Basic Concepts of the Person–Centred Approach to Counselling

The person-centred approach to counselling belongs to the Humanistic School of Therapy and was devised by Carl Rogers an American psychologist who in the 1950s proposed a form of therapy which focussed on the clients experience of themselves, as opposed to the counsellor being an expert and telling them what to do, or what was wrong with them.

Listen to a podcast on the early life of Carl Ransom Rogers by clciking the play arrow below
The therapy relied on the quality of the relationship between the counsellor and the client this is sometimes called a ‘way of being’ with the counsellor demonstrating what is known as the Core Conditions which form the basis of the relationship.

Click Play for a podcast on Carl Rogers, founder of the Person-Centred Approach to counselling.

The Core Conditions

1. Empathy (the counsellor trying to understand the client’s point of view)
2. Congruence (the counsellor being a genuine person)
3. Unconditional Positive Regard (the counsellor being non-judgemental)

Person Centred therapy harnesses the clients natural self-healing process, and given the right relationship with the therapist, clients can decide what they want to do with their lives, to this end person centred therapy is a personal growth model also known as non-directive therapy, the client is not taught the model of therapy or undertake homework.

Carl Rogers believed that all individuals had the power to live to their own organismic valuing process. This basically means trusting your own judgment, living your life to your own values not the values of others.

Click to learn about Carl Rogers’ Core Conditions

Click to see other contributors to Person-Centred Theory