‘’Evaluate the Claim That Person-Centered Therapy Offers the Therapist All That He/She Will Need to Treat Clients’’

As a humanistic counselling approach, person-centred therapy emphasises the potential for self-knowledge and personal growth (Corey, 2009). It views the deviation from one’s inherent goodness as a source of psychological problems, in turn aiming to increase one’s self-awareness to help them direct their life in more satisfying ways (Cooper, 2003). With the person-centred approach being more an attitude than a set of definitive techniques, a better understanding of its process is formed through connecting theory and practice. As such, this case study aims to apply the person-centred approach to a fictional client based around Lester Burnham from American Beauty (Cohen, Jinks & Mendes, 1999). Initially, an introduction to the client will be presented, followed by the assumptions, assessment, and goals formed when working with him from a person-centred perspective. Several hypothetical helping sessions will then be presented.

Person-centered therapy views people from a positive perspective. While therapists may not always agree with the choices that a person makes, they always try to accept a person for who they are. The belief is that people can change and become self-actualized. Person-centered therapy focuses on the belief that people’s personalities are influenced by internal and external factors. These experiences will be different for everyone, because we are all exposed to different social and

This assignment is an attempt to discuss two different types of therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and person centered therapy and highlight some important similarities and differences between them.

One of key concepts of person centred therapy is the belief that the client has the ability to become aware of their own problems and has the inherent means to resolve them. In this sense,

(Wilkins, 2002) discusses one of the most common misunderstandings about person-centred therapy are the three core conditions needed for successful therapy. According to (Rogers, 1957), this is not the case and spoke of six core conditions believed to be necessary

Person-Centered Therapy (PCT) embodies a humanistic approach, which is intended to increase a person’s feelings of self-worth, and reduce the level of incongruence between the ideal self and the actual self (Gelso, Cepeda & Davenport, 2006). This critical analysis is meant to examine various approaches and skills counselors/therapists would use when applying a ‘person-centered’ type of therapy. This analysis briefly outlines what PCT is, but focuses more heavily on the various approaches used by social workers throughout the therapeutic relationship. More specifically, PCT approaches such as, counselor/client congruence, empathic understanding, and unconditional positive regard are the main approaches highlighted in this analysis as they play an integral role in the counseling relationship.

Person Centered Therapy was established by Carl Rogers, a noted psychologist in the 1940s. This style of therapy deviated from the customary model of the therapist as professional and moved rather toward a nondirective sensitive method that empowers and encourages the client in the therapeutic fashion. The concept is Humanistic in nature which affirms the client’s anatomy, psyche, and soul. It provides clients the freedom to achieve self- realization. Cognitive Behavior Therapy understands personal functioning to be the result of continuous reciprocal interaction between behavior and its social conditions. Therapist used their own life experiences to developed theories that can be conformed to help others. Integrating theories has proven

These correct conditions which are required within person centred therapy in order that the client can achieve self actualisation and personality change were outlined by Carl Rogers and he believed that if this 6 conditions were met, it would facilitate change within the client: Two persons are in psychological contact- both client and counsellor are present physically and psychologically. The client is in a state of incongruence, (which will be discussed in more detail) the communication of the counsellor’s empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard is met at a minimal level. The last condition mentioned involves 3 other conditions, which are essential attitudes and qualities necessary for the counsellor to posses for successful therapy; empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard and congruence. (Rogers C, 1957).

In this essay I will look at the claim that Person-Centred Therapy offers the therapist all that he/she will need to treat clients. Firstly, I will outline what Person-Centred therapy is and look at what its originator, Carl Rogers’, theories behind this approach are. I will then discuss some of the criticisms that have been made about Person-Centred Therapy, and weigh them up to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this therapeutic approach. In the conclusion I will reflect on my learning, and on my own experiences and opinions.

Carl R. Rogers is known as the founding father of person-centered therapy. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1902 to a devoted Christian and a civil engineer (Rogers, Kirschenbaum, & Land, 2001). In 1922 Rogers began to doubt his religious teaching from early on in life, he sought a more liberal education at the Union Theological Seminary (Rogers, Kirschenbaum, & Land, 2001). After two years he left to attend Columbia University to study clinical and education psychology. Rogers went on to write four major books: The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child (1939), Counseling and Psychotherapy: New Concepts in Practice (1942), Client-Centered Therapy (1951), and Psychotherapy and Personality (Rogers & Dymond, 1954) (Walsh, 2010; Patterson, 2007).

In the 1940s Carl Rogers was well on his way to revolutionizing the state of traditional, directive psychotherapy and pioneering what would soon become the person-centered approach. Although Rogers strayed from the psychological mainstream’s view that therapists drive their clients recovery through such mediums as advice, direction, teaching and interpretation he still believed that the therapist’s role was crucial, and it was their attributes that paved the way to increased awareness and self-directed change.

Person-centered therapy was developed over the course of approximately 40 years by a man named Carl Rogers. Rogers believed a person experienced dysfunction when they are unable to experience themselves as the individual they perceive themselves to be. This is a person-centered case study for Melissa Reed who views her ideal self as a mother and wife. A woman who is now on her fifth marriage and has relational discord with her two daughters struggles with a sense of self-worth. The therapist will attempt to help Melissa progress through therapy at her own pace while working toward congruency between her real self and who she

It is important that the therapist conduct sessions in a way where they are showing themselves in the session without pretense. This allows a growth-promoting climate with the psychoanalysis of the client’s behavior. An important factor for a successful person-centered therapy allows clients the freedom to develop and control their own lives, rather than being tied to their past (Goodwin, 2008). This method also denotes and consists of psychotherapy theory and humanistic therapy where the concentration is on the present rather than the past, and the humanistic analyst tends to underlines awareness instead of being unaware. Both theories share a common method while patients and clients converse their feelings vocally and the therapist provide analyses.

Person-Centered therapy applied in a therapeutic relationship by the therapist being empathetic and allowing the clients to move in their own time on finding their own self-actualization. This allows the client to gain and learn their own independence and integration in the world that they live in. The therapist not leading the client into any direction but being empathic to what they are going through to help the client’s growth process does this. It is not about the therapist having the client do anything or the therapists do anything but to be open and have a good attitude towards the client (Corey, 2013).

Person-centered therapy originated in the mid-1900s with Carl Rogers, who developed an alternative to Freudian psychoanalysis that adopted a more supportive approach. Rogers perceived the role of the therapist to be supportive and encouraging,