Therapy is not always about telling about problems and getting a solution for it from the therapist. To shift from this old concept of therapy, here comes person-centered therapy which takes a humanistic approach and guides the clients on the path of self-discovery. It is a type of therapy that even helps the clients in answering the questions that they are trying to find in their life. That’s why it is also known as client-centered therapy as the focus is only on client with support and guidance from the therapist in the therapy sessions.
It is a non-directive therapy that involves client just expressing themselves and the therapist just guides the client towards the right path without much involvement. This therapy was developed by Carl Rogers in 1930s as a contrast to other therapies. He believed that people need a judgement free, supportive and comfortable environment which makes therapy a success at the end. He was the one who said that a person coming to seek therapy should be referred to as “client” instead of “patient”.
Therapeutic Goals
Therapist in person-centered therapy aims to help the clients achieve independence and a sense of integration. This therapy focuses on the person and not the problems being experienced by the person currently. It doesn’t believe in solving problem but to help the clients become able to cope with their problems efficiently whenever problems arise in their life. It is therapist’s responsibility to create such a comfortable and supportive environment for the clients that they start their journey towards self-actualization.
For this process, whatever they strive to do and need for it, therapist helps in that particular aspect. In this therapy, clients also get to know themselves better than earlier and learn their authentic ways of being. According to Rogers, clients want to achieve self-actualization in the therapy sessions and he identified self-actualized people as:
- who have an internal source of evaluation rather than an external one
- a willingness to keep growing in life
- trust in themselves
- an openness to new experiences
And these above mentioned pointers are the basic goals of Person-Centered Therapy. But these specific goals are not always followed but the clients choose and define their own goals to be fulfilled in the therapy sessions.
How Person-Centered Therapy works?
Therapist keeps an attitude of care, respect, understanding and support in the therapy session so that the clients lose their defences and share everything with the therapist. Thus, clients also get the freedom of exploring every aspect of their life as earlier they were denied or stopped from doing it. Clients also engage in self-exploration of their feelings, beliefs and attitudes which is necessary to go on the path of achieving self-actualization.
Clients when come to seek person-centered therapy, they are in a state of incongruence which means their self-perception and experience in reality are very different from each other. Therapist helps the client in exploring that discrepancy and reduce the gap between idealized self and actual self. Clients also seek person-centered therapy to deal with feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, hopelessness, low self-esteem and poor decision making.
Overtime in therapy, clients express their negative emotions like anger, hatred, guilt, shame, fear and anxiety and thus move to a greater acceptance and self-integration. They feel safe and realistic and thus accept themselves better than earlier. Person-centered therapy makes people self-healers who create their own self-growth. The main thing that clients want in therapy is being understood, accepted and valued which helps them trying out new behaviours in life.
Techniques in Person-Centered Therapy
In Person-Centered Therapy, a variety of techniques are used to help clients achieve self-actualization:
1. Be Non-directive
The focus is not on solving the client’s problems but on making the clients able to manage their problems and creating conditions as such in therapy session that the clients learn to deal with problems on their own. In Person-Centered Therapy, therapist stays non-directive and permissive. Therapist teaches clients to focus on their direct experiences and consciousness rather than their feelings. And also, clients are constantly motivated to go towards self-actualization.
Person-Centered Therapy assumes that:
- Humans are naturally good.
- People truly aspire positive change and healing.
- People have what they need to change their self-concept, attitudes and behaviour.
- People have potential to achieve self-actualization.
In this therapy of non-directive approach, therapists assume that their clients have the potential of compassion, curiosity, trust, creativity healthy relationships, and openness to experiences.
2. Congruence
This technique helps in the development of self-concept. Therapist shows genuineness and authenticity in the therapy sessions. This is done to let the clients openly express their feelings, attitudes, opinions, thoughts and responses that need some change. Throughout the therapeutic process, therapist stays non-judgemental and serves positivity to the client that shows understanding and acceptance. People with discrepancy between their idealized self and actual self seek therapy and learn to reduce that discrepancy in order to become a highly functional person and achieve goals in life.
