Advantages and Disadvantages of Person-Centered Counseling Approach - Essay Example

Critique of a Person – Centered Counseling Approach Introduction Client-Centered therapy was invented by Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s (Copper 2007). It is a form of therapeutic intervention and patient-therapist relation that emphasizes the individual agency of the patient in discovering the solving their problem. The underlining concept of client-centered therapy, or person-centered therapy as it has also been called, is the unconditional acceptance and kind regard the therapist has for the patient. It also understands that people can be trusted to make proper interventions in their lives without direct instructions from the therapist. Like Gestalt therapy, client-centered therapy is a humanistic psychology. Indeed, client-centered therapy is regarded as one of the founding therapies of the humanistic school of psychology. The essay explores a general background of the development of the client-centered model is in relation to its historical and theoretical foundational elements. Roger’s theories are contextualized within the broader spectrum of humanistic theories, Gestalt therapy. Specific enabling conditions of Roger’s client-centered therapy are explicated, including the centrality of the therapist’s unconditional acceptance and empathic awareness. The attitudes of the client are examined. Finally, the limiting elements of this therapeutic approach are considered. Context with Humanistic Counseling Theories The core theoretical foundation of humanistic psychologies is the existential emphasis on human agency, and Carl Roger’s client-centered therapy is no exception. While the client-centered therapeutic approach has been aligned with Gestalt therapy (Osatuke, Glick, Stiles, Greenberg, Shapiro, & Barkham 2005) in that they both emphasize holistic patterns and the individual’s free choice, it seems that the Rogerian perspective on individual agency is even more starkly existential than the Gestalt approach; the Gestalt approach acknowledges the challenge of competing modes of thinking, as well as more involved intervention by the therapist. Client-centered therapy also has a phenomenological understanding of the individual’s environment, as it contends that what one perceives of their situation, feelings, and environment is actually their reality. Rogers situates his therapy in direct opposition to the psychoanalytic model that emphasizes lengthy therapist involvement and the inability of the patient to recognize their problems because of repressive barriers. (Owens 2009) Rogers believes that the emphasis should be place nearly entirely on the patient, as they have the humanistic power of realizing their problems and overcoming them. Person Centered therapy locates personal growth in the process of self awareness. This means that as the client becomes aware of their maladjustment they have correspondingly overcome it. This is a belief that is similar to the Gestalt and cognitive approaches, but differs greatly with behaviorism. Client-centered development understands growth in a similar means to Gestalt therapy, but differs in significant ways. The two therapies acknowledge that there is a true or ideal self that must be actualized. Gestalt therapy understands that barriers to the self emerge as humans develop conflicting selves and interpretations of reality, whereas Client-entered therapy emphasizes a more simple formulation of the self, locating barriers to progress in maladjustments to current conditions. The understanding that there is a self that is actualized through understanding and personal development guides the therapy. Rather than teaching the patient about their dysfunction, the goal of client-centered therapy is to show the patient how to become aware of their dysfunctions. (Rogers 1989) The patient strives to gain methods of attaining self-awareness and means of accessing a more direct or true reality. This method empowers the patient with the ability to confront and work through future problems. Attitudes of a Person-Centered Counselor The process of client-centered therapy, as one might imagine, is just as reliant on the individual as it is the therapist. Patterson & Joseph, S. (2007) identify six core elements that must occur for personality change to occur. The first of these elements is that the patient and therapist are in psychological contact. This seems to indicate that rather than assuming the stolid objectivity of a psychoanalyst or psychiatrist, the therapist develops a direct empathetic connection with the patient. In this regard the therapist functions as a friend and it’s through this lens that they strive to imbue the patient with increased self-esteem and positive regard. One might consider the phenomenological implications of this, as the relationship understands the true nature of self-regard to be subjective. The therapist must also have unconditional and positive regard for the patient. Indeed, this is one of the core techniques of client-centered therapy, as the therapist must create an open and accepting environment. This is similar to the core element of psychological contact between therapist and patient. The therapist must develop and empathetic understanding of the patient’s environment and situation to the extent that they are non-judgmental and caring. This is a unique technique as it is not the emphasis is not placed on whether the individual is making the right or wrong decision, but whether they are living up to their actual self. The implications for this final point are questionable, as it seems to imply that there is no objective morality that they client must adhere, as long as their reality follows their true self. While this concept is echoed among a wide-range of thinkers, including Nietzsche, and Emersonian Transcendentalism, one must consider Roger’s underlining foundations. One possible response to such a criticism would be that the fully actualized self functions in harmony with nature, so that morality is ultimately revealed in the process of discovering one’s true