What is Person-Centred Therapy?

I am a “Person-Centred Therapist” - but what does that mean? Well, person-centred therapy is a therapeutic modality created by Carl Rogers in the 1950's. Rogers wrote several books and papers detailing what he thought were the conditions that made therapy effective and this is the theory that informs person-centred therapy. Even if a therapist is not ‘purely’ person-centred, many therapy training programs teach Rogers’ theory as a basis of how to create a non-judgemental, empathic therapeutic space for clients.

Below I have explained in more detail the 6 conditions that Rogers’ (1957) theorised is necessary for therapy to work, as well as, some important concepts in person-centred theory that inform how person-centred therapy works.

1. Psychological contact between counsellor and client

This first condition may sound a bit confusing but Rogers is essentially highlighting that a relationship is necessary for therapeutic change to occur. So, the minimal condition for therapy to work is that a therapist and client have a therapeutic relationship. The rest of the conditions describe this relationship and how the interaction with the therapist and the client becomes therapeutic.

2. The client is in a state of incongruence

If you take a look at the illustration above you can see that incongruence is a state of discrepancy between your perceived self and your ideal self - there is an internal conflict and this can lead to feelings of anxiety or distress. For example, in an ideal world I am a confident person, but say I go to a party and I hide away in a corner all night - this would be incongruent with the idea that I am confident. I might then experience anxiety especially if I become aware of the fact that I am acting in a way that does not seem ‘authentic’ to myself.

There are many ways that we become incongruent. One of the reasons that Rogers (1959) suggested is because of something he called ‘conditions of worth’. These are ways we perceive we need to behave in order to get the acceptance and positive regard of others. These conditions of worth are then turned into ‘introjected values’. These are values that we absorb from others that may or may not align with who we are authentically. The more conditions of worth we hold the more likely we might be incongruent.

Usually clients come to therapy wanting to change in some way. In person-centred therapy, it is believed that the motivation for change is due to incongruence clients are experiencing. Part of the work in therapy is to increase awareness of this incongruence and help clients to become more congruent or more ’authentic’.

3. The therapist is in a state of congruence

The opposite of incongruence is congruence. This is often used synonymously with words like genuine or authentic. So, the therapist is expected to behave in a way that is authentic in the therapy room. This is done in a variety of ways but I think can be expressed especially through their communication. You might hear something like this in the therapy room:

“I’m aware that we are running out of time and I’d like to pause here so we can have time to discuss our next appointment”

“I can sense a heaviness in my chest and I wonder if you might be feeling the same way. I’m curious what this sensation is like for you.”

In these examples the therapist is using ‘I’ statements to express what they are aware of and what they are experiencing. They are also showing evidence of their intention by sharing their experience with the client and inviting the client to engage. The reason why these are examples of congruence is because the therapist is expressing themselves very much in the present moment and is holding a constant awareness of their experience. Incongruence can occur especially when we lack awareness and are disconnected from our experience.

So, a therapist must be congruent to be able to facilitate the therapeutic process for the client and this connects with the following conditions which helps to create the therapeutic environment.

4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client

Unconditional positive regard means that the therapist expresses a non-judgemental attitude towards the client. It is also based in respect and acknowledging autonomy. The therapist does not offer any judgements about the client and what they choose to do with their lives but rather encourages the client to be empowered to make their own choices. It separates self-worth from our actions and upholds the idea that we are all worthy of care and respect simply because we are human.

This non-judgemental stance from the therapist is a key part of change as many of us do not experience this kind of response from other relationships in our life. The idea is that by modelling unconditional positive regard, the client may also come to view themselves with more acceptance and compassion, which are again key points for change.

5. The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference and endeavours to communicate this experience to the client

This condition may sound more complicated that it seems but essentially the therapist must display empathy towards the client. This condition makes reference to an internal frame of reference - that simply refers to an individual’s point of view or inner world. It is important that the therapist responds with an understanding of a client’s inner world and makes attempts to further understand the client’s way of seeing and doing things.

Without the empathy component, therapy would perhaps divulge into a person telling another person what to do and how to live. There is far too much of that in society already, Additionally, that is very, very far from the person-centred position that sees the client as the expert in themselves and tries as much as possible to reduce any power differences in the therapy room. By the therapist saying, “I don’t know you but I would really like to understand you better and support you in becoming who you want to be” - it connects to the non-judgemental approach and can also support the client in increasing self-compassion and empathy for themselves.

6.The client perceives empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard from the therapist

The final condition simply means that while the therapist is congruent and offers both unconditional positive regard and empathy - the client must receive these things from the therapist.

It is very possible that a therapist can get something ‘wrong’ and really misunderstand a client in session. However, what is really great about something like that happening is that the client gets a chance to express themself and for the therapist to try again to understand and hear what the client is trying to say. So, even though the therapist may not always ‘get it right’ the first time - this is an example of how person-centred therapy works. The client is the expert and perceives the therapist as trying to understand and get to know them better - at the same time this facilitates the client knowing themself in a deeper way.

When all the conditions come together a client should feel that they are in a safe, non-judgemental space where they can fully express all parts of themself. The client may also over time start to have more self-acceptance and compassion towards themself and this alleviation of shame around who they are can allow space for change towards who they want to be.

“On Becoming a Person”

Carl Rogers wrote a book with the title above and this is because he believed that we are all in a state of ‘becoming’ and that no matter what we are doing we are always working towards being our authentic selves.

To me, a key person-centred value is that you are always good enough as you are. And the funny thing is that the more you accept yourself in the present moment, the more you can move towards the change you want to see in the future.

If you think that having a person-centred therapist might suit you, or you’d like to learn more about it, please do not hesitate to get in touch using the link below:

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