Person-centered psychotherapy
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Person-Centered Therapy (PCT), also known as Client-centered therapy, was developed by the humanist psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. The basic elements of Carl Rogers' new way of therapy was to have a more personal relationship with the patient to help the patient reach a state of realization that they can help themselves. He did this by pushing the patient towards growth, great stress on the immediate situation rather than the past. This way the person is able to use the therapy as a way to reach a better sense of self, rather than living in an irrational world.
Person-centered therapy is used to help a person achieve personal growth and/or come to terms with a specific event or problem they are having. PCT is based on the principle of talking therapy and is a non-directive approach. The therapist encourages the patient to express their feelings and does not suggest how the person might wish to change, but by listening and then mirroring back what the patient reveals to them, helps them to explore and understand their feelings for themselves. The patient is then able to decide what kind of changes they would like to make and can achieve personal growth. Although this technique has been criticized by some for its lack of structure and set method it has proved to be a hugely effective and popular treatment. PCT is predominantly used by psychologists and counselors in psychotherapy.
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[edit] History and influences
Person-centered therapy, now considered a founding work in the humanistic school of psychotherapies, began formally with Carl Rogers.[citation needed] "Rogerian" psychotherapy is often identified as one of the major school groups, along with psychoanalytic (most famously Sigmund Freud), depth therapy which bridges from psychoanalytic through archetypal, mythographical, dream, and unconscious material to existentialists like Rollo May, and the increasingly popular Cognitive-Behavioral school.[citation needed] Others[who?] acknowledge Rogers' broad influence on approach, while naming a humanistic or humanistic-existentialist school group; there is large debate over what constitute major schools and cross-influences with more tangential candidates such as feminist, Gestalt, British school, self psychology, interpersonal, family systems, integrative, systemic and communicative, with several historical influences seeding them such as object-relations.[citation needed]
Rogers affirmed individual personal experience as the basis and standard for living and therapeutic effect. Three attitudinal requirements in an effective therapist, in his view, include empathy with the patient's emotions and perspective, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard for the patient. Both active and passive aspects of empathy in the therapist have been identified. This emphasis contrasts with the dispassionate position which may be intended in other therapies. Living in the present rather than the past or future, with organismic trust, naturalistic faith in your own thoughts and the accuracy in your feelings, and a responsible acknowledgment of your freedom, with a view toward participating fully in our world, contributing to other peoples' lives, are hallmarks of Roger's Person-centered therapy.
[edit] Core concepts
There are six conditions in client centered therapy, if all these conditions are not met change cannot occur, they include:
- A dyad: a relationship between client and therapist
- Client is in a state of incongruence: client is vulnerable and anxious
- Positive feedback: the therapist is genuine/authentic, not pretending and they are not fixed on their own problems
- Unconditional positive regard: withholding judgment, no disapproval or approval, just acceptance
- Empathetic understanding: the therapist understands the client, they open up and tell them what they see from their perspective, and understand where the client is coming from
- Communication: the client recognizes the acceptance and empathy that the therapist feels for them
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Bruno, Frank J. (1977). Client-Centered Counseling: Becoming a Person. In Human Adjustment and Personal Growth: Seven Pathways, pp. 362-370. John Wiley & Sons.
- Rogers, Carl (1961). On Becoming a Person ISBN 0-395-75531-X
- Rogers, Carl (1980). A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
[edit] External links
- The Person-Centered Website
- http://counsellingresource.com/types/person-centred/
- The Carl Rogers Bibliography Online
- Person-Centred Bibliography
- Person-Centered Bibliography in French
- Association for Person Centred Therapy Scotland
- The Association for the Development of the Person Centered Approach
- Network of the European Associations for Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling
