Person-Centred Therapy

One of the humanistic approaches, person-centred therapy was started by Carl Rogers, this approach is very much led by the client and what he / she brings to the counselling / therapy session and is concerned with the client's direct lived experience, rather than interpretation in terms of causes or unconscious processes. Another of the key ideas is the "actualising tendency", the potential for psychological growth and person-centred therapy has an underlying optimism and a belief that the client has the capacity for healing, which the therapy facilitates. According to Rogers, for counselling or psychotherapy to be successful, three core conditions need to be met in the therapeutic relationship. Firstly, the therapist must be empathic, to empathise with what the client is experiencing and feeling and how the client views the world. Secondly, the therapist needs to be congruent - genuine, authentic. Thirdly, it is essential that the therapist shoes "unconditional positive regard" - a positive and non-judgemental feeling towards the client. Rogers' emphasis on the primary role of the client-therapist relationship is now mainstream across the field of counselling and psychotherapy. The influence of Rogers can also be felt in education.