1. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy TENTH EDITION
Gerald Corey
Cengage Learning

2. Person-Centered Therapy
Chapter 7
Person-Centered Therapy

3. View of Human Nature
At their core, humans are trustworthy and positive
Humans are capable of making changes and living productive, effective lives
Humans innately gravitate toward self-actualization
Given the right growth-fostering conditions, individuals strive to move forward and fulfill their creative nature
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4. Person-Centered Therapy (slide 1 of 2)
This approach challenges:
Assumption that “the counselor knows best”
Validity of advice, suggestion, persuasion, teaching, diagnosis, and interpretation
Belief that clients cannot resolve their own problems without help
Focus on problems over persons
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5. Person-Centered Therapy (slide 2 of 2)
This approach emphasizes:
Personal characteristics of the therapist
Quality of the therapeutic relationship
Counselor’s creation of a “growth-promoting” climate
Person’s capacity for self-directed growth if involved in a therapeutic relationship
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6. Growth-Promoting Climate
Three therapist attributes create a growth-promoting climate :
Congruence: Genuineness or realness
Unconditional positive regard: Acceptance and caring
Accurate empathic understanding: The ability to deeply grasp the subjective world of another person
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7. Therapeutic Core Conditions (slide 1 of 2)
Six conditions that are necessary and sufficient for personality changes to occur:
1. Two persons are in psychological contact
2. The first, the client, is experiencing incongruence
3. The second person, the therapist, is congruent or integrated in the relationship
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8. Therapeutic Core Conditions (slide 2 of 2)
4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard or real caring for the client 5. The therapist experiences empathy for the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this to the client 6. The communication to the client is, to a minimal degree, achieved
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9. The Person-Centered Therapist (slide 1 of 2)
Focuses on the quality of the therapeutic relationship
Engages in co-assessment with the client and does not value traditional assessment and diagnosis
Provides a supportive therapeutic environment in which the client is the agent of change and healing
Serves as a model of a human being struggling toward greater realness
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10. The Person-Centered Therapist (slide 2 of 2)
Is genuine, integrated, and authentic
Can openly express feelings and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the client
Is invested in developing his or her own life experiences to deepen self-knowledge and move toward self-actualization
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11. Application to Crisis Intervention
When people are in crisis, one of the first steps is to give them an opportunity to fully express themselves
Genuine support, caring, and nonpossessive warmth can motivate people to do something to work through a crisis
Communicating a deep sense of understanding should always precede other problem-solving interventions
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12. Application to Group Counseling (slide 1 of 2)
Therapist takes on the role of facilitator who creates a therapeutic environment
Techniques are not stressed
Exhibits deep trust of the group members
The responsibility for the direction of the group is on members, who set the goals for the group
Provides support for members
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13. Application to Group Counseling (slide 2 of 2)
The group setting fosters an open and accepting community where members can work on self-acceptance
Individuals learn that they do not have to experience the process of change alone; they grow from the support of group members
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14. Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy (slide 1 of 2)
All people have an innate ability to be creative
Various creative art forms are used to promote healing, self-discovery, self-awareness, and insight
Creative expression connects us to our feelings which are a source of life energy
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15. Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy (slide 2 of 2)
Individuals explore new facets of the self and uncover insights that transform them, creating wholeness
The client’s inner world and outer world become unified
The various art modes interrelate in what Natalie Rogers calls the “creative connection”
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16. Conditions for Creativity (slide 1 of 2)
Acceptance of the individual
A non-judgmental setting
Empathy
Psychological freedom
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17. Conditions for Creativity (slide 2 of 2)
Stimulating and challenging experiences
Individuals who have experienced unsafe creative environments feel “held back” and may disengage from creative processes
Safe, creative environments give clients permission to be authentic and to delve deeply into their experiences
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18. Motivational Interviewing (slide 1 of 2)
A humanistic, client-centered, psychosocial, directive counseling approach developed by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick in the early 1980s
Applied to many clinical problems, but was initially designed as a brief intervention for problem drinking
Both MI and person-centered practitioners believe in the client’s abilities, strengths, resources, and competencies
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19. Motivational Interviewing (slide 2 of 2)
Is deliberately directive and aimed at reducing client ambivalence about change and increasing intrinsic motivation
Honoring the “MI Spirit” is essential
Reluctance to change is a normal and expected part of the therapeutic process
Ultimately, therapists help clients commit to change and assist them in implementing a change plan
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20. Stages of Change Precontemplation stage Contemplation stage
Preparation stage
Action stage
Maintenance stage
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21. Emotion-Focused Therapy (slide 1 of 2)
Evidence-based approach developed by Leslie Greenberg
Rooted in a person-centered philosophy, but synthesizes aspects of Gestalt and existential therapies
Emphasizes awareness, acceptance, and understanding of emotion and the visceral experience of emotion
Emotional change can be a primary pathway to cognitive and behavioral change
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22. Emotion-Focused Therapy (slide 2 of 2)
A range of experiential techniques are used to strengthen the self, regulate affect, and create new meaning
EFT strategies help clients with too little emotion access their emotions, and help clients who experience too much emotion contain their emotions
It is effective in treating anxiety, intimate partner violence, eating disorders, and trauma
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23. Strengths from a Diversity Perspective
PCT has had a major impact on the field of human relations with diverse cultural groups
Carl Rogers’ work has reached more than 30 countries, and his writings have been translated into 12 languages
The therapist is viewed as a “fellow explorer” who attempts to understand the client’s phenomenological world in an interested, accepting, and open way
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24. Limitations from a Diversity Perspective
Clients who expect a directive counselor may be put off by this unstructured approach
It is difficult to translate the core therapeutic conditions into actual practice in certain cultures
The focus on individual autonomy and personal growth may be viewed as “selfish” in cultures that stress the common good
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25. Contributions of the Person-Centered Approach
Extensive research supports the effectiveness of PCT with a wide range of clients and problems of all age groups
Carl Rogers literally opened the field to research
The philosophy and principles of this approach permeate the practice of most therapists
Natalie Rogers’ use of nonverbal methods and expressive arts to enable individuals to heal and develop has expanded her father’s pioneering work
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26. Limitations of the Person-Centered Approach
PCT does not focus on the use of specific techniques, making this treatment difficult to standardize
Beginning therapists may find it difficult to provide both support and challenges to clients
Limits of the therapist as a person may interfere with developing a genuine therapeutic relationship
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