identity, and not through the social contract. Core Conditions to the Therapeutic Process There are a number of important conditions that enable the therapeutic process to occur. One core condition for personality change is that the client is experiencing incongruency (Rogers 1989). This is a Rogerian term indicating that the person’s ideal self and their actual self are in disproportion. The therapist then intervenes as a means of bringing the person into self-realization with their personal version of their self being integrated with the external and social version of the self. Through the successful realization of these personality elements the patient then develops congruency. While the client-centered approach is phenomenological it also stresses that the therapist have already attained congruency. This may seem to indicate that there is an objective sense of self that the therapist teaches the patient, but it can also be understood more along Eastern philosophic lines, where it’s not the objective realization of self that is conveyed but rather than the process by which the self is actualized and adjusted to its own individual phenomenological reality. For the therapist the goal is to create the proper atmosphere for these transformations to occur. Alternately, this process has been termed ‘experiencing’, as it refers to the creation of a positive experience in the therapy. The therapist strives to improve the individual’s self-esteem and leave them feeling more positive about their true self. Another goal of therapist has been termed ‘locus of evaluation’ (Rogers 1989). This is a concept whereby the therapist attempts to shift the patient’s comparisons to outside forces inward, taking increased personal responsibility for their actions. Non-directive Theory While Roger's utilized 'non-directive' to originally refer to his therapeutic approach, it also represents a specific theory within the broader category of Person-Centered Therapy. The non-directive process abandons previously held conceptions regarding the therapist that instruct or 'directs' the client along a specific path. In these regards the therapist acts more as a guide than a sage. Rogers (1961, pg. 184) himself states, If the therapy were optimal, intensive as well as extensive, then it would mean that the therapist has been able to enter into an intensely personal and subjective relationship with the client – relating not as a scientist to an object of study, not as a physician expecting to diagnose and cure, but as a person to a person. This is not to say that suggestions for progress are solely the responsibility of the client, but rather they are elements that are distinct to the particular situation rather than external or objective; as such it is the therapist’s emphatic and close-personal relationship with the client that is a contingent element for their therapeutic aid. In all instances, as Goodman, Morgan, Juriga, & Brown (2004) note, therapist control and direction is deemphasized according to the theoretical belief that such an approach de-empowers the client and creates a feeling of helplessness. Limitations There are a number of notable limitations to the Person-Centered therapeutic approach. One of the most pervasive limitations is that this approach lacks the scientific rigor that one might associate with a cognitive-behavioral approach; it follows then that some individuals may reject the lack of strictly defined structure that these other therapeutic approaches offer. Another limiting aspect of this theory is that since it encourages a non-directive, empathic approach to counseling, the therapist is unable to offer criticism that the client needs to hear. In these regards, the person-centered aspect may be too accepting of certain of the client's dysfunctional aspects. Finally, the person-centered approach fails to solve significant issues that may require psychiatric support. For instance, one might consider the limits person-centered therapy might encounter when working with an individual with schizophrenia, or bi-polar disorder. In such instances, it's necessary to resort to more comprehensive treatment. Conclusion In conclusion, Carl Roger’s theory of client-centered therapy is notable as it emphasizes an approach to therapy founded in the individual. While the therapist remains an important element in the therapeutic process, they are deemphasized to encourage the client’s empowerment. The logical outcome of this is that the individual is generally capable of determining their own course of progress when given the support and understanding of the therapeutic professional. While person-centered therapy is effective for a number of personal dilemmas, it is limited in that it lacks scientific vigor and may not be able to aid more substantial psychic issues. References Cooper, M. (2007). Person-centred therapy: the growing edge. Therapy Today, 18(6), 33-36. Freire, E., Koller, S., Piason, A., & da Silva, R. (2005). Person-Centered Therapy with Impoverished, Maltreated, and Neglected Children and Adolescents in Brazil. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 27(3), 225-237. Goodman, R., Morgan, A., Juriga, S., & Brown, E. (2004). Letting the Story Unfold: A Case Study of Client-Centered Therapy for Childhood Traumatic Grief. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 12(4), 199-212. Osatuke, K., Glick, M., Stiles, W., Greenberg, L., Shapiro, D., & Barkham, M. (2005). Temporal patterns of improvement in client-centred therapy and cognitive-behaviour therapy. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 18(2), 95-108. Owens, I. (2009). Exploring the similarities and differences between person-centred and psychodynamic therapy. (Cover story). British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 27(2), 165. Patterson, T., & Joseph, S. (2007). Person-Centered Personality Theory Support from Self- Determination Theory and Positive Psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 47(1), 117-139. Rogers, Carl (1989). The Carl Rogers Reader. Mariner Books. Rogers, Carl (1961). On Becoming a Person. Mariner Books. Read More