An Analysis of Person-Centered Therapy in Psychology and Psychotherapy

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of person-centered therapy, a therapeutic approach pioneered by Carl Rogers. It explores the theory of personality, emphasizing the actualizing tendency and the development of the self. The essay discusses the goals of therapy, highlighting the importance of creating a genuine and empathetic relationship between the therapist and the client. It also covers the necessary and sufficient conditions for client change, including psychological contact, congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy. Furthermore, the essay examines the multicultural implications and limitations of the theory, providing a balanced perspective on its strengths and weaknesses. The discussion includes the concepts of conditional and unconditional positive regard, conditions of worth, and the fully functioning person. Overall, the essay offers a detailed analysis of person-centered therapy, its application, and its impact on the field of psychology.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
Psychology and Psychotherapy
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction
Rogers Person- centred therapy had been first developed by Carl Rogers in the year of
1940. This model had originally been developed from the traditional model that thetherapists
used to make use of. This gradually moved beyond the traditionalism and became an
empathic approach towards motivating the victim during the therapeutic process. The process
focusses on the persona n dot on the problem. The therapy aims to provide the client with
greater independence so that he can cope up with his own problems and issues in the future.
Discussion
Theory of Personality
The people are generally classified according to their characteristics and their
personalities. According to the theory of personality, the people are the way they are because
they are made of certain traits. These traits help the therapists to classify the person. The
people behave according to their traits. These major traits are something that the
psychologists tend to find in the people by talking to them psychoanalytically. However the
way a person behaves, does depend on their traits but the most important aspect is the
working of a human mind. Apart from the physical attributes, the theory of personality
involves the very interesting structure of the mind. The basic and the most fundamental
structure of the human mind is classified into three structures, the id, the ego and the
superego.
According to the psychoanalytical analysis of Freud, the id ego and the super ego
interact among one another and give rise to the personalities. The impulsive part of the mind
is controlled by id and it is generally driven by the pleasure principle. On contrary to this, the
ego is the conscious part of the mind that tries to make decision, by moving among the id and

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the super ego. However the super ego is that structure of the mind that controls the
personality of an individual. It makes sure that an individual takes the morally correct
decisions.
The id, ego and the superego plays with the human mind and allows the mind to take
the control over their individual selves which allow them to do what they do in their day to
day lives. This drives a person to their deeds. The human behaviour is generally riven due to
few attributes such as the desire to achieve, and acquire. The drive to feel loved and
important and also the drive to have knowledge about things is the principle of pleasure for
people.
The personality of a person is responsible for their motivation. The values that one
acquire all through their life journey, their goals, and aims, and also their priorities drive them
towards their doings and performance. Motivation is nothing but a mere decision. This
decision is controlled by the structures of the mind. This is what the theory of personality
discusses, keeping in focus the way the people differ in their personalities and also the way
the individual traits act.
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is called the non-directive therapy in the sense that through this
therapy a person is assumed to move forward in their lives functioning in a positive
behavioural way according to Roger. Roger believed that this therapy can bring the personal
development growth in the individuals especially in the areas of marriage, education and
counselling of couples going through turbulence in relations. The person-centred therapy
inculcates certain crucial elements of freedom, individual choice, and self-responsibility. The
main concept of personal reflection of emotions in terms of feelings and experiencing the
ideal self is the actual crux for the client’s personal growth in this therapeutic procedure.

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The human mind is a very complex area, which is very vulnerable to emotions. Severe
emotions often lead to problems in the human mind which allows them to take help from the
psychopathologists. The problems that happen to the personalities can occur due to a number
of cases, and a number of incidents. Mental health problems can occur due to childhood
traumatic experiences, such as accidents and abuse. The social isolation or any serious
bereavement can result in depression of the human mind and lead the person to a severe long
term threat. In accordance to this, long term illness or physical ailment or any severe loss in
professional life can lead to problems of human mind. Also it has been discussed by Roger,
the causes of problems in humans and the reasons for psychopathology can be classified into
two broad categories. These include the proximatecauses and also the evolutionary causes.
The proximate causes involve the factors that originate from the genes and also the childhood
trauma that the people fall a victim to. Roger also discusses that the inability to adapt to the
surroundings or having a mismatch in adaptation to the changes in any sort of environment
can lead to psychopathology. This kind of anxiety disorders and the inability to have a
cognitive development are the examples of evolutionary causes. These causes for the
psychopathology can many a times be avoided and can often be prevented. However it
depends on the personality traits of the humans and also their emotional being, whether they
can face the consequences or they fall a victim to them, needing treatment for their mental
state of being.
Roger discussed in terms of development and conditionality that more the
incongruence level exist between the experiences of a person, there are higher chances of
disorganized behaviour. Thus, in visualizing one self and the previous experience, the
individual can undergo conflict. This behaviour is termed by Roger as severe distortion.
Some common natural defences adopted by the person at that time is rationalizing own
beliefs, fantasy of desires and paranoid thinking. During this period, the person often

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alienates oneself from others. The developing of defence mechanism results in inaccurate and
having rigid perceptions of events happening in the world. Such an individual will experience
anxiety more because of the conflict of having the need in bringing a positive self image and
also the requirement to please others in the social circle or also from the conflict of inter-
personal values from one’s own viewpoints.
Goals of Therapy:
The first goal of the therapy is to create a relationship where the two people-the client
and the counsellor through each other’s presence will bring positive engagement. The
presence is not necessarily the physical presence of being in the room, but it should be
psychological connection. The client must be in an emotional vulnerable state be it in fear,
anxiety or in depression in order to transform the personal views of experience he or she is
going through. The client is required to make oneself aware of the experience and the
surrounding to relate to one’s own self and deal with the acceptance without defence
mechanism.
The second goal of the therapy is the therapist should make the client aware of being
frank and transparent in the channel of communication. There should be genuineness and
cooperation from each side to communicate the problematic regions and find the solutions.
The therapist should not judge the client as per the experiences and views. The transparency
of thoughts is required in this process. Be it positive feelings like happiness and joy or
negative feelings like anger, guilt or sadness the client should be able to express the emotions
to the therapist without any hesitation.
The third element of the therapy will be acceptance on the part of the therapist ir-
regardless of what the client wants to demonstrate through the views. If the client is seen to
be lying and holding certain evidences without fully opening up, the therapist should not

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charge the client instead accept what he or she is trying to convey. It is the duty of the
therapist to take hold of the situation and handle it very sensitively on the part of the
emotional vulnerable clients.
The fourth element of the therapy should be empathy from the therapist’s side to
understand the condition of the client and cooperate with the state he or she is undergoing
through. The therapist should motivate the client to express their views and not keep it
hidden. There should be alternative ways for the client to express himself or herself without
being forced to.
Multicultural Implications
The person-centred therapy has multi-cultural implication drawn from various
philosophies as discussed by Roger. The Taoism philosophy has inspired Roger to understand
the concept that self-perception is very necessary to bring self-control. The communication to
clients is based on the notion that it is more of a mental connection. The therapy also shares
certain principles from the Buddhist philosophy where the idea of exploring various
experiences is necessary for rejuvenating one’s own self. The Eastern ideology states that
understanding oneself is a process which require going through various struggles. The
condition of change in this therapy by Roger requires the essence of self-connection through
philosophical techniques to become a fully functioning person who is demonstrated through
various regions, races and culture. However, the Western culture is more of a ego-centric
ideology where the family viewpoints based on the gender issues are more given importance
than self-independence and freedom to seek oneself.
Limitations of the theory
Following are the limitations of the theory:
 The theory is too simple.

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 The approach of this theory is ineffectual and indications of aimless
incoherent by the clients.
 It should be more focusing on rising a variety of methods that can be applied
to solve particular problems rather than emphasizing the counselor as a person.
 It is not possible that every client will have the capacity to trust their internal
direction and find their solution.
 This technique is limited to attending and reflecting.
 This approach is more focused on the attitude of the councilor rather than
systematic training of the counseling skills.

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Conclusion:
In conclusion, Psychopathology is a therapy technique which requires the person to be
self-conscious upon one’s own behaviour and actions. The person explores through the
process own experiences and gain full awareness through interaction with the therapist. The
therapist uses the conditions of empathy, cooperation, contact and the genuineness to build a
relationship of trust to guide the client towards a path of self-transformation from negative
experiences.

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