Evaluation of Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Therapy - Essay Example

Running Head: Assessment and Intervention Evaluation of Person-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Therapy [Institute’s Evaluation ofPerson-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Therapy Introduction Since centuries, experts, theorists, and psychologists have endeavored and attempted to identify and analyze varying aspects of human life, in order to deal with different issues of individuals and societies, as well as for better understanding of human life. In such attempts, experts indicated that humans always confronted loneliness personally and emotionally that resulted in disturbance, distraction, and psychological confrontations. In response to such issues, psychologists carried out various studies and proposed many theories and therapies that may enable experts to deal with these issues in an effective manner. Some of these therapies include Person-Centred therapy, Cognitive therapy, Adlerian therapy, Existential therapy, Play therapy, and a number of other therapies that strived to acquire the same results (Hargaden, 2007). However, it is an observation that a huge number of students and professionals of psychology remain familiar with these theories and therapies, but are unable to apply them in the real scenarios, and often are not even familiar with real application and treatments based on these therapies. Today, professionals advise different contemporary therapies to their patients and clients during psychological counseling; however, lack of information related to roots and origins of therapies results in non-recognition of theorists that strived and put efforts to provide efficient psychological frameworks. For instance, various psychologists believe that therapies such as Cognitive therapy (1979) and Person-Centred therapy (1951) were proposed and applied during 1930s and 1960s, and psychology witnessed their elimination in the same decade. However, even today, a number of psychological practices of counseling are the result of inspiration from the same therapies. In other words, clinical and social psychologists are still using approaches of Carl Rogers (1951) and Aaron Beck without recognizing them. For this purpose, the paper will endeavor to analyze and discuss various theoretical concepts of Person-Centred therapy and Cognitive Therapy, and will attempt to evaluate its models and treatments that will enable the reader to acquire efficient and comprehensive understanding of different aspects of the two therapies. One of the major reasons of considering these two therapies for this paper is the possibility of their application in contemporary psychology and field of counseling. In addition, the two therapies enjoy few similarities that will allow their evaluation in an efficient manner in a simultaneous manner. Specifically, one of the similar notions existing in the two therapies is the recognition and focus on individualized and personal perspective of patients’ behavior and thinking process. During different events of life, humans confront various situations that require their decision-making, and due to few unfortunate incidents, some individuals begin having unoptimistic and negative thoughts about themselves become the major focus and concern of psychologists inspired from the two therapies. Furthermore, a number of psychologists and theorists, such as Freud blamed humans as bodies made of aggressive and sexual behavior, and considered such aspects of humans as the accused aspects. However, Carl Rogers (1951) and Aaron Beck both focused on optimistic nature of human individuals, and proposed therapies that involved innovative psychological frameworks accordingly. In this way, Person-Centred and Cognitive therapies both considered a holistic methodology to deal with psychological patients and clients efficiently. Specifically, now the paper will attempt to discuss different theoretical frameworks of the two theories in a separate manner. Person-Centred Therapy Unlike other psychological therapies, client plays a significant and dominating role in the process of Person-Centred therapy that is also known as Rogerian therapy due to its American founder, Carl Rogers (1951). In this therapy, therapist allows client to direct the process of treatment as per personal comfort. Analysis of the literature review indicated that Rogerian therapy focuses on the notions of self-respect and enhancement of self-experience that are some of the major and significant characteristics of this therapy. Carl Rogers (1951) believed that every individual has an actual-self; however, he/she always seeks to reach an idealized state, and person-centered therapy facilitates clients in reaching closer to that ultimate status in a constructive manner. Advocates (Gillon, 2007) of this theory specified that clients confronting psychological problems frequently experience very low levels of self-security, as well as self-understanding that are essential in higher levels for a comfortable existence of individuals (Rogers, 1951). In this regard, this therapy focuses on individuals as center of attention that increases their level of defense resulting in an optimistic experience of feelings. Theorists indicated that it is very imperative for individuals to acquire such comfortable state, in order to build constructive relationship with other members of their society (Neill, 2007). In specific, Carl Rogers (1951) proposed this innovative therapy in 1930s that altered the formal structures of conventional forms of psychology and counseling into an informal and attached responsibility of therapists. A significant quality of this therapy is the requirement of supportive environment that is crucial for a comfortable relationship of therapist with the client. For such purpose, Carl Rogers (1951) introduced the term ‘client’ and replaced patient with it that indicated his refusal and denial of conventional psychological processes involving therapists and patients in a formal manner. In person-centered therapy, the client determines the general direction of therapy, while the therapist seeks to increase the clients insight and self-understanding through informal clarifying questions (Thorne, 2007). As earlier mentioned, conventional psychology treated individuals as composed of