An Introduction To Counselling Psychology Essay

Within this essay, the key concepts and principles of the person centred approach to counselling will be evaluated and discussed on how they inform and influence a person centred approach to counselling.

Person centred theory or person centred counselling is the theory of counselling which originated from Carl Rogers. Originally this type of counselling was also known as a ‘nondirective approach’ to therapy or ‘client centred therapy’ (Gladding, 2011). Zimring and Raskin (1992, cited in Tudor et al, 2004)) did a review on the history of the person centred approach and divided the first fifty years of counselling into four main periods of the approach. However, this essay will consider the first two periods of the history within the Rogers theory of counselling.

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Zimring and Raskin (1992, cited in Tudor et al, 2004) claim that the first period begins in 1940 with Rogers presenting to a University his thoughts on newer concepts to psychotherapy; this was subsequently published two years later. The two characteristics of the first phase to the approach is the therapist’s role which would be the responses towards the client and the clients’ feelings which are distinct from the content, and secondly, the acceptance, recognition and the clarification of feelings whether they were positive, negative or ambivalent (Tudor et al, 2004, p. 21). This would explain and possible influence one of the three core conditions of unconditional positive regard that Rogers developed within the therapeutic relationship, which will be discussed in more depth further on within this piece of work.

The second phase began in 1950 where Rogers outlines the framework and structure of the client centred approach and his hypothesis for therapy and therapeutic change. More significant within this decade was Rogers’ hypothesis of the six ‘necessary and sufficient conditions’ of a client’s personality change and personal growth. Although until recently it was believed that, only the core conditions needed to be present for positive change to occur (reference). However, before this essay discusses the six ‘necessary and sufficient conditions’ for change to occur, the three key concepts that are the underpinning to the person centred approach need to be addressed in depth.

The first of which is the organisms. Although Rogers was a careful writer, he took the idea of the organism for granted that within his written work it is suggested that he saw no need to define the organism when writing about the key theoretical concepts or constructs to the person centred approach (Tudor et al, 2004). Rogers believed that the ‘inner core of a man’s personality is the organism itself, which is essentially both self-preserving and social’ (Tudor et al, 2004, p.25). Rogers also asserted that the characteristic of the organism has a basic tendency and strives to actualise, maintain, and enhance the experience of the organism (Rogers, 2003).

According to Tudor et al (2004) the actualising tendency or AT is at times conceptualised as something solid and separate to the organism, therefore, to prevent any misconception’s within this essay it shall refer to the actualising tendency as the ‘organism’s tendency to actualise’ which is perceived as a characteristic of the organism.

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Rogers has associated the organism’s tendency to actualise

Incongruence between self-concept and the experience of self is denied and distorted

Through the Rogers’ definition of the organism as mentioned previously, the description of the organism is the individual person or client and is not to be confused with the “self”. The “self” is believed to be the personality of the said organism and holds the feelings, opinions and the values of the individual (Tudor et al, 2004) person.

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These are two completely different aspects of the person centred approach, however, they can arguably be perceived for exactly the same entity, and not two separate entities as Rogers intended. Rogers’ understood this and described the “self” as taking shape when the organism or individual acknowledges and accepts that they are who they are and this is their personality. This process according to Rogers clearly observed within the first two years of an infant’s life, (Tudor et al, 2004) and the “conditions of worth” that are created at this point in development would be shaped by the parental influence and carried on further into the individual’s adult life as a concept of “self” or the self-concept.

Conditions of worth are manifested from the positive regard or conditional regard received by the infant from either a parental influence or significant other, thus the conditions of worth within the ‘self’ becomes embedded in the child. When referring to a significant other it is meant as someone other than the parent whom providers care for the infant within this time of development (reference). In the event of the “self” receiving conditions of worth, it embodies the external or internal locus of evaluation.

The individual’s external or internal locus of evaluation.

Frame of reference

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However, the clients “frame of reference” can also connote the moment-by-moment awareness that the client experience’s (Worsley, 2001).

It is apparent that the person centred counsellor does not have a model for child development as the simple phrase “conditions of worth” which Rogers’ termed, encompass the entirety of the developing child (McLeod, 2009).

The process of counselling has positives, just as equally as every other profession does. The function of counselling is aimed at overcoming any negative qualities, which the client may have, and highlights all the positive qualities a client has. Rogers believed that all people were good and every person has the right to be psychological well-being. Also counselling whatever theoretical approach is used as a basis is to increase a client’s responsibility and for them to make positive choices that assist them to feel, think and act effectively within today’s society (Colledge, 2002).

