This paper evaluates the claim that person-centered therapy provides therapists with all they need to treat clients. Drawing on Carl Rogers' humanistic theory, it examines the core constructs of the person-centered approach — including organismic valuing, positive regard, conditions of worth, and unconditional positive self-regard — and assesses the theory's strengths and weaknesses. The paper also considers Rogers' six conditions for growth simulation and how they apply to psychological disorders such as depression. By analyzing both supportive and critical perspectives, the paper concludes that empathy, unconditional positive regard, and genuineness equip therapists to address a wide range of psychological disorders.
The person-centered theory was conceptualized by Carl Rogers, drawing on the experience he had gained from years of working with clients as a counselor (Casemore, 2011). Contrary to traditional behavioral theories, which portrayed the counselor or therapist as an expert, the person-centered approach is built on the concept of self-actualization. It holds that human beings have the potential to realize the full extent of their abilities, provided they are given facilitative climates under which they can develop the right psychological attitudes (Barlow & Durand, 2011). Such climates offer environments in which individuals feel free from both psychological and physical threat, and are achieved through relationships with people who are genuine (congruent), accepting, and deeply understanding (empathic) (Barlow & Durand, 2011). The person-centered theory therefore rests on the elements of competence, love, and safety, which explains why it has been adopted and applied in areas well beyond counseling.
Claim: Person-centered therapy offers the therapist all that he or she will need to treat clients.
The goal of this paper is to evaluate the above claim on the basis of the person-centered theory. This entails examining the theory's strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, and its practicability in real-life situations, based on the key constructs upon which it rests.
Person-centered therapy, in the words of Rogers, "hypothesizes that the inner changes taking place in therapy will cause the individual after therapy to behave in ways which are less defensive, more socialized, more acceptant of reality in himself and in his social environment…" (Rogers, 2014). Essentially, the Rogerian theory rests on a number of interconnected constructs that together convey the theory's core idea: in therapy, the client is the expert, as he or she is capable of realizing the full extent of their own ability (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Organismic valuing stems from evolution. Evolution enabled the development of human tastes, preferences, and senses. Evolutionary lessons therefore form the basis of human preferences through the process of organismic valuing (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Positive regard is one of the things that humans highly value and cannot do without. It incorporates the human needs for affection, love, safety, attention, and similar essentials (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Positive self-regard incorporates elements such as high self-esteem and self-worth that human beings gain from the positive regard shown to them by others (Barlow & Durand, 2011). Failure to attain positive self-regard causes people to feel inferior and prevents them from achieving the full extent of their abilities (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Conditions of worth arise as a result of society's deviation from traditional evolutionary environments into new environments that are appealing in terms of organismic valuing, but damaging to the actualization process (Barlow & Durand, 2011). Conditions of worth refers to those instances in which aspects of positive regard are extended only when a person is deemed "worthy" of them. For instance, children may receive parental affection only when they perform well academically (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Conditional positive self-regard stems from conditions of worth. If human beings are continuously considered "unworthy," they develop low self-esteem, experience diminished self-worth, and become unable to achieve the full potential of their abilities (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Counseling and therapy under the person-centered approach seek to instill in clients a sense of unconditional positive self-regard through the accepting climate of congruence (Casemore, 2011). Once clients feel loved and valued, they are better able to realize the full potential of their abilities (Casemore, 2011).
The main strength of the person-centered theory stems from the optimism it conveys. Unlike other traditional humanistic models — such as Freud's theory — it incorporates the idea that humans, when provided with facilitative climates, are able to realize the full extent of their abilities. Freud's theory, by contrast, holds that the human ego, superego, and instinct make it practically impossible for individuals to realize their full potential (Casemore, 2011). In this way, Freud's theory undermines the importance of human interactions and portrays human beings as incapable of improving themselves (Casemore, 2011).
The ability of humans to increase their self-worth and improve both themselves and their environments is evident today from their wide-ranging innovations and creative achievements. It is for this reason that the person-centered approach has been widely accepted at almost all levels of human interaction — doctor-patient, teacher-student, government-citizen, and more — with each relationship seeking to offer facilitative environments for full capacity realization (Barlow & Durand, 2011).
Other strengths of the person-centered theory include its logically tight and clearly reasoned arguments, its broad scope of application, and the philosophical depth and richness it incorporates (Casemore, 2011).
Critics of the person-centered approach have challenged it on the grounds of being "theory thin" (Casemore, 2011). A second critique concerns the theory's expectation that therapists use different approaches for different clients. Critics argue that this is impractical, given the large number of disorders therapists must address, and that most therapists make diagnoses either because it is agency practice or for insurance reimbursement purposes (Sharf, 2011). Proponents of the approach, however, maintain that person-centered therapists must tailor their methods to each individual client, as this is the only way to reflect "the uniqueness of the client's humanness" (Sharf, 2011, p. 221).
Rogers dealt with psychological disorders by connecting empathically with the strong feelings that his clients held within (Sharf, 2011). He strived to make such feelings and inner strengths — invisible on the surface — known to his clients. When dealing with depression, for instance, he connected feelings of discouragement, despair, hopelessness, and sadness with an individual's inner strength, and helped them recognize that they possessed the ability to make judgments and decisions (Sharf, 2011).
Rogers held the belief that all psychological disorders could be addressed using his six conditions for growth simulation: client perception, the therapist's empathic understanding, the therapist's unconditional positive regard, the therapist's congruence, client incongruence, and client-therapist psychological contact (Casemore, 2011).
Client-therapist psychological contact requires that there exist a recognizable and distinct relationship that both parties consider valid (Noel, 2013).
Client incongruence requires that the client accept his or her vulnerability to anxieties and fear (Noel, 2013).
"Six conditions for growth and disorder treatment"
Noel, S. (2013). Person-centered therapy (Rogerian therapy). Good Therapy. Retrieved from
Rogers, C. R. (2014). On becoming a person. Constable and Robinson.
Sharf, R. (2011). Theories of psychotherapy and counseling: Concepts and cases (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.
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