This power point presentation was created in conjunction with the article Person Centered Therapy which can be found on school-psychology.org

1. Person-Centered Therapy
~ Carl Rogers ~

2. Carl Rogers
(1902-1987)
The Founder of Person-Centered
Therapy

3. “The Quiet Revolutionary”
 Introduced his revolutionary ideas in the 1940s
 Ideas were in stark contrast to psychoanalysis
and directive approaches
 Shifted focus of therapy from an emphasis on
technique to that of the relationship

4. Client vs. Patient
 Introduced the term “client”
 Believed in the equality of client and therapist

5. Rogers’ Central Hypothesis
“If I can provide a certain type of relationship,
the other will discover within himself the
capacity to use that relationship for growth,
and change and personal development will
occur.” (Carl Rogers)

6. Rogers’ Central Ideas
 Encouraged clients to reflect on their
experience
 Believed it was necessary for nonjudgmental
listening and acceptance to promote change

7. Rogers Focused on Research
 Stated concepts as testable hypotheses and submitted them to
research
 Recorded his sessions for the purpose of research
 Defined his theory in operational terms
 Displayed a questioning stance and a deep openness to change
 Feared institutionalization would lead to a narrow, rigid, and
dogmatic perspective.

8. Carl Rogers
 “The therapist, author, and person were the
same man.” (Cain, 1987)
 Had a major impact on the field of
psychotherapy

9. Other Contributions
 Now over 200 therapeutic approaches of
client-centered therapy
 Innovations in Person-Centered Therapy:
 Virginia Axline made contributions to person centered therapy
with children and play therapy
 Johnson and Greenberg applied the person-centered approach to
working with couples and families

10. Assumptions
 People are trustworthy by nature
 They have the capacity to understand and
resolve their own problems
 They are innately resourceful and capable
 Clients can understand what is making them
unhappy

11. Humanism
 An alternative to psychoanalytic and
behavioral approaches
 Respect and trust the client
 Everyone has a natural potential
 The person-centered approach rests on
humanism

12. Key Concepts
 Congruence
 Unconditional Positive Regard
 Accurate empathic understanding

13. Therapeutic Goals
 Greater degree of independence
 Focus on the person, not the problem
 Must first get through the masks clients wear
to get to the goal

14. Therapist Function and Role
 Their role is to be an instrument for change
 Be present and accessible

15. Relationship between Therapist and
Client
 Characterized by equality
 Therapists are transparent, true to themselves,
authentic

16. Assessments
 Shy away from assessments and tests
 Shy away from case histories
 What matters is the client’s self assessment

17. Incorporating Person-Centered
Therapy Across Cultures
• In the 1970s Rogers and his associates began forming
encounter group workshops which provided
participants with multicultural experiences
• Trained policymakers, world leaders, and groups in
conflict
 Northern Ireland- Protestants and Catholics
 South African groups of conflict- Whites and Blacks

18. Person-Centered Therapy Across
Cultures
• Person-Centered therapy is used in foreign regions
including: Australia, Japan, South America and Central
America
• Models of the therapy have been blended with the
techniques of other cultures in these foreign regions
• Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

19. Cautions Toward Using Person-
Centered Techniques
• Cautions against making assumptions about
clients based on their cultural background.
• No stereotyping !
• A therapist must hold off on judging the
client’s cultural background too quickly.

20. Limitations to Multicultural
Counseling
• Desire for more structure than is provided by person-
centered therapy
• The clinician does not tend to offer suggestions
• Solutions is not found to be useful in some cultures

21. Limitations Continued…
• The stigma of mental health care
• Receiving therapy might be seen as a sign of weakness
or as taboo.
• Therapy might be a last resort for most

22. Limitations to Multicultural
Counseling
Direct vs. Indirect Styles of Communication
• Person-centered Therapy is indirect
• It is difficult to transfer core elements of the therapy
into actual practice in certain cultures.
• Direct- African American Cultures
• Indirect- Asian Cultures

23. Limitations to Multicultural
Counseling
Collectivism vs. Individualism
• Person-centered therapy is individual focused
• Some ethnic groups and cultures value collectivism
more than individualism.
• Collective- Native American Cultures
• Individual- United States of America

24. Effective with:
 Anxiety disorder
 Alcoholism
 Psychosomatic problems
 Agoraphobia
 Interpersonal difficulties
 Depression
 Cancer
 Marriage and family
(Corey)

25. Why so effective…
 Belief that the client is the central figure in
therapy (Gurman & Messer, 1997)
 Optimistic and accepting
 Play therapy effective with children (Hunter,
1993)

26. Crisis Intervention
 Unwanted pregnancy
 Illness
 Loss of a loved one
 Many times used by nurses because they are the
first to interact with patients

27. Problems with Person Centered
Therapy
 Borderline Personality Disorder
 Modified versions of Person-Centered therapy may
be effective but none exist
 Needs to recognize the disorder (not just focus on
the person)
 Schizophrenia
– Needs to recognize the disorder
(Van Blarikom, 2008)

28. Criticism
 Rogers is overly optimistic
 Concepts covered in therapy must generalize
to real life
 Creates maladjustment in clients

29. Criticism…
 “Empathy only evolves if the therapist is
genuinely interested in entering the client’s
world and actually is concerned about the
client” (Kensit, 2000)

30. Criticism…
 “Although Rogers stresses that acceptance is
not the same as approval, where do we draw
the line? Do we allow sociopathic criminals to
spend hours in therapy providing insight into
their morbid and inhumane delights without
any form of direction or confrontation?”
(Kensit, 2000)