Client-centered Therapy

Carl Rogers

Prepared By:
Miss Maria Fida &
Sohail Aftab
Person-Centered Theory of Personality
 Carl Rogers
Clinical psychologist: Shift from
theological studies to Psychology
An 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 received his master's in
1928 and a PhD in clinical
psychology in 1931.
The Evolution of Person-centered Therapy
PHASE I (1940-50): NONDIRECTIVE
PSYCHOTHERAPY: This approach emphasized the
counselor's creation of a permissive and non-interventive
climate. Acceptance and clarification were the main
techniques. Through non-directive therapy clients would
achieve insight into themselves and into their life situation.
Phase II: (1950-57)
REFLECTIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY: The
counselor/therapist mainly reflected the feelings
of the client and avoided threat in the
relationship. Through reflective therapy the
client was able to develop a greater degree of
congruence between real self-concept and ideal
self-concept.
PHASE III (1957-70)
Humans are motivated to actualize themselves in
the reality that they perceive. As a result, the
counselor must enter into the client's phenomenal
field. This phase has been sub-divided into three
stages.
Period 1: In this period, the non-directive
counselor conspicuously avoided interaction
with the client. The counselor functioned as a
clarifier but submerged his or her own
personhood. The emphasis was based on the
innate growth of the client.
Period 2
During this period, therapy shifted away from the cognitive emphasis to
clarification, which was lead to insight. The counselor's role was redesigned
to emphasize the counselor's responsiveness to the client's feelings. The
counselor does not simply clarify client's comments, but the counselor also
reflects feelings. To implement clients' reorganization of self-concepts, the
therapist's basic job was to remove sources of threat from the therapeutic
relationship and function as a mirror so that clients might better understand
their own internal and external world. In short, during this stage, the
counselor, as a person, serves a minimal role in the therapeutic process.
Last Period
This last period emphasized certain needed conditions for personality
change, within the client, to occur. This period introduced the three
counselor attributes that are distinct in Rogers’ approach - congruence,
unconditional positive regard, and empathic understanding. As a result,
this allowed for greater flexibility and shifted to include not only the
client's reflection but also the therapist's expression of his or her own
immediate feelings in relationship with the client.
Four Stages of Person-Centered Therapy
Stage One: Rogers’ Early Professional Years:
His work for The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in
Rochester.
Worked on delinquent and underprivileged children
He found out that it was his clients who knew what actually hurt them, the
problems that were adverse and what was deep buried inside.
Second Stage
Non-directive
Stage:
Understanding the
client and to
communicate that
understanding thus
making them more
responsible persons.
Third Stage
Focus on
Therapeutic
Change: The
individuals work
with the therapist
to accept their
uniqueness and
take responsibility.
Fourth Stage
It deals with marriage
counselling, group
therapy and political
activism and change
(Beyond the scope of this
presentation)
 Person-Centered Therapy
Also Called
Non-directive
Therapy &

Client-Centered
Therapy
Psychological Development
Everybody is a unique individual physically as well as psychologically
Infants interpret their environments as pleasant or unpleasant and build
their awareness of the environmental factors

 Children develop their need of

positive regard from others i.e.
being valued, loved, touched and
care for
 When valued from significant
others i.e., parents, siblings and
teachers, they develop feeling of
self-worth and self regard
Development & Conditionality
Conditional Regard: When an individual
fulfills irrational societal demands and
sacrifices or is forced to sacrifice to be given
self-worth may lead to anxiety.
Incongruence: The conflict between actual self
and ideal self OR the conflict between actual
self and the values of an other group with
which one wants to be associated

Incongruence may lead to psychosis (a state in

which brain is affected to the point that the
sufferer may hear the unsaid voices, have
hallucinations and believing that they are being
spied. The sufferers believe that all this is
happening to them in reality.)
 Defense Mechanisms
Rationalization Incongruenc
I am a good swimmer. (Self-concept) e
I was not selected for the 2023 team. (Reality)

Rationalizatio
n
It was because of swimming coach’s biases.
The reality that the person did not perform well during swimming trials is ignored.
(Reality)
 Fantasy
Getting involved in your thoughts to avoid a difficult situation or imagining that you
have reached your goals
 Projection
Projecting unwanted thoughts on others e.g. A person being jealous of others’
achievements says: ‘Why are you so jealous of Akram’s success?
 Paranoid Thinking
Thoughts of persecution, threat and conspiracy causing extreme fear/
anxiety
Objective of Therapy

Increase self-regard through

unconditional positive regard by
the therapist in terms of
appreciation and acceptance
Self-regard and Relationships
The person feeling incongruence needs to be understood and accepted
without being judged
This relationship is considered congruent as the psychologist can
understand the feelings of the client
The Fully
Functioning Person
The maximum psychological
functioning can be accomplished when
a person receives positive regard from
herself/himself as well as from others
Such a person openly accepts new
experiences and solves life’s problems
creatively, feels freedom to make
choices and considers himself/herself
responsible for personal actions. He
understands his as well as the needs of
others.
 Therapeutic Goals
The client is expected to
move in a ‘self-directed manner’
He is not supposed to make others
happy or fulfill the expectations of
others by compromising his own
 In consequence they become more
reality loving
Develop ability to solve problems &
Use less defenses
Consequence of Person-Centered Therapy
A FULLY FUNCTIONING MAN
The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Client Change
The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Client Change

The core of person-centered therapy is the six necessary and sufficient conditions

for bringing about personality or psychotherapeutic change.

Drawing from his clinical experience, Rogers felt that if all six of the following

conditions were met, change would occur in the client.

Psychological contact
There must be a relationship in which two people are capable of having some

impact on each other.

The concept of presence, which refers to the therapist not just being in the

same room with the client but also bringing forth her abilities to attend to and
be engaged by the client.
Incongruence
The client must be in a state of psychological vulnerability, that is, fearful,

anxious, or otherwise distressed.

 Implied in this distress is an incongruence between the person’s perception of

himself and his actual experience.

Sometimes individuals are not aware of this incongruence, but as they

become increasingly aware, they become more open to the therapeutic

experience.
Congruence and Genuineness.
In the therapeutic relationship, the therapist must genuinely be herself and not

“phony.”
Congruence includes being fully aware of one’s body, one’s communication

with others, being spontaneous, and being open in relationships with others.
 In addition, congruence incorporates being able to be empathic and to offer

unconditional positive regard to the client.

Rogers (1966) defines genuineness (similar to congruence) as follows
 Genuineness in therapy means that the therapist is his actual self in his encounter

with his client. Without facade, he openly has the feelings and attitudes that are
flowing in him at the moment.
 This involves self-awareness; that is, the therapist’s feelings are available to him

—to his awareness—and he is able to live them, to experience them in the

relationship and to communicate them if they persist.
 The therapist encounters his client directly, meeting him person to person.

 He is being himself, not denying himself.

Unconditional Positive Regard Or Acceptance
The therapist must have no conditions of acceptance but must accept and
appreciate the client as is
Hurtful, painful, bizarre, and unusual feelings, as well as good feelings,
are to be accepted by the therapist.
 Even when the client lies, the therapist accepts, and eventually the client
is likely to confront his own lies and admit them to the therapist.
Acceptance
Acceptance does not mean agreement with the client but rather refers to
caring for the person as a separate individual.
By accepting but not agreeing with the client, the therapist is not likely to be
manipulated.
Clearly, therapists do not always feel unconditional positive regard for their
clients, but it is a goal toward which they strive.
By appreciating clients for being themselves, the therapist makes no
judgment of people’s positive or negative qualities
Continue
The caring and warmth for the patient, Jim, are evident.
 The voice tone and words must be congruent within the
therapist to be perceived as caring from the therapist.
Statements such as those Rogers makes reduce the isolation that
the patient feels by expressing acceptance and stressing caring.
Empathy
To be empathic is to enter another’s world without being influenced by one’s

own views and values.

To do so, individuals must have sufficient separateness so that they do not get

lost in the perceptual world of the other person.

Rogers has eloquently described the process of empathy.
The Client’s Experience in Therapy
Experiencing Responsibility.

In therapy, clients learn that they are responsible for themselves both in

the therapeutic relationship and more broadly.

Although clients may at first be frustrated or puzzled by the therapist’s

emphasis on the client’s experience, person-centered therapists believe

that clients soon come to accept and welcome this.
Experiencing The Therapist.
Gradually, the client comes to appreciate the empathy and no conditional

positive regard of the therapist.

 There is a feeling of being cared for and being fully accepted.

The experience of being truly cared for assists clients in caring more deeply

for themselves and for others

Experiencing The Process of Exploration
The caring and empathy of the therapist allow the client to explore fearful or

anxiety-producing experiences.
 These attitudes allow for the client to change and develop.

By exploring feelings that are deeply felt rather than feelings that should be

sensed, the client can experience a feeling of total honesty and self-
awareness.
Experiencing The Self.
With self-exploration comes the realization that the deepest layers of

personality are forward moving and realistic.

 As individuals deal with their angry and hostile feelings, they gradually

encounter positive feelings about themselves and others.

Experiencing Change
There is a sense of progress, even when the client may still feel confused.
Clients bring up some issues, discuss them and sense them, and move on to
others.
The therapist’s warm presence allows the client to deal with issues that may
be upsetting and difficult.
Application of Person Centered Therapy
 Applying It in Counseling: Techniques

As person-centered therapy and our understanding of unconditional positive

regard develop, therapists are often recognized as agents promoting activities and
processes that facilitate growth.
Such a view can be described as the therapist “valuing the deeper core of the

person, what she potentially is and can become,” involving

Positive regard

Non-directivity –

Unconditionality –
Applying Rogers’s (classical) view of unconditional positive regard as part of

his theory of therapy includes therapists engaging in the following (Bozarth,

2013):
Being congruent in the therapeutic relationship

Maximizing their unconditional positive regard through empathy

Encouraging unconditional positive self-regard in the client

Trusting the client

Helpful Worksheets for Your Sessions

Person-centered therapists must show empathy, understanding, and

acceptance within the therapeutic relationship to encourage positive outcomes

and change within the client.
The following worksheets help by promoting unconditional positive regard,

including empathy and acceptance, within therapy sessions.

 1. Assess Barriers to an Accepting Attitude

 Respect and acceptance are crucial in developing a positive therapeutic alliance and unconditional

positive regard.

 Use the Assess Barriers to an Accepting Attitude worksheet after individual therapy sessions or at the end

of the day to reflect on what thoughts and beliefs may hold you back from a more accepting attitude.

 Consider each of the following:

1. Anxiety-evoking feelings, clients, and situations

2. Trigger words, phrases, and attitudes that caused you upset or a reaction

3. Prejudices that you found uncomfortable or annoying

4. Business that remains unfinished or issues not addressed

5. Emotional exhaustion, stress, and burnout

2. Using Small Rewards
 Richard Nelson-Jones (2005, p. 99) defines small rewards as “brief verbal and non-verbal expressions of interest designed to encourage

clients to continue speaking.”

 Try out the Using Small Rewards worksheet to learn what small reward phrases look like and consider whether you are using them in

sessions.
 Examples include (modified from Nelson-Jones, 2005):

Uh-hmm

Please continue

Sure

Tell me more

Go on

Oh?

I hear you

Yes
3. Visualizing to Improve Positive Regard
 Visualization can be a powerful technique for walking in another’s shoes and understanding their thoughts,

feelings, and experiences.

 Use the Visualizing to Improve Positive Regard worksheet to help you gain empathy and grow unconditional

positive regard in situations where you were previously unable to do so.

1. Describe a situation during a therapy session when you found you were less able to show empathy and

understanding.

2. How did you react?

3. Visualize the experience described by the client. What feelings do you experience as the client? Fear, sadness,

loneliness? Imagine how it must have felt for the client talking through the situation and how they felt.

4. Visualize how you could have reacted. Experience that (new) reaction from the client’s perspective. How

might you feel? Accepted, understood, and ready to move forward?

4. Walking in Their Shoes

 It is helpful in therapy to become aware of, empathize, and understand the client’s internal

frame of reference more deeply.

 To fully empathize with clients, it is necessary to learn how to get inside their skins and ‘feel’

their experiences.
 Experiencing the world through the client’s eyes can lead to a more profound, internal frame of

reference response and offer understanding. For example:

 You are frightened by the news that you are being laid off.

You are fed up with your family and their petty squabbles.
You really love having that person in your life.
 Use the Walking in Their Shoes worksheet to reflect on how sessions went and consider
5. Receiving Verbal Communication Accurately
 Verbal and nonverbal communication can strengthen, weaken, and even confuse a client’s communication.

 Using the acronym VAPER (volume, articulation, pitch, emphasis, rate) with the client to consider five

aspects of voice messages can help communication inside and outside treatment and ultimately increase

the chance of empathizing and understanding the client and their experiences.

 Volume – Does the client speak loudly, softly, or somewhere in between?

 Articulation – Is their speech clear and distinct?

 Pitch – Is their tone harsh (too high or too low) or even threatening?

 Emphasis – Does the client use emphasis in the wrong place (too much, or too little) so that their

conversation is difficult to listen to?

 Rate – Is the client anxious and speaking too quickly? Slowing down speech may help them calm

themselves and experience less stress.

 6. Use of paraphrasing
“A good paraphrase can provide mirror comments that may be even clearer and

more succinct (something said/written clearly) than the original comments.

It can be helpful to start each paraphrase with the pronoun ‘you’ to signal that you

intend to mirror the other person’s internal frame of reference.

Paraphrasing can be difficult, especially when the client is talking quickly or

nearing the end of the session, yet it is valuable in strengthening the therapeutic
relationship.
 7. Goal-setting Self-talk
 At times, therapists may interrupt too often, eager to clarify a point or offer advice. Goal-setting self-talk can

help focus on listening and showing respect to the client.

 Before or during sessions, come up with a set of self-talk statements to act as in-session reminders; for

example:

1. Stop and think …

2. Calm down and listen carefully …

3. Let’s work hard to understand their perspective …

4. Let the client own their problems …

5. Remember to hear the client out …

6. Don’t judge …

 Practice using helpful self-talk until using it becomes a habit.

CCT Deal With
Client-centered therapy may help people who are experiencing:

Anxiety

Depression

Mood disorders

Negative thoughts related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Criticism
Complete lack of bias is impossible

Lack of structure may not work for everyone

May not provide lasting results

It might not be enough on its own for some clients

Limitations of Person-Centered Therapy

Freedom to take the lead in therapy sessions

Nondirective nature,

Compassion fatigue