ABSTRACT

Person-centered counseling is described by Carl Rogers, its originator, as a basic philosophy rather than a method or technique. The philosophy of person-centered work emphasizes personal growth and development, including improvement of interpersonal communication and relationships through an experiential process. Person-centered therapy is aimed at the incongruence between the person's experiences and his/her self-concept. The focus for work using the person-centered model is the client's experiencing of feelings. The usual group size for person-centered therapy is 8 to 10 persons. A primary characteristic of the person-centered group is trust in the group and the group process. Traditionally in person-centered therapy there has been an avoidance of planning and using "exercises". In more recent therapy using the client-centered approach, group therapist are doing more planning and employing more exercises. The content of the group is determined by the facilitator and group members and may include dance, creative writing, art, and various nonverbal exercises.