Person Centered Essay

2151 Words9 Pages
Abstract As a challenge to the incumbent directive and interpretive approaches of behaviourism and psychoanalysis therapies, person-centered therapy has revolutionised the direction of counselling theory and practice. As the name implies, person-centered approach views clients as the ultimate agents for self-change. It assumes that humans are essentially positively motivated and can be trusted to make their own decisions to shape, direct and take responsibility for the way they live their lives. Since its conceptualization by Carl Rogers, person-centered therapy has yield successful treatment outcomes across the world. However, as with all therapies, there are inherent strengths and weaknesses. The obvious strength of this therapy is the emphasis of centrality on the client, who is able to find his solutions to problems in the context of a safe and accepting environment. It has, however, been met with limited success with clients who have trouble expressing themselves verbally. A wise therapist will do well knowing when to use person-centered therapy in its entirety, and when to swap treatments when he feels it appropriate for his client. Person-Centered Therapy Person-centered therapy, now considered a founding work in the humanistic school of psychotherapies, began formally with Carl Rogers (Corey, 2009). Evolved out of his work as a clinical psychologist and developed as an offshoot of his theory of client-centered therapy, Rogers’ approach to counselling and psychotherapy emerged as a challenge to the incumbent directive and interpretive approaches of behaviourism and psychoanalysis therapies. While the latter approaches have made significant contributions to the field of psychology, both “neither acknowledged nor employed the inherent dignity of the human person” (Vitz, 2009). Rogers’ abiding respect and interest for people as subjects rather than
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