Person Centered Theory

Person-Centered Theory Developed by Carl Rogers, person-centered therapy is an approach that puts the client's self-awareness and needs first. Rogers identified four periods of development for the person-centered therapy. In the 1940s, Rogers developed nondirective counseling, an approach that challenged "the validity of commonly accepted therapeutic procedures such as advice, suggestion, direction, persuasion, teaching, diagnosis, and interpretation". (pg. 166) Using the nondirective approach, therapists avoid sharing information about themselves and focus on the client's relations. The second period was developed in the 1950s, client-centered therapy reflects "emphasis on the client rather than on nondirective methods" (Pg.166). During this …show more content…
He believes that clients have to stand on their own feet and deal with their life problems. Clients are expected to do their own feeling, interpreting, and sensing rather than allowing the therapist to give advice or answers. Perls also identified five layers of personality. The first layer is the phony layer which is the stereotypical or fake layer. The second layer is the phobic layer, this is when clients have fears that keep them from seeing their true self. The third layer is the impassive layer, this is the layer in which clients give up power. The fourth layer of personality is the implosive layer, during this layer clients fully experience the here-and-now. The last layer is the explosive layer, here the clients see themselves and let go of the phony …show more content…
Holism is focused on integration and on "the whole person", there is "no superior value on a particular aspect of the individual" (pg. 201). Field theory emphasizes on figure and ground, this is when one's focus changes when something catches our attention. Field theory also emphasizes that organisms must be seen in its environment. Figure-formation process "tracks how the individual organizes experience from moment to moment as some aspect of the environmental field emerges from the background and becomes the focal point of the individual's attention and interest"(Pg. 201). The last major principle, organismic self-regulation is the process of restoring balance and the continuation of growth. There are also five major channels of resistance in gestalt therapy. The first is introjection, the tendency to unconsciously accept others' beliefs or opinions. The second is projection, this is when clients believe that certain characteristics of themselves are due to the environment. Retroflection is the next channel, this "consists of turning back onto ourselves what we would like to do to someone else" (pg. 203). The fourth channel is deflection, this is when clients overuse humor for distraction. The last channel of resistance is confluence, during confluence clients are never able to express their own