Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

586 CHAPTER 14 TherapiesClient-Centered Therapy The client-centeredtherapist strives to create a warm, acceptingclimate that allows the client the freedom toexplore troubling issues. The therapist engagesin active listening, reflecting both the contentand the personal meaning of what the client issaying. In doing so, the therapist helps theclient develop a clearer perception and under -standing of her own feelings and motives.An empathic way of being withanother person has several facets. Itmeans entering the private perceptualworld of the other and becoming thor -oughly at home in it. It involves beingsensitive, moment by moment, to thechanging felt meanings which flow inthis other person, to the fear or rage ortenderness or confusion or whateverthat he or she is experiencing.—CARL ROGERS (1980)the therapist should be nondirective. Thatis, the therapist must not direct the client,make decisions for the client, offer solutions,or pass judgment on the client’sthoughts or feelings. Instead, Rogers believed,change in therapy must be chosenand directed by the client (Bozarth &others, 2002). The therapist’s role is tocreate the conditions that allow theclient, not the therapist, to direct the focusof therapy.What are the therapeutic conditions thatpromote self-awareness, psychologicalgrowth, and self-directed change? Rogers(1957c, 1980) believed that three qualitiesof the therapist are necessary: genuineness,unconditional positive regard, and empathicunderstanding. First, genuineness meansthat the therapist honestly and openlyshares her thoughts and feelings with the client. By modeling genuineness, the therapistindirectly encourages the client to exercise this capability more fully in himself.Second, the therapist must value, accept, and care for the client, whatever herproblems or behavior. Rogers called this quality unconditional positive regard(Bozarth & Wang, 2008). Rogers believed that people develop psychological problemslargely because they have consistently experienced only conditional acceptance.That is, parents, teachers, and others have communicated this message to the client:“I will accept you only if you conform to my expectations.” Because acceptance bysignificant others has been conditional, the person has cut off or denied unacceptableaspects of herself, distorting her self-concept. In turn, these distorted perceptionsaffect her thoughts and behaviors in unhealthy, unproductive ways.The therapist who successfully creates a climate of unconditional positive regardfosters the person’s natural tendency to move toward self-fulfilling decisions withoutfear of evaluation or rejection. Rogers (1977) described this important aspectof therapy in this way:Unconditional positive regard means that when the therapist is experiencing a positive,acceptant attitude toward whatever the client is at that moment, therapeutic movementor change is more likely. It involves the therapist’s willingness for the client to be whateverfeeling is going on at that moment—confusion, resentment, fear, anger, courage,love, or pride. . . . The therapist prizes the client in a total rather than a conditional way.Third, the therapist must communicate empathic understanding by reflecting thecontent and personal meaning of the feelings being experienced by the client. In effect,the therapist creates a psychological mirror, reflecting the client’s thoughts andfeelings as they exist in the client’s private inner world. The goal is to help the clientexplore and clarify his feelings, thoughts, and perceptions. In the process, the clientbegins to see himself, and his problems, more clearly (Freire, 2007).Empathic understanding requires the therapist to listen actively for the personalmeaning beneath the surface of what the client is saying (Watson, 2002). Rogersbelieved that when the therapeutic atmosphere contains genuineness, unconditionalpositive regard, and empathic understanding, change is more likely to occur. Suchconditions foster feelings of being psychologically safe, accepted, and valued. In thistherapeutic atmosphere, change occurs as the person’s self-concept and worldviewgradually become healthier and less distorted. According to Rogers (1977), “Asthe client becomes more self-aware, more self-acceptant, less defensive and moreopen, she finds at last some of the freedom to grow and change in directions naturalto the human organism.” In effect, the client is moving in the direction of selfactualization—therealization of his or her unique potentials and talents.