ABSTRACT
The concept of person-centred therapy (also called Rogerian therapy) stems from the work of American psychologist called Carl Ransom Rogers (1902–87). It arose as part of a critique of both behavioural psychology and classical psychoanalysis, that of humanistic psychology, which has sometimes been dubbed the ‘third force’ in psychology. The following is a summary of Bugental’s (1964) basic postulates of humanistic psychology:
humans supersede the sum of their parts, so cannot be understood through a study of part functions;
humans have being in context, so interpersonal context is important;
humans have awareness, so cannot be understood without acknowledgement of their self-awareness;
humans have choice and create their own experience;
humans have intent: purpose, value and meaning.