aggressiveness, selfishness, and corruption factors; however, Rogers introduced the concept of human potentials that provided a new perspective of viewing humans as having constructive and optimistic factors for their behavior (Rogers, 1951). In this regard, advocates (Gillon, 2007) of person-centered therapy endeavored to convince that self-actualization is the only factor that may allow individuals to develop and achieve their potentials in the most efficient manner. Additionally, Rogers believed that self-actualization subsequently causes concerns for other members in the society, important for continuation of human society. Besides self-actualization, attitude of the therapist is an imperative factor in Rogerian therapy. Specifically, correspondence, optimistic consideration, and compassion are the three major attitudes that are essential for success in every therapy. Experts (Neill, 2007) observed that therapists often are not compassionate and open enough to provide a comfortable environment to the clients that limits the therapy process, and thus, they indicated presence and integration of all the three factors for successful person-centered therapy. Positive regard or optimistic consideration in person-centered therapy means that evaluation based on feelings and actions of the client should not be a part of process of acceptance by the therapist. Thus, in other words, Rogers (1951) claimed for an unconditional regard in this therapy that is often not possible in real scenarios, as therapists are also humans, and therefore, this requirement often works as a limitation rather than strength. However, Rogers advised absence of few steps that may allow enabling of positive regard, such as disruption, judgment, and recommendations. In absence of these factors, clients are able to feel a comfortable and supportive environment to reduce his personal rejection. This informal approach of person-centered therapy allows a contented exploration of client’s issues by therapist in a non-directive manner (Thorne, 2007). Cognitive Therapy Aaron Beck is a recognized American psychiatrist who proposed Cognitive therapy in the 1960s (Beck, 1979). Assessment of literature (Dryden, 2007) related to Cognitive therapy specified that the cognitive model of Beck is a reversal model of Freudian theory, an outcome of Beck’s efforts of research studies carried out to respond to Freudian’s theory of depression. Thus, while attempting to explain processes in depression, Aaron Beck proposed his own psychological therapy (Lin, 2008). After his research studies, Beck (1979) observed that cognitive frameworks can be feasible and efficient in understanding varying symptoms of depression in different individuals. In this way, Beck represented himself in the hierarchy of Adler, Sullivan, and few other theorists that promoted the significance of cognitive terms to analyze experiences of patients (Strunk, 2007). Further analysis showed that Beck (1979) emphasized on intra-psychic processes in his theory, and thus, one can relate the Cognitive theory as an inheritance of the psychoanalytic theory. In addition, Beck believed that focus on ‘conscious subjective experience’ was a significant approach to interpret different events, as he blamed interpretation of facts as the root cause of disturbance, rather than the facts themselves (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2009). Earlier discussed theory of person-centered played an inspiring role as well in providing the framework of informal and gentle methodology of questioning. In specific, Aaron Beck (1979) suggested that mind creates thoughts automatically to respond to different real-life situations, and these thoughts result in positive or negative behavior of the individuals. He explained that two individuals could respond to a single incidence in a very different manner, so it was not the incident that took place, but the thoughts that presented the event differently. In this way, Beck (1979) proposed restructuring of cognitive processes that may facilitate disturbed and depressed patients to alter their thinking patterns and bring a positive change in their mental processes. Beck (1979) explained that an individual experiences production of an emotion in response to an automatic thought, and emotion could be anger, anxiety, depression, smile, laugh, etc. For such purpose, Cognitive therapy does not allow patients to direct the communication, but make efforts to explore early events of patient’s life that may provide an illustration of his cognitive patterns that can allow alteration process of thoughts, emotions, and subsequently, behavior (Dryden, 2007). As Person-centered therapy focused on three factors of positive regard, empathy, and correspondence, Beck proposed his Cognitive theory based on three major areas: cognitive, behavioral, and emotional (Dryden, 2007). In the cognitive stage, therapists facilitate patients in altering their thinking processes by thinking differently. Beck believed that if a person always looks at the negative aspect, he/she will always end up in suffering, and thus, it is important for therapist to begin a positive thinking pattern by bringing a change in patient’s cognitive characteristics (Strunk, 2007). During the second stage of behavior, therapists advise patients to apply this exercise in their real-life situations of depression, anger, and anxiety; however, such process usually comes after thorough practice during the first stage (Stanley, 2009). Lastly, Beck indicated that it is essential for therapists to create an emotional environment for the patients, in order to understand his/her feelings and interpretations attached to different events. In this way, Beck proposed a three-stage process through his Cognitive therapy that is playing a vital and significant role in contemporary psychology and counseling (Beck, 1979). However, critics (Stanley, 2009) argue that it is very difficult to know the right time to pass on to the next stage, and such confusion causes adverse results, as psychologists and therapists are unable to create closer relationships with their patients due to professional limitations that is one of the major limitations of Cognitive therapy. Treatments Cognitive Therapy Although psychology counseling and therapy treatments limits to one-to-one sessions; however, group therapy is one of