Theory and Practice of
Counseling and Psychotherapy
Psych422
Chapter7: Person-centered Therapy
Questions?
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What key concepts do you know in terms
of person-center therapy?
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Do you believe most clients have the
capacity to understand and resolve their
own problems without directive
intervention by the therapist? Why or why
not?
Person-Centered Therapy
(A reaction against the directive and psychoanalytic
approaches)
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Challenges:
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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
Person-Centered Therapy
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Emphasizes:
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Therapy as a journey shared by two people
The person’s innate striving for self-actualization
The personal characteristics of the therapist and the
quality of the therapeutic relationship
The counselor’s creation of a permissive, “growth
promoting” climate
People are capable of self-directed growth if involved
in a therapeutic relationship
Six Conditions
(necessary and sufficient for personality
changes to occur)
1. Two persons are in psychological contact
2. The first, the client, is experiencing incongruency
3. The second person, the therapist, is congruent or
integrated in the relationship
4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive
regard or real caring for the client
5. The therapist experiences empathy for the client’s
internal frame of reference and endeavors to
communicate this to the client
6. The communication to the client is, to a minimal
degree, achieved
View of Human Nature
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Person as innately striving toward
becoming fully functioning.
Therapist’s attitudes and belief in the inner
resources of the clients
Client self-healing capacities
Clients as primary change agent
Clients actualize their potential for growth,
spontaneity, and inner-directedness
Therapeutic Goals
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helping a person become a fully functioning
person
Clients have the capacity to define their goals
an openness to experience
A trust in themselves
An internal source of evaluation
A willingness to continue growing
Therapist’s function and Role
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Function: to be present and accessible to clients,
to focus on immediate experience, to be real in
the relationship with clients
Through the therapist’s attitude of genuine caring,
respect, acceptance, and understanding, clients
become less defensive and more open to their
experience and facilitate the personal growth
Therapist’s Function and Role
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Role: Therapist’s attitude and belief in the inner resources
of the client, not in techniques, facilitate personal change
in the client
Use of self as an instrument of change
Focuses on the quality of the therapeutic relationship
Serves as a model of a human being struggling toward
greater realness
Is genuine, integrated, and authentic
Can openly express feelings and attitudes that are present
in the relationship with the client
Client’s Experience in Therapy
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Incongruence: discrepancy between selfperception and experience in
realityanxietymotivation to help
As clients feel understood and accepted, their
defensiveness is less necessary and they become
more open to their experiences
Therapeutic relationship activate clients’ selfhealing capacities
Relationship Between Therapist and Client
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Emphasizes the attitudes and personal
characteristics of the therapist and the
quality of therapeutic relationship.
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Therapist listening in an accepting way to
their clients, they learn how to listen
acceptingly to themselves.
Relationship Between Therapist and Client
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Congruence - genuineness or realness
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Unconditional positive regard- acceptance and
caring, but not approval of all behavior
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Accurate empathic understanding – an ability to
deeply grasp the client’s subjective world
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Helper attitudes are more important than knowledge
Therapeutic techniques and procedures
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It is not technique-oriented
A misunderstanding---this approach is simply to restate
what the client just said or the technique of reflection of
feelings (It is incorrect).
The therapeutic relationship is the primary agent of
growth in the client
Therapist’s presence: being completely engaged in the
relationship with clients.
The best source of knowledge about the client is the
individual client
Questions

What are the basic concepts of this theory that
you might consider incorporating into your
personal style of counseling?
Areas of Application
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individual counseling, group
counseling, education, human relations
training…..
A variety of problems: anxiety, crisis
intervention, interpersonal difficulties,
depression, personality disorder…..
From a multicultural perspective
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Contributions
 Has reached more than 30 counties and has been
translated to 12 languages
 Reduction of racial and political tensions…
Limitations
 Some people need more structure, coping skills,
directedness
 Some may focus on family or societal expectations
instead of internal evaluation
 May be unfamiliar with people in different cultures
Summary and Evaluation
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Contributions
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Active role of responsibility of client
Inner and subjective experience
Relationship-centered
Focus on therapist’s attitudes
Focus on empathy, being present, and
respecting the clients’ values
Value multicultural context
Summary and Evaluation
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Limitations
 Discount the significance of the past
 Misunderstanding the basic concept:
e.g., reflection feelings.