My Perspective on the Humanistic Approach

4 Commentsby   |  05.02.11  |  The Schools of Psychology (Part IV)

I’ve always thought that Carl Rogers’ humanistic theory had a neat perspective.  The three characteristics of unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and congruence allow the main focus to be on the development of wholeness and identity in the client.  Although the idea that the therapist does not give the client any answers can be controversial in regards to how effective the approach is, I think it’s extremely influential on a client’s ability to develop a self-identity and individual beliefs without influence of another opinion.  A client-centered approach based on genuineness really creates an open environment for a client to feel comfortable in being accepted for all of their weaknesses as well as their strengths.  It gives a client the confidence to be genuinely honest with the therapist if the therapist returns the genuine response in therapy.  I think that this approach carries with it much significance because it allows the client to have a mind of his/her own, which I think is greatly important.  It allows a client to develop a solution to his/her own problem after contemplating many perspectives and thoughts, and they can discover for themselves their confidence and worth as a person who is insightful and can make wise decisions.

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4 Comments

  1. Myriah Miller
    11:35 pm, 05.02.11

    People are often very afraid of therapy or counseling. I think that giving the client some control over the therapeutic direction that they are taking is very important.

  2. LeeAnn Green
    12:23 pm, 05.03.11

    I agree that the honesty in the doctor client relationship is something that makes this type of treatment very effective. When you can truly trust someone you will open up to them.

  3. Lacy Hanson
    1:38 pm, 05.03.11

    I definitely like the type of relationship that develops between the counselor and the client in this type of therapy. I know from personal experience that if you don’t trust your counselor, you are not going to open up about anything in your life that you’re going through. Building that trusting relationship with a client is important to get down to revealing things in therapy that you wouldn’t otherwise reveal.

  4. Brittany Rexroat
    7:50 pm, 05.03.11

    i also like the thought of unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding and congruence. I believe that it lets the therapist understand his or her client as a whole and gets them through their issues.

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