1. Quotes and references
1.1. Rogers
1.1.1. Effective counseling consists of a definitely structured permissive relationship which allows the client to gain an understanding of himself to a degree which enables him to take positive steps in the light of his new orientation. This hypothesis has a natural corollary, that all the techniques used should aim toward developing this free and permissive relationship, this understanding of self in the counseling and other relationships, and this tendency toward positive, self-initiated action. (Rogers, 1942, p. 18)
1.1.2. [T]o create a psychological climate in which the client feels that kind of warmth, understanding and freedom from attack in which he may drop his defensiveness, and explore and reorganize his life style, is a far more subtle and delicate process than simply “reflecting feeling.” (Rogers as cited in Kirschenbaum, 2009, p. 156)
1.1.3. I do not discover man to be well characterized in his basic nature by such terms as fundamentally hostile, antisocial, destructive, evil. I do not discover man to be, in his basic nature, completely without a nature, a tabula rasa on which anything may be written nor malleable putty which can be shaped into any form. I do not discover man to be essentially a perfect being, sadly warped and corrupted by society. In my experience I have discovered man to have characteristics which seem inherent in his species, and the terms which have at different times seemed to me descriptive of these characteristics are such terms as positive, forward-moving, constructive, realistic, trustworthy. (Rogers, 1957a, p. 200)
1.1.4. In the theory and practice of person-centred therapy, it is held that an innate tendency within the client constitutes the sole agent for growth, ‘constructive personality change’ (Rogers 1957: 96),
1.1.5. When there is a significant difference between self and organismic experience the self-actualising tendency may conflict with the actualising tendency and a state of incongruence arises (see Point 11). Rogers expands on his understanding of the actualising tendency in Rogers (1977: 237– 251) (Chapter 11 of On Personal Power , ‘A political base: the actualizing tendency’) and, with respect to ‘motives’ and consciousness, in Rogers (1963: 1– 24, 2008: 17– 32).
1.1.6. Rogers, C. R. (1931). Measuring personality adjustment in children nine to thirteen years of age . New York, NY: Teachers College. Rogers, C. R. (1939). The clinical treatment of the problem child . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1942). Counseling and psychotherapy: Newconcepts in practice. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C.R. (1951). Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1957a). A note on the “nature of man.” Journal of Counseling Psychology, 4 (3), 199– 203. Rogers,C. R. (1957b). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21 , 95– 103. Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch d.), Psychology: A study of science, Vol. 3, Formulations of the person and the social context (pp. 184– 256). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy . Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1967). Some learnings from a study of psychotherapy with schizophrenics. In. C. R. Rogers & B. Stevens (Eds.), Person to person: The problem of being human (pp. 181– 192). Moab, UT: Real People Press. Rogers, C. R. (1969). Freedom to learn: A view of what education might become. Columbus, OH: Charles Merrill. Rogers, C. R. (1970). Carl Rogers on encounter groups. New York, NY: Harper and Row. Rogers, C. R. (1972). Becoming partners: Marriage and its alternatives . New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Rogers, C. R. (1977). Carl Rogers on personal power: Inner strength and its revolutionary impact . New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Rogers, C. R. (1980). A way of being . Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1986). Reflection of feelings. Person-Centered Review, 1 (4), 375–377. Rogers, C. R., Gendlin, E.T., Kiesler, D. J., & Truax, C. B. (1967). The therapeutic relationship and its impact: A study of psychotherapy with schizophrenics. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
1.2. (Kirschenbaum, 2009).
1.2.1. Kirschenbaum, H. (1979). On becoming Carl Rogers . New York, NY: Delacorte Press. Kirschenbaum, H. (2009). The life and work of Carl Rogers. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Kirschenbaum, H., & Henderson, V. (1989a). Introduction. In H. Kirschenbaum & V. Henderson (Eds.), The Carl Rogers reader (pp. xi– xvi) . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Kirschenbaum, H., & Henderson, V. (1989b). [Introduction to] A philosophy of persons. In H. Kirschenbaum & V. Henderson (Eds.), The Carl Rogers reader (pp. 398– 401) . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Kirschenbaum, H., & Henderson, V. (1989e). [Introduction to] A more human world. In H. Kirschenbaum & V. Henderson (Eds.), The Carl Rogers reader (pp. 434– 435) . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Kirschenbaum, H., & Henderson, V. (Eds.). (1989c). The Carl Rogers reader. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Kirschenbaum, Mifflin.
