The Rogerian approach to therapy has severe limitations

The Rogerian orgasm to therapy has severe demarcation linesCarl Rogers (1902-1987) was a major force for psychology in the twentieth century. His theory on leaf node centred therapy is still used today in mainstream counsellor though now it is more widely kn give as mortal centred.To whether node centred therapy is assistive instead than rehabilitative, Rogers utilization centered on phenomenology and his three load trails to a working alliance matte appointed inclination, Empathy and congruousness. I go out explore which aspects be adjunct and which argon reconstructive and whether there be each limitations to this burn up.Rogers believed that everyone has the ability to pitch for the better and they patronage all the answers within them even if they do not know it yet. His theory was based around three core sources that the healer should abide by in order to help the node know at ease, incur confident in themselves and develop their ingest answers. These core conditions are Empathy, congruity and compulsive positivist Regard (UPR). This essay give realize at Rogers theory on invitee-centred therapy Phenomenology and the three core conditions. The essay will excessively evaluate whether there are any limitations to Rogerian theory due to it existence supportive rather than reconstructive.In 1928, Carl Rogers went off to Rochester, NY where he took his first logical argument at the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children where he worked essentially as a child clinical psychologist until 1938.In 1936 Rogers became interested in the Rankian start out to therapy after attending a series of Otto Ranks lectures. Rogers al expressive styles stated that Rankian influenced the flesh that person centered counseling took, especially its emphasis on the autocratic characteristics of the individual, the quality of the therapeutic relationship, and a focus on responding to tactile propertys.I became give wit h Rankian ideas. (Kramer cited in www.ottorank.com)When Rogers was at Rochester he worked with a dumbfound whose son was displaying behavioral problems. Dryden (2007) wrote that Rogers dictum the root of the problem as the mothers rejection of her son as a baby. Rogers could not place the mother to follow this and was about to give up when she asked for adult rede for herself. This shift in focus served as a catalyst for her to speak about all her problems she was experiencing. Rogers imbed this case a turning point in what therapy should be about the thickening (Rogers 1939).It began to glide by to me that unless I had a affect to demonstrate my declare cleverness and learning, I would be better to rely upon the lymph node for the direction of movement in the influence. (Dryden 2007145)Around the time of Rogers, theorists such as Strange (1950) saw advocate as a relationship, which encourages growth in both and therapist and the customer. metalworker (1955) defined counselling as therapist led in that they would wait on the node in interpreting their problems and thoughts (cited in Chadra Gupta 1989187)In 1951 Rogers published Client-Centred Therapy which naturalized him highly in the psychotherapeutic community. Rogers claimed that behavioural therapists were preventing their clients from self-actualizing and discovering their own antecedents.Carl Rogers (1951) developed his client-orientated approach to meet the demand of personal freedom (Chadra Gupta 1989187) in that it seats the client at the centre of the offshoot with the therapist just walking alongside. Rogers work was based on the tone that the client know what is best for themselves rather than followers of psychoanalysis and behavioural theories which sees the therapist interpreting the problem and what is solution is. Rogers try to make clients feel unique, he demanded to understand how the client felt and reflected their statements back to them. Rogers (1951) saw the pur pose of counselling world a more broadly based structure of self, an inclusion of a greater projection of experience as a part of self and a more comfortable and realistic adjustment to life. (Chadra Gupta 198911)Rogers tended to distance himself from already establish theories as he felt that it attempted to fit the client into a mould rather than seeing the client as they are. He found and so(prenominal) that he could devote his energy instead to relating deeply to his clients and discovering with them what worked. (Thorne 200324)Rogers had an apprehension that a person was not just made up of ID and self (Freudian theory) unless was as well a product of his or her environment, family and values. He saw a persons behaviour as immanent to himself or herself.To Rogers, the equality cutaneous senses by the client and therapist was integral to a healthy and positive therapeutic relationship. Rogers felt that if the therapist were to be seen as the expert it would throw the relationship off balance, as it is the client who is the one with all the answers, not the therapist.The turn up of power is central to his accord of the therapeutic relationship. (Thorne 200325)The subjective experience of the client is key to Rogers client centred approach and if the therapist is the one with the power whence the client whitethorn feel no validity in their own thoughts and