Client-Centered Therapy by Carl Rogers

Client-Centered Therapy Developed by Carl Rogers

• Developed in the 1940s-1950s, gained prominence due to its advantages

Advantages of Client-Centered Therapy

• Promises a faster and simpler path to personality change compared to psychoanalysis
• Emphasizes the democratic tradition, where the client is treated as an equal, not a patient
• Based on an optimistic philosophy, focusing on individual's potential for constructive change

Approach of Client-Centered Therapy

• Non-directive, where the therapist does not lead the session
• The client sets the direction of the process, and the therapist follows
• Emphasizes trust, with the therapist maintaining basic trust in the client's ability to progress constructively

Key Principles of Client-Centered Therapy

• Everyone has the potential to grow, and behavior is a series of goal-directed attempts to satisfy experienced needs
• Focuses on the individual, not the problem, aiming to help the individual handle current and future problems in a more integrated way

Client-Centered Therapy Goals and Approach

• Aims for greater independence and integration of the individual, not solving a specific problem
• Relies heavily on the growth hypothesis, assuming a self-directive capacity and drive toward growth and adjustment within each individual
• Focuses on freedom and self-actualization, where the individual chooses the process of becoming more and more themselves

Therapist's Attitude and Roles

• Must possess empathy, unconditional positive regards, and congruence or genuineness
• Empathy involves understanding the client's feelings and needs by putting oneself in their place
• Unconditional positive regards involve accepting the client as they are, without judgment
• Congruence or genuineness involves being honest and authentic, serving as a model for the client

Therapeutic Goals and Roles

• Aims to liberate the existing capacity of the individual for normal growth and development
• Focuses on the self-concept, an organized configuration of perceptions of the self
• Geared towards resolving the incongruities between the self-concept and external experiences
• Allows the client to identify and enumerate specific goals
• Involves removing the "mask" the client wears, establishing a climate of safety in the therapeutic session