Understand person centred approaches for care and support Person centred values is a theory developed by Carl Rogers that trusted the innate tendency (known as the actualising tendency) of human beings to find fulfilment of their personal potentials. An important part of this theory is that in a particular psychological environment, the fulfilment of personal potentials includes sociability, the need to be with others and a desire to know and be known by other people. It also includes being open to experience, being trusting and trustworthy, being curious about the world and being creative and compassionate. It is important to work in a way that encourages person centred values so that a person feels free from threat, both physically and mentally. This environment could be achieved when being in a relationship with a person who was very understanding, accepting and genuine.
All these humanistic psychologists did researches on freedom , values, tragedy, human potential, spirituality, personal responsibility and agreed people were naturally good. Rogers used the person centred approach to increase an understanding of human personalities and relationships. The person centred approach views the client to be in control of their own their own potential growth. Rogers (1961) argued that the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are vital, and what experiences have been deeply buried. Person centred Counselling is a relationship therapy”.
I am going to explore the core conditions that Carl Rogers uses in his theory of person centred counselling. There are three core conditions: congruence, empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard. These conditions are what Carl Rogers believed are the skills a counsellor needs in order to be able to support the client in their process of healing themselves. I am then going to use my own experiences to discuss why I feel that only using the person technique, for certain clients, may not be sufficient to make the progress they require on an emotional level. On the other hand I am going to discuss how learning the person centred approach has affected my personal and work life in a positive way.
The two main counselling approaches that will be discussed are Psychodynamic and Humanistic, including the theoretical principles that underpin both approaches. It is important to acknowledge that all counselling approaches agree that the core conditions are essential as the basis for any approach: incongruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy. The theoretical principles that define the Humanistic counselling approach is in essence a positive view of human nature and believes that humans have an inbuilt ability to develop and reach their full potential, and promotes personal growth. In order for a Humanistic approach to be successful then the quality of the relationship between the counsellor and client is of paramount importance, all the core conditions, warmth, empathy and congruence should be displayed by the counsellor. This approach encompasses the view that people are trustworthy, are unique as individuals and have their own realities.
Building rapport To be the best you can be you need to discover the magic of rapport. The principles and techniques of rapport hold the key to good communication. It is based on the idea that we like to communicate with people who we perceive to be like us. This is because we will only be influenced by people who we think like us as a person. It works best when feelings are authentic – that is you genuinely care about other people and have their interests at heart.
They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that we as humans have the ability to choose what they do regardless of environment, and that humans are pretty much conscious beings that are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. Two major theorists associated with this theory of personal development that impacted humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Humanism places an emphasis on the assumption that all humans are inherently good in nature and possess free will.
Aristotle also suggests happiness conforms to goodness of virtue (Kucukuysal and Beyhan, 2011). To be happy and good, one must make the right choices. Virtue is taught and learned. The ability to define happiness and decide what is virtuous is an individual choice based upon life teachings and experience. In order to make someone else happy, you must be happy with yourself.
Should therapists promote a relationship that demonstrates unconditional positive regard as Rogers’s method stresses? These are the issues that troubled critics and they
We each had our own reasons why the humanistic theory was important to us. The first theory that we will discuss is the humanistic theory. As defined by Robert S. Feldman, “the humanistic theory is the conscious, self motivated ability to change and improve.” (Feldman, 2009, p.401) Humanistic theorists believe that along with peoples unique creative impulses make up the core of human personality (Feldman, 2009, p.401). For Daniel, this theory meant that we have a basic need and desire as humans, to try and achieve, and to be a good person. For Heather, it meant that the humanistic theory is not inherited but done by interaction.
This journey into Carl Rogers life will show causes for his motivation. His Hands on approach to theory will be apparent in his writings concerning a Therapist’s relationship with the client. This however, is solely a result of his passion for individual educational development. This will be apparent as well in the text to follow. As a strict follower of empirical research methodologies Carl Rogers becomes a successful psychological theorist from his Dissertation to that which follows.