PERSON-CENTRED

THERAPY
PREPARED BY:
MUHAMMAD HAFIZ
NOR AZZUA
NUR ANISAH
INTRODUCTION
Person-Centred (also: Client-Centred)
Psychotherapy is the best known and most
widespread form of Humanistic
Psychotherapy in the world.
It was founded by Carl Rogers and his
colleagues in 1940 in the United States of
America.
Carl Rogers proposed that therapy could be
simpler, warmer and more optimistic than
that carried out by behavioral or
psychodynamic psychologists.

His view differs sharply from the
psychodynamic and behavioral approaches
in that he suggested that clients would be
better helped if they were encouraged to
focus on their current subjective
understanding rather than on some
unconscious motive or someone else's
interpretation of the situation.
PRINCIPLES OF
PERSON CENTRED THERAPY
ANTHROPOLOGY
Central to this notion is trust in
the actualising tendency as the
motivational force constructively
working on behalf of the client in
facilitative relationships.

ETHICS
Being called to respond by other
persons in need and when
responding, to do so out of
responseability and solidarity.

EPISTEMOLOGY
Epistemology is based on
empowerment.
It allows a variety of possibilities for
understanding (thus it is
constructivistic) and a variety of
possibilities to realise in practice.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THERAPY
It is a possibility for the
reorganisation of the clients self
towards a more authentic and
flexible self, a process to overcome
incongruence and alienation.
This is facilitated by the therapists
readiness to enter a relationship
person to person and his or her
immediate presence in this
encounter relationship, which means
to be with the client in an authentic,
acknowledging and empathic way.
(Schmid, 2001 & Bozarth, 1999)

SIX CONDITIONS IN PERSON
CENTRED THERAPY
Therapist Unconditional Positive Regard
(UPR): The therapist accepts the client
unconditionally without passing any judgement
on his/her actions,feelings or attitudes.
Therapist Empathic Understanding: The
therapist feels intense sympathy for his client.
He/she genuinely feels or experiences the same
feelings and emotions of his/her client.
Client Perception: The client perceives at least
to a certain extent that the therapist genuinely
accepts him unconditionally and understands
his feelings.

Therapist-Client Psychological Contact:
There should be a proper bonding between
the therapist and the client.
Client Incongruence or Vulnerability: The
client's vulnerability and anxiety compel him
to continue his relationship with his therapist.
Therapist Congruence or Genuiness: The
therapist is also deeply involved with his
client. He shares his own experiences with
his clients.

BASIC PRINCIPLES
Person-centered therapy operates according to
three basic principles that reflect the attitude of
the therapist to the client:
1. The therapist is congruent with the client.

2. The therapist provides the client
with unconditional positive regard.

3. The therapist shows empathetic
understanding to the client.
CONGRUENCE IN
COUNSELLING
Congruence is also called genuineness.
This means that, unlike the psychodynamic
therapist who generally maintains a 'blank
screen' and reveals little of their own
personality in therapy, the Rogerian theory is
keen to allow the client to experience them as
they really are.

In short, the therapist is authentic.
UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE
REGARD
Rogers believed that for people to grow and
fulfill their potential it is important that they
are valued as themselves.
This refers to the therapist's deep and
genuine caring for the client.
The therapist may not approve of some of the
client's actions but the therapist does
approve of the client.
In short, the therapist needs an attitude of "I'll
accept you as you are."
EMPATHY
Empathy is the ability to understand what the
client is feeling.
This refers to the therapist's ability to
understand sensitively and accurately [but not
sympathetically] the client's experience and
feelings in the here-and-now.
An important part of the task of the person-
centered counsellor is to follow precisely what
the client is feeling and to communicate to
them that the therapist understands what they
are feeling.
STRENGTHS
Extensive and include multicultural
considerations as well the ability to counsel
whole groups
The clients have the strength and capacity to
grow and develop and, by using these strengths,
they will become who they are meant to be
(Capuzzi and Gross, 2011)
A form of therapy that can be used with different
clients
STRENGTHS
Works very well with clients with serious
mental illnesses
Rogerian theory is grounded in the study of
persons (not pigeons), leading to its strong
applied value in many areas of life.
WEAKNESSES
Requires advanced training which can be
costly

Not much research on theory and practice

Theory has not evolved since the 1960s

7 STAGES OF PERSON-CENTERED
THEORY
Stage One: The client is very defensive and
extremely resistant to change.
Stage Two: The client becomes slightly less
rigid and will talk about external events or
other people.
Stage Three: The client talks about
him/herself, but as an object and avoids
discussion of present events.
Stage Four: The client begins to talk about
deep feelings and develops a relationship with
the counsellor
7 STAGES OF PERSON-CENTERED
THEORY
Stage Five: The client can express present
emotions and is beginning to rely more on
his/her own decision-making abilities and
increasingly accepts more responsibility for
his/her actions.

Stage Six: The client shows rapid growth
towards congruence and begins to develop
unconditional positive regard for others. This
stage signals the end of the need for formal
therapy.
7 STAGES OF PERSON-
CENTERED THEORY
Stage Seven: The client is a fully-functioning,
self-actualising individual who is empathic and
shows unconditional positive regard for others.
This individual can relate their previous
therapy to present-day real-life situations.