Person Centered free essay sample

Firstly I am going to outline my understanding of Carl Rogers, the Person Centred Approach and the Core Conditions, which are the three basic principles for the Person Centred Approach. Then I will continue with explaining what Carl Rogers’s theories means to me, referring to the person centred concepts that impact me. Next I will show how these theories have contributed to changes in myself. Lastly I will identify and reflect on how the theories have impacted my use of counselling skills. My understanding of Carl Roger’s PCA is that he believed for a person too ‘grow’ they needed an environment that provided them with congruence, empathy and unconditional regard. Without these, healthy relationships and personalities will not be able to develop as they should. Like a flower will not grow without sunlight and water. He believed that the term patient implied that the person was sick. By using the term client instead it made both the client and counsellor sort of equal. We will write a custom essay sample on Person Centered or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rogers believed that counsellors should remain non-directive. The counsellor should not offer suggestions or solutions. Instead, the client should be in control. Rogers believed that humans have a Self-Actualising tendency, something that pushes the person to fulfil their potential. Congruence was one of his key theories he believed that the therapist had to be completely honest and genuine, that the therapist should not relate one client to another . Another was Empathy the therapist must be able to feel what the client feels this is the only thing that will allow the client to feel as if they are genuinely understood. Lastly unconditional regard to be able to accept the client for what they are, no judgment should be made they should be treated as if they are a brand new picture. Self-Actualisation is the belief that all humans will pursue what is best for them. Carl Rogers proposed that self-actualisation was â€Å"the curative force in psychotherapy† After understanding his theory myself I can see how it affected me, I can begin to understand myself and my past in a way that I never thought I could. A child adapts to what the parent wants them to be, to a degree they lose their essential potential. They develop conditions of worth. For instance I believe one of my conditions of worth is that for a long time I have always been told I would never amount to nothing, so for a long time I was stuck in a rut. As I grew older I had to make a choice to make a change in my life, not for approval off anyone else but, for approval to myself. To become a fully-functioning person according to the person centred approach you need to experience unconditional positive regard and not developed conditions of worth. Rogers believed that the work of therapists is to create a relationship with the client where there are able to experience unconditional positive regard so that they may be able to grow and become a fully functioning person.