Chapter 6

Person-Centered Counseling

THEORYOVERVIEW

The person-centered theory of counseling, as developed by Carl Rogers, is based on the belief that people have the capacity and the right to move toward self-actualization. This approach views people as rational, forward-moving, and realistic beings. He contended that negative, antisocial emotions are the result of frustrated basic impulses. Once free of their defensive behavior, their reactions are positive and progressive. Rogers believed that, given the opportunity, people would make wise decisions and move toward psychological adjustment.

CHAPTEROBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, the student will be able to:

1. Describe the philosophical assumptions of the person-centered approach to

counseling.

2. Discuss the person-centered understanding of human nature, innate drives, and

general tendencies of humans.

3. Demonstrate the skills of active listening reflection of thought and feeling,

clarification, summarization, confrontation of contradictions, and open leads.

4. Evaluate verbal responses based on Carkhuff's levels.

5. Explain the etiology of maladaptive behavior based on person-centered counseling.

6. Summarize the necessary conditions under which psychological growth and/or

behavior changes occur according to this counseling approach.

7. Demonstrate the specific procedures and techniques that facilitate constructive client

change in person-centered counseling.

8. Discuss the similarities and differences of person-centered and other approaches to

counseling.

9. Evaluate the limitations and contributions of the person-centered approach

counseling.

CHAPTERSUMMARY

Carl Rogers and the person-centered school of thought are discussed in this chapter. The Rogerian or person-centered approach to counseling is based on the belief that people have the capacity and the right to move toward self-actualization. In this approach people are considered rational, forward-moving and realistic beings. Because people possess the capacity to regulate and control their own behavior, the counseling relationship is merely a means of tapping personal resources and developing human potential.

A person-centered counselor believes that people:

  • Have worth and dignity in their own right and therefore deserve respect
  • Have the capacity and right to self-direction and, when given the opportunity, make wise judgments
  • Can select their own values
  • Can learn to make constructive use of responsibility
  • Have the capacity to deal with their own feelings, thoughts, and behavior
  • Have the potential for constructive change and personal development toward a full and satisfying life

Rogers wrote that the six core conditions for personality change are as follows:

  1. Two persons are in psychological contact.
  2. The client is in a state of incongruence.
  3. The therapist is congruent and involved in the relationship.
  4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client.
  5. The therapist experiences understanding of the client’s frame of reference.
  6. The communication of empathic and positive regard is achieved.

We, Chuck and Donna, believe that these six conditions need not be limited to the person-centered approach and provide a sound foundation for most standard methods of counseling.

Rogers first called his process nondirectivetherapy, as he refrained from giving advice, asking questions, and making interpretations. Later he adopted the term client-centered, because of the complete responsibility given to clients for their own growth, and then person-centered in hopes of further humanizing the counseling process. By being warm and accepting, counselors create a climate that facilitates a client's trust and willingness to share their inner lives. These explorations with a nonjudgmental counselor, in turn, should lead to better decision-making and to more productive behavior.

Person-centered counseling deals primarily with the organization and function of self. The counselor becomes an objective, unemotional “mirror” who reflects the person’s inner world with warmth, acceptance, and trust. This mirroring allows people to judge their thoughts and feelings and to begin to explore the effects of emotions and cognitions on behaviors. People can then begin to function in a more integrated manner. Person centered counseling is both responsive and facilitative.

Three phases of person-centered therapy that were proposed by Carkhuff include the following steps for clients:

1. examining where they are in their lives at the present moment

2. understanding the relationship between where they are now and where they would like

to be.

3. making plans for getting from present status to desired state

In working with children, however, it may be beneficial to move backwards from the concrete to the abstract.

The counselor as a person is vital to person-centered counseling. Counselors display openness, empathic understanding, independence, spontaneity, acceptance, mutual respect and intimacy. They encourage clients to work toward achieving these same conditions as ultimate counseling goals. The primary techniques are the counselor’s attitudes toward people: congruence (genuineness), unconditional positive regard (nonjudgmental respect), and empathy. The person-centered counselor uses the methods of (1) active and passive listening, (2) reflection of thoughts and feelings, (3) clarification, (4) summarization, (5) confrontation of contradictions, and (6) general or open leads that help client self-exploration. These as sometimes collectively labeled active listening.

Rogers came to believe in six principles that increased his acceptance and understanding of his clients. His statements about those principles are as follows:

  • “….it does not help, in the long run, to act as though I am something I am not.”
  • “I have found it effective in my dealings with people to be accepting of myself.”
  • “I have found it to be of enormous value when I can permit myself to understand another person.”
  • “I have found it to be of value to be open to the realities of life as they are revealed in me and in other people.”
  • “The more I am able to understand myself and others, the more that I am open to the realities of life and the less I find myself wishing to rush in.”
  • “It has been my experience that people have a basically positive direction.”

Carkhuff systematized Roger’s explanation of active listening into a highly usable model. He believed that counselors typically engage in one of five levels of responding.

  • Level l responses deny a person's feeling and thinking.
  • Level 2 responses are messages that give advice and solutions to problems.
  • Level 3 responses are neither helpful nor harmful. These responses provide bridges to further conversation and exploration by reflecting what the client is thinking and feeling about the present status of the problem.
  • Level 4 responses reflect the understanding as well as where the client would like to be.
  • Level 5 responses occur after the client agrees the counselor understands the problem and is ready to develop a plan of action.

In using the person-centered approach with young children, the counselor may have to assume a more active role. Still, even young children can distinguish between positive and negative behaviors once the counselor has established an open dialogue in which feelings and emotions can be aired and conflicts resolved. The counselor uses active listening to give children an opportunity to release feeling without feeling threatened by the counselor. Children can benefit from the addition of bibliocounseling, storytelling, and play therapy into the counseling relationship.

Self-esteem development has been a centerpiece of person-centered counseling. Suggestions regarding the integration of self-esteem building activities into the child’s life are provided. The authors emphasize their belief, however, that self-esteem development is best served by helping children improve their academic performance and develop more friendships.

Virginia Axline translated the nondirective counseling approach of Carl Rogers to work with children in play therapy. In this model, which was expanded upon by Landreth, the counselor focuses on the child’s strengths, reflects the child’s feelings, and recognizes the power of a warm, accepting, and empathic relationship. The counselor expresses an attitude of being completely with the child, an emotional and verbal participant. The process involves the counselor being open to the child’s experience by living out these messages: I am here (nothing will distract me), I hear you (I am listening carefully), I understand you, and I care about you. Moustakas and others have provided additional insights regarding effective person-centered play therapy.

Much attention has been given in the literature to the disadvantages and advantages of person-centered counseling across cultures. This approach may not be a good fit, for instance, for clients from cultures who expect their counselors to give advice. An example of compatibility, however, is noted when the core conditions of genuineness, unconditional positive regard and accurate empathic understanding demonstrate the respect for others that is important in many cultures. Although this model does not lend itself especially well to the managed-care climate, some counselors are finding ways to modify the process and still remain primarily person-centered in their counseling approach.

KEYCONCEPTS

1.A basic tenet of person-centered counseling is that people have worth and dignity in their own right; therefore, they deserve respect.

2.According to person-centered beliefs, people have the potential for constructive change and self-actualization.

3.Person-centered therapy is considered a nondirective therapy because of the therapist's encouraging and listening role.

4.The person-centered counselor exhibits genuineness, unconditional positive regard and empathy in dealings with clients.

5.The predominant technique of the person-centered approach is active listening.

6.The ultimate goal of person-centered counseling is to help a person realize his or her potential for being a fully functioning human being.

KEY TERMS, CONCEPTS, and PERSONALITIES

Acceptance – A condition necessary in the counseling environment for the client to make personality changes.

Active listening – The process of letting the client know that the counselor truly hears and understands what he/she is saying and feeling. This can be accomplished through careful listening to the client’s core message and responding in such ways as summarizing and repeating the client’s feelings, thoughts, and concerns.

Autonomy – A main goal of person-centered therapy, a condition whereby an individual can be truly free and self-directed.

Carl Rogers – The father of person-centered therapy. Rogers viewed people as good, rational, and forward-moving beings.

Congruence – A person-centered attitude of genuineness; Rogers described this as being authentic or “all in one piece.”

Empathy – The person-centered attitude that holds counseling together. Empathy is the counselor’s ability to genuinely understand the feelings and emotions of the client.

Nondirective therapy – The first name for person-centered counseling based on the counselor’s listening and encouraging role.

Unconditional positive regard – A person-centered attitude of respect for the client that is free of judgment.

Virginia Axline – A child-centered play therapist who modeled her work on the nondirective approach of Carl Rogers.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. From a person-centered perspective, people are viewed as:

A. clean slates, or tabula rasa.

B. rational, realistic, and forward-moving.

C. calculating, manipulative, and evil.

D. cautious, curious, and hesitant.

2. Which of the following statements is not a description of person-centered counseling?

A. People have worth and dignity and deserve respect.

B. People can select their own values.

C. People are controlled by external forces.

D. People have the potential to make constructive changes in their lives.

3. What did Rogers see as the reason for negative and antisocial emotions?

4. In order for a person to move toward actualization, he or she must

5. What did Rogers say are the six conditions for personality change?

  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______
  4. ______
  5. ______
  6. ______

6. When he first developed his theory, Rogers called it:

A. person-centered counseling.

B. nondirective therapy.

C. client-centered counseling.

D. empathic therapy.

7. In person-centered counseling, the counselor acts as:

A. a “mirror”, reflecting the client’s inner world.

B. a “teacher”, teaching the client adaptive skills.

C. a “guide”, leading the client to greater awareness.

D. an “advisor”, telling the client what to do to get better.

8. Carkhuff modified Rogers’ theory to involve three stages. List the three stages.

1.______2.______3.______

9. Effective person-centered counselors should possess which of the following traits?

A. judgment

B. analytical skills

C. respect

D. none of the above

10. What are the three main attitudes or traits possessed by person-centered counselors?

1.______

2.______

3.______

11. In Carkhuff’s model, which of the following is an example of a Level 3 response?

A. “Don’t worry about it - it’ll get done eventually.”

B. “You’re worried that your teacher will be mad if you don’t complete your project.”

C. “One time, I turned in a project late and got an F.”

D. “You’d better just forget about baseball practice and spend all afternoon working on that project.”

12. In successful person-centered counseling, the client:

A. experiences transference with the counselor.

B. teaches the counselor about him/herself and his/her problems.

C. receives advice from the counselor.

D. is diagnosed and treated according to that diagnosis.

ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. Carkhuff’s model for active listening contains five levels. Describe each one and give an example of a response from each level. Discuss the difference between the lower-level and higher-level responses.

2. The authors of the text state that, “in using the person-centered approach with young children, the counselor may have to assume a more active role.” Explain what you think is meant by this, and give at least two examples of how a person-centered counselors might do this with young children.

ACTIVITIES

1. While watching a TV show, pay attention to the dialogue. Record several conversational phrases and write empathic responses to as many statements as possible.

2. Rogers believed that all humans move toward self-actualization. Consider your own life. Do you feel you are moving toward self-actualization? If so, how? If not, why not? Do you want to change this? Discuss with a partner.

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