Transcript rogers

Theory Review
Person-Centered Therapy
Carl Rogers
Dean Owen, Ph.D., LPCC
Usual Disclaimer
Avoid prolonged contact with skin
Not to be taken internally
No animals were harmed during the
production of this presentation
After viewing this presentation avoid
operating mobile or dangerous equipment
This presentation contains graphic images
which some viewers may find disturbing.
Carl Rogers
(1902-1987)
Rogers believed that the most
important factor in successful
therapy was not the
therapist's skill or training, but
rather his or her attitude.
Theory
Overview
In search of the fully functioning individual
Key Figure: Carl Rogers. As a brand of
existential-humanistic psychology that stresses a
phenomenological approach to the study of
persons, it was originally a nondirective
approach developed in the late 1940's as a
reaction against psychoanalytic therapy. Based
on a subjective view of human experience, it
stresses the client's resources for becoming aware
and for resolving blocks to personal growth. It
put the client and not the therapist at the center of
therapy.
Philosophy and Basic Assumptions: The
approach is grounded in a positive view of
humanity that sees the person as innately striving
toward becoming fully functioning. The basic
assumption is that, in the context of a personal
relationship with a caring therapist, the client
experiences previously denied or distorted
feelings and increases self-awareness. The client
actualizes inner potential for growth, wholeness,
spontaneity, and inner-directedness.
Key Concepts: One can direct one's own life.
The client has the capacity for resolving
effectively life problems without interpretation
and direction from an expert therapist. The
approach focuses on experiencing fully the
present moment, learning to accept oneself, and
deciding ways of change. It views mental health
as a congruence between what one wants to
become and what one actually is.
Therapeutic Goals: The major goal is to provide
a climate of safety and trust in the therapeutic
setting so that the client, by using the therapeutic
relationship for self-exploration, can become
aware of blocks to growth. The client tends to
move toward more openness, greater self-trust,
more willingness to be a process as opposed to a
fixed product, and living more by internal
standards as opposed to taking external cues of
what he or she 'should' or 'ought' to be.
Therapeutic Relationship: The relationship is
of primary importance. The qualities of the
therapist that determine the relationship include
genuineness, nonpossessive warmth, accurate
empathy, unconditional acceptance and respect
for the client, permissiveness, caring and the
communication of those attitudes to the client.
The client is able to translate his or her self
learnings in therapy to outside relationships with
others.
Techniques and Procedures: Since the
approach stresses the client-therapist
relationship, it specifies few techniques.
Techniques are secondary to the therapist's
attitudes. The approach minimized directive
techniques, interpretation, questioning, probing,
diagnosis, and collection history. It maximizes
active listening and hearing, reflection of
feelings, and clarification.
Applications: The approach has wide
applicability to many person-to- person
situations, in both therapy and learning. It is a
useful model for individual therapy, group
counseling, student-centered teaching and
learning. parent-child relations, and
human-relations training labs.
Contributions: One of the first therapies marking a
break from traditional psychoanalysis, it stresses the
active role and responsibility of the client. It is a positive
and optimistic view of persons and calls attention to the
need to account for a person's inner and subjective
experiences. It makes the therapeutic process
relationship-centered rather that technique-centered. It
focuses on the crucial role of the therapist's attitudes.
The model has generated a great deal of clinical research
to study both the process and the outcomes of therapy,
which in turn has led to refining the tentative hypotheses.
Limitations: A possible danger is the therapist
who, by merely reflecting content, brings little of
his or her own personhood into the therapeutic
relationship. People in crisis situations often
need more directive intervention strategies. The
approach has limited use with nonverbal clients.
It does not give enough attention to the influence
of the therapist's values and personhood.
Difficulties lie in grasping the subjective and
inner world of the client. As an ahistorical
approach, it tends to discount the significance of
the past.
The healthy and happy individual was called
the fully function individual
Humans naturally strive toward a state of selfactualization
The origin of difficulty lies in incongruence.
Person-Centered
Theory
19 Propositions
(The self-concept)
• All individuals (organisms) exist in a continually changing world
of experience (phenomenal field) of which they are the center.
• The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and
perceived. This perceptual field is "reality" for the individual.
• The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal
field.
• A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes
differentiated as the self.
• As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly
as a result of evaluational interaction with others, the structure of
the self is formed - an organised, fluid but consistent conceptual
pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the
"I" or the "me", together with values attached to these concepts.
• The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize,
maintain and enhance the experiencing organism.
• The best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the
internal frame of reference of the individual.
• Behavior is basically the goal directed attempt of the organism to
satisfy its needs as experienced, in the field as perceived.
• Emotion accompanies, and in general facilitates, such goal
directed behaviour, the kind of emotion being related to the
perceived significance of the behaviour for the maintenance and
enhancement of the organism.
• Values experienced directly by the organism, and in some
instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but
perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been experienced
directly.
•
As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either, a)
symbolized, perceived and organized into some relation to the self, b)
ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self structure, c)
denied symbolization or given distorted symbolization because the
experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self.
•
Most of the ways of behaving that are adopted by the organism are those
that are consistent with the concept of self.
•
In some instances, behaviour may be brought about by organic
experiences and needs which have not been symbolized. Such behaviour
may be inconsistent with the structure of the self but in such instances
the behaviour is not "owned" by the individual.
•
Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that
all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be,
assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the
concept of self.
•
Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies awareness
of significant sensory and visceral experiences, which consequently are
not symbolized and organized into the gestalt of the self structure. When
this situation exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension.
•
Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization of the
structure of the self may be perceived as a threat, and the more of these
perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self structure is organized to
maintain itself.
•
Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of threat
to the self structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it may be
perceived and examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate
and include such experiences.
•
When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and
integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is
necessarily more understanding of others and is more accepting of others
as separate individuals.
•
As the individual perceives and accepts into his self structure more of his
organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value
system - based extensively on introjections which have been distortedly
symbolized - with a continuing organismic valuing process.
The Twelve Steps
in the Helping
Process
• The individual comes for help.
•The helping situation is usually defined.
•The counselor encourages free expression of
feelings in regard to the problem.
•The counselor accepts, recognizes, and
clarifies these negative feelings.
• When the individual’s negative feelings have
been quite fully expressed, they are followed
by the faint and tentative expressions of the
positive impulses which make for growth.
•The counselor accepts and recognizes the
positive feelings which are expressed, in the
same manner in which he/she accepts and
recognizes the negative feelings.
• This insight, this understanding of the self
and acceptance of the self, is the next
important aspect of the whole process.
•Intermingled with this process of insight (and
it should again be emphasized that the steps
outlined are not mutually exclusive, nor do
they proceed in a rigid order) is a process of
clarification of possible decision, possible
courses of action.
• Then comes one of the fascinating aspects
of such therapy, the initiation of minute, but
highly significant positive actions.
•There is, first of all, a development of further
insight…more complete and accurate selfunderstanding as the individual gains courage
to see more deeply into his/her own actions.
• There is increasingly integrative positive
action on the part of the client. There is less
fear about making choices, and more
confidence in the self-directed action.
•There is a feeling of decreasing need for help
and a recognition on the part of the client that
the relationship must end.
Rogers, Counseling and Psychotherapy, pp 76-77
Core concepts
There are six conditions in client centered therapy, if all these conditions are
not met change cannot occur, they include:
1. A dyad: a relationship between client and therapist
2. Client is in a state of incongruence: client is vulnerable and anxious
3. Positive feedback: the therapist is genuine/authentic, not pretending
and they are not fixed on their own problems
4. Unconditional positive regard: withholding judgment, no disapproval or
approval, just acceptance
5. 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
6. Communication: the client recognizes the acceptance and empathy that
the therapist feels for them
Core Facilitative Conditions
Warmth
Genuineness
Unconditional Positive Regard
Accurate Empathic Understanding