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

Carl Rogers (1902-87) was the founder of the client-centred or person-centred approach to counselling and therapy. (McLeod 2001)

Person-centred therapy came about through Roger’s theory on human personality. He argued that human experiences were valuable whether they were positive or negative so long as they maintained their self actualising tendency. Through one’s experiences and interactions with others Roger believed that a self-concept/regard was developed. Carl Rogers believed that a truly therapeutic relationship between client and counsellor depends on the existence, of three core conditions. The core conditions are important because they represent the key concepts and principles of person-centred therapy. These core conditions are referred to as congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. Congruence is when the therapist has the ability to be real and honest with the client. This also means that the therapist has to be aware of their own feelings by owning up to them and not hiding behind a professional role. For example, a therapist may say ‘I understand where you are coming from’’ to the client. However the therapist has expressed a confused facial expression while saying this. The clients can be become aware of this and may feel uncomfortable in expressing their feelings, which might impact their trust and openness towards the therapist. Therefore the major role of the therapist is to acknowledge their body language and what they say and if confusion happens the therapist needs to be able to

(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

This essay intends to introduce the reader to the most important skills involved within developing and maintaining a therapeutic relationship between a client and the therapist or counsellor. The onus will be on Humanistic counselling but many of these skills are central to all counselling types.

Unconditional Positive Regard is a theory by Carl Rogers applicable both for psychotherapy and in interpersonal relations. It recognizes a universal need for positive regard by others to all persons under various situations. It requires that all individuals as counselors should respect, accept and appreciate others without judgments. It is somehow different from unconditional love since it doesn’t require care for or liking. It only calls for acceptance of individuals whether you are fond of them or not. Unconditional positive regard shouldn’t be taken to mean being nice, friendly, or delightful with other people. Unconditional positive regard is more of a feeling towards others. As such, it ensures that a therapist has a genuinely deep caring for a client regardless as to whether He/ She approves or not, the actions of his clients. It is an attitude of accepting individuals as they are.

Person Centred Counselling was developed by Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987), a leading American psychologist who was along with Abraham Maslow a major theorist of Humanistic Therapy which developed in the 1950. It is sometimes called the third force distinct from psychoanalyzes and behaviourism. It proposed that therapy could be simpler, warmer and more optimistic and that the client himself has the solution to his difficulties and can access this deeper

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.

I believe that Carl Rogers Person-Centred counselling is reliable. It developed the method of enhancing the relationship formed between a counsellor or therapist and client. Rogers

Person centred counselling originated and was evolved on the ideas of American psychologist Carl Rogers. The influences on Carl Rogers and he’s conceptualisation of Person centred counselling are numerous, from his early family life living on a farm, his interest and involvement in theology and his formative professional career.

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.

There are many values this writer wishes to incorporate into a counseling relationship. The fundamental values this writer wishes to incorporate are: flexibility, self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. The ability to be flexible and alter what one does in order to fit the client’s needs is crucial to establishing and maintaining a therapeutic relationship. Flexibility can be demonstrated in many different ways, such as the way the therapist interacts with the client, the tone of voice that is utilized, down to the way the therapist provides material to the client. In being flexible, treatment is able to remain focused on the client and his or her needs (Egan, 2014).

This Critique of Person Centred Counselling offers an insight into The Person Centred Approach developed by Carl Rogers. I will firstly introduce Rogers and his influences. An exploration of Person Centred Counselling

There are many variables that influence the success of therapy for the client, none more so than the therapeutic relationship. The therapeutic relationship is defined as the strength and collaborative relationship between the client and therapist that emphasises mutually agreed goals and tasks within the context of a strong affective bond (Horvath, 1994.) In the therapeutic relationship, the clinician offers care, touch, compassion, presence, and any other act or attitude that would foster healing, and expects nothing in return (Trout, 2013.) Some clinicians believe that the “therapeutic relationship is a precondition of change, others as the fertile soil that permits change, while others see it as the central mechanism of change itself” (Norcross, 2010.) This is not to devalue other variables that impact the success of the therapy such as client involvement and the treatment method.

Rogers says that the client should always allow himself to sense what he is really feeling, rather than convincing himself that he is feeling good when he is feeling completely different. There are parts of his personality the client needs to have a look at, so in return he can experience his real feelings. To experience his true feelings According to Rogers the client must break that protective core around them. In order to do this Rogers says the client must experience ‘’ Pure Culture’’ “Pure Culture” can be defined as letting oneself truly feel and be who one is without the overuse of a false face. This happens when the client is feeling there real selves and he is experiencing his feelings at a very high level, by this time during the therapy

Following in Rogers’ footsteps, therapists must accentuate their own “skills of warmth, deep empathy, unconditional positive regard, and of deeply wanting to know clients” (Cochran, Fauth, Cochran, Spurgeon, & Pierce, 2010, p. 317). Indeed, when a client discusses painful experiences, the therapist is encouraged to feel the same emotions. Brice (2011) admits, “I often cry when clients are moved to [emotional] extremes. This is a human encounter. To reject my humanity at this point would be to abandon my client. I had wanted to hold his experience safely, so that he could experience it differently and begin to