Carl Rogers (1968) believed that people’s perception of the world around them affected their behaviour and not extrinsic factors, and that everyone seeks approval and have a need for positive regard. He believed that how people perceive us affects how we feel about our selves and can is the basis for mental illness. The term ‘conditions of worth’ was coined by Rogers and describes the stages of children’s feelings regarding seeking approval, although he believed that development could be hindered if our sole purpose was to be approved of.
It could be said that the practices of therapy today originate from Roger’s, as thirty years of research led him to conclude that for a persons issues to be resolved, the therapist must fully absorb what is said and offer unconditional positive regard, it is known as ‘person centred therapy.’
This kind of therapy should be performed in a therapeutic atmosphere were the client can feel at ease and more able to change their feelings of low self worth to more positive self regard. There are three contributing factors to the success of the therapy; genuineness; which allows the client to see the therapist as a real person with feelings rather than simply a practitioner, unconditional positive regard; where the therapist is wholly accepting of the client’s issues and feelings and accept them, and empathetic understanding; where by the therapist understands the clients feelings by concentrating on all they are told and listening for information that might not be stated so obviously.
According to the Association for Humanist Psychology they are ‘committed to furthering and exploring the evolution of the human spirit’, which is obviously impossible to measure scientifically as it focuses on the uniqueness, creativity and potential within a person. What is perceived by society as deviant behaviour, is not judged as wrong by humanists as everyone is unique and individual, it is the perception and judgement of others that labels behaviour.
Fritz Perls (1965) developed the Gestalt therapy, which is not concerned with the origin or cause of the problem, and does not rely solely on the therapist’s analysis of the problem, but of the clients own feelings of awareness in the here and now. Perls believed that people build ‘mental barriers’ to eradicate unwanted feelings or memories, which could be likened to Freud’s theory of defence mechanisms. Clients are encouraged to describe their feeling and thoughts in the present tense and to take responsibility for these respective feelings with the statement, for example, ‘I was unhappy, and I take responsibility for that.’ It is thought that this method of therapy and ownership of ones feelings is crucial to make the client aware of themselves.
Another method Perls used to create awareness is called the ‘empty chair’, where the client addresses an empty chair as the person they have issues with, and openly expresses their feelings of anger, love, fear etcetera. They then swap chairs in order to understand each perspective, followed by discussing their feelings with the therapist. Rogers (1968) theorised that people can change their perception of themselves and others if encouraged to examine our feelings and respective behaviour.
Bibliography
Hewstone, M., Fincham, F. & Foster J. Psychology. Blackwell Publishing. 2005 Oxford
Rogers. C.R. Client Centred Therapy ; Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory 1951 Houghton Mifflin. Boston
Davenport. G.C. Essential Psychology 1995 Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. London
Gross. R Psychology; The Science of the Mind and Behaviour (Fifth Edition) 2005 Hodder Arnold
http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/ (accessed 03/06/08)