CIA 1

By
Name- Samatha A. S.
Class- 1 MPCO
Register Number- 1424338


Person-Centered Therapy
Therapeutic Process
Introduction
Carl R. Rogers was a prestigious and
influential psychotherapist who formulated the
Person-Centered Approach and was known as
a quiet revolutionary.
Also known as Client- Centered Therapy or
Non-Directive Counselling.
Client plays an active role
Counsellor plays a passive role
Basic Assumptions of this therapy
Clients are fully capable of finding out their
problems and resolving it by themselves
Clients are trustworthy and possess all other
qualities for self-directed growth
Clients are the sole agents for change
Clients are capable of understanding
themselves without direct intervention


Determinants of successful therapy
Attitudes, behaviour and personal
characteristics of the therapist.
Quality of relationship between client and
therapist.
Creating a conducive environment for the
client to establish trust and disclose themselves
for self-directed growth.
Therapeutic Goals
There are no specific goals as such, however,
therapists help the clients in framing their own
goals
Focus is on the client as a person and not at
solving their problems
Helping the client to achieve independence and
integration
Self-awareness and self-actualization

Cont
Encouraging and boosting clients characteristics of
self-actualization, openness to experience, trust in
oneself, internal source of evaluation and willingness
or striving for continuous growth

Providing a suitable atmosphere (climate of safety
and trust) in order to establish clarity for the clients to
become self aware of their problems, set goals and
strive to change and grow
Therapists Functions and Role
Therapists attitudes and belief in the clients potential
to help them become aware and resolve their problems
is crucial
Non-Directive attitude is of utmost importance
Must be real, honest, genuine, authentic, congruent,
empathetic, accepting, caring, respecting, supporting
and understanding towards the client for establishing
trust and also a healthy relationship based on equality
To help clients unmask themselves, gain clarity and
expose themselves freely for self-directed growth
Donts of the Therapist
Usually clients case history is not taken
Asking probing questions or advicing
Evaluating clients ideas, plans and decisions
Interpreting clients behaviour, being
judgemental
Deciding or setting the length of the therapy
Making decisions and setting goals for the
clients

Clients Experience and Outcomes of Therapy

They soon realize that they are responsible for bringing
about change and are a reliable creator of personal
meanings, ideas, trust, beliefs, etc.
Clients gradually expose their true, inner selves during the
process
Gain self awareness, understanding and achieve self-
acceptance and growth, also strive towards self-
actualization.
Become more self confident, self assertive, risk-taking,
experiential, empathetic, goal-oriented
Clients are the magicians with healing powers and
therapists set the stage and serve as assistants for the
magic to operate.
Client-Therapist Relationship
No specific or special skills or techniques are
required by the therapist. It is a shared journey.
Relationship is mainly based on equality,
which determines the success of the therapy.
Four core conditions to bring about change and
self-growth in the client which are used by the
therapist are:-

Four core conditions
1. Congruence/Genuineness- therapists must be
open and express freely, integrated, authentic,
real, true, unbiased for effective therapy.
2. Unconditioned Positive Regard- Non-
possessive caring attitude towards the clients,
non-judgemental, non-evaluative.
3. Acceptance- Therapists must have high
acceptance level and respect for the clients
ideas, values, beliefs, etc.
Cont
4. Empathy - Therapists stepping into clients
shoes in order to understand and feel their
subjective feelings and emotions.
Most important ingredient in order to bring
about change in terms of self-understanding
and clarifications of clients beliefs and world
views.
Empathy alleviates clients cognitive processes
and emotional self- regulation.
Applications
Individual and group counselling
Student-centered teaching and learning. As per
research it helps in building positive self-concept
amongst students in terms of independence, maturity,
etc.
Parent-child relations and human relations training labs
Anxiety disorders, alcoholism, psychosomatic
problems, agoraphobia, interpersonal difficulties,
depression, cancer, personality disorders
Well suited for early phases of crisis intervention
Administration and management and systems and
institutions


Limitations of the Therapy
Using of control subjects
Failing to account for placebo effects
Using of inappropriate statistical procedures
The four core conditions are not necessarily
sufficient
Clients to find their own way is challenging
Discounts significance past
Cultural differences- difficult to apply in other
cultures.


Cont
Not a standardized treatment due to lack of
specific technique of counselling
Also no guarantee that the therapists attitudes,
beliefs, values, etc. will not interfere with the
therapeutic process. Thus questions the
genuine relationship element of the therapy.

Further Reading
As per research, there have been many changes in
school environment in the last fifty years that
have changed the attitudes of the school
counsellors.
Since the student-counsellor ratio increased
tremendously, in order to speed up the counselling
process, elements such as advising, interpreting,
evaluating, etc. have been incorporated.
Thus school counsellors use both therapeutic and
educative modes to bring about change and
independence.
Cont
Various schools are incorporating this therapy
in middle school teachers in order to bring
about better and more effective learning
methods and outcomes amongst students.
These teachers also help students to become
more creative, think out of the box, self-
directed and self-growth, etc.
References

Corey, G. (1979). Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy (8th ed., pp.164-191). Belmont, CA:
Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Colvin, G. (1999). Person-Centered Counseling After Fifty
Years: How Is It Fairing in School-Land? American
Secondary Education, 28 (1), 19-26. Retrieved June 23,
2014, from Jstor.

Krause, C. (1972). Person-Centered Evaluation Builds
Positive Self-Concepts. Peabody Journal of Education, 49
(4), 290-294. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from Jstor.


References
Tyrrell, R., & Natko, J. (1979). Person Centered Teachers
For Emerging Adoloscents. Middle School Journal,10 (2),
18-19-26-27. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from Jstor.
Witty,M C. (n.d). CLIENT CENTERED THERAPY. In
Springer. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from
www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda./978038729
6807-c2.pdf