2. Open to their experiences

3. Lives fully in the moment

4. Has harmonious relations with others

5. More integrated

6. Had a basic trust of human nature

7. Enjoys greater richness in life

there is a close agreement between the ideal self and the perceived self

According to Rogers, for a psychologically healthy person, _______

Distortion

The misinterpretation of an experience in order to make it fit some aspect of one's self-concept represents Rogers' concept of:

all genuine feelings

Rogers stated that therapists will be more effective if they communicate _______ to their clients:

tendency to seek the status quo

According to Carl Rogers, the ______ is classified as a need for maintenance:

client-centered

Rogers' approach to therapy is best termed: