Roger's Psychodynamic Approach To Therapy

Counselling psychology has been referred to as a “paradigm” due to its many therapeutic models and has been argued by the philosopher Thomas Kuhn (1962) that it is a “scientific community which is comprised of theories and concepts, experiences” (Woolfe, Dryden & Strawbridge, 2003). The humanistic paradigm is one that has been dominated by Carl Rogers and Fritz Perls, whereby the entire focus is on the client, also known as person centred or client centred therapy. On the other hand there is the existence of a more solution focused, problem solving paradigm which has been advocated by Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Therapy, Aaron Becks’ Cognitive Therapy and more recently Donald Meichenbaum’s Cognitive Behaviour Modification. Certain aspects

An illustration of the holistic approach can be seen in the humanistic and interactional perspective. The two views show the importance of blending both physical and mental factors. The humanistic view allows us to see and understand the “theory of life” based on highlighted premises such as the human being mind invisibly connected to the human body (source). This specific premise shows us the mind- body relationship in holistic view. The interactionism view allows us to see …… An understanding of the two views can demonstrated

What goes wrong, thus bringing a client into therapy? Rogers considers the problem to be lack of

In the humanistic approach in counselling there is a vital importance that the core conditions between client and counselling are present from

Rogerian person-centered counseling is a unique psychological intervention, largely because the counselor does not maintain the same boundaries as other counselors do in connection with traditional counseling interventions. (Kirschenbaum & Jourdan, 2005). Other approaches presume a hierarchical counselor-client relationship and a directive role for the counselor. In Rogerian counseling, the counselor participates in exchanges but in a non-directive role. The strategy of Rogerian counseling, in part, is based on reflecting and paraphrasing, designed to establish a dynamic in which the client feels sufficiently accepted. In that regard, the counselor tries to communicate unconditional acceptance so that the client can communicate without any concern about that the counselor thinks of him or worrying about the counselor's approval (Kirschenbaum & Jourdan, 2005).

Roger is a 36 year old male who is seeking therapy for a number of different issues to include: agoraphobia (a fear of open spaces), drinking in order to get to work, unable to make friends because of his agoraphobia, being overweight, not having a long lasting relationship (though he claimed this was not a problem), and homosexuality which goes against his religion (though he does not see this as a problem either) (Wedding & Corsini, 2013, pgs14-15). For his treatment he agreed to have 10 sessions in front of a classroom at the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago free of charge.

Rogers worked with many others in developing the idea that clients could heal themselves, if only the therapist provided ‘facilitative’ or core conditions of, ‘empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard.’

CBT was developed to be a short-term therapy, but in more complex cases, the treatment tends to be longer (Sussman, 2006).

Carl Rodgers ‘3 core conditions’ are basically attitudes that the counsellor displays that show acceptance of the client, valuing them as a human being of worth. Offering empathy is very important in counselling, counselling skills and any other forms of helping. This is because by making efforts to be there with and for the person/client, trying to see how they feel about things and how they sees things etc. Also, having an accepting manner can make a significant impact on how successful your counselling is. By remaining un-shocked, whatever the client brings and being non-judgemental no matter how much the client’s/person’s behaviour surprises or appals you. This can be done by offering unconditional positive regard (UPR). This means maintaining respect for the person, though not always condoning the behaviour.

Carl Rogers also stated that this process must have certain conditions present before they can become ultimately on that road. Carl Rogers stated there are six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic relationship to be able to move forward. This has been debated within the profession on many occasions, and there are equally arguments for and against the six necessary and sufficient conditions, and if in fact they are either necessary or sufficient. The six conditions are regarded as universally good, and are used by the vast majority of therapists, even if they do not acknowledge the necessity or sufficiency of them. They are in brief, “1. The counsellor and client make a psychological contact. ” This means the counsellor and client

Psychotherapy itself comes in many forms, and is based on many different psychological models. Adlerian therapy on the growth model, Gestalt therapy integrates the body and mind, psychoanalytic therapy focuses on the first six years of life, Reality therapy teaches people to control the world around them, and Rational and Cognitive therapy, deals with the cognitive and moral state of the patient. Any one of these could be chosen as a treatment option, but for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on a form of Humanistic Therapy.

Therapists using one or other of the approaches would approach the session with completely different perspectives. A Rogerian therapist would approach the session with the assumption that the client is the one in charge since Daniel knows the situation and characteristics that drive him better than he, the therapist, does. In other words, Rogers specified that the client, being in control of his own destiny, could engender his own solutions provided that the client was helped to do so in an environment that was non-judgmental, accepting, emphatic, and presented other skills, such as active listening, that would enable the client to reach his goals. In Roger's schema that was distinct to previous counseling orientations, it was not the counselor who directed, but the client.

The final core condition is congruence or genuineness, this trait has to do with the person-to-person nature of the helping relationship and it is only through maintaining an absence of façade and sustaining a consistency between what I as a counselor say and present in non-verbal terms in response to the what the client verbalizes. Genuineness is key to the helping relationship as Roger’s says “It is only by providing the genuine reality which is in me, that the other person can successfully seek for the reality in him” . I agree with Roger’s core conditions as an aid to developing a safe environment and trust within the helping relationship that will encourage the client to delve deeper and truly work with their problems; without these characteristics the client may feel reluctant to truly expose themselves and may only work superficially with their difficulties preventing long term growth and healing.

The main focus of this essay has to be on the three ‘core conditions’, as utilised by the counsellor to promote a positive movement in their client’s psychology. They are intended for maintaining a focus on the client’s personal growth, and detract from the therapist’s own outside world. The three core conditions are the professional apparatus or tool-kit of the therapist, and the use of each is a skill in itself but the combined forces of all three in an effective manner requires an abundance of skill or experience. These are, as have already been mentioned, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. They are separate skills but are intrinsically linked to each other. If used correctly, they can guide the client to a state of self-realisation, which could lead to the development of a healing process.

The humanistic view puts emphasis on the good in people and focuses on self-actualization by recognizing one's strengths and weaknesses. The existentialist view emphasizes self-determination and responsibility while focusing on authenticity. In the Rogers' humanistic theory, the belief rose that unconditional positive regard is a basic human need. If it is not received, an individual becomes incapable of self-actualization because their understanding of their needs is distorted. This theory utilizes client-centered therapy, where therapists provide empathy, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard.