Client Centered Therapy

Definition of Client-Centered Therapy

Client-centered therapy is a type of therapy formed out of the humanistic perspective of psychology.

Client-centered therapy (or person-centered therapy) focuses on the person rather than the problem. Rather than reducing people down to a medical diagnosis (i.e., an "alcoholic" or "schizophrenic"), client-centered therapy focuses on that which makes a person unique such as race, gender, ethnicity, social roles, social class, or ability. This approach is ethical and supports the notion that all humans deserve dignity and respect.

Carl Rogers Client-Centered Therapy

Carl Ransom Rogers is considered the founder of client-centered therapy, marked by his work entitled Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942). In this book, Rogers expands on his radical non-directive approach. Later, he outlines the client-centered therapy approach in Client-Centered Therapy (1951), in which he also summarizes his views on actualizing tendency and unconditional positive regard.

Non-Directive

Client-centered therapy is unlike many other treatments in that it is not driven by the therapist but rather by the client. This is meant to communicate to the client a sense of trust in their ability to find their own solutions within themselves. Instead of the client being a receptacle of the therapist's attitudes, the two interact and co-create. The therapist's job is to create a safe space to promote growth and self-realization. This is not passivity or a lack of responsiveness but simply a non-directive and nonauthoritarian attitude. The therapist is to remain open, authentic, and empathic.

Actualizing Tendency

A cornerstone of the humanistic approach is the belief that all humans are innately good. Rogers drew from the humanistic approach while developing client-centered therapy. However, rather than strictly implying that all humans are inherently good or evil, he suggested that all humans have an actualizing tendency.

In other words, Rogers operated under the assumption that everyone wants to improve themselves. He was not ignorant of the human capacity for destructiveness but rather believed that humans are all working towards fulfilling our potential to enhance ourselves.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Another hallmark of Rogers' theory is the therapist's commitment to unconditional positive regard, a radical form of acceptance. The desire to be accepted is universal, pervasive, and persistent for all of us. Simply being in a judgment-free space can be incredibly liberating.

Rogers recognized this and found that many clients benefited from a respectful and empathic environment. No matter what they said or did, the therapist would accept them as the whole person. As a result, Rogers found that clients found their way towards congruence (or a state of wholeness).

Client-Centered Therapy Techniques

Traditional client-centered therapy means a therapist must be fully committed to taking a non-directive approach. This is a difficult task, and Rogers acknowledged that it might be impossible for anyone to be fully non-directive. However, one technique he often used is active listening. By taking this approach, client-centered therapists can improve communication with their clients.

Active listening, Pixabay.com

Other techniques used in client-centered therapy may include giving the client homework. The therapist never initiates homework - it is created or requested by the client.

When clients assign homework to themselves, it is a positive sign of self-determination. Also, supporting or helping create homework is another opportunity for a therapist to communicate trust in the client to find their own solutions.

Focusing-Oriented Therapy

As client-centered therapy became a more established approach, several psychologists branched off to develop specific techniques for helping a person reach self-actualization. Eugene Gendlin, for example, developed focusing-oriented therapy or experiential therapy. This therapy aims to help a person locate where in their body they are processing their experience or emotions. Rogers supported this in his client-centered approach stating that emotions are experienced physiologically.

Gendlin found that focusing-oriented therapy was an effective way to help people find the "right" words for how they feel. Sometimes, there is no greater feeling than being able to name your experience and your emotions. However, this approach moves slightly away from the traditional client-centered approach in that it may require some directiveness from the therapist. Still, this technique does not support teaching the client how to focus, allowing them to find their way towards accessing this information. Additionally, focusing-oriented therapy can create an accepting space for the client, which is true to the traditional client-centered therapy approach.

Emotion-Focused Therapy

Another branch of client-centered therapy, originally developed by Laura North Rice, is emotion-focused therapy. In this technique, the goal is to enhance the client's experience so they may experience vivid emotions.

The assumption is that the client's problems stem from avoidance and dysregulation of their emotions. By bringing these emotions to the forefront, a person can finally understand how they truly feel and find ways to move forward. Additionally, due to the emotional vulnerability required for this type of therapy, the quality of the relationship between the client and the therapist is more important than any therapeutic task.

Client-Centered Therapy for Depression

Client-centered therapy can be effective in treating several psychopathologies, including depression. It helps a person validate their own experience and emotions. Often, when we feel down, it's because of something we can't accept about ourselves or our situation. Client-centered therapy can help guide a person towards greater acceptance, thereby combating symptoms of depression.

A client-centered therapist would allow a person to share their depressive thoughts and feelings freely, helping to normalize their experience. Some studies show that gentle questioning from the therapist about suicide and self-harm can help to decrease symptoms of depression (Rossomm et al., 2016).

Advantages of Client-Centered Therapy

Client-centered therapy aims to help a person become more self-assertive and confident. This may allow a person to take more risks, be more open to experiencing new things, and develop more empathy toward others. The advantages of client-centered therapy are that they help improve a person's self-concept, locus of evaluation, and experience of their world.

Self-Concept

Our self-concept is our perceptions and feelings about ourselves. An advantage of client-centered therapy is that it should improve a person's self-concept. For example, how they talk to themselves or deal with failure. If the therapy is successful, these attitudes should shift towards more positive and accepting.

Self-love and confidence, Freepik.com

Locus of Evaluation

We can't help but think of what others think of us. However, when we base our actions and beliefs of ourselves on the beliefs of others, it can cause emotional distress. Rogers referred to this as our locus of evaluation.

Rogers found that many of his clients were too concerned with what others thought of them (external locus of evaluation). How they viewed themselves was almost internally dependent on how others viewed them. However, if a person can shift to an internal locus of evaluation, then what they think of themselves will determine their value.

When our locus of evaluation is internalized, we often find more interest, confidence, and excitement in our lives. Our self-esteem improves, and we become more self-determined.

Experiencing

As we take more responsibility for our circumstances, we begin to experience our world with less rigidity and more openness and flexibility. We may find ourselves trying new things we never thought we would or reaching out to people we otherwise would have avoided.