From the outset, an understanding of child development and psychotherapy with children and young people has been fundamental to the person-centred approach

It is frequently assumed that person-centred theory has no position with respect to child development. This is an error. It is often forgotten that Rogers’ first major publication (Rogers 1939) was The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child. Also, early luminaries of the approach Clark Moustakas and Virginia Satir were child psychotherapists. It is reasonable to assume that the development of person-centred theory was informed by practice with children and done in the light of contemporary knowledge of child development and child psychopathology. Rogers (1959: 221–223) considers aspects of personality relevant to child development and (p. 222) postulated that: