THE CLIENT-CENTERED THERAPY

FASEELA JALEELMSW 114

Developed in 1940s as an innovative alternative to psychoanalysis- by Carl Rogers

Antedated during the strong movement toward behavior therapy that took place in the 50s and humanistic revolution of 60s

Rogers challenged belief that clients cannot understand & resolve their own problems with direct help from experts

He questioned focus on problems rather than on people in therapy

ORIGIN

DEFINITION

Person-centered therapy, which is also known as client-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 nondirective role.

OBJECTIVE OF THERAPY

The primary objective of the therapy is to resolve the incongruence of the clients to help them

able to accept and be themselves

PURPOSE

To foster in clients, a closer agreement between the client's idealized and actual selves; better self-understanding

To lower levels of defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity

To foster more positive and comfortable relationships with others and an increased capacity to experience and express feelings at the moment they occur.

CONCEPT OF SELF

Acc to Rogers, “self is an outgrowth of what a person experiences and awareness of self helps a person differentiate him/her from others.”

‘Real self’ and ‘ideal self’ The more is the gap b/w real self and ideal self,

the more will be the maladjustment. For a healthy self to emerge, a person needs

positive regard

MAIN COMPONENTS

CONGRUENCE:- refers to the therapist's openness and genuineness-the willingness to relate to clients without hiding behind a professional facade.

UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD:- means that the therapist accepts the client totally for who he or she is without evaluating or censoring, and without disapproving of particular feelings, actions, or characteristics

Cont……

EMPATHY:- Showing an emotional understanding of and sensitivity to the client's feelings throughout the therapy session.

SIX CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THERAPEUTIC CHANGE:

Therapist-Client Psychological Contact: a relationship between client and therapist

Client incongruence: that incongruence exists between the client's experience and awareness, their being vulnerable and anxious

Therapist Congruence: the therapist is congruent within the therapeutic relationship

Cont…..

Therapist Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR): the therapist accepts the client unconditionally, without judgment, disapproval or approval

Therapist Empathic understanding: the therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference

Client Perception: that the client perceives, at to a minimal degree, the therapist's UPR and empathic understanding

PROCESS OF THERAPY

Client’s communications about externals & not self

Client describes feelings but not recognize or “own” them personally

Client talks about self as an object in terms of past experiences

Client experiences feelings in present-just describes them with distrust & fear

Cont……

Client experiences & expresses feelings freely in present-feelings bubble up

Client accepts own feelings in immediacy & richness

Client trusts new experiences & relates to others openly & freely

THE THERAPIST’S SHOULD ………

Listen and try to understand how things are from the client's point of view.

Check that ‘understanding’ with the client if unsure.

Treat the client with the utmost respect and regard.

There is also a mandate for the therapist to be "congruent", or "transparent"

Cont…..

Focuses on the quality of the therapeutic relationship

Serves as a model of a human being struggling toward greater realness

Is genuine, integrated, and authentic, without a false front

Can openly express feelings and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the client

Techniques used

Listening Accepting Respecting Understanding Responding

APPLICATIONS

Used to treat a broad range of people People with schizophrenia Persons suffering from depression, anxiety,

alcohol disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and personality disorders

Can be used in individual, group, or family therapy

FREQUENCY OF THERAPY

No strict guidelines Usually therapists adhere to a one-hour session

once per week Scheduling may be adjusted according to the

client's expressed needs Termination usually occurs when he or she

feels able to better cope with life's difficulties

EXPECTED RESULTS

Improved self-esteem Trust in one's inner feelings and experiences as

valuable sources of information for making decisions Increased ability to learn from (rather than

repeating) mistakes Decreased defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more

positive and comfortable relationships with others An increased capacity to experience and express

feelings at the moment they occur; and openness to new experiences and new ways of thinking about life

CONCLUSION

Pure client centered psycho therapy as originally practiced is rarely used today. But it opened the way for a variety of humanistically oriented therapies in which focus is the client’s present conscious problems and in which it is assumed that the client is the primary actor in the curative process, with the therapist essentially being the facilitator.

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