Client-centered therapy

Dariya KarelinaCUNY School of Professional Studies

Alternative psychotherapy

Traditional psychotherapy (behavioral and psychoanalytic theories) was dominated on the field of mental health treatment for many years. But in the early 1940s some serious alternative movements began to appear. One of the leaders was Carl Rogers who as a contrast to the traditional approaches designed nondirective counseling, which later later became client-centered therapy (CCT).

Carl Rogershttp://i1.wp.com/braungardt.trialectics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CarlRogers1.jpg

OverviewThe client-centered therapy “attempts to understand the client’s internal frame of reference as the client reveals it” (McLean and al, 2015).

People, who are seeking help, have a natural tendency toward growth, healing, and self-actualization.

Regrading to Rogers, people act self-destructively or feel bad about themselves because of influence of an environment that contort this tendency. But they able to find their own answers to problems if the appropriate therapeutic environment is present.

Overview

Retrieved fromhttps://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/12189757_f496.jpg

Therapeutic approachRegarding to Harvard mental health letter (2006) “the Rogers approach does not emphasize action over feeling and thinking, and unlike psychoanalysis, it is not concerned with unconscious wishes and drives”.During a session a therapist is actively listening and reflecting to client’s revealing without judgments, advices, guidance.In CCT a therapist is not authority. The goal is to understand how client see the world from own perspective, because people are looking to be understood, accepted and not judged.

Retrieved fromhttp://www.anewdaycody.com

“According to Rogers, the therapist should provide what he calls facilitating conditions: accurate empathy, congruence or transparency, and unconditional positive regard”. (Harvard mental health letter, 2006)

It will help clients find the answers, discover and accept themselves, feel relief and cure own mind.

Retrieved fromhttps://healthpsychologyconsultancy.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/image001.png

Therapeutic approach

Therapeutic approachCCT

Retrieved fromhttps://psychlopedia.wikispaces.com/client-centered+therapy

Client-centered therapy DO NOTask questions

make diagnoses

conduct psychological tests

provide interpretations, evaluations, and advice

use reassurance, persuasion, praise, blame

agree or disagree with clients or express opinions of their own

point out contradictions

uncover unconscious wishes

offering interpretations

making criticism

explore the client’s feelings about the therapist

(Harvard mental health letter, 2006; Trull, T. J., Prinstein, M. Clinical Psychology, 2012).

Rogers was adherent of traditional psychotherapy which was sometimes too narrow and strict, and didn’t fit to an every case. He was struggling with the clinical problems of children, and because he had an open mind, Rogers began explore new possibilities, including ideas of Otto Rank and Jessie Taft.“Rank believed that patients

should be allowed free opportunity to exert their wills and to dominate the therapist” (Trull, T. J., Prinstein, M. Clinical Psychology, 2012)

Addressed problems

Retrieved fromhttps://psychlopedia.wikispaces.com/client-centered+therapy

Addressed problemsRogers offered something absolutely new what has changed modern psychotherapy. Instead of focusing just on biological roots of behavior and instincts from the Freudian view, he proposed to look at person’s self-determination and inner world, sources. The new, transformed, grown person basically replace the victim of personal history.

Psychotherapy is art. It needs some variety of methods and views, including focus on persons inner world and ability to explore and heal themselves. Client-centered therapy place client in the center therapy and create environment for self-awareness, acceptance and cure.

Types of treatmentsPsychotherapy session based on the next rules:

active listening with summarizing and reaffirmation what client says

attentive tracking the moment-to-moment feelings and thoughts of the client

Rodger even matched tone of voice of his clients

Retrieved fromhttps://healthpsychologyconsultancy.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/image001.png

Stages of work

Retrieved fromhttp://image.slidesharecdn.com/intentionalinterviewingsummary-100325170252-phpapp02/95/intentional-interviewing-summary-60-728.jpg?cb=1269538599

WeaknessesThe practice can be complicated. A session and rapport can be interrupted by using the wrong words, facial expressions, body movements, pauses, and other details. It may be difficult to know how to respond when a client ask about advices and need more direction. Sometimes empathy might be not appropriate. A therapist should learn what is appropriate and when to different individuals. Therapist should master art of self-disclosure but at the same time do not bring own examples or feelings.

