Topic > Client-Centered Therapy - 1391

It is inevitable that numerous theories exist in psychotherapy. Theories arise from academic investigations of ideas about human behavior. Human behavior is an extraordinarily interesting topic and therefore produces a plethora of ideas from a variety of theorists. These theorists are influenced by their education, culture, and time period. One influential theorist is Carl Rogers. His contributions to human behavior changed many of the theories that preceded him, and his theory contributed to many theories that followed. I want to explore client/person centered therapy. This is a type of therapy that was introduced by Carl Rogers. This therapy is different because, as the name suggests, it focuses exclusively on the client. 'In focusing on the customer, the customer's feelings are explored deeply. The assumption, however, is that the client has never been able to make his feelings known to the people around him. Person-centered therapy would allow the client to be able to express their feelings openly. According to Strupp (1971), “the psychotherapeutic relationship is in principle indistinguishable from any good human relationship in which a person feels fully accepted, respected and appreciated” (p. 39). Therefore, there must be a therapeutic alliance between therapist and client. This therapeutic alliance should create an environment for the client in which the client feels that the therapist is free from judgment. I find Roger's theory interesting and seemingly affective. It stands to reason that a change in the client's negative relationship patterns allows the client the freedom to express themselves emotionally. According to Strupp (1971), “The client, therefore, is not a sick and needy patient. ..... half of the paper ...... are problems. It should instead allow the client to feel that they have support to immerse themselves in emotions that they may have been afraid of before starting client-centered therapy. Interestingly, according to Raskin et al. (2011), “Our core practice [client-centered therapy] remains true to the core conditions, regardless of who our client is. We further assert that our ability to form an initial therapeutic relationship depends on our openness and appreciation of respect for all types of difference” (p. 183). I believe that the cultural diversity maintained by CCT is important in a therapeutic environment open to multiplicity. The implications for a non-discriminatory form of therapy are that it can be used across populations. This allows for wider use of this theory and the chances of positive outcomes increase due to availability.