the innovative forms of psychotherapy that involves a group of clients that explore and develop relationships in the group while therapists direct them with the concept of cognition, emotion, and behavior. Group therapy is an innovative form inspired from the Cognitive therapy, and applies to clients experiencing depression, fears, substance abuse, etc (Sanders, 2005). Clinically, group therapy has showed significant outcomes in the cases of depression, and thus, it still exists in the current psychology field. Besides group therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy is the follower of cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy that deals with clients confronting the same problems of depression, anxiety, fears, etc (Lin, 2008). One of the significant characteristics of CBT is the process of self-learning along with directions of therapists that enable clients to continue the process of alteration and improvement even after the completion of therapeutic process. However, adversaries (Sanders, 2005) criticized that cognitive behavioral therapy and other treatments inspired from Cognitive therapy includes a complex integration of different stages that results in difficult assessment and evaluation of results after the treatment. Person-centered Therapy As far as application of Person-centered therapy is concerned, a children’s clinic was the major focus of Carl Rogers during the process of his proposition. However, he never limited application of his theory to a specific segment, and thus, it is applicable on clients from varying backgrounds, gender, society, and culture. During his career, Rogers made efforts to apply his therapy on individuals confronting schizophrenia (Rogers, 1951); however, as years passed, contemporary therapists and psychologists are using person-centered therapy for clients experiencing depression, personality disorders, anger, etc. Critics have argued that the notion of self-actualization is not feasible in case studies of illiterate or poor individuals; however, advocates of the therapy maintained that a therapist with discussed three factors could acquire efficient outcomes in any client (Hargaden, 2007). Person-centered therapy has inspired different structures of the group therapy discussed earlier in the paper, and thus, group therapy has used frameworks of both cognitive therapy, as well as person-centered therapy. Family therapy and Play therapy are some other treatments based on person-centered methodology of psychology (Neill, 2007). Application of this therapy does not involve any restricted regulations, and ranges from 60-minute sessions to weekly doses of informal discussions according to the directions of clients rather than therapists. Efficacy of Treatments Although analysis and evaluation of theoretical frameworks of Cognitive therapy and Person-centered therapy indicated efficient outcomes, and the paper discussed some of the treatments inspired from the two models of psychology. However, as critics have argued, therapists and psychologists confront a number of difficulties and limitations during real scenarios due to a number of factors, and thus, it is imperative to carry out a primary research to identify the efficacy of such treatments. In this regard, experts carried out a 3-year study (Stiles & Barkham, 2008) from April 2002 to September 2005 that involved focus on 5613 clients/patients that received treatments based on Cognitive Therapy, Person-centered therapy, and psychodynamic therapy. The study provided very considerable and efficient results, and a significant number of patients/clients indicated improvement of their situation after completion of the treatments/therapeutic sessions (Stiles & Barkham, 2008). Thus, although critics identified and indicated various factors and limitations of both therapies; however, the study indicated effectual outcomes of these treatments in real scenarios. Conclusion Conclusively, the paper discussed, analyzed, and evaluated various theoretical aspects of the chosen psychological therapies: Person-centered therapy and Cognitive therapy. It is an observation after the assessment of both therapies that Carl Rogers and Aaron Beck have played a significant and pivotal role in the provision of these two therapies that are still benefiting thousands of patients and clients experiencing psychological problems until today. This paper assessed varying characteristics of theoretical frameworks and propositions of the two therapists based on secondary research methodology. Thus, further primary researches will play an efficient role in acquiring concrete material on the topic. Conclusively, it is an expectation that the paper will be beneficial for students, teachers, and professionals in better understanding of the topic. References Beck, Aaron T. (1979). Cognitive Theory of Depression. Guilford Press. Dryden, Windy. (2007). Dryden’s Handbook of Individual Therapy. Sage Publications. Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. (2009). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved on August 04, 2009: http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Cognitive-behavioral-therapy.html Gillon, Ewan. (2007). Person-Centred Counseling Psychology. Sage Publications. Hargaden, Helena. (2007). “Person-Centred Therapy.” Transactional Analysis Journal. Volume 37, Issue 1, pp. 80. Lin, T. (2008). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Melville House. Neill, Chris. (2007). “Person-Centred Therapy.” Journal of Community Care. Volume 1654, pp. 36-40. Rogers, Carl. (1951). Client-Centered Therapy. Houghton Mifflin. Sanders, Diana. (2005). Cognitive Therapy. Sage Publications. Stanley, M. A. (2009). “Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder among Older Adults in Primary Care.” The Journal of the American Medical Association. Volume 301, Issue 14, pp. 1460-67. Stiles, William B & Barkham, Michael. (2008). “Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral, person-centered, and psychodynamic therapies in UK primary-care routine practice.” Journal of Psychological Medicine. Volume 38, pp. 677-88. Strunk, William & White, E. B. (2007). Elements of Style. Filiquarian Publishing. Thorne, Brian. (2007). Person-Centred Counseling in Action. Sage Publications. Tudor, Keith. (2008). Brief Person-Centred Therapies. Sage Publications. Read More