Retrieved fromhttps://psychlopedia.wikispaces.com/client-centered+therapy

Client-centered therapy do not care about diagnosis which made it actively criticized.

Client-centered therapy can also work less well with people who find it difficult to talk about themselves or have a mental issued which influence their perceptions of reality.

The process of change in client-centered therapy is predictable only in very general terms, because it based on individuality of every client (McLean and al, 2015)

Weaknesses

StrengthDespite the fact that client-centered therapy do not care about diagnosis, “Rogers admitted that his ideas left a great deal of room for interpretation” (Harvard mental health letter, 2006)

Retrieved fromhttp://65.media.tumblr.com/47eb40723c5c43837c624a40ed665ea5/tumblr_nsj89dPP9q1u79s9qo1_1280.jpg

Strength

Stimulation of client to be more open, self-aware and pro-active

Reduce client’s dependance from a therapist

Self-disclosure has become more acceptable in psychotherapy among therapists

Literature presentation

Rogers made a huge impact on modern psychology. Despite the fact that not many therapists call themselves client-centered, his ideas about personality we can find in textbooks, articles. Huge variety researches, scientific works etc was created based on this approach. Harvard mental health letter (2006) states “recent survey found 50 journals and 200 organizations all over the world devoted to some variant of client-centered or person-centered therapy”.

Present finding have shown strong evidence that client-centered approach can be as effective as traditional psychotherapy, and moreover it has shown to be effective when previous treatment didn’t worked. This principles have influenced the practice of many other therapists.

Future directionsClient-centered principles influenced and effectively were applied not just in traditional therapy but in others forms of treatment. It plays central role in motivational interviewing, “which has been found as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy in a clinical trial of alcoholism treatment”. In this case, clients set the goal, and the therapist acts as a partner in dialogue rather than an authority. Motivational interviewers avoid warnings, diagnosis, and direct attempts to argue, persuade, or educate. (Harvard mental health letter, 2006). Retrieved from

http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/Graduate-Studies/forensicpsychology.jpg

Future directionOpen-mind is the key of art of the therapy. Every situation is different, and today many psychotherapists are using different therapeutic approaches with the same client. CCT helped to be more open and flexible. Future researches should focus on the effect of combination traditional therapy and client-centered approach for clients with different diagnosis.

CCT has shown effectiveness in human relations training which also can be one of the direction for future research.

CCT also has been effectively used in work in crisis centers, for people who engaged in counseling, for volunteers in charitable organizations or agencies etc. New investigation cab be conducted in these areas as well to make the work more effective and give the ability explore new possibilities.

ConclusionClient-centered therapy was much needed alternative to traditional approach.Besides criticism, Roger’s ideas changed modern psychotherapy, stimulated appearance of new methods and directions. It helped therapists become more open-minded, creative, and be more client-oriented.

ConclusionPerson-centered therapy began the new chapter with humanistic-existential perspectives in psychotherapy. It created shift from traditional psychoanalytic perspectives on psychopathology and on psychological health to desire to seek the client’s inner growth potential by providing empathy, understanding, unconditional positive regard, and genuineness (Trull, T. J., Prinstein, M. Clinical Psychology, 2012).

It opened doors for therapist to creativity and own interpretation in regard to find the most effective for client help.

References Client-centred therapy. (2006). Harvard Mental Health Letter, 22(7).

Gone M.M. ̧ Mendes A.I.2, Cruz G., 1, Riberio A.P.1, Sousa I.3, Angus L., Greenberg L.S. (2012). Innovative moments and change in client-centered therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 22(4), 389-401

McLean C.P., Yeh R., Rosenfield D, Foa E.B. (2015).Changes in negative cognitions mediate PTSD symptom reductions during client-centered therapy and prolonged exposure for adolescents. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 68, 64-69

Merry T., Brodley B.T. (2002). The nondirective attitude in client-centered therapy: a response to Kahn. Journal of humanistic psychology, Vol. 42, No. 2, 66-77

Trull T. J.; Prinstein M. (2012). Clinical Psychology. Cengage Textbook. Kindle Edition.