Person Centred Counselling was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1950’s around the philosophy that people can change, and that they are not bound by personal events in their past, or their circumstances in the present. This change is achieved by the counsellor making use of the core conditions of the Person Centred approach, and these are:
1. Empathy – which is the ability of the counsellor to put themselves into the world of the client as much as they can in order to understand it, and then translate that experience back to the client.
2. Congruence – is defined as the quality of genuineness in the counsellor, a matching of their inner reality with their outer presentation. If a client feels the counsellor is honest and authentic in their actions and not holding up a false self, a trusting and open relationship is more likely to develop.
3. Unconditional Positive Regard is a non-judgemental point of view and an accepting attitude on the part of the counsellor. It allows for a client to explore their thoughts, feelings and behaviours in an atmosphere that is not based on trying to find fault or criticise or blame or accuse.
The therapeutic goal of Person Centred Counselling is for the client to self-actualise, and it actively promotes personal growth. The core conditions facilitate this growth. Self-actualisation was proposed by Abraham Maslow as the final level of psychological development, and the realisation of one’s true potential. When not travelling towards self-actualisation, there is a deep feeling of incongruence. It could be consciously feeling that you are not attempting to live up to your potential, or it could be an unconscious feeling of dread that you can’t quite put your finger on.
This incongruence may be due to the perceptions that clients have of themselves and their self-worth, or feel that their organismic self (their real, true self) is not allowed to be shown. This could be caused by a number of things, one of which is an external locus of evaluation. This is when clients have placed too much value in what others think of them, and this has resulted in them taking on some skewed beliefs and behaviours (conditions of worth) to please others. A Person Centred counsellor will encourage a client to develop an internal locus of evaluation so that clients learn to trust in their own judgements and do not need other people’s approval to provide their own self-esteem. Congruence between a person’s inner world and their outward presentation is the key to living a happy, productive life.
The nature of the relationship between client and Person Centred counsellor is that of being equals, while still bringing their own unique qualities to the table. The client is the expert of themselves, and the only one that can do the work of self-actualisation, while the counsellor has the knowledge and expertise of the techniques to facilitate this change. The counsellor knows that the client has the answers they seek, deep inside themselves. The counsellor simply provides the methods, tools and safe environment for the client to find those answers.