The counsellor’s role within the client relationship is to provide emotional warmth where the client can experience a feeling of safety and can see oneself objectively without any emotional complications. The counsellor provides a genuine alter ego that accepts the clients self as he / she has known it to be, and accepts the distorted and denied self with the same depth of warmth and respect, thus, the client can equally accept both aspects of the ‘self’ (Rogers, 2003).

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The counsellor provides the client with an empathetic understanding, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. Congruence within the therapeutic relationship is highly important and beneficial to the therapeutic relationship, however, Colledge (2002) argued, that if counsellors’ congruence within themselves is at a low level the counsellor could not trust their own intuition during the counselling session.

However, it is suggested that a therapeutic relationship that’s characterised by the core conditions (congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard) help strengthen the client’s self and encourage clients to talk openly about feelings as the counsellor is the active listener and values them and their opinions. Although, very few studies have been conducted to support this, Bachelor (1988 cited in Bozarth & Wilkins, 2001, 3rd Edition) conducted a study that supported this hypothesis. The study showed that the clients who felt understood, accepted, non-judged and valued from the counsellor, experienced more self-validation and found it safer to self – disclosure and would explore deeper levels of emotions and perceptions within themselves.

Within the client counsellor relationship, it is suggested that the counsellor’s role is to provide amongst various things, for example, a safe environment and unconditional positive regard. This is one of the three core conditions required to provide a positive change within the client, furthermore, unconditional positive regard directly disrupts any conditions of worth by the positive regard of parental or significant others: the counsellor values the client irrespective of the clients conforming to any conditions of worth (Mearns & Thorne, 2010) the client may have.

The core conditions of unconditional positive regard, empathy, congruence and the six necessary and sufficient conditions the client experiences within the therapeutic relationship between the client and counsellor has proved invaluable and aids the seven stage process to therapeutic movement (Rogers, 2003) within the organism or the organismic self.

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Furthermore, Rogers emphasised that the six necessary and sufficient conditions are the key to establish the counselling relationship and for therapeutic growth to occur successfully. Rogers published these in 1957 which are that two people need to be in psychological contact, which means that the people would need to be on the same journey together, the second condition would be that the client would be in the state of incongruence between ‘self’ and the ‘self-concept’, and be vulnerable and anxious. Naturally, this would be the case as a person only seeks counselling if they are in any form of conflict.

The third condition stated that the therapist has or for a better choice of word, counsellor, is congruent and united within the therapeutic relationship. The fourth and fifth necessary and sufficient condition is the core conditions of unconditional positive regard and an empathic understanding of the clients’ frame of reference. Lastly the sixth condition Rogers stated that the therapists empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard would be the minimal to be communicated to the client.

Although the sixth condition could be argued as it is in conflict with Rogers first statement, that ‘the following six fundamental conditions, which he (Rogers) regarded as both necessary and sufficient … in which therapeutic growth and personality change could occur’ (Rogers, 1957, cited in Casemore, 2011). However, it can be said that the first condition plays a pivotal role, as the other five conditions revolve around ‘psychological contact’ meaning that the counselling journey is a relationship and not two people being in the same room together. Thus to reiterate, counselling will not be effective if the client does not experience the counsellor’s empathy or the unconditional positive regard for them.

Although the process of therapeutic growth and change seems meek when written down the process is perhaps a painful and courageous journey the client takes and cannot be fully understood. However, Rogers wanted to gain some understanding and developed his theory of the seven stages of process. The seven stages of process Rogers saw as a flowing continuum and not rigid or fixed but rather a process which will develop but can at any stage be relapsed upon.

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A brief outline of this process is as follows, the first stage the client would go into counselling extremely resistant to change and defensive, which at this stage, and the client would be highly unlikely to enter into counselling. Stage two, the client is perceived as less rigid and would talk about the external events or other people surrounding their lives.

Within stage three, the most likely time the client would seek counselling; they would express themselves as an object and avoid any discussions relating to present events. Within stage four, the client will develop a rapport with the counsellor and talk deeply about emotions. Stage five the client expresses present emotions, begins to rely upon their decision-making, and lives their life in the existential way of being. In other words, increasingly accepts more responsibility for their own actions.

Stage six the client growth towards congruence is rapid and they begin to develop unconditional positive regard for others. This stage could also be the signal that formal therapy is ending, as there is no need for it to continue. Finally stage seven according to Rogers the client is self-actualising, shows empathy, unconditional positive regard, and is now living phenomenological.

As mentioned above, existential and phenomenological is linked to the person centred approach as it could be suggested that this is the root to what Rogers’ was implying when expressing the development of the client in person centred therapy and to how they would live life (Casemore, 2011).

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To conclude this piece of work has explained how Rogers’ theory informs and influences the counselling practice within today’s society. It has discussed in detail the organism and the self and referred to the six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change and where the link is between existential and the phenomenological principles to the person centred approach to counselling.

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