The Core Conditions of Person Centered Therapy

When Rogers developed his counseling into what’s nowadays called person centered therapy he came to appreciate that human beings are creatures who grow and develop to the best of their capability. He thought that this is true of all life. All life, according to Rogers, is attempting to “actualize” (in his own words), or else to put it in a different way, “be all you can be “. Sadly, life will not always give the optimal circumstances for growth, and people don’t fully actualize into “fully functioning persons “, (again his terminology). Therefore to permit an individual to grow and actualize, Rogers postulated that counseling has to provide the conditions to permit this. These are referred to as the core conditions and I shall define them in this article.

The First Core Condition – Congruence

The most important of the core conditions in Roger’s view. The counselor seeks to be open, genuine, and transparent such that there’s no call for for pretense or defense. This needs the therapist’s outward responses as well as their internal experiences match, or are congruent. Consequently the counselor needs to be very much in touch with the flow of their inner experience. If it is suitable, it follows that this can be conveyed to the client. It’s key for the counselor to determine when it’s appropriate as not all thoughts and emotions are shared with the client. When information is passed back to the client, it should be communicated in a non judgmental way, leading to the next core condition.

The Second Core Condition – Unconditional Positive Regard

The congruent way of being of the person centered counselor is supported by means of an attitude of unconditional positive regard towards the client. This comprises of validation, caring, non possessive warmth and respect. Unconditional positive regard doesn’t include judgment or assessment. It can be transmitted verbally or else non verbally which might incorporate smiling, warm voice, and head nods.

It is a necessary belief from the counselor that the client is intrinsically good in spite of how the individual thinks or behaves. One’s unhelpful attitudes as well as behavior are thought to arise not from the persons true self, but rather from a desire for approval from other people, or else to acquire positive regard from other people. The person centered therapist will bring about a change in the client of their thoughts and consequently their behaviors through the feedback from their unconditional positive regard.

Core Condition Three – Empathy

Empathy demonstrates the readiness from the counselor to understand the client’s experience. It is always adopting the client’s frame of reference, or stepping into the client’s shoes and seeing through their eyes. The objective is to help the client feel understood. The counselor doesn’t need to be, and neither is it achievable to be, 100% correct. The purpose of empathy is to show their willingness to understand. This comes very much from the point of view that the best way to comprehend the client’s experience is through the client’s own frame of reference, rather than a textbook. Empathy can be demonstrated by means of reflective counseling and as methods go it’s the most teachable part of person centered therapy.

This is a short outline on the three core conditions Rogers created for person centered therapy. The combination of these core conditions is generally acknowledged and accepted by most other psychotherapies and counseling styles as a solid foundation for counseling, plus they’ve stood the test of time. This could also be echoed from the many people whose lives are touched by person centered therapy.

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