HUMANTISTIC APPROACH:

PERSON-CENTERED THEORY
 UNCONSCIOUS

No Dude, it’s
CONSCIOUS…
CHOICES.
'Your Life is Your Responsibility -
Experience Is a Choice'
There Are Two Sides
to Every Story
(or Reality)
 For example, a teacher
may raise his voice to be
heard over a noisy
classroom of children. His
goal is to get everyone to
sit quietly and pay
attention.
 LET’S SAY…
A child grew up in a
home where his dad
yelled - or raised his
voice - every time he
expressed his
displeasure…

If the child disobeyed or failed to meet

expectations, he could expect his dad to begin
shouting a reprimand.
So, when the teacher
raises the volume of
his voice …

the child's interpretation of

the situation (based on his
experiences) is that the
teacher is angry and it is his
fault.
HOWEVER…
Another student may not pick
up a sense of anger at all, but
realize that the teacher is just
trying to get everyone's
attention and cannot do so
when speaking at a normal
volume because the classroom is
too noisy.
 Their stories would be very different.

Carl Rogers was interested in how people reacted to the

stimuli and experiences around them.
Client-
Centered
Therapy
Client-centered therapy
 deceptively simple in statement but
decidedly difficult in practice.
 It holds that in order for vulnerable clients
or anxious people to grow
psychologically, they must come into
contact with a therapist who is congruent
and whom they perceive as providing an
atmosphere of unconditional
acceptance and accurate empathy.
Reasons for choosing:
 Non-directive type
 will foster a sense of understanding and
acceptance
 Create an environment wherein the client will
be encouraged to freely express himself and
be true to who he/she really is.
 When one feels that he will be criticized
and judged for who he/she is, his/her
tendency will be to hide or deny aspects of
him- or herself that he/she thinks will be
criticized
 recognize that the client has the ability to
move towards growth and the ability to solve
his/her problems
Roger’s Theory of Therapeutic
Change
If the following conditions exist: Then therapeutic change occurs and
the client will:
1) A vulnerable or anxious client
1. Become more congruent;
2) Contacts a counselor who
2. Be less defensive;
possess
3. Become more open to
3) Congruence in the
experiences;
relationship,
4. Have a more realistic view of the
4) Unconditional positive regard
world;
for the client, and
5. Develop positive self-regard;
5) Empathic listening for client’s
6. Narrow the gap between ideal-
internal frame of reference,
self and real-self;
and
7. Be less vulnerable to threat;
6) The client perceives
8. Become less anxious;
Conditions 3, 4, 5 – the three
9. Take ownership of experiences;
necessary and sufficient
10. Become more accepting of
conditions for therapeutic
others;
growth.
11. Become more congruent in
relationship with others.
Congruence
 Feelings
 Awareness
 Expression
Unconditional Positive regard
 shows a non-possessive warmth and
acceptance.
 Clients must experience warm, positive
and accepting attitude from the
counselor.
Empathic Listening
 NO EXTERNAL FRAME OF REFERENCE
 means temporarily living in the other’s life.