self understanding. Hence, the therapeutic relationship breaks prevail over and the client will neer get hold of success in finding his or her own answers (i.e. conditional Regard of what the therapist requisites).Rogers therapy is supportive in that the therapist accompanies the client on their journey whilst displaying UPR, congruousness and empathy but it is also reconstructive as it enables the client to make the right changes for themselves without any judgement of the therapist. The therapist should be a facilitator not an authorative expert. In my opinion, Rogers seeing the client s as client and not patients is what sets deflection this form of working from the doctor-patient medical model. Rogers way of working encouraged therapy o be a sour about the individual and their needs, not a diagnostic tool which is generic to every patients symptoms.The procedure is the key factor. (Dryden 2007186)Phenomenology holds the ruling that all humans be train in response and accordance of their own subjective understanding and awareness of where we are in the gentlemans gentleman.The therapists flow is to serve the client in the exploration and discovery of his or her own home(a) resources. (Thorne 200325)Central to Rogers phenomenological theory is optimism and that a human has a basic rose-colored view and if supported in finding an understanding in their subjective world, then the client would start to engage in behaviours and thoughts that were positive.This c erstpt became know as The Actualising endeavor.Carl Rogers believed that there was one motivation al force that determined the education of the human being. He called this the Actualising Tendency. (Mearns Thorne 200812)In Rogers understanding and anthropological research he found that humans, in nature, brace an innate desire to move towards progress, positiviness and their potential. alike(p) a flower sown in rough soil surrounded by darkness and poisons, it will strive towards even a shimmer of light in order to survive and grow. Rogers saw battalions behaviour as no different. Rogers continued this analogy by explaining that the rougher and poorer soil (i.e. the environment individual is in), the more water and nourishment theyll need. The harder a persons situation and circumstances, the more support they will need to find and grow towards their Actualising Tendency. Depending on the person, this process usher outful be slow and mosttimes even stop depending on their self-perception or other parts of them, which move be, more resistant to change or self-realisati on. The Human Organism itself manifests this tendency and has infinite inner resources.For Rogers the tendency to realize the self is essentially a subsystem of the Actualising tendency. (Thorne 200327)This supportive element of Rogers charge explored questions such as How does it feel and What it be like toknown as Spotlighting.Although Rogers is enjoin the conversion, the client is still recognising their own behaviours and coming to their own conclusions about any changes that need to be implemented self-actualizing. This is reconstructive an example of this would be fish lossWithin the chassiswork of the Self Actualizing Tendency Rogers believed that humans harbor enormous resources for successful living and to achieve a happy and action life. Rogers believed that your automobile trunk knows what it wants and needs and when it is full you just need to get a filiation to it. The body and mind are connected together with Phenomenology. To the client regimen may represen t more than food, it may represent comfort, acceptance and stress hiatus and the natural relationship is changed. This can also happen when people crave themselves or diet unhealthily to be an acceptable surface by size 0 lodge norms. When people are pregnant they tend to listen less to confederacy and more to their body and less to society and precedent conditioned values i.e. I might be get big but my baby needs me to eat more. Rogers supported in clients in touch sensation open enough to talk about their relationship with food and would help them peel back the onion layers i.e. you overeat due to stress, lets lecture the smacks of stress first. The client then can rebalance their emotional need without eat to feel normal. finished Empathy, UPR and Congruence, the client begins the process of self-actualizing without any limitations imposed from the therapist.This is when the therapist reflects what they key issues that need to be addressed. Although this seems to conf lict with Rogers belief that the client finds their own answers, once the key issues are spotlighted, the client then decides what they want to focus on, even if the therapist sees the answers lying elsewhere.Fully Functioning (Rogers 1963) people are as Rogers described are psychologically healthy persons who cook been gilded enough to be surrounded by others whose acceptance and cheering have enabled them for at least some of the time to be in touch with their deepest feelings and experiences. (Mearns Thorne 200815)Fully Functioning clients have trust in the organismic valuing process and feel confident. Others who are not fully functioning are those who have faced or continue to face negativity, conditional positive bear on and judgement.The key to Rogers client centred approach was the concept of self