1.3. SAnders (2004)
1.3.1. As the first of his ‘primary principles of person-centred therapies’, Sanders (2004: 155) indicates the primacy of the actualising tendency. He goes on to state ‘it is a therapeutic mistake to believe, or act on the belief, that the therapeutic change process is not [original emphasis] motivated by the client’s actualising tendency’.
1.3.2. Sanders, P. (2004) Mapping person-centred approaches to counselling and psychotherapy. In P. Sanders (ed.) The Tribes of the Person-Centred Nation: An Introduction to the Schools of Therapy Related to the Person-Centred Approach . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (2005) Principled and strategic opposition to the medicalisation of distress and all of its apparatus. In S. Joseph & R. Worsley (eds) Person-Centred Psychopathology: A Positive Psychology of Mental Health . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (2006a) Why person-centred therapists must reject the medicalisation of distress. Self & Society 34 (3) 32– 39. Sanders, P. (2006b) The Person-Centred Counselling Primer . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (2007a) The ‘family’ of person-centred and experiential therapies. In M. Cooper, M. O’Hara, P. F. Schmid & G. Wyatt (eds) The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sanders, P. (2007b) Schizophrenia is not an illness – a response to van Blarikom. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies 6 (2) 112– 128. Sanders, P. (2007c) Introducing pre-therapy. In P. Sanders (ed.) The Contact Work Primer . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (2007d) Understanding and doing pre-therapy and contact work. In P. Sanders (ed.) The Contact Work Primer . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (2007e) In place of the medical model: person-centred alternatives to the medicalisation of distress. In R. Worsley & S. Joseph (eds) Person-Centred Practice: Case Studies in Positive Psychology . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (ed.) (2007f) The Contact Work Primer . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (ed.) (2012) The Tribes of the Person-Centred Nation: An Introduction to the Schools of Therapy Related to the Person-Centred Approach (2nd edn). Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P. (ed.) (2013) Person-Centred Therapy Theory and Practice in the 21st Century . Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.
2. Differences from Psychoanalytic Theory and Behaviourism
2.1. For Rogers the focus of psychology is not behavior (Skinner), the unconscious (Freud), thinking (Wundt) or the human brain but how individuals perceive and interpret events. Rogers is therefore important because he redirected psychology towards the study of the self.
2.2. “I have come to realize that the basic difference between a behaviorist and a humanistic approach to human beings is a philosophical choice” (Rogers, 1980, p. 56).
2.3. rejects scientific methodology like experiments and typically uses qualitative research methods. For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and unstructured observations.
2.4. For humanistic psychologists’ research on animals, such as rats, pigeons, or monkeys held little value.
3. Abraham Maslow
3.1. Heirarchy of Needs
3.1.1. Heirarchy of needs
3.1.1.1. Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization.
3.1.1.2. Life experiences, including divorce and loss of a job, may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.
3.1.1.3. the order of needs might be flexible based on external circumstances or individual differences
3.1.1.4. most behavior is multi-motivated, that is, simultaneously determined by more than one basic need.
3.1.2. Types if Needs
3.1.2.1. Physiological needs
3.1.2.1.1. - these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
3.1.2.2. Safety needs
3.1.2.2.1. - once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for security and safety become salient. People want to experience order, predictability and control in their lives. These needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police, schools, business and medical care)
3.1.2.3. Love and belongingness needs
3.1.2.3.1. - after physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. Belongingness, refers to a human emotional need for interpersonal relationships, affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group.
3.1.2.4. Esteem needs
3.1.2.4.1. are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy and include self-worth, accomplishement and respect. Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
3.1.2.5. Cognitive needs
3.1.2.5.1. - knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability.
3.1.2.6. Aesthetic needs
3.1.2.6.1. - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
3.1.2.7. Self-actualization needs
3.1.2.7.1. are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a person's potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow (1943) describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.
3.1.2.8. Transcendence needs
3.1.2.8.1. - A person is motivated by values which transcend beyond the personal self (e.g., mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature, aesthetic experiences, sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science, religious faith, etc.).
