Person Centered Therapy- Carl Rogers

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

A humanistic, client-centered, psychosocial, directive counseling approach that was developed by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick in the early 1980s. rooted in PC therapy but with a twist. Rooted in person centered BUT is deliberately directive and aimed at reducing client ambivalence about change and increasing intrinsic motivation

key concept

A key concept is that clients have the resourcefulness for positive movement. The cli- ent has the capacity for resolving life's problems effectively without interpretation and direction from an expert therapist. This approach emphasizes fully experiencing the present moment, learning to accept oneself, and deciding on ways to change. More than the therapist or technique, it is the client who makes therapy work. What clients value most is being understood and accepted, which results in the creation of a safe place to explore feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and experiences. This approach views mental health as a congruence between what one wants to become and what one actually is.

Therapeutic Goals

A major goal is to provide a climate of safety and trust in the therapeutic setting so that the client, by using the therapeutic relationship for self-exploration, can become aware of blocks to growth. The client tends to move toward more openness, greater self-trust, more willingness to evolve as opposed to being a fixed product, and a tendency to live by internal standards as opposed to taking external cues for what he or she should become. The aim of therapy is not merely to solve problems but to assist in the growth process, which will enable the client to better cope with present and future problems. Person-centered therapists are in agreement on the matter of not setting goals for what clients need to change, yet they differ on the matter of how to best help clients achieve their own goals Rogers described people who are becoming increasingly actualized have 1) openness to experience 2) trust in themselves 3) internal source of evaluation 4) a willingness to cont to grow

Phenomenology

A method of exploration that uses subjective human experiencing as its focus. The phenomenological approach is a part of the fabric of existentially oriented therapies, Adle- rian therapy, person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, and reality therapy.

actualizing tendency

Brodley wrote Actualizing tendency A growth force within us; a directional process of striving toward self- regulation, self-determination, realization, fulfillment, perfection, and inner freedom; the basis on which people can be trusted to identify and resolve their own problems in a therapeutic relationship (based on maslow)

Therapeutic Relationship

Equality b/t therapist and client Rogers emphasizes the attitudes and personal characteristics of the therapist and the quality of the client-therapist relationship as the prime determinants of the outcomes of therapy. The qualities of the therapist that determine the relationship include genuine- ness, nonpossessive warmth, accurate empathy, unconditional acceptance of and respect for the client, caring, and the communication of those attitudes to the client. These core characteristics are deemed both necessary and sufficient for therapeutic change to occur. Research has revealed that effective therapy is based on the relationship of the therapist and client in combination with the inner and external resources of the client. The client is able to translate his or her learning in therapy to outside relationships with others. Therapists attitude facilitates change /use themselves as an instrument of change. (not their technique, knowledge, etc) PC theory holds the therapists function is to be present and accessible to client/focus on immediate experience Same respect/Clients experience/Therapuetic change is dependent upon clients own perceptions of experience in therapy and therapists attitude.

The MI spirit

It is essential that therapists function within the spirit of MI, rather than sim- ply applying the strategies of the approach. The attitudes and skills in MI are based on a person- centered philosophy.

Maslows Hierarchy of needs

TOP: Self Actualization 4th: Self esteem (from self and others) 3rd: Belonging and Love 2nd: Safety (sense of security) Base: Physiological needs (hunger, thirst)

Accurate empathic understanding

The act of perceiving accurately the internal frame of reference of another; the ability to grasp the person's subjective world without losing one's own identity.

Congruence

The state in which self-experiences are accurately symbolized in the self-concept. congruence is a quality of realness or genuineness of the therapist

Limitations

A possible danger is the therapist who, by merely reflecting content, brings little of his or her personhood into the therapeutic relationship. The core conditions are centered more in the therapist's attitudes and values than in the therapist's skills. Without a person- centered attitude or way of being, mere application of skills is not likely to be effective. The approach has limited use with nonverbal clients, and it tends to discount the significance of the past. Some of the main limitations are due not to the theory itself, but to some counselors' misunderstanding of the basic concepts and to their dogmatic practical applications. For those who value accountability within the framework of evidence-based practice, this approach is limited due to the lack of attention on using empirically proven techniques for specific problems.

key concepts cont

Basic sense of trust that a client can move forward in a constructive manner if conditions fostering growth are present Three therapists attributes that promote growth promoting climate: 1) congruence (genuine/real) 2) unconditional positive regard 3)accurate empathetic understanding (deeply grasp the subjective world of another person) When a therapist shows this, clients are open less defensive and behave in prosocial and constructive ways By promoting self awareness and self reflection, clients learn to exercise choice

Key Figure and Major Focus

Founder: Carl Rogers. Key figure: Natalie Rogers. A branch of humanistic psychology that stresses a phenomenological approach, person-centered therapy was originally developed in the 1940s as a reaction against psychoanalytic therapy. Based on a subjective view of human experience, it emphasizes the client's resources for becoming self-aware and for resolving blocks to personal growth. It puts the client, not the therapist, at the center of therapy. Carl Rogers did not present his approach as being fixed and completed; rather, he expected the theory and practice to evolve over time. One way this theory has been expanded is through the work of Natalie Rogers, who has developed person-centered ex-pressive arts therapy, in which the expressive arts are used in self-discovery, healing, and growth.

