Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Therapeutic Methods Person Centered Therapy Carl Rogers Frances Kaplan

Introduction

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Person-centered therapy is based on concepts from humanistic psychology, many of which were articulated by Carl Rogers in the early 1940's. The AllPsych.com dictionary describes Humanistic Psychology as a theoretical view of human nature which stresses a positive view of human nature and a strong belief in psychological homeostasis. Rogers's basic assumptions are that people are fundamentally trustworthy, that they have an enormous potential for understanding and that they are capable of self-directed growth if they are involved in a particular kind of therapeutic relationship Corey (2005:164). He believed that the therapists' personality traits and values; as well as the relationship built between the client and therapist to be the biggest determinants of a positive outcome in therapy. Modern-day personcentered therapy is the product of an evolutionary process that continues to remain open to change and refinement. His personcentered approach was not intended to be a fixed and completed approach to psychology; instead he hoped that others would view his theory as a collection of tentative principles relating to how the therapy process develops, not as dogma. Rogers expected for his theory to be modified and he was open and receptive to change Corey (2005:164). Who was Carl Rogers?

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987) led a life that reflected the ideas he developed for half a century. He earned recognition around the world for originating and developing the humanistic movement in psychotherapy, pioneering in psychotherapy research, and influencing all fields related to the helping professions. According to Heppner, Rogers, & Lee in (Corey, G 2005:163) Rogers was once asked what he would want his parents to know about his contributions if they were able to communicate. He answered that he was unable to imagine talking to mother about anything of significance as he was sure that she would only have negative remarks. Interestingly, one of the major ideas in his theory is the need for nonjudgmental listening and acceptance if clients are to change. Corey (2005:163) points out that "Rogers lived his life in harmony with his theory and in his dealings with a wide variety of people in diverse settings. His faith in people deeply affected the development of his theories and the way that he related to all those with whom he came into contact. Rogers who knew who he was, felt comfortable with his beliefs, and was without pretense. He was not afraid to take a strong position and challenge the status quo throughout his professional career."

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

19 Propositions Rogers' proposed 19 propositions or skills of sort that he believed therapists should always keep in mind during the therapeutic process. These propositions are not used in an ordered, structured fashion. They are to be seen as themes which guide our thoughts and make us aware of our thoughts and those of others. Proposition 1: level 'Every individual exists in a continually changing world of experience of which he is the centre.' (Rogers 1987:483) Proposition 2: Human Perceptions Human experience at a conscious and unconscious

'The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived. This perceptual field is, for the individual, reality.' (Rogers 1987:484) Proposition 3: Wholeness / unity

'The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal field.' (Rogers 1987:486) Proposition 4: Self-determination

'The organism has one basic tendency and striving to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism.' (Rogers 1987:487) Proposition 5: Needs and behaviour

'Behaviour is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced in the field.' (Rogers 1987:4 91) Proposition 6: Emotions

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

'Emotion accompanies and in general facilitates such goal-directed behaviour, the kind of emotion being related to the seeking versus the consummatory aspects of behaviour, and the intensity of the emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behaviour for the maintenance and enhancement of the organism.' (Rogers 1987: 492) Proposition 7: Frames of reference

'Individuals have within themselves vast resources for selfunderstanding and for altering their self concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behaviour; these resources can be tapped if a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided.' (Rogers 1980: 115) Proposition 8: The self

'A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self.' (Rogers 1987:497) Proposition 9: influences the How our perception of our significant others development of the self

'As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluational interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed (an organized, fluid, but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the "I" or the "me") together with values attached to these concepts.' (Rogers 1987:498) Proposition 10: Values - own and adopted from other people

'The values attached to experiences, and the values which are part of the self structure, in some instances are values experienced directly by the organism, and in some instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but perceived in a distorted fashion as if they had been experienced directly.' (Rogers 1987:498)

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Proposition 11: fit with the self)

Conscious experiences (which fit with the self) and unconscious experiences (which do not

'As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either (a) symbolized, perceived, and organized into some relationship to the self, (b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self structure, (c) denied symbolization or (d) given a distorted symbolization because the experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self.' (Rogers1987:503) Proposition 12: Self and behaviour

'Most of the ways of behaving which are adopted by the organism are those which are consistent with the concept of self.' (Rogers 1987: 507) Proposition 13: Behaviour and unconscious experience

'Behaviour may in some instances, be brought about by organic experiences and needs which have not been symbolized. Such behaviour may be inconsistent with the structure of the self, but in such instances, the behaviour is not "owned" by the individual.' (Rogers 1987:509) Proposition 14: Psychological tension

'Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies to awareness significant sensory and visceral experiences, which consequently are not symbolized and organized into the gestalt of the self-structure. When this situation exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension.' (Rogers 1987:510) Proposition 15: Reconstruction of self

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

'Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the concept of self.' (Rogers 1987: 513) Proposition 16: Defense of self

'Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization or structure of the self will be perceived as a threat, and the more of these perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self-structure is organized to maintain itself.' (Rogers 1987:515) Proposition 17: Conditions for facilitation

'Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of any threat to the self-structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived, and examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such experiences.' (Rogers 1987: 517) Proposition 18: Acceptance of self and others

'When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is necessarily more understanding of others and is more accepting of others as separate individuals.' (Rogers 1987:520) Proposition 19: Developing you value system

'As the individual perceives and accepts into his self-structure more of his organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value system based so largely upon introjections which have been distortedly symbolized with a continuing organismic valuing process.' (Rogers 1987:522) Therapist's values

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

The therapist's values are those principles which direct his / her attitude towards all of humankind. The professional values more particularly reflect the therapist's attitude towards their clients. Grobler, Schenk & du Toit (2005:86) It is vital that the therapist creates a warm and safe environment where the client feels able to reveal their deepest and darkest secrets, only in such conditions, will a client be able to grow and heal. If the therapist not able to believe in the clients striving fro growth, the outcome of the therapeutic process may be questioned. Respect

One of the most important and central values to the person centered approach is respect. Rogers (1987:19), warns against the habit of using respect only as a method or technique. According to him, respect is more an attitude that is supplemented by certain techniques and methods. (Grobler, Schenk & du Toit (2005:89). According Grobler, Schenk & du Toit (2005:92) the following are suggested ways for the therapist to implement respect in practice. 1. Do not judge your clients decisions or actions The therapists' job is to guide and assist the client with the troubles they are experiencing, not to judge whether their actions have been good or bad or whether they are guilty of anything. Instead the therapist should focus on understanding the clients' feelings and pain and in so doing, assist them in growing. 2. Allow and enable the client to work through their pain Working through the therapeutic process quite often is a painful experience. The client needs to be able to return to difficult experiences and relive the past pain. The therapist needs to be there for the client and guide them through this, rather than try to avoid it altogether.

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Individualization

If the therapist accepts the value of individualization, he or she, according to Grobler, Schenk & du Toit (2005:1097) as quoted by Rogers (1987:29) 'assumes the internal frame of reference of the client, the perceive the world as the client sees it, to perceive the client himself as he is seen by himself, to lay aside all perceptions from the external frame of reference while doing so, and to communicate something of this empathic understanding to the client.' Self determination

Every person knows himself better than anybody else and is therefore in the best position to explore, expose and understand the self. According to Grobler, Schenk & du Toit (2005:104) self determination means that the clients determine for themselves: o What they wish to discuss o How they wish to discuss it o Whether they wish to discuss it o What their needs are o How they wish to satisfy their needs o What their own values are and will be o What the threatening experiences are o The direction in which to move in the exploration of painful experiences. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a contentious issue as there are many grey areas which the therapist needs to be aware of. If a client is to build a

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

trusting relationship with the therapist it is vital that he feel his experiences will be kept confidential, without confidentiality, the client will never feel comfortable or safe enough to disclose his secrets. How does the humanistic approach differ to other approaches? In an article by Kirschenbaum (2004:10) he suggests that humanistic psychology differs from psychoanalysis and behaviourism in at least three ways. 1. This psychology gave more emphasis and credence to the individual's phenomenal field, for example, the person centered therapist's empathizing with the client's frame of reference rather than evaluating or diagnosing from the outside, or the existential psychotherapist's helping the patient find 'meaning' in life meaning as perceived by the diem. 2. This psychology focused not just on remediation of psychological problems but on psychological health, wellness, creativity, selfactualization, or what Rogers (1957b,1961b) described as "the fully functioning person". The goal was more than "adjustment", but helping people experience their full human potential. 3. It was a psychology interested in what distinguishes human beings from other species. Choice, will, freedom, values, feelings, goals, and other humanistic concerns were all central subjects of study. Tao Psychotherapy: Introducing a New Approach to Humanistic Practice. Tao Psychotherapy can be described as a synthesis of eastern and western psychotherapies in quest of integrating psychoanalytic, existential, humanistic, and transpersonal, and Eastern perspectives in a single coherent approach. It was founded by a Korean psychiatrist,

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Dr. Rhee Dongshick in 1974, who grew up rather poor in a little village called Waegwa. His childhood memories are tainted by memories of his father leaving him and choosing his friends instead. Further more, at the tender age of five, his younger sister, who he adored, passed away suddenly. Adversity thus was no stranger in the life of this child who grew up to be a admired psychiatrist. Craig (2007:109) "Students of Tao are taught to be mindful just in order to be mindless, to have an empty mind, a mind free of determinative, categorical conceptualizations. Tao psychology rejects linear, abstract, logical analysis in favour of empathic affect in the flow of immediately given experience. It is also profoundly culturally sensitive, that is deeply rooted in the values and customs of Korean culture." Craig (2007:111) Carl Rogers admired the early teaching of Tao by Lao Tzu and in 1973 added the following passage in an article, indicating that it was perhaps his very favourite from Lao Tzu: If I keep from meddling with people, they take care of themselves, If I keep from commanding people, they behave themselves, If I keep from preaching at people, they improve themselves, If I keep from imposing on people, they become themselves. (Chapter 57, W, Bynner, Trans.) Rhee was intrigued by the works he read of American psychologists, especially those of Maslow and Rogers. "Indeed it was some of Rogers' case studies that was published in the late 1950's (Rogers, 1958, 1959; Lewis, Rogers & Shlein, 1959) that confirmed some of Rhee's own independent clinical discoveries." (Craig 2007: 121)

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Tao Psychotherapy offers a fundamentally humanistic approach to depth psychology. It is at once concerned with human suffering and conflict, and at the same time essentially spiritual. Tao Psychotherapy centers around four basic emphases Craig (2007:124): 1. The development of the personality of the therapist with the focus being on the emptying of the mind. 2. The therapist's empathic attunement with and compassion for the patient. 3. Nuclear feelings - a highly charged affective complex originating from childhood as a primary motivational influence throughout ones life. 4. The irreplaceable value of lived experience, without which none of the above can be appropriately grasped and carried out with genuineness and grace. In a nutshell, the therapist establishes rapport, a sense of genuine concern relatedness with the patients; the therapist abstains from personal gain and, rather, inquires, listens, and engages the other with honesty and commitment to the person and to the therapeutic commission, patients say whatever is alive and true for them in the moment; together, the therapeutic partners seek the meanings, limitations, and possibilities that present themselves directly in the patient's life. Craig (2007:125) Criticism of the person Centered Approach Participants of the United Service Organization, where Rogers spent an interim year training, performed a skit of Rogers in his tenth floor office counseling a suicidal client. The following is the dialogue in the skit as described by Kirschenbaum (2004:7-8):

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

"Dr. Rogers," the client would say, "I'm feeling suicidal." "You're feeling suicidal?" Rogers would answer. "Yes, I'm walking over to the window, Dr. Rogers." "I see. You're walking over to the window," Rogers answers. "Look, Dr. Rogers, I'm opening the window," the client says. "You feel like opening the window?" Rogers reflects. "Yes, I'm putting one foot out of the window, now." "You're halfway out, is that it?" "Yes, now I'm jumping Dr. Rogers" "Uh, huh, uh, huh, you're jumping," says Rogers. And, sure enough the client jumps, making a whooshing sound as he falls through the air before landing with a crash. Thereupon Rogers walks over to the window, looks out and reflects, "Whooooosh ... Plop!" Rogers soon recognised that the counselor's attitudes were as important as his particular techniques. The techniques or methods were the way to implement the facilitative attitudes of accepting and understanding. Moreover, if these attitudes of the counselor were not genuine, all the reflecting of feelings in the world would not be of much help to the client. Kirschenbaum (2004:7-8) Corey (2003:184) suggests that accusations of scientific shortcomings involve using control subjects who are not candidates fro therapy,

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

failing to use an untreated control group, failing to account for placebo effects, reliance on self-reports as a major way to assess the outcomes of therapy, and using inappropriate statistical procedures. Do Clients Really Prefer Person-Centered Therapy? Studies done by medical doctors in Washington, reveal that there is evidence to show that patients do not necessarily prefer patientcentered therapy. In their research it was found that almost a third of patients prefer a non-patient-centered approach. (Swenson, Buell, Zettler, White, Ruston, Bernard 2002:1075) This leads me to the question: Will we find the same results in the field of psychology? In today's life, time is money, and both is a luxury to most people. Do our patients want to spend that luxury on self healing or do they prefer the 3 minute guide to healing depression. Dr. Phill Mc Graw has been gracing our Television screens for years and even Oprah seems to think his approach to be a phenomenon. Have people reached a point where they want to know what their problem is and how to fix it in one simple session? Conclusion Rogers' person-centered therapy broke new ground and undoubtedly made a huge impact on psychology as we know it today. His genuineness and devotion, for his clients and psychology, shine through in all the articles and books cited. There are however some short fallings and much room to grow, which Rogers' would have welcomed with open arms. It is this open and free environment that he created with his patients and his proposed values and propositions that make using the person-centered approach so welcoming.

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

References Anon. n.d. All Psych Dictionary available from: http://allpsych.com/dictionary/dictionary2.html (Accessed 2008/02/20)

Frances Kaplan Therapeutic Methods Humanism Carl Rogers

Buell, S., Lo, B., Ruston, D.C., Swenson, S.L., White, M., Zetler, P. 2004. Patient-centred communication Do patients really prefer it? J Gen intern Med, 19: 1069 1079 Corey, G. 2005 7th Edition. Theory and practice of counseling & psychotherapy. United States of America: Thomson books/Cole Craig, E. 2007. Tao Psychotherapy: Introducing a new approach to humanistic practice. The humanist psychologist, 35(2), 109-133. Du Toit, D & Grobler, H & Schenck, R. 2005 3rd Edition. Person-centered communication. South Africa: Oxford university press Kirschenbaum, H. 2004. Carl Rogers's life and work: an assessment on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Journal of counseling and development, v82 i1 (116) Rogers, C. 2003. Client-centered therapy. London: Constable & Robinson Sadock, J & Sadock, V.A. 2007 10th Edition. Synopsis of Psychiatry. Philadelphia: Kaplan Sadock