3.1.3. Deficiency needs vs Growth needs
3.1.3.1. Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet.
3.1.3.2. Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person
3.1.3.2.1. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization.
3.1.3.2.2. growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged.
3.2. Self Actualisation
3.2.1. Characteristics Of a self actualised person
3.2.1.1. 1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty;
3.2.1.2. 2. Accept themselves and others for what they are;
3.2.1.3. 3. Spontaneous in thought and action;
3.2.1.4. 4. Problem-centered (not self-centered);
3.2.1.5. 5. Unusual sense of humor;
3.2.1.6. 6. Able to look at life objectively;
3.2.1.7. 7. Highly creative;
3.2.1.8. 8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional;
3.2.1.9. 9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity;
3.2.1.10. 10. Capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience;
3.2.1.11. 11. Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few people;
3.2.1.12. 12. Peak experiences;
3.2.1.13. 13. Need for privacy;
3.2.1.14. 14. Democratic attitudes;
3.2.1.15. 15. Strong moral/ethical standards.
3.2.2. Behaviors that lead to self actualization
3.2.2.1. (a) Experiencing life like a child, with full absorption and concentration; (b) Trying new things instead of sticking to safe paths; (c) Listening to your own feelings in evaluating experiences instead of the voice of tradition, authority or the majority; (d) Avoiding pretense ('game playing') and being honest; (e) Being prepared to be unpopular if your views do not coincide with those of the majority; (f) Taking responsibility and working hard; (g) Trying to identify your defenses and having the courage to give them up.
4. Carl Rogers
4.1. Self Worth
4.1.1. Self-worth (or self-esteem) comprises what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father.
4.1.1.1. a person who has high self-worth, that is, has confidence and positive feelings about him or herself, faces challenges in life, accepts failure and unhappiness at times, and is open with people
4.1.1.2. A person with low self-worth may avoid challenges in life, not accept that life can be painful and unhappy at times, and will be defensive and guarded with other people.
4.2. Self Image
4.2.1. How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. At a simple level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves in the world.
4.3. Ideal Self
4.3.1. This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing. The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.
4.4. Unconditional Positive Regard
4.4.1. Unconditional positive regard is where parents, significant others (and the humanist therapist) accepts and loves the person for what he or she is. Positive regard is not withdrawn if the person does something wrong or makes a mistake. The consequences of unconditional positive regard are that the person feels free to try things out and make mistakes, even though this may lead to getting it worse at times. People who are able to self-actualize are more likely to have received unconditional positive regard from others, especially their parents in childhood.
4.5. Conditional Positive Regard
4.5.1. Conditional positive regard is where positive regard, praise, and approval, depend upon the child, for example, behaving in ways that the parents think correct. Hence the child is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in ways approved by the parent(s). At the extreme, a person who constantly seeks approval from other people is likely only to have experienced conditional positive regard as a child.
4.6. Congruence
4.6.1. The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard.
4.6.2. The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth.
4.6.3. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image.
4.6.4. As we prefer to see ourselves in ways that are consistent with our self-image, we may use defense mechanisms like denial or repression in order to feel less threatened by some of what we consider to be our undesirable feelings.
4.7. The Fully Functioning Person
4.7.1. 1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resorting to ego defense mechanisms). 2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment). 3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. People’s own decisions are the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices. 4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk-taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences. 5. Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and experiences.
4.8. Childhood development
4.8.1. actualizing tendency
4.8.1.1. Rogers suggested that the infant and growing child has what’s called an actualizing tendency , which lends directionality to lives as individuals seek to reach their unique and full potential (Rogers, 1951). If unimpeded, this force leads to constructive growth and healthy relationships.
4.8.2. Organismic Valueing process
4.8.2.1. which means that generally, individuals move toward those experiences or interactions that are positive to the actualizing process and away from those that are negative.
4.8.3. Self and **conditions of worth**
4.8.3.1. self emerges, an individual develops a need for positive regard . Sometimes, said Rogers, this need was more compelling than the push toward a positive actualizing experience. So, if a significant other (e.g., a parent) gives the individual the message that he or she would only be loved if certain qualities are shown, and if these qualities are antithetical to the actualizing process, the individual will forego the actualizing process and act in accordance to the wishes of the significant other.
4.8.3.2. when these conditions of worth are placed on a person, they thwart the natural growth process and result in the development of a non-genuine or incongruent way of living in the world.
4.8.4. process of defense
4.8.4.1. selectively perceive situations, distort situations, or deny threats to self in an effort to protect themselves from a state of anxiety that is the result of this incongruence. The ability to defend oneself, however, is not perfect, and anxiety and related symptoms can be conceptualized as a signal to the individual that he or she is acting in a non-genuine way and not living fully
4.9. Core conditions
4.9.1. Calling genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard “ core conditions ,” Rogers believed that these attributes, alone, are enough to facilitate change, and that any individual, not just counselors and therapists, can embody these characteristics and help to induce change (Rogers, 1957b; Rogers, 1980).
4.9.2. Genuiness
4.9.3. Empathy
4.9.4. unconditional Positive regard
4.10. Q sort technique?
5. Assumptions
5.1. View of the Person: People innately move toward self actualization and self growth. People are social beings who are best understood in terms of their social relationships.
5.2. Freedom to Choose: People can become entirely self aware. Therapists do not need to persuade or direct the client, they only need to proviude an environment conducive to the client finding their own way.
5.3. Collaborative therapeutic relationship
5.4. Focus on Subjective reality, therapist should aim to understand the subjective world of the client
5.5. The therapist should try to be non judgemental, empathetic, genuine, and accepting. the therapist should monitor their own reactions for biases and or beliefs
5.6. Emotions and experiential dimensions are fundamental to the human experience and understanding them leads to a deeper level of feeling and thinking
5.7. Freedom of choice and responsibility - all behaviour is framed as a choice. clients and therapists should work toward conscious decision making instead of reactivity
5.8. Meaning: understanding ones life in terms of broader meanings and patters will lead to a greater sense of clarity and direction
6. Existential Therapy
7. Key Concepts
7.1. Self actualising tendency
7.1.1. Rogers believed that every individual is born with an actualizing tendency that motivates the person to reach his or her full potential if the individual is placed in an environment that supports this inherent process. This basic biological principal has its corollary in all living things. For instance, consider the flower that delightfully blooms if placed in an optimum environment but ends up wilting if not. This important assumption for person-centered counselors affects how they conceptualize their clients’ concerns. Instead of seeing clients from an illness perspective, they believe their clients have the potential to change and grow if placed in a nurturing environment. Such counselors view client progress as occurring when clients become increasingly real and genuine and are able to make more effective choices in their lives.
7.1.2. Levitt (2008)
7.1.2.1. Levitt (2008) includes reprinted chapters by Rogers, Bozarth and Merry dealing with the historical context of the actualising tendency and a section on contemporary explorations of human potential in person-centred theory in which there are considerations of the actualising tendency and formative tendency.
7.2. Need for positive regard
7.2.1. In their development of self, children have a need for positive regard by significant others; that is, to feel loved, supported, and appreciated by those close to them. In fact, children will manifest behaviors they believe those close to them would want them to exhibit in hopes that they will be positively regarded by them, even if those behaviors are antithetical to the individual’s natural way of being. In this case, the exhibition of such behaviors creates a false or non-genuine self. When this occurs, conflict exists between the individual’s actualizing tendency and his or her need to be positively regarded and loved by significant others.
7.3. Conditions of worth
7.3.1. Closely related to the need to be positively regarded are conditions of worth that occur when significant others, who have the power to withhold their love and regard, place expectations on a person’s way of responding. In this case, significant others are expecting an individual to respond in a certain manner, even if that type of response is not how the person wishes to respond. Love, or the promise of love, is withdrawn if the person does not respond in that manner, and love is given if the person does respond in that manner (although one might argue that anyone who uses “love” as a bargaining chip is not really loving). Over time, the person learns to respond in the manner in which the significant other wants him or her to respond, even if that response is not natural or true to self. The dilemma for children is whether to listen to their internal state, which tells to respond in a certain manner, or to exhibit behaviors in an effort to gain love and regard from significant persons.
