What is Person Centred Therapy?

Starting therapy can be extremely daunting for some people, and not knowing the type of therapy you're signing up for, can add to those worries. So, what exactly is person-centred therapy? And is it right for you? 

Person-Centred therapy was proposed by Carl Rogers, who believed therapy could be simpler, warmer and more person focused than what was already being carried out by psychologists focusing on psychodynamic therapy. He suggested that clients can be better helped during sessions, if they were assisted to focus more on the here and now and their current feelings about their experiences. 

What really resonates with me about Carl Rogers person-centred theory, is his belief that the therapeutic relationship is the integral force behind achieving therapeutic change. And that giving people the right environment assists them on their journey of healing. Central to the formation of the therapeutic relationship is the belief that if clients are offered 3 main core conditions, therapeutic change can occur naturally. These are; empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard (non-judgment). For therapy to be effective and for therapeutic change to occur, these 3 core conditions must be present and felt by the client. 

In person-centred therapy, yourself as the client are the expert in your own experiences, emotions, thoughts and beliefs. As a person-centred therapist, I am here to walk in your shoes during sessions and experience our time together fully present through your frame of reference without judgement or criticism. 

The goal of person-centred therapy is not for a counsellor to ‘fix’ what the client has brought to sessions. I will not tell you what you should or should not be doing or input my own thoughts and feelings into our sessions. Rather, it is to provide clients with the conditions necessary to resolve their issues themselves through personal growth and eventually, self-actualization.