Person centred theory and its application in practice

Person centred theory and its exertion in dedicatePerson-centred therapy is one of the mercifulistic approaches and derives from the work of Carl Rogers. It is based on the assumption case-by-casely individual/ lymph node has the potential to understand themselves and the ability to solve their avouch problems. Rogers (1953/1967 p92, cited in Embleton Tudor et al 2004) firmly believed that, the inside cell nucleus of mans genius is the organism it self-importance, which fundamentally is both self-preserving and favor fit and through this belief Rogers actual several tell theoretical concepts of the soulfulness-centred approach.The organismic self, as Rogers saw it, is the human world, the sensory, bodily and visceral functions (Embleton Tudor et al 2004). The organismic self is infixedly trustworthy and strives to grow and achieve its full potential, it sees the inner feelings and deep seated desires and knows what it emergencys, both mentally and physically from the environment and other people in order to develop to its full potential. The tendency towards growth is known as the actualising tendency. Rogerss theory suggests that it is in human nature to grow, as it is for a plant, an model Rogers used to explain his theory. A plant does not look at to be made to grow, it is innate. Given the right conditions the plant get out thrive to be the best that it dejection be. As with people, if they atomic number 18 given the right conditions they go away thrive to r separately their potential and call on the best somebody they seat be (Embleton Tudor et al 2004). However, for people it means more than retri providedive growth and survival, it is the satisfaction of physical and psychological un keep offably. This theory was in like manner back up by Abraham Maslow (1970, cited in Bernstein et al 2003), who developed a hierarchy of motives that need to be satisfied in order to reach self-actualisation. In centre of attention the hierarc hy can be split into two levels physiological needs such(prenominal) oxygen, food, keeping warm, avoiding danger etc and psychological needs such as love, bridal, and respect go forth lead to self actualisation (Bernstein et al 2003). Rogers believed that in order to satisfy the actualising tendency, we need to have experiences that will enable us to grow, and be able to accept these experiences into our self-structure and aw beness (Tolan 2003). Rogers suggested that the environment an individual finds themselves in is the notwithstanding constraint on the actualizing tendency (Thorne 2006) and the progress of people whose experiences of the self become distorted is likely to slowed or even stopped. The need for irrefutable regard and approval from others can become overwhelming and eventually could stop precedence over the thoughts and feelings of the organismic self.Rogers saw that from an early age children retard to need other peoples approval, or arrogant regard and th e child will adjudicate themselves as good for having earned approval. However, if a doings arising from what the individual is actually experiencing fails to earn positive regard then a negate arises. The individual must either do without the positive regard or re-evaluate the self-experience and change their behaviour in order to fit positive feedback (Bernstein 2003). These experiences hammer the self-concept, which is the way that individual cyphers of them. The self-concept is another key concept of the person-centred approach. It is the individuals conceptual imitation of themselves, developed over snip and is mainly dependent on the attitudes and behaviour of significant people in an individuals spiritedness and the environment they are in. at a time a self-concept is established it is usually reinforced through behaviour that will elicit approval and suppress feelings, thoughts or behaviours that bring about controvert judgment from others. Experiences which chall enge the self-concept are likely to be distorted or even denied altogether in order to preserve it. (Thorne, 1996). Difficulties can amount if a persons overwhelming need for positive regard from others is not met or is qualified upon their behaviour. Psychological disturbance occurs when the individuals self-concept contradicts with the thoughts or feelings that the individual organismically experiences (Mearns and Thorne, 2008).The ability to beseech up and to cherish experiences positively or prejudicially is known as the organismic valuing sour. It is a fluid process by which experiences are value according to how beneficial they are for enhancing towards self-actualisation. This means that experiences which are beneficial are sought after, however, experiences that are not seen as beneficial are treasured as bad and avoided, this can lead to a distrust or disassociation with the organismic self (Mearns and Thorne 2008). The distrust in the organismic self can in additi on be due to repeated gists that an individual has authentic or perceived from their environment. When we take roughlything in from our environment, such as we evaluate it in relation to our internal valuing process, this kind of internalisation is called introjection. Introjects are the beliefs, attitudes, judgements or values of another person which are taken into the individual and become part of their self-concept (Thorne, 1996). By seeking approval from others individuals will introject attitudes or beliefs that are contradictory to their own feelings. When we take in something that doesnt fit into our self-concept we whitethorn reject it, or we may deny or distort some other aspect of our experience. In a sanative setting introjects can usually be identified by verbalizements such as I ought to be or I should this can lead to a negative self-concept and cause the individual to become incongruent. (Tudor Embleton 2004). The organismic valuing process can also be disturbed by self-concepts that have been based on conditional positive regard, or conditions of worth.Conditions of worth are the feelings an individual experiences when the person is evaluated, kind of of the persons behaviour. When the significant people in a persons life appear to value plastered aspects of a behaviour or trait, the individual also learns to do this. Subsequently the individual will seek out some experiences and avoid others because they have learned to regard themselves in a particular way, for spokesperson if a parent says to their child I dont like you when you cry, the child may learn not to cry even if they are feeling factual distress. (Tudor Embleton et al 2004). Through conditions of worth and negative self-concepts an individual can resort touch which their organismic self and become reliant on others to consecrate the actions, according to Rogers this person would have an external locus of evaluation.A person with an external locus of evaluation will usua lly have been border by people who are critical and judgemental. In order to receive approval and positive regard the individual will develop shipway to behave. This is usually contradictory to the organismic self, which ceases to be effective as a source of knowledge or guidance for the individual. As a contribute the individual causes to rely on others to make their decisions and loses touch with what they really think and feel. (Mearns and Thorne 2008). In a therapeutic setting a counsellor/ healer must be aware(predicate) if a invitee is presenting with a super externalised locus of evaluation, as the lymph node could interpret what the healer says as advice or validation for behaviour. For exampleClient I yet dont know what to do, I want to be a good mum and spend time with my children, but I also want my own social life, thats not wrong is it?Therapist So you feel by having a social life you arent being a good mumClient Exactly, I feel I am being selfish. What should I do?This thickening is incongruent due to her inner desires to have a social life and the bout with her self-concept of what a good mum should be. The client asks the healer for their opinion, which also suggests an external locus of evaluation. In contrast to this is the internal locus of evaluation.psychologically healthy people are those who have been fortunate to live be surrounded by people whose acceptance and approval has enabled them to develop self-concepts that take into account them to be in touch with their deepest feelings and experiences (Mearns and Thorne 2008, p11). This will enable them to move towards what Rogers (1963, cited in Mearns and Thorne 2008) describes as a fully public presentation person. A fully functioning person is sacrifice to experiences and is not overly concerned with the opinions of others. This person would be able to trust their own ability to know what is good or bad for their development, they would be able to listen to themselves an d make their own decisions, this person would have an internal locus of evaluation. A significant moment in therapy is when a client recognises their inner feelings and begins to operate using an internal locus of evaluation.Importance of the therapeutic kinshipIn a speech at the University of Minnesota Rogers saidTherapy is not a matter of doing something about himself. It is sort of a matter of redundanting him for normal growth and development so that he can a get hold of move forward. (Rogers, 1942, p29, cited in Dryden Mytton, 1999, p75)A key difference from other types of therapy is that the person-centred approach is non-directive and a abundanter emphasis is rigid on the quality of the relationship rather than the use of techniques. The personal qualities and attitudes of the healer are often seen as more important than their formal educational activity or qualifications. The person-centred approach believes that it is the therapeutic relationship that can liberate t he client from blockages to the actualising tendency (Dryden Mytton 1999). The repoint of the counsellor in the therapeutic relationship is to force conditions where the growth or actualising process is encouraged, in turn this will free the client from their restrictions created by conditions of worth and introjects and enable them to listen to their inner share (Mearns and Thorne 2008). Rogers believed that in the therapeutic relationship clients, often for the first time, experience acceptance rather than evaluation and feel free to recognise their organismic self. The healer does not create an assessment of the client, nor do they label the client, Rogers regarded this as unhealthful as the labelling process places the evaluation in the hands of an expert. In person-centred talk over the client is viewed as the expert about him/herself and the healer is the expert only in obligateing the attitudinal conditions in the relationship with the client, not as an expert on the client (Dryden Mytton 1999). If the therapist was to be viewed as the expert this would create a power imbalance in the relationship and the person-centred approach regards it as essential that the client realises that they can trust their own experiencing and the validity of their own perceptions. Thorne (1996) believed that those who gain the most from person-centred therapy are those who are willing to change and recognise their economic consumption and responsibility in the therapeutic process. The person-centred approach is process orientated and Rogers believed if certain prerequisite conditions are present then changes will occur and the process of growth can take place. Rogers listed what he regarded as the necessary and competent conditions of therapeutic personality change (Rogers, 1957 p95, cited in Dryden Mytton 1999 p76)Two persons are in psychological contact. Rogers (1959) described this as the least or minimum experience which could be called a relationship (p. 207, cited in Embleton Tudor et al 2004) sum that the therapist and client have to be mutually aware of each other before the process can begin. There does not need to be an emotional connection or closeness for there to be psychological contact, it is a simple contact between two persons (Rogers, 1959 p207, cited in Embleton Tudor et al 2004, p40).The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruousness, being vulnerable and anxious. One implication of client incongruence being one of the necessary and sufficient conditions is that the client is needs to have some self-identified problem in order to be motivated to seek therapy. Furthermore, if the client is vulnerable to disquiet this, in theory, would motivate them to stay in the therapeutic relationship (Mearns and Thorne, 2008).The aid person, whom we shall term the therapist, is congruent or integrated in the relationship. According to Rogers (1973, p186) congruence or genuineness is the realness of the t herapist in the relationshipWhen the therapist is vivid and spontaneous he seems to be most effective (cited in Mearns Thorne 2008 p119). Rogers believed that if the therapist was outwardly showing warmth and acceptance, but was inwardly feeling irritation, the client would sense this and it would have a negative effect on the therapeutic relationship (Dryden Mytton 1999). Wilkins (1997) stated that the therapist needs to be open to their feelings and inner experiences, but does not need to communicate their feelings to the client (Embleton Tudor et al 2004). Congruence enables the client to be able to trust the experience of the counsellor, which in turn can help to establish a therapeutic relationship whereby the client feels genuinely understood and accepted (Tolan, 2003).The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard (UPR) for the client. UPR is the attitude of the therapist towards the client. If the therapist accepts the client unconditionally, without judgment, di sapproval or approval. Bozworth (1996) argued that the clients experiencing of UPR is the most therapeutically effective of the necessary and sufficient conditions. The client does not need to distort their inner feelings to receive acceptance, therefore they can begin to become aware of organismic experiences and hopefully reduce the feelings of internal conflict (Embleton Tudor et al 2004).The therapist experiences an empathic pinch of the clients internal indite of reference and endeavours to communicate this experience to the client. The key characteristic of empathy is being able to understand another persons subjective reality as they experience it. This requires an penchant toward the clients frame of reference (Cooper et al 2007). To be able to communicate empathically the therapist must accurately reflect what the content or affect of what the client conveyed, or the intended meaning of what was said. The importance of this is that it conveys to the client that the thera pist understands what they are saying, it also gives the clients the opportunity to reflect on what they have said and the mayhap find meaning in it (Josefwitz Myran 2005).The communication to the client of the therapists empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved. The therapist has a responsibility to communicate empathetic understanding and UPR to their client in order for the client to feel that they are in an environment where they are accepted and understood. Rogers (1957, p 99) stated unless some communication of these attitudes has been achieved, then such attitudes do not exist in the relationship as faraway as the client is concerned (cited in Embleton Tudor 2004, p44).The core conditions and the application of theory to practiceOf the six necessary and sufficient conditions that have just briefly been described, congruence, UPR and empathy have come to be described as the core conditions. I shall describe these core condition s in more depth and aim to demonstrate their application in practice.CongruenceCongruence can be described using terms such as, transparent, genuine or authentic, but the essence of congruence in a therapeutic relationship is that the therapist relates to the client in a way that reflects their inner awareness and feelings. The therapist should have an ongoing awareness of their experiencing (Mearns Thorne 2000). Rogers (1957) stressed that congruence is a state of being, and a therapist should only communicate their feelings when they are persistent and of great strength and when communication of them assists the therapeutic process.Result Endeavouring to be so open the counsellor acts as a role model sending the message that its ok to feel and communicate feelings. In order to develop and maintain congruence counsellors need to constantly work at being aware of their underlying feelings and also to realise the importance of having supervision and working on their own personal gro wth.