7.3.2. As the self develops, there is also a need for positive self-regard which Merry (2002: 25) indicates as being necessary to ‘develop a sense of trust in the accuracy and reliability of our own inner experiencing’. That is to say that positive self-regard allows individuals to trust their own perceptions and evaluations of the world as they experience it.
7.3.3. Experiences that match these conditions of worth (and therefore the self-concept) are perceived accurately and accepted; ones that do not are perceived as threatening and are distorted or denied (‘distortion’ and ‘denial’ are the two ‘defence mechanisms’ described in classic person-centred theory – see Rogers 1959: 227).
7.4. Non congruence and incongruence
7.4.1. Non-genuineness , sometimes called incongruence , is a product of conditions of worth being placed on the individual, as the individual acts in ways that do not match his or her natural state of being. The individual who is non-genuine is not in touch with some, or even a majority of his or her feelings. In addition, his or her thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are incongruent; that is, the individual’s feelings are not in sync with the individual’s thoughts and behaviors.
7.5. Organismic Valuing Process
7.5.1. The process of drifting toward individuals who positively value one’s natural tendencies or ways of being, or drifting away from those who negatively value them, is called the organismic valuing process . The validation of a person’s inherent or natural ways of living in the world leads to a positive self-image. However, when conditions of worth are placed on an individual, the individual’s organismic valuing process is thwarted as the individual acts falsely, or in non-genuine ways, to gain the love of another
7.6. Choice and free will
7.6.1. Nevertheless it has meaning for me that the more the person is living the good life, the more he will experience a freedom of choice, and the more his choices will be effectively implemented in his behavior. (Rogers, 1961, p. 193)
7.6.2. As a phenomenologically based, existential theorist, Rogers believed that people have free will to make choices based on their subjective view of reality. However, he also acknowledged that individuals are victims of their pasts, especially when they are living lives based on a false, incongruent, sense of self. In these cases, decisions are grounded in an individual’s defenses and distortions, and often result in unhealthy choices. In contrast, individuals who are fully functioning and congruent are burdened less by defenses, determined little by their past, and have freedom of choice. These persons are in touch with and are aware of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors; have a clear sense of which choices enhance their well-being; and will make choices congruent with their true selves. Such choices will be so clear, that it will almost seem as if there is no choice!
7.7. Self determination
7.7.1. In person-centered counseling, self-determination is the process of looking within to make choices about oneself, as opposed to allowing others to direct one’s life. Incongruent clients will be out of touch with who they are and make poor choices for themselves or look for answers outside of themselves. Such clients are sometimes said to have an external locus of control. Thus, Rogers stressed the importance of creating an environment that will allow clients to be more in touch with themselves, and ultimately, make choices from an inner sense of who they are, and less from the advice of others. In this process, clients move from dependency to autonomy as they gain greater internal locus of control , or a sense that their destiny is in their own hands.
7.7.2. Internal v extenal locus of control
7.8. Nondirective counselling
7.8.1. Rogers believed the ingredients for self-discovery lie within each person and encouraged counselors and therapists to offer a counseling environment facilitative of self-discovery, as opposed to one that was directive, advising, or interpretative. By counselors providing a non-directive counseling stance through the use of empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard, he suggested that clients would feel free to look inside themselves, discover their inner world, become increasingly in touch with their true selves, and make self-initiated positive and growth producing choices.
7.9. Necesary and sifficient conditions
7.9.1. Rogers believed that personality change would occur if the therapeutic framework included six necessary and sufficient conditions:
7.9.1.1. Two persons are in psychological contact.
7.9.1.2. The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious.
7.9.1.3. The second person, whom we shall term the therapist, is congruent or integrated in the relationship.
7.9.1.4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client.
7.9.1.5. 6.The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this experience to the client.
