Carl Rogers & the Person-Centered Approach

The Person-Centered Approach

  • based around the idea that growth/change occurs because a client is fully seen

  • our role as a therapist is to provide space & unconditional support to all parts of a client, including thoughts & feelings

    • note that this does not require that we “approve” of all of our client’s behaviors

    • consider the idea of loving our clients and how this might facilitate change

    • requires that we have acknowledge and come to peace with all of ourselves

      • you do not need to love the fact that you cheated on your partner but you can understand the reasons, you are at peace with the associated shame and guilt

    • techniques are secondary to our merely being present to all parts of a client’s experience

Assumptions of the Person-Centered Approach

  • human beings are innately trustworthy, purposeful, and positive

  • life’s value only exists in the present moment

  • humans require…

    • deep human relationships

    • unconditional positive regard from peers, colleagues, family

  • phenomenological approach to clients

    • “it is the client who knows what hurts, what direction to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried” - Rogers

The Self in Person-Centered Therapy

  • the self-concept is a set of perceptions, values, and beliefs about oneself

    • influenced by our interpretations of our life events

      • specifically, childhood experiences and evaluations by others

    • includes self image, self-worth, and ideal self

  • humans have a self-actualizing tendency, and as a result, they are naturally inclined to move to match their self-image to their ideal self

  • this self-actualizing tendency dictates the role of the therapist in person-centered therapy

    • counselor congruence is far more important than any techniques they use

The Core Conditions

  • congruence

    • genuineness or realness in the therapy session

    • therapist’s behaviors match his or her words

  • unconditional positive regard

    • acceptance and genuine caring about the client as a valuable person

    • accepting clients as they presently are

    • therapist need not approve of all client behavior

  • accurate empathic understanding

    • the ability to deeply grasp the client’s subjective world

    • helper attitudes are more important than knowledge

    • the therapist need not experience the situation to develop an understanding of it from the client’s perspective

Counselor Characteristics

  • maintain a nonjudgmental, open, curious, attitude about the client as a human

  • consistently focus on the quality of the therapeutic relationship

  • serve as a model of a human struggling toward greater authenticity

  • open to expressing feelings and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the client

    • why might this be hard for a counselor to do?

  • create of a permissive, “growth-promoting” climate

    • client is the agent of change and healing

  • be invested in their own self-actualization process

    • problem/issues don’t need to be solved, but counselors need to be aware and working towards valued ends

Therapeutic Relationship

  • “the therapeutic relationship… is the critical variable, not what the therapist says or does” - rogers (1951)

  • the therapeutic relationship facilitates the client’s own self-actualizing tendency

  • the therapeutic relationship demonstrates the “I-Thou” principle, in which people meet each other as a whole, unique, present, alive individuals

    • contrasts with “I-it”, in which people view others as objects (to be used, analyzed, changed, etc)

  • therapy is a journey shared by two fallible people, who are open, honest, and authentic about their strengths and areas of work

  • the personal characteristics of the therapist and the quality of the therapeutic relationship are key to client growth

The Necessary & Sufficient Conditions

  • two persons are in psychological contact

  • the first, the client, is experiencing incongruence

  • the second person, the therapist, is congruent or integrated in the relationship

  • the therapist experiences unconditional positive regard or real caring for the client

  • the therapist experiences empathy for the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this to the client

  • the communication to the client is, to a minimal degree, achieved

Rogerian Therapeutic Techniques

  • passive interventions

    • listening

    • acceptance

    • attending behaviors

    • understanding

    • presence

  • active interventions

    • restatements

    • open questions/probes

    • sharing

    • self-disclosures

      • but be careful

      • seriously, be careful

    • immediacy

Challenged Orthodoxy

  • the assumption that “the counselor knows best”

  • the validity of advice, suggestion, persuasion, teaching, diagnosis, and interpretation

  • the belief that clients cannot understand and resolve their own problems without direct help

  • the focus on problems over persons

Limitations

  • some clients prefer a directive approach

    • particularly true of certain cultures

    • level of empathy may overwhelm some clients

  • difficult to standardize

  • limits of the therapist’s personal characteristics may lead to poor therapeutic outcomes

    • thoughts about this view?

  • some argue that person-centered therapy actually creates a conditional relationship, not unconditional

    • thoughts about this view?