Rogers Client-Centred Therapy

Rogers Client-Centred Therapy (1951)

The theory behind Roger's client-centred therapy (1951) builds upon Combs and Snygg's (1949) personality theory developed in their book 'Phenomenal Field.' The phenomenal field is our reality—the thoughts, experiences, ideas, and behaviours that make us who we are. Rogers' theories became well known after he released his book, 'Client-Centred Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications, and Theory,' in 1951.

Rogers' theory development was comprehensive and also empirical. He and his followers applied a humanistic approach to conducting therapy and a scientific approach to evaluating the therapy's outcomes.

Several researchers also revealed the following important findings on Rogers's client-centred therapy:

• The fourteen studies included by Truax and Mitchell (1971) in their meta-analysis revealed significant associations between successful therapy outcomes and Rogers' core conditions and only one negative relationship.
• Orlinsky and Howard (1986) also agreed with Rogers that his three core conditions—empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard—are crucial to effective change, as evidenced by the positive results they found when they examined client perceptions.
• Lambert (1992) found that the client-therapist working relationship and the therapy techniques made up 45% of the success in therapeutic outcomes, along with the use of psychotherapy.

One assumption of Roger's client-centred therapy is that each person is the expert on their life. Each person has the resources within them to help them grow and develop. In an environment conducive to growth, each person has the potential to be the best they can be. An essential assumption of this approach is 'the actualising tendency.'

Roger's client-centred therapy is distinct from other approaches to therapy at the time. He redefined 'patients' as 'clients' who needed assistance reaching their potential.

Client-Centred Therapy Techniques

Client-centred therapy techniques aim to help clients achieve self-acceptance and self-awareness. In client-centred therapy, the therapist's primary role is to ensure a nondirective, accepting, and genuine environment for the client where they work together as equals.

Fig. 2 - Client-Centred Therapy Techniques involve providing an accepting and genuine therapeutic environment.

With the client as the primary focus, therapy focuses more on feedback and active listening than on explanations or instructions, allowing clients to explore their emotions and fully understand their various life perspectives.

With these client-centred therapy techniques, clients can better understand how their actions affect them, which helps them take responsibility for their actions. Both the therapist and the client work together towards behavioural change.

Carl Rogers: Person-Centred Approach

As its name suggests, Carl Rogers Person Centred Approach emphasises the individuals' role in positive change. Rogers renamed client-centred to person-centred as an extension of his humanistic ideas in client-centred therapy to have a wider and more diverse range of applications than just psychotherapy.

By acknowledging the self, Rogers' person-centred approach also identified our need for positive regard.

Positive regard comes in two forms: unconditional and conditional positive regard.

Rogers stated that in situations where we receive unconditional positive regard, we could experience our true feelings. Still, when people impose conditions on us, such as conditional positive regard, this affects how we see ourselves. Instead of experiencing our true selves, we begin to let others define us and follow their expectations of whom they want us to be. This, in turn, hinders self-actualisation.

Conditions of worth, according to Rogers, can also hinder self-actualisation, which happens when imposed conditions from significant others, such as parents, become the basis of our regard for ourselves. That is, how we measure our worth ultimately depends on the conditions placed by others.

Furthermore, Rogers introduced the idea of congruence and incongruence concerning our pursuit of self-actualisation.

Rogers Client-Centred Therapy: Congruence and Incongruence

According to Rogers, a person can experience congruence or incongruence depending on their locus of evaluation: internal or external. Locus, in simple terms, means place or source, so when we refer to the locus of evaluation, we refer to where we get our self-evaluation.

A person who operates on an internal locus of evaluation experiences congruence because they trust their view of themselves more than what others think.

On the other hand, if a person experiences incongruence, it means that they depend on the positive regard of others and base their self-beliefs on what other people think of them (external locus of evaluation). This makes them lose sight of their tendency to become what they want to be. With incongruence, a person can develop maladaptive behaviours.

Incongruence can cause significant anxiety, which may prompt them to seek therapy to restore congruence and self-acceptance.

Elements of Rogers Person-Centred Therapy

We've seen how incongruence becomes a barrier to self-actualisation. Person-centred therapy aims to help people recover their sense of self by guiding them towards experiential freedom. That is, a person can have experiences that are true to themselves and align with their actualising tendency.

In helping an individual regain congruence, there are three essential elements of Roger's person-centred therapy.

Person-centred therapists have empathy for their clients. The therapist is not passive but curious about the client's experiences. While empathy includes understanding, the therapist's goal is to convey that understanding to the client.

The therapist should accept the client's experience without judgement, even if the therapist disagrees with the client's behaviour or dislikes what the client tells them. Through unconditional positive regard, the therapist also communicates respect to the client. When the client senses love and respect independent of their actions from the therapist, the client increases their understanding of themselves and develops self-acceptance and self-respect, allowing them to move towards change.

The therapist should be honest and open with the client about their feelings and thoughts, and they should feel comfortable enough to share their own. Transparency in the therapeutic relationship happens as a result. A genuine therapist will inspire clients to be genuine, allowing for authentic expression and increased self-awareness during therapy.

Person-Centred Therapy Techniques

Rogers identified six therapy conditions to help a person move from incongruence to congruence:

1. Person-centred therapy requires a client-therapist relationship.

This relationship involves a client being able to freely share their thoughts and experiences while the therapist tries to understand the client's standpoint.

2. Person-centred therapy consists of a client experiencing incongruence.

Being in a state of incongruence comes with negative emotions such as anxiety that motivate them to seek therapy.

3. Person-centred therapy requires the therapist to demonstrate congruence towards the client.

The therapist must be genuine towards the client and avoid letting personal feelings influence their working relationship.

Rogers, however, noted that the therapist could express similar feelings as a result of a problem as expressed by the client, which allows authentic interaction and prevents a facade of professionalism.

4. Person-centred therapy requires the therapist to demonstrate unconditional positive regard for the client. The therapist must accept the client's feelings and actions, even if they disagree with their behaviour. This also means that the therapist will not impose any conditions of worth.

Helping the client move towards experiential freedom—a state in which they can truly express themselves, take responsibility for their actions, and make their own decisions—requires unconditional positive regard for the client.

5. Person-centred therapy requires the therapist to show empathy. As the client reveals their intimate thoughts, the therapist should value and understand the client's perspectives on their concerns.

6. Person-centred therapy requires that the client genuinely feels acceptance and empathy from the therapist. The therapist should ensure that the client feels unconditional positive regard and understanding during therapy.

It's also crucial to remember that the success of person-centred therapy depends on the traits of the client and the therapist.