Person-Centered Theory - Outline
Person-Centered Theory
1: Names.
- Carl Rogers – spent time in seminary, well educated.
2: Facets and method.
- Started as non-directive counseling, which Rogers renamed to client-centered therapy (1950s). Became known as the person-centered approach in the ‘70s.
- Combines two views (humanism and existentialism). The client is the focus – and is valuable (humanism). The client is faced with the anxiety of choosing to create an identity in a world with no particular meaning (existentialism).
- This therapy uses an initial assessment, involving the clients personally as much as possible (self-assessment).
- Trust is most important in the client-therapist relationship.
- A successful therapeutic relationship consists of six attributes:
- The client and therapist are in psychological contact.
- The therapist is congruent (genuine, honest, real, whole, transparent, etc.).
- The client comes because he is experiencing incongruency or is anxious.
- The therapist must give unconditional positive regard (UPR) and acceptance. The therapist does not see the client as a bad person. Only the behaviors are bad as they cause incongruence.
- The therapist must experience empathy, this helps him understand the client’s point of view.
- Growth in the client is directly proportional to the amount of empathy and UPR shown.
- Long term therapy.
- The concepts of this therapy are beneficial in crisis intervention.
- The therapy does not follow many specific dogmatic rules. Each therapist is to use himself and his personality in the process.
3: Personal thought.
- For me, this therapy is too permissive. While I applaud the UPR concept, I don’t believe therapists operating within specific moral structures, such as self-stated Judeo-Christian therapists, could use this therapy.
Filed under: EDC 543 Theories and Techniques of Counseling
Copyright: May, 2002 - David Profitt
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