Applications- Group counseling

Group counseling from a person-centered perspective assumes that significant movement will occur within a group if the therapeutic core conditions are present. Regardless of a group counselor's theoretical orientation, establishing safety, acceptance, and trust are essential. This approach highlights the importance of the quality of therapeutic relationships among the members and between the facilitator and the members. When a heal- ing climate is established, group members learn how to interact in honest and meaningful ways, and they move toward self-direction and empowerment.

Applications- Natalie Rogers(daughter) - Expressive Arts Therapy

Natalie Rogers has made a significant contribution to the application of the person- centered approach by incorporating the expressive arts as a medium to facilitate personal exploration, often in a group context. Person-centered expressive arts therapy uses various artistic forms—movement, drawing, painting, sculpting, music, writing, and improvisation—toward the end of growth, healing, and self-discovery. This is a multimodal approach integrating mind, body, emotions, and spiritual inner resources. This approach represents an alternative to traditional methods of counseling that rely on verbal means and often have particular applications for clients who rely heavily on cognitive ways of experiencing. Individuals who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally can find new possibilities for self-expression through the various nonverbal forms of expression avail- able to them.

Contributions

One of the first therapies to break from traditional psychoanalysis, person-centered therapy stresses the active role and responsibility of the client. It is a positive and optimistic view and calls attention to the need to account for a person's inner and subjective experiences. It makes the therapeutic process relationship-centered rather than technique- centered. It focuses on the crucial role of the therapist's attitudes. The model has generated a great deal of clinical research into both the process and the outcomes of therapy, which in turn has led to refining the tentative hypotheses.

Stages of change Model

People are assumed to progress through a series of five identifiable stages of motivation and readiness to change in the counseling process. They include the precontemplation stage, the contemplation stage, the preparation stage, the action stage, and the maintenance stage.

Carl Rogers

Revolutionized the direction of counseling theory and practice...proposed a theory that centered on the client as the primary agent of for self constructive change (rather than therapist techniques) Relationship b/t client and therapist as prime determinants of the therapeutic process

Applications

The approach has wide applicability to many person-to-person situations. It is a useful model for individual therapy, group counseling, student-centered teaching and learning, parent-child relations, and human-relations-training labs. The approach has been effectively applied to a wide range of client problems including anxiety disorders, alcoholism, psychosomatic problems, agoraphobia, interpersonal difficulties, depression, cancer, and personality disorders. It is especially well suited for the initial phases of crisis intervention work. Its principles have been applied to administration and management and to working with systems and institutions.

Philosophy and Basic Assumptions

The approach is grounded on a positive view of humanity that sees the person as innately striving toward becoming fully functioning. The basic assumption is that it is the therapist's attitudes and belief in the inner resources of the client that create the therapeutic climate for growth. By participating in the therapeutic relationship, clients' self-healing capacities are activated and they become empowered. Clients actualize their potential for growth, wholeness, spontaneity, and inner-directedness. It is not the therapist who pri- marily brings about change, but the client. The main source of successful psychotherapy is the client. The therapist's attention to the client's frame of reference fosters the client's utilization of inner and outer resources.

Multicultural Perspectives

The emphasis on the core conditions makes the person-centered approach useful in understanding diverse worldviews. The underlying philosophy of person-centered therapy is grounded on the importance of hearing the deeper messages of an individual. Empathy, being present, and respecting the values of clients are essential attitudes and skills in counseling culturally diverse clients. The concepts of this approach have value in work- ing within a multicultural context because the core therapeutic conditions are universal, regardless of an individual's cultural background. Person-centered counselors convey a deep respect for all forms of diversity; they value understanding the client's phenomeno- logical world in an interested, accepting, and open way. This approach has been applied to bringing people from diverse cultures together.

Therapeutic core conditions

The necessary and suf cient characteristics of the therapeutic relationship for client change to occur. These core conditions include therapist congruence (or genuineness), unconditional positive regard (acceptance and respect), and accurate empathic understanding.

Unconditional positive regard

The nonjudgmental expression of fundamental respect for the person as a human; acceptance of a person's right to his or her feelings.

Maslow's contribution to humanistic psychology

many of rogers ideas are built on Maslow (Maslow criticized freudian psych/too much on negative (sick, neuroses, etc) and wanted more for positive side. Self actualization was a central theme and positive psych recently focuses on positive side of human existence and approach Self actualizing people are characterized or have characteristics such as self aware, freedom, basic honesty, caring, trusting and autonomy. Others include welcoming uncertainty, acceptance of self and others, capacity for deep interpersonal relationships