7.9.1.6. The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved. (Rogers, 1957b, p. 96)
7.9.2. If the above six conditions were met, Rogers suggested that the following changes would often occur with clients (Rogers, 1959, 1961)
7.9.2.1. An increased openness to experience
7.9.2.2. A greater ability to be more objective and to have more realistic perceptions
7.9.2.3. Improved psychological adjustment
7.9.2.4. More congruence, increased self-regard, movement from an external to an internal locus of control
7.9.2.5. More acceptance of others
7.9.2.6. Having better problem solving skills
7.9.2.7. Having a more accurate perception of others
8. "Techniques" Terapist qualities
8.1. Congruence/genuiness
8.1.1. Strong negative feelings?
8.1.1.1. Self disclosure
8.1.1.2. The level of self-disclosure that the therapist shows the client, however, may vary depending on the session and whether the feeling is persistent. Rogers noted that although one may have negative feelings toward a client during a session, these feelings will almost invariably dissipate as the client opens up and unravels his or her inner self. This is why he warned therapists against using excessive self-disclosure. Finding the balance between the counselor’s awareness of his or her own feelings and the expression of those feelings in an effort to be real is one of the challenges facing the person-centered therapist
8.1.2. congruence , genuineness ; or being real within the context of the therapeutic relationship was the most important of the therapeutic qualities, as a relationship has no meaning if the counselor hides behind a mask, unwilling to risk being himself or herself:
8.2. Unconditional positive regard
8.2.1. counseling relationships should be highlighted by a sense of acceptance, regardless of what feelings are expressed by the client. In other words, the counselor should not accept certain feelings and experiences of the client and deny others. This unconditional acceptance, or responsible love, allows the client to feel safe within the relationship and to delve deeper into his or her self (Buscaglia, 1996)
8.2.2. This type of acceptance recognizes that the client is acting in the only way he or she is capable of behaving at this time in their lives. As the client begins to take steps toward understanding this deepening self, he or she will understand those aspects of self that are false and those that are real. In other words, the client will begin to see how he or she is living out a false life as the result of past conditions of worth that were placed upon him or her. Although Rogers states that unconditional positive regard should be present for the totality of a session, he admits that this is the ideal and suggests that all therapists must continually strive to achieve this state of being
8.3. Empathy/Empathetic reponding
8.3.1. can be shown in a number of ways
8.3.1.1. accurately reflecting the meaning and affect of what the client expressed;
8.3.1.2. using a metaphor, analogy, image, or self-disclosure, to show the client that he or she was accurately heard;
8.3.1.3. simply nodding one’s head or gently touching the client during the client’s deepest moments of pain, and in other ways.
8.3.2. Subcieve(ing)
8.3.2.1. As opposed to interpreting feelings that the therapist thinks the client might be having, subceiving feelings means that the therapist is sensing deep feelings from the client, feelings of which the client may not be aware. Only when the client agrees that he or she is experiencing these feelings is the therapist “on target” with his or her response.
8.3.3. advanced, creative, and novel approaches to empathic responding
8.3.3.1. (1) reflecting non-verbal behaviors,
8.3.3.1.1. Reflecting non-verbal behaviors: To a client who walks into your office, head down and slouched over, the counselor says, “Wow, I can tell by your body language, that things are not going well.”
8.3.3.2. (2) reflecting deeper feelings,
8.3.3.2.1. Reflecting Deeper Feelings: To a client who is angry that her son has decided not to go to college, a counselor might sense another feeling from her, and say: “I guess I sense how disappointed you feel that your son is not going to college and what an expectation you had for him.”
8.3.3.3. (3) pointing out conflictual feelings and thoughts,
8.3.3.4. (4) using visual imagery,
8.3.3.5. (5) using analogies,
8.3.3.5.1. Using an Analogy: To the client who reveals that she is really struggling and trying hard to make changes, but no matter what she does, things seem to be as bad as ever, could get a response like, “Sounds like you’re rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic .”
8.3.3.6. (6) using metaphors,
8.3.3.7. (7) using targeted self-disclosure,
8.3.3.7.1. Using Targeted Self-Disclosure: To a client who just broke up with his boyfriend and is devastated and feels little hope for the future, the counselor might say: “I remember when I had a breakup and how I felt like the world was going to end— I imagine that’s how you must feel.”
8.3.3.8. (8) reflecting media,
8.3.3.8.1. Reflecting Media (and Use of a Metaphor): To the client who finally feels some hope in his life, after struggling for months, the counselor might say: “As you talk, it reminds me of the song ‘Here Comes the Sun’—there is finally some light in your life.”
