Person-Centered Therapy
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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 selfactualized in order to be effective:
However, Congruence must be present in
the counseling relationship
Unconditional Positive Regard
Refers to acceptance of the worth of
the person; not acceptance or approval of
all behaviors
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)
Self-Actualization
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
 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
Therapeutic Frame of Reference
Present
Past is important only as it contributes to
current awareness
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
View of Pathology
Clients come to therapy in a state of
incongruence (discrepancy between selfperception 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
Therapeutic Objectives
Congruence
Increased trust in self
Increased willingness to explore alternatives
Increased personal resources
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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.