worth. Rogers identified that when we are born we have a tendency towards actualisation. This gets cloudy the older we get, once we inherit parental values, different environm ents and conditions of worth, reward and our need for positive go with increases.We require at some level and in some way, til now minimal, to feel reasoned about ourselves and if this need is not met it is difficult to function in the world. (Thorne 2003Rogers theory of self was based on the principle that if we are brocaded in a supportive and positive environment where we scram positive reinforcement for who are and want to do, then we trust in own abilities and our thoughts and feelings in order to make the correct decisions in line with our perception of the world. If however, we are raised in an environment filled with conditions of worth such as If you do x then you will be good or Mummy will love you if, then our need for positive regard in dependant on other people. We will grow up only when recognising achievements depending on values and responses of others rather than feeling fulfilled in whom we are and the life we lead we are only dependent on ourselves.Psycholog ical disturbances will be perpetuated if an individual continues to be dependent to a high degree on the judgement of others for a sense of self worth. (Mearns Thorne 2008153)Rogers believed that this dissonance between our innate need for approval and our inner self-wisdom is the root cause of much inner disturbance and lose of self-confidence to make positive decisions on our own, for ourselves. Rogers saw this as a lack of self-trust in the organismic valuing process. If people are not raised in a supportive environment where they are listened to and valued then the supportive environment of Rogerian therapy might be their first experience of feeling valued. Rogers believed in a mixture of his therapy being supportive as considerably as reconstructive and the process should emphasise the thinking with the individual, not for the individual. concourse cannot only be affected by their inter-personal relationships but also by their social and cultural norms. An example of this af fecting a persons Actualizing Tendency is when the media and society portrays a size 0 image as what is the new interpretation of beautiful. For those that arent that particular proposition size it could make them feel devalued by society and could impact on their esteem and confidence levels. This is turn could affect and superseded their Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) they received from their parents saying they are ok the way they are and leave the person feeling lost and insecure. Rogers highlighted the importance of freehand UPR in sessions, empathising with clients and building a good rapport and level of trust. Through this client-focused medium, the client can start working on the issues they feel are negative to them comparing themselves and valuing themselves against the size 0 images in magazines.The therapist aims to make up an environment in which the client can be supported to achieve personal growth by reconnecting with their Organismic Valuing Process (how I feel), Self-Actualizing Tendency (what do I need) and their Internal Locus of Control (I am worthy).These supportive key elements to Rogers theory highlight the persons need for unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence.The therapist provides a relationship of trust, warmth and UPR that encourages clients to talk about themselves and their feeling. (Heap Aravind 2002186)Empathy by collins dictionary definition is the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another(prenominal) persons feelings. (www.freedictionary.com)Empathy is the therapists ability to understand the clients subjective perceptual world and how they see themselves and the world around them. It is a process. In person centred therapy the counsellor tries to enter the clients frame of reference and walk alongside him in his world. (Mearns Thorne 200869)It is important that the therapist the Great Compromiser reliable and strong and not get sucked down into the clients world so much that th ey lose sight of their role in this process. A good analogy of where that boundary is and why is The Well. If a client is stuck at the stub of a well there is little point the therapist getting down into the well with them to find out how they are as then they would both be stuck. Instead, the therapist could sit on the edge of the well, talk of the town to the client and empathising that this situation must be hard, lonely etc without being down there and equally stuck. Rogers believed that an empathetic approach required the therapist to be secure within themselves before entering into a clients world the As If factor. This is to state that the therapist should enter to clients world as if they were there, not get lost in it. When this is achieved, there can be movement in the clients self-concept and worth, as the therapist is able to express empathetic responses, which show the client they are being understood.Although each person experiences the world differently, a therapist s understanding and appreciation of a persons problems and hardship can be supportive to the client. Rogers believed that empathy could be shown in therapy through good body language, summarising and reflection.Empathy is a continuing process whereby the counsellor lays aside her own way of experiencing and perceiving reality, preferring to sense and respond to the experiencing and perceptions of her client. (Mearns Thorne 200867) converse is key to this core condition. When a client feels legitimate, valued and understood it assist feelings of alienation, loneliness and desperation. Rogers referred back to these core conditions as integral to person centred counselling therapy.Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) as non-judgemental acceptance of a client and is key to the client feeling safe enough to work through their negative feelings. Rogers believed in peoples honesty when not faced with judgment and rejection the client should be accepted as they are not as they want to be or how the therapist feels they should be. Rogers advocated that the client should be totally accepted with no exceptions. If the therapist accepts you, that is one step closer to self-acceptance. If the therapist can show UPR regardless of what the client says i.e. I hate my mother and want to kill her and empathise with how they feel, they will be in a relaxed true environment to open up to what might be underlying these feelings. Rogers believed these core conditions can help the client come to terms with their emotions and in turn, their dignity will improve. Although this could be seen as facilitating a change I see it as more reconstructive as it can go outlying(prenominal) deeper than the presenting need and the therapist might never be aware of where the change is actually happening i.e. being able to talk about hating their mother might spark revelations that can now be accepted i.e. Its not my fault.In practical terms it can be hard for some therapists to let go of the power or lead the client to energize change.This will lead the client down their own path of self-change and fudge factor of negative behaviours and false statements which is far more powerful. Rogers saw that most people accessing therapy had little UPR in their life and saw this is a root of their problems.Unconditional positive regard is the label given to the fundamental attitude of the person centred counsellor towards her clientand is not deflected in that valuing by any particular client behaviours. (Mearns Thorne 200895)Rogers believed that this uniform unconditional regard encourages the clients process of feeling valued and break down barriers the client might be position up in order to feel accepted.Unconditional Positive Regard is important as it directly conflicts with the self-defeating cycle. This cycle (Mearns Thorne 200899) promotes a clients condition of worth, which they might have carried around all their life. With the therapist counteracting this, it can aid the client in finding a break through in their negative patterns. These core conditions to Rogerian client-centred therapy are both supportive the UPR, but also reconstructive as the client is the one finding their own answers, without condition or judgment from the therapist. Yet this can only be achieved with empathy and congruence otherwise it may seem false.Congruence is characterised by the therapist being transparent to the client, not superior to them. It is genuine, authentic and real. The therapist conveys this genuine realism and allows the client to see them as a human being not a doctor hiding behind certificates and metaphorical white coats.Congruence can be displayed verbally thats terrible, I dont understand, please say that again, and non-verbal confabulation such as facial expressions and body language which reflects, not mimics, the clients.This process of the three core conditions supports the client in feeling relaxed and confident to look at their problems honestly and without judgement though it is reconstructive as the client is the one in the drivers seat making the changes for themselves.From the reading I have done for this essay I feel that the one main limitation to Rogerian theory regarding its supportive nature would be that Rogers non-directive approach to therapy is not consistent as reconstructive as with techniques such as summarising and selective reinforcement, answers and reactions can be shaped. I have found another limitation is Rogers belief in the potential of the fully functioning person, which is not achievable in reality. Although the idea is something to aim forDoes supportive mean it cant be reconstructive? Only the client knows what they need and once they connect with that, only they will know how they feel. The therapist can support them in their journey but it is actually made by the client. Rogation therapy is based on both a supportive and reconstructive stance as the client benefits from the empathy, Un conditional Positive Regard and congruence the therapist gives them but ultimately it is the client who recognises where changes could be beneficial and implicates them.One of the most rewarding moments in a counselling process comes when a client discovers or re-discovers the dependability of his organismic valuing process however temporary or partial this may be. (Mearns Thorne 200814)I feel in conclusion that Rogerian therapy can be both supportive and reconstructive and that is the mix of the two, which takes away any major limitations.WORD COUNT 3449