PERSONCENTERED THERAPY

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PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY

• A REACTION AGAINST THE DIRECTIVE AND
  PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES

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INTRODUCTION

• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

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PSYCHOANALYSIS
BEHAVIORISM
THIRD FORCE
1. Existential 2. Person-centered 3. Gestalt
1. Reductionistic 2. Mechanistic/Deterministic
VS Holistic VS Teleological/ Phenomenologica
l Free will
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ROGERS BASIC ASSUMPTION
You can trust people to solve their own problems
or direct their own growth (self-actualizing) if
core conditions (genuiness, unconditional
positive regard, and empathy) are present in the
therapist and the therapeutic relationship. The
therapists attitudes are more important than
knowledge, theory or techniques.
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CHALLENGES

• The assumption that the counselor knows best
• The validity of advice, suggestion, persuasion,
  teaching, diagnosis, and interpretation
• The belief that clients cannot understand and
  resolve their own problems without direct help
• The focus on problems over persons

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EMPHASIZES

• Therapy as a journey shared by two fallible
  people
• The persons innate striving for
  self-actualization
• The personal characteristics of the therapist and
  the quality of the therapeutic relationship
• The counselors creation of a persmissive,
  growth promoting climate
• People are capable of self-directed growth if
  involved in a therapeutic relationship

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EXISTENTIAL AND HUMANISM
PG. 171 SHARE 1. RESPECT FOR CLIENTS
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE 2. TRUST IN THE CLIENT TO
MAKE POSITIVE CHOICES 3. AN EMPHASIS ON
FREEDOM HUMANISM ADDS THE IDEA OF AN INNATE SELF
ACTUALIZING TENDENCY (DRIVE)
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KEY CONCEPTS
PG. 172 A SENSE OF TRUST IN THE CLIENTS INNATE
ABILITY TO MOVE FORWARD IN THE APPROPRIATE
CONDITIONS. THE MORE THE THERAPIST TRUSTS AND
COMMUNICATES THEIR REALNESS, CARING AND
NONJUDGEMENTAL UNDERSTANDING, THE MORE
SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
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So, what dont person-centered therapists do?
DIAGNOSE? INTERPRET? ANALYIZE TRANSFERENCE? GIVE
ADVISE?
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WHAT IS THE CENTRAL VARIABLE RELATED TO PROGRESS
IN THE PERSON CENTERED APPROACH?
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PG. 172 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE THERAPIST
AND THE CLIENT. PEOPLE EXPERIENCE GROWTH THROUGH
A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHO IS CARING,
UNDERSTANDING, AND REAL.
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PERSON CENTERED THEORY HOLDS THAT THE THERAPISTS
FUNCTION IS TO BE PRESENT AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE
CLIENT AND FOCUS ON THE HERE AND NOW. HOW IS
THIS LIKE OBJECT CONSTANCY IN OBJECT RELATION
THEORY? PG. 176
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THERAPEUTIC GOALS
PG. 174 PROMOTION OF THE ACTUALIZING TENDENCY
THROUGH ESTABLISHING THE CORE CONDITIONS.
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ROGERS DESCRIBES PEOPLE WHO ARE BECOMING
INCREASINGLY ACTUALIZED AS HAVING

• AN OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
• A TRUST IN THEMSELVES
• AN INTERNAL SOURCE OF EVALUATION
• A WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE GROWING.
• ENCOURAGING THESE CHARACTERISTICS IS THE BASIC
  GOAL OF PERSON CENTERED THERAPY

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THERAPISTS FUNCTION AND ROLE
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ROLE
A WAY OF BEING MUCH RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THE
ATTITUDES OF THE THERAPISTS, RATHER THAN THEIR
KNOWLEDGE, THEORIES, AND TECHNIQUES FACILITATE
GROWTH
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FUNCTION
FUNCTION TO ESTABLISH A THERAPEUTIC CLIMATE
CONSISTING OF GENUINESS, CARING, RESPECT,
ACCEPTANCE, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT PROMOTES THE
ACTUALIZING TENDENCY.
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THERAPIST AND CLIENT
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Therapy is a journey taken by therapist and
client...

• The person-to-person relationship is key
• The relationship demands that therapists be in
  contact with their own phenomenological world

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The core of the therapeutic relationship.

• Respect, and faith in the clients potential to
  cope
• Sharing reactions with genuine concern and empathy

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SIX CONDITIONSNECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT FOR
PERSONALITY CHANGES TO OCCUR

• Two persons are in psychological contact
• The first, the client, is experiencing
  incongruency
• The second person, the therapist, is congruent or
  integrated in the relationship
• The therapist experiences unconditional positive
  regard or real caring for the client

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SIX CONDITIONS, CONT...

• The therapist experiences empathy for the
  clients internal frame of reference and
  endeavors to communicate this to the client
• The communication to the client is, to a minimal
  degree, achieved

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A GROWTH-PROMOTING CLIMATE

• Congruence - genuineness or realness
• Unconditional positive regard - acceptance and
  caring, but not approval of all behavior 1)
  ACCEPTANCE OF THE CLIENTS RIGHT TO ALL HIS OR
  HER FEELINGS 2) ACCEPTANCE OF THE CLIENT
  WITHOUT CONDITIONS
• Accurate empathic understanding - an ability to
  deeply grasp the clients subjective world
• Helper attitudes are more important than
  knowledge. THIS IS CONVEYED BY ACTIVE LISTENING
  AND REFLECTION

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WHICH CORE CONDITION DO YOU BELIEVE TO BE MOST
IMPORTANT? ROGERS?
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EVOLUTION OF PERSON-CENTERED METHODS
PG. 179 FROM EARLY REFLECTION OF FEELING TOWARD
EMPHASIS ON PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
THERAPIST IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE CLIENT
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THORNE
POINTS OUT THAT ROGERS WAS COMMITTED TO THE TASK
OF DEMYSTIFYING THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIPS SO THAT
THEY COULD BE STUDIED AND EXPERIENCED AS VIBRANT
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN REAL HUMAN BEINGS RATHER
THAN AS PRIVATE, HERMETIC AND ESSENTIALLY
MYSTERIOUS TREATMENT PROCESSES BWTWEEN DISTRESSED
PATIENTS AND OMNISCIENT PROFESSIONAL (PP. 46-47)
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THE THERAPIST

• Focuses on the quality of the therapeutic
  relationship
• Serves as a model of a human being struggling
  toward greater realness
• Is genuine, integrated, and authentic, without a
  false front
• Can openly express feelings and attitudes that
  are present in the relationship with the client