The main aim of clients in Person-Centered Therapy is to achieve congruence. Thus for this, therapist has to stay genuine so to build a healthier and trustful therapist-client relationship. Being congruent helps in expressing all negative emotions like anger, hatred, frustration, anxiety, and annoyance. Thus, clients become aware of themselves and then can strive towards self-actualization. There is a significant relationship between congruence and self-acceptance. Clients are not only allowed to become aware of themselves but also to accept themselves completely. When they talk about their direct experiences it allows them to become sympathetic and respectful towards self.
3. Empathy
It is an ability to think and feel about a situation from someone else’s perspective and relate to them. It is completely different concept from sympathy. In empathy, people show understanding whereas in sympathy, people just feel bad for others. Therapist must show empathy in the session and think about client’s situation referencing from their own experiences while maintaining a professional distance.
Emotionally focused empathy provided by therapist helps clients to pay attention and value their own experiences, view their life in new ways and increase their self-esteem so to make new choices and decide new courses of actions to be followed in life.
There are 3 types of empathy:
- Subjective empathy- therapist tries to experience what it is like to be client
- Interpersonal empathy- helps to understand a client’s internal frame of reference
- Objective empathy- relies on sources outside of client’s frame of reference
Empathy allows the therapist to understand client’s feeling as if they were his /her own and it strengthens the relationship between therapist and client. Therapist has to understand client on both emotional and the cognitive levels as it is essential to facilitate client’s cognitive processes and emotional self-regulation.
4. Unconditional Positive Regard
It is one of the most important aspects of the Person-Centered Therapy. It is important for the therapist to exhibit unconditional positive regard in the therapeutic setting. In the therapy session, it shows that therapist understands, accepts and cares about the client. It also involves not judging the client on anything they differ from each other. In Person-Centered Therapy, it is an essential requirement for the client to feel valued by the therapist. It can be achieved through empathic identification with the client.
According to Roger, the greater the degree of accepting, valuing, praising and caring without an judgement in a supportive and comforting environment, the greater are the chances that the therapy will be successful and would have positive outcomes at the end. Clients feel loved and accepted by the therapist and thus feel safe and honest in the therapeutic environment. It is not possible for the therapist to be caring all the time but showing a little respect to client is important in the therapeutic setting.
It is a part of self-actualization as it helps the client to go towards the path of achieving self-actualization by accepting and valuing themselves. Problematic behaviours of clients like excessive drinking, procrastinating and overeating can be easily resolved through unconditional positive regard. It also helps in finding one’s true potential and achieving goals in life.
5. Active Listening
Actively listening to clients without passing any judgement is an essential part of the Person-Centered Therapy. Besides, just listening to the client, the therapist also has to make sure that the client knows that they are being listened to and understood as well. Therapist can show that he/she is paying attention through body language. Therapist can maintain eye contact, sit straight and slightly lean forward and keep nodding.
Regularly in therapy sessions, verbally responding to client after interpreting what they said is helpful. Meaning doesn’t need to be changed but the therapist has to express what all was understood. This will definitely reassure the client that the therapist was listening carefully and whatever they say it matters to them. Also, in Person-Centered Therapy, open-ended questions are asked to bring more information from the client. It is also beneficial to give verbal positive affirmations to the client like, “I appreciate that you told me this”.
Benefits of Person-Centered Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy is proven to be effective for mental health issues like anxiety, overthinking, grief and many others. It helps in increasing the quality of life and become a better person. This therapy teaches clients how to manage daily life problems in new and easy ways. Also, everyone has made a concept of idealized self (what they aspire to be) and real self (what they are in reality) in their mind.
Person-Centered Therapy helps clients in finding a balance between the idealized self and the real self so to bring congruence in life which is good for one’s mental health. This therapy also contributes in client’s developing trust in themselves and in others also which is good for their interpersonal relationships and social world. This is necessary to develop and maintain healthy relationships in life. Person-Centered Therapy is proven to be really effective for enhancing self-awareness and self-esteem.
Seek Professional Mental Help at Medavas
If you want to become a better person in every aspect of your life as a whole then, Person-Centered Therapy is one of the best therapies available for you at Medavas. At Medavas, various psychologists are available who have training as well as a lot of experience in the Person-Centered Therapy. They have more than enough knowledge and experience in this field. So, there is no need to worry about the effectiveness of the therapy sessions at Medavas.
You just have to book the appointment at Medavas which is an easy and a fast process. You can have the sessions in any mode like instant messaging/chats, audio calls or video calls. So, quickly book your appointment at Medavas and seek the best therapy services.