Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

Client Centered Therapy

Brief Biography:

Carl Rogers is widely regarded as one of the most eminent thinkers in psychology. He is
best known for developing the psychotherapy method called client-centered therapy and
for being one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Carl Ransom Rogers was born in
1902 in Oak Hill, Illinois. His father was a civil engineer, and his mother was a housewife;
he was the fourth of six children. When he was 12, his family moved from the suburbs to a
rural farm area. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1919 as an agriculture major.
However, after attending a 1922 Christian conference in China, Rogers began to question
his career choice. He later changed his major to History with plans to become a minister.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1924 with a bachelor's degree in History
and enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary before transferring to Teachers College of
Columbia University in 1926 to complete his master's degree. One reason he chose to
abandon his pursuit of theology was a student-led seminar on religion which caused him to
question his faith. Another inspiration for his switch to the study of psychology was a
course he took at Columbia University taught by the psychologist Leta Stetter Hollingworth.

Rogers considered psychology to be a way to continue studying life's many questions

without having to subscribe to a specific doctrine. He decided to enroll in the clinical
psychology program at Columbia and completed his doctorate in 1931. It was during this
time that Rogers developed his approach to therapy, which he initially termed
"nondirective therapy." This approach, which involves the therapist acting as a facilitator
rather than a director of the therapy session, eventually came to be known as client-
centered therapy.

Meaning of Client Centered Therapy

Client-centered therapy, which is also known as person-centered, non-directive, or

Rogerian therapy, is an approach to counseling and psychotherapy that places much of the
responsibility for the treatment process on the client, with the therapist taking a non-
directive role.

This material is compiled and edited for the purpose of class discussion and for reference and therefore does not
have any acknowledgement. Do not reproduce it for any presentation. – Joel Zoramthansanga
 Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

Goals of Client Centered Therapy

Two primary goals of client-centered therapy are increased self-esteem and greater
openness to experience. Some of the related changes that this form of therapy seeks to
foster in clients include closer agreement between the client’s idealized and actual selves;
better self-understanding; lower levels of defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more
positive and comfortable relationships with others; and an increased capacity to
experience and express feelings at the moment they occur.

Core Conditions
• Congruence: Congruence is also called genuineness. Congruence is the most
important attribute in counseling, according to Rogers. This means that, unlike the
psychodynamic therapist who generally maintains a 'blank screen' and reveals little
of their own personality in therapy, the Rogerian is keen to allow the client to
experience them as they really are.
The therapist does not have a façade (like psychoanalysis), that is, the therapist's
internal and external experiences are one in the same. In short, the therapist is
authentic.
• Unconditional Positive Regard: The next Rogerian core condition
is unconditional positive regard. Rogers believed that for people to grow and
fulfill their potential it is important that they are valued as themselves.
This refers to the therapist's deep and genuine caring for the client. The therapist
may not approve of some of the client's actions, but the therapist does approve of
the client. In short, the therapist needs an attitude of "I'll accept you as you are."
The person-centered counselor is thus careful to always maintain a positive attitude
to the client, even when disgusted by the client's actions.
• Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand what the client is feeling. This refers
to the therapist's ability to understand sensitively and accurately the client's
experience and feelings in the here-and-now.

This material is compiled and edited for the purpose of class discussion and for reference and therefore does not
have any acknowledgement. Do not reproduce it for any presentation. – Joel Zoramthansanga
 Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

An important part of the task of the person-centered counselor is to follow precisely

what the client is feeling and to communicate to them that the therapist
understands what they are feeling.

Key Concepts

Client-centred therapists believe that clients are capable and trustworthy and they focus on
clients’ ability to make changes for themselves.

• Self Concept – People have the tendency to work towards self-actualization. Self-
actualization refers to developing in a complete way. It occurs throughout the
lifespan as the individual works towards “intrinsic goals, self-realization and
fulfillment, involving autonomy and self-regulation”.

• Real Self – Conditions of worth influence the way in which a person’s self-concept is
shaped from important people in his or her life. Conditions of worth refer to
judgmental and critical messages from important people that influence the way the
individual acts and reacts to certain situations. When an individual has conditions of
worth imposed on him or her, self-image is often low. Also, if the individual is
exposed to overprotective or dominating environments, this can also have a
negative impact on self-image.

• Ideal Self – The ideal self refers to the unique perception by each individual of his or
her own world. The individual experiences and perceives own world and reacts in
an individual way. Client-Centered therapy focuses on the individual’s own
experience informing how treatment will work.

• The fully functioning person – The fully functioning person is an individual who
has “ideal emotional health”. Generally, the fully functioning person will be open to
experience, lives with a sense of meaning and purpose, and trusts in self and others.
One of the main goals of person-centered therapy is to work towards becoming
“fully functioning”.

This material is compiled and edited for the purpose of class discussion and for reference and therefore does not
have any acknowledgement. Do not reproduce it for any presentation. – Joel Zoramthansanga
 Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

There are a number of general ideas about personality development with regard to client-
centered therapy. Basically, client-centered therapy states that personality can be fully
actualised when the individual is exposed to unconditional positive regard.

An individual who has been exposed to conditional positive regard can have low self-
esteem and low feelings of worth. An individual who is self-actualised will be more open to
experience and less defensive, will learn to live in the moment, will trust own decision-
making skills, will have more life choices and be more creative.

Techniques

• Congruence: This technique involves therapists being genuine and authentic, and
ensuring that their facial expressions and body language match their words.
• Unconditional Positive Regard: Unconditional positive regard (UPR) is practice by
accepting, respecting, and caring about one’s clients; the therapist should operate
from the perspective that clients are doing the best they can in their circumstances
and with the skills and knowledge available to them.
• Empathy: It is vital for the therapist to show clients that s/he understands their
emotions rather than just feeling sympathy for them.
• Non-directive: A cornerstone of client-centered therapy, non-directive refers to the
method of allowing the client to drive the therapy session; therapists should refrain
from giving advice or planning activities for their sessions.
• Reflection of Feelings: Repeating what the client has shared about his or her
feelings; this lets the client know the therapist is listening actively and
understanding what the client is saying, as well as giving them an opportunity to
further explore their feelings.
• Open Questions: This technique refers to the quintessential “therapist” question –
“How does that make you feel?” Of course, that is not the only open question that
can be used in client-centered therapy, but it is a good open question that can
encourage clients to share and be vulnerable.
• Paraphrasing: Therapists can let clients know that they understand what the
clients have told them by repeating what they have said back to them in the

This material is compiled and edited for the purpose of class discussion and for reference and therefore does not
have any acknowledgement. Do not reproduce it for any presentation. – Joel Zoramthansanga
 Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care and Counselling

therapist’s own words; this can also help the client to clarify their feelings or the
nature of their problems.
• Encouragers: These words or phrases, like “uh-huh,” “go on,” and “what else?” are
excellent at encouraging the client to continue; these can be especially useful for a
client who is shy, introverted, or afraid of opening up and being vulnerable.

Applications

Rogers originally developed client-centered therapy in a children’s clinic while he was

working there; however, client-centered therapy was not intended for a specific age group
or subpopulation but has been used to treat a broad range of people. Rogers worked
extensively with people with schizophrenia later in his career. His therapy has also been
applied to persons suffering from depression, anxiety, alcohol disorders, cognitive
dysfunction, and personality disorders . Some therapists argue that client-centered therapy
is not effective with non-verbal or poorly educated individuals; others maintain that it can
be successfully adapted to any type of person. The person-centered approach can be used
in individual, group, or family therapy. With young children, it is frequently employed
as play therapy.

Contributions to Psychology

With his emphasis on human potential, Carl Rogers had an enormous influence on both
psychology and education. Beyond that, he is considered by many to be one of the most
influential psychologists of the 20th century. More therapists cite Rogers as their primary
influence than any other psychologist. As described by his daughter Natalie Rogers, he was
"a model for compassion and democratic ideals in his own life, and in his work as an
educator, writer, and therapist."

This material is compiled and edited for the purpose of class discussion and for reference and therefore does not
have any acknowledgement. Do not reproduce it for any presentation. – Joel Zoramthansanga