8.3.3.9. (9) using tactile responses, and
8.3.3.9.1. Making a Tactile Response: To a client who is struggling with a hurtful and abusive spouse, a counselor might say: “You know, as you’re talking, I feel like my stomach is twisting and turning; I wonder if you might be feeling similarly.”
8.3.3.10. (10) discursive empathy (reflecting cultural and historical factors that maybe impact a person).
8.3.3.10.1. Discursive Response: To the client who seems to feel like the world is out to get him, a counselor might say, “As a Black person, you’ve experienced oppression your whole life; I can see that it really has impacted how you feel in general.”
9. Theraputic process
9.1. Steps for meeting the 6 conditions of therapy
9.1.1. The client comes in for therapy, which is an important, responsible action the client takes in changing his or her life.
9.1.2. The helping relationship is defined by the counselor as one in which the counselor does not have the answer, but can offer the client a safe place where he or she can explore the self and find solutions to his or her problems.
9.1.3. The counselor provides a space where the client feels free to express all feelings regarding the client’s problems.
9.1.4. As the client experiences the sense that he or she is free to express all feelings, negative feelings that the client has been fearful of acknowledging will arise, are accepted by the counselor, and can be examined.
9.1.5. After the client has expressed and processed negative feelings, positive feelings will begin to arise. These feelings, which seemed almost hidden by the negative feelings, are sometimes a surprise for clients.
9.1.6. As with the earlier negative feelings, the positive feelings that arise will also be accepted, examined, and processed.
9.1.7. The exploration of all feelings within an accepting environment leads to an understanding and acceptance of self.
9.1.8. As counseling continues, increased insight is achieved and possible courses of action are decided.
9.1.9. The client begins to make small but important positive behavioral changes in his or her life.
9.1.10. Insight is accurate. expanded, and self-understanding becomes more complete and more
9.1.11. The client increasingly self-directs his or her life and becomes less fearful about making choices that will lead to more productive relationships and more effective behaviors.
9.1.12. The client becomes increasingly autonomous and gradually develops a sense that the therapist is no longer needed. Counseling winds down.
9.2. Thorne (2007: 149) put it slightly differently, expressing the opinion that, in combination, the therapist conditions become ‘something much larger than the parts’. Following from this it can be postulated that there is but one therapist super-condition of which congruence, UPR and empathy are but facets. This is why the issue of the importance of the conditions with respect to one another is a spurious consideration. It is also why attempts to research any single condition, while it may have value, can say nothing about the hypothesis of the necessary and sufficient conditions (see Wilkins 2003: 66– 67). 45
10. Key Features
10.1. Heirarchy of needs
10.1.1. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
10.2. Self concept
10.2.1. https://www.simplypsychology.org/self-concept.html
10.2.2. Personality is fluid not fixed
10.2.3. Bohart (2013: 88) refers to ‘the self one is’ as ‘to be in process, to be in touch with all aspects of oneself and to have a trusting relationship towards oneself’. This is to approach the ‘fully functioning person’ and may be considered as a drawing together of the experiencing self and the ideal self.
10.3. Sef Actualisation
10.3.1. https://www.simplypsychology.org/self-actualization.html
10.4. Authenticity
10.5. Phenomenology
10.6. Anti deterministic
10.7. 19 propositions
10.7.1. propositions by Rogers, there are neat summaries of them in Merry (2002: 34– 37), including (p. 34) ‘some explanations in different and perhaps more familiar terms’, and Tudor and Merry (2002: 98– 99).
10.8. Pros
10.8.1. Shifted the focus of behavior to the individual / whole person rather than the unconscious mind, genes, observable behavior etc.
10.8.2. Qualitative data gives genuine insight and more holistic information into behavior.
10.8.3. Humanistic psychology satisfies most people's idea of what being human means because it values personal ideals and self-fulfillment.
10.8.4. Highlights the value of more individualistic and idiographic methods of study.
10.8.5. Real life applications (e.g., therapy)
10.9. Cons
10.9.1. Ignores biology (e.g., testosterone)
10.9.2. Unscientific – subjective concepts, which are difficult to test
10.9.3. Ethnocentric (biased towards Western culture)
10.9.4. Humanism – can’t compare animals to humans
10.9.5. Belief in free will is in opposition to the deterministic laws of science.