ABSTRACT
Although it is sometimes used somewhat imprecisely to refer to a way of doing therapy, the person-centred approach is a global term for the application of the principles derived from the work and ideas of Carl Rogers, his colleagues and successors to many fields of human endeavour. It is one of the most striking things about the method of psychotherapy originating with Carl Rogers – and which has variously been referred to as ‘non-directive therapy’, ‘client-centred therapy’ and ‘person-centred therapy’ – that it, or rather the ideas underpinning it, gave rise to something described as an ‘approach’. This is the person-centred approach of which Wood (1996: 163) pointed out:
[It] is not a psychology, a school, a movement or many other things frequently imagined. It is merely what its name suggests, an approach. It is a psychological posture, a way of being, from which one confronts a situation.
This ‘way of being’ (p. 169) has the following elements:a belief in a formative directional tendency;
a will to help;
an intention to be effective in one’s objectives;
a compassion for the individual and respect for his or her autonomy and dignity;
4a flexibility in thought and action;
an openness to new discoveries;
‘an ability to intensely concentrate and clearly grasp the linear, piece by piece appearance of reality as well as perceiving it holistically or all-at-once’: that is to say a capacity for both analysis and synthesis or the perception of gestalts;
a tolerance for uncertainty or ambiguity.
The ‘person-centred approach’ is not only a way of doing counselling and psychotherapy (between which person-centred therapists do not make a distinction – Point 52) but a way of being in relationship, a relationship which can be with another individual, a group, a nation or even the planet (see Wilkins 2003: 3–5). Although an in-depth consideration of them is outside the scope of this book it is nevertheless pertinent that person-centred theory and practice extends into many other areas of human endeavour. These include education, interpersonal relationships, political, cultural and social change and approaches to research. That the person-centred approach is (for example) concerned with social justice and social change tends to impact on person-centred therapy. Also, the important elements of the approach are the drive for ‘growth’, that is the formative and actualising tendencies (Point 9) and the consideration of people as inherently trustworthy, capable of autonomy and to be deeply respected which has implications for the exercise of power (Point 6). This too goes to the heart of the practice of person-centred therapy. Thus knowledge of the approach as a whole informs person-centred practice. Sanders (in Thorne with Sanders 2013: 99–128) considers the overall influence of Rogers in terms of the wider field to which the person-centred approach has been applied or in which it has influence.