Person-Centred Therapy Essay

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“Evaluate the claim that Person-Centred Therapy offers the therapist all that he/she will need to treat clients.” Introduction In addressing this question it is my intention to research exactly what Person Centred Therapy is and what it isn’t. As with all therapeutic approaches there will be promoters and detractors. There will be misconceptions and different interpretations of what Person Centred Therapy is. I will explore the different views expressed in the Psychotherapy community and weigh up the advantages and disadvantages. While at this early stage I use the term ‘approach’ I also intend to establish if Person Centered therapy is an ‘approach,’ a technique, an ideal, a set of rules or something else completely. I will also explore if it is intended to be used instead of other therapies or to complement other therapies. In answering all these questions it will be necessary to look at the work of Carl Rogers and his theories and supporting evidence that led to the development of Person Centred Therapy. Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers is seen as the pioneer of client centred therapy and much of this essay will focus on his work. However, it is also worth considering the work of those who influenced him. In his book Client Centred Therapy (1951) Rogers recognises a number of psychologists whose ‘contributions enriched our thinking in the process of theory building in regard to personality’. One of these psychologists was Abraham Maslow. Maslow stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a bag of symptoms. To prove that humans are not simply blindly reacting to situations, but trying to accomplish something greater Maslow studied mentally healthy individuals instead of people with serious psychological issues. In studying people who he considered exemplary, Maslow noticed these people who had

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