Person-Centered Therapy 

 Carl Rogers 1940s

 Based on concepts of humanistic psychology

 Basic assumptions
• People are trustworthy
• People are able to understand their own problems
• People are capable of self-growth
• Capable of living effective and productive lives

 Key Concepts
 There must be a climate of respect and trust
 Three conditions/therapist attributes must be met for person to
move forward in positive manner
• Congruence (realness)
• Unconditional Positive Regard (acceptance & caring)
• Accurate Empathetic Understanding
 Change is the primary responsibility on the client
• Rejects role of therapist as authority
• Living fully and authentically
• Focus on the hear & now
• How they can successfully encounter obstacles
• A person never arrives at a self-actualized state, rather
continually involved in actualizing
 Therapeutic Process

 Goal of counseling
• Greater degree of independence3 and integration of the individual
• Focus on the person, not the person’s presenting problem
• Set clients free from their facades
• To become more actualized, as defined as having:
 An openness to experience
 Trust in themselves
 An internal source of evaluation
 A willingness to continue growing
• Client choose their own goals
 Role of Therapist
• Attitude and “being” of therapist, rather than knowledge is
important

• Therapist does not manage, employ techniques, or take

responsibility for the client

• Therapist’s function is to be present and accessible to clients and to

help them focus on their immediate experience

• Help clients to become less defensive and more open to

possibilities within themselves and the world

 Role of Client
• Perceive that a problem exists
• Want to explore possibilities for change
• Learn that they are responsible for themselves
• Become more realistic about self (actualized)
 Relationship Between Therapist and Client

Several things must exist for a person to be able to change:

1. Two persons are in psychological contact

2. Client, who is in a state of incongruence

3. Therapist is congruent or integrated in the relationship

4. Therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for client

5. The therapist experiences an empathetic understanding of the client’s

internal frame of reference

6. The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathetic

understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal
degree achieved