Transcript Roger
Person-Centered
Therapy
Carl Rogers
1902-1987
Biography
Child Guidance Clinic- Rochester
1939
Published The Clinical Treatment of
the Problem Child
Ohio State University – Professor 1939
1942
Published Counseling and
Psychotherapy
Tapes and transcribes therapy sessions to study more
objectively therapy process and outcome
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Biography
U. of Chicago, Professor and Director
Counseling Center 1945
U. Wisconsin-Madison 1957
Research
with hospitalized patients
Higher levels of accurate empathy leads to more positive
outcomes
Client's perception of the relationship is better predictor of
outcome than therapist's perception of the relationship
Center for Studies of the Person in California
1968
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Humanistic Psychology
Each of us has a natural potential that we
can actualize and through which we can
find meaning in life
Emphasizes the importance of the
person's subjective experience
approach – exploration
method that uses human experience as main
source of data
Phenomenological
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Human Nature: Main Concepts
Self-Actualizing Tendency
Basic
human drive toward growth, completeness,
and fulfillment
Internal Locus of Evaluation
Events
that enhance the self actualizing tendency
are judged positively and vice-versa.
Need for Positive Regard
Feeling
accepted by others
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Human Nature: Main Concepts
Self-Concept/Self-Regard
Learned
through the perceptions of regard
and acceptance from others
Conditions of Worth
Expectations
or demands we perceive from
others in order to receive their acceptance
These perceptions are internalized and
sometimes are out of our awareness
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Psychopathology
INTERNALIZED CONDITIONS OF
WORTH block the natural SELFACTUALIZING TENDENCY, creating a state
of INCONGRUENCE between what
we
experience from within (internal locus) and
what we believe we should be (conditions of
worth)
To resolve the conflict, typically we distort or
block the experiences from within
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Anxiety
State of uneasiness or tension that occurs when
the discrepancy between what I feel I need to
be or do to be accepted and what I really want
to do (internal locus of control) threatens to
emerge
Defense
mechanisms are invoked to distort the
"experiencing" from within, so that the person can
conform with internalized external expectations
(perceived or real)
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Goal of Therapy
Facilitate the client’s exploration of the parts of
themselves that they have denied or distorted, to
promote the self actualization process
Given right therapeutic climate, clients will
Become more open to experience
Achieve self-trust
Develop an internal source of evaluation
Be willing to continue growing
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Therapy Relationship: Three Conditions
Congruence or genuineness
Agreement
between the feelings and attitudes a
therapist is experiencing and his or her
professional demeanor
(Un)conditional positive regard
Nonpossessive caring
and acceptance of the client
Accurate empathic understanding
ability
to deeply grasp the client's subjective
world
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Evolution of the Approach
Non-Directive Therapy
Client Centered Therapy
Person Centered Therapy
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Person Centered Therapy
Emphasizes:
Therapy
as a journey shared by two fallible 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
Being present in the relationship and focus on the
client’s immediate experience
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Interventions
Communicating
Empathy
Attentive/Active
listening
Express understanding
Openness to the client’s perspective
Techniques
Reflection
of feeling: explicit and implicit
Paraphrasing and synthesizing
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Motivational Interviewing
Humanistic, client-centered, psychosocial, directive
counseling approach
Initially designed as a brief intervention for problem
drinking
Promotes a collaborative process that focuses on
solutions for behavioral problems – avoids a
confrontational style
Emphasizes client’s abilities, strengths, resources,
and competencies
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 7 (15)
©2013 Brooks/Cole
Cengage Learning
Motivational Interviewing
Goal: reduce ambivalence and increase intrinsic
motivation to change
Reluctance to
change - considered normal and expected
part of the therapeutic process
Reflective listening, empathy,
open-ended questions, nonconfrontational approach to resistance, support
To
increase motivation to change, reflect discrepancies
between behaviors and values
Elicit and
reinforce “change talk”
Stage of Therapy
Process
• Pre-Contemplation
No intention of changing
Counselor: Nurturing Parent
• Contemplation
Awareness of problem, no
commitment to change
Counselor: Socratic teacher
• Preparation
Intend to take action; small changes
Counselor: Coach
• Action
Engaged in change process
Counselor: Consultant
• Maintenance
Consolidate gains and avoid relapse
Counselor: Consultant
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Contributions Roger’s Theory
Importance of the person of the counselor and
of the relationship in the therapeutic process
Initiated research in therapy process and
outcome by taping sessions and studying the
transcription of tapes
Research findings provide support for the
importance of empathy in therapy outcome
(Watson’s 2002 review)
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Limitations
Therapeutic conditions are necessary but
not sufficient
Lack of clear goals and structure
Lack of challenge to clients
Lack of guidance regarding behavioral
change
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