Rogers believed that the origin of most psychological issues that clients bring to therapy is a lack of UPR from others. It is possible, through therapy, for the client to progress towards psychological maturity in which the aim is to obliterate conditions of worth, achieve self-congruence and restore the organismic valuing process. In order for such aims to be achieved, it is the therapist’s responsibility to provide an environment which promotes growth.
Rogers identified three core conditions which are essential for the facilitation of therapeutic change. These are congruence (the counsellor’s capacity to be real or genuine within the counselling relationship), empathy (the ability to stand in the client’s shoes and perceive circumstances from the client’s stance) and unconditional positive regard. UPR is arguably the most powerful of these, but also the most difficult to achieve. It requires the counsellor to accept and communicate acceptance (usually non-verbally) of the client as he/she is in the present moment, without conditions and whether or not the issues presented are positive. Rogers (1957) proposes UPR ‘involves as much feeling of acceptance for the client’s expression of negative, ‘bad’, painful, fearful, defensive, abnormal feelings as for his expression of ‘good’, positive, mature, confident, social feelings.’ (p.36).
It is often questioned how realistic this process would be when confronted with an extremely problematic client; a brutal rapist or paedophile, for example. UPR stems from the Rogerian belief of ‘good in all human beings.’ When experienced by the counsellor it is communicated to clients through a general attitude of respect for and understanding of them as individuals. The person-centred therapist therefore accepts that although one’s character may be flawed upon entering therapy, it needn’t remain flawed, as human beings are inherently good. Rogers suggests that it is more likely that the therapist will be able to express acceptance of the client if they are in touch with their own experiences within the therapeutic setting and have UPR for themselves.
In addition to self-compassion, the fully functioning person has an openness to experience, whilst embracing existential living and acknowledging that the present is the only reality. They also possess ‘organismic trusting’: they trust their real self and are in constant contact with the actualising tendency. Rogers stated that the fully functioning person will feel obliged by their nature to contribute to the actualization of another. In order to become a fully functioning person, the therapist will have received UPR, have few conditions of worth and will experience congruence between the self concept and the ideal self, therefore enabling them to communicate UPR towards others, both in and out of the therapeutic setting. The above circumstances allow for a genuine ‘prizing’ of the client, unaffected by evaluation or judgement of the client’s feelings, thoughts and behaviour.
Despite his view that all humans are inherently good and strive to make the most of their resources, Rogers acknowledged that UPR towards clients is not always realistic and the therapist is not expected to be in a constant state of acceptance, genuineness and understanding. The therapist should not attempt to repress their own values and beliefs in the therapeutic setting as this may lead to incongruence and would be insufficient for assisting therapeutic change. Rather, the therapist should be aware of the occasions in which they have difficulty adopting UPR and recognise ‘feelings of unease’ whilst accepting certain attitudes and values as their own and not allowing them to become a hindrance during the therapeutic process.
The notion of having unconditional positive regard is particularly applicable to diverse populations including gay, lesbian and transgender clients and those who may have encountered discrimination as a result of their race, religion or appearance. In these circumstances, the use of UPR is even more beneficial, allowing clients to progress towards self-actualisation where this may not previously have been possible. Roger’s developed the notion of the self-concept: how an individual perceives themselves and their reality. This can be contrasted with the organismic or ‘real’ self: how the individual would choose to be and whose aim is to strive towards self-actualisation. Rogers believed that the organismic self may be neglected as the self-concept is distorted, an issue which is particularly relevant to homosexual individuals living in a society amass with negative stereotypes of homosexuality. Consequently, Dryden et al (1993, p.237) state that a homosexual person may experience feelings of ‘self-hate guilt, shame, a lack of self worth, self-doubt...and fear for the future’, leading to a discrepancy between the ideal self and the self concept. The previous medical model of therapy often treated homosexuality as a mental illness and conversion therapy was used as a ‘cure’. Although no longer considered a mental illness, homosexuality is widely considered a deviation from the ‘norm’ and attitudes from the media and society in general reflect this prejudice. It is important, in such cases, for therapists to be mindful of the language used in communicating with the client, not assuming that use of the word ‘partner’ refers to a member of the opposite sex, for example.
Before embarking on treatment with a homosexual client, the therapist must possess the skills required to create a nonjudgmental setting. If the therapist is uncomfortable discussing issues related to homosexuality or believes homosexuality is immoral or sinful, they should question their ability to provide a positive environment for the client. Similarly, the therapist should not endeavour to change a person’s sexual orientation, but should assist them in confronting the issues they present in therapy. Dryden et al (1993, p.246) highlight the fact that counsellors may ‘unwittingly and unintentionally display prejudice’ towards homosexual clients. Kuss (1990) states that one of the most frequent criticisms when counselling a gay or lesbian client is that the counsellor becomes ‘fixated’ upon the homosexual lifestyle and loses sight of the issues the client brings to therapy. Therefore rather than building a helping relationship with the client, the counsellor may question the client to satisfy their own curiosity of homosexuality. In fact, treatment of homosexual clients should be no different than any other client, but the counsellor should approach issues specific to the client’s sexual orientation with increased sensitivity, expressing acceptance and understanding of their client not only through verbal expression but also through nonverbal means such as body language.
In addition to meeting the needs of homosexual clients, it has been questioned whether cross-cultural counselling would be effective and whether a white counsellor is able to fully comprehend the impact of racism on a black client. Palmer et al (1996, p.184) discuss this ‘imbalance of power’, noting that a black person may have experienced prejudice from white people and therefore may distrust the professional-client relationship as it presents a ‘mirror-image’ of powerlessness they experience in their everyday life.
The person-centred model has contributed significantly to the therapeutic practice of counselling clients from diverse backgrounds. This type of non-directive, humanistic therapy places the individual’s needs and experiences at the forefront of the counselling relationship, enabling the expression of respect and unconditional positive regard for the client which facilitates change and growth. However, while UPR can be effortlessly expressed during the initial stages of therapy, Brammer (1973) suggests that as more knowledge and understanding of the client’s situation is acquired, having unconditional regard for them becomes more challenging. In addition, Hough (2002) states that remaining ‘unconditional’ can lead to the counsellor becoming ‘passive’ rather than facilitating change. While Rogers acknowledged that his theory contains errors and mistaken inference, there is no doubt that person-centred theory has a strong heuristic value and continues to generate debate and interest around such areas as UPR. Without unconditional positive regard, the client is unlikely to obliterate the conditions of worth of others. Therefore, UPR along with the other core conditions empathy and congruence, is necessary in achieving the aims of a cooperative therapeutic relationship and reaching self-actualisation.
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Dryden et al (1993) Handbook of Counselling in Britain, Routledge , London.
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Kuss J R,(1990) Keys To Caring , Assisting Your Gay and Lesbian Clients, Alyson Publications London.
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Neal C and Davies D (2000) Issues in Therapy with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients, Open University Press Buckingham.
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Brammer, L. (1973). The Helping Relationship. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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Hough M. (2002) A Practical Approach To Counselling, 2nd edition,Pearson Education Ltd Essex.
