Client-Centered Therapy
The method set out in full, with transcripts. More rigorous than its reputation suggests.
Rogers sets out the client-centered method as a complete working system, moving from the counselor's basic attitude through the mechanics of the interview to the theory that holds it together. He argues that the person seeking help carries the capacity to understand and reorganize himself, and that the therapist's task is to provide conditions under which that capacity operates rather than to diagnose, interpret, or steer. Much of the book works from recorded and transcribed interviews, so each claim about technique is tied to what was actually said in the room.
Chapters extend the approach beyond individual work to play therapy, group work, training, and the counselor's own development. The final chapter states the personality theory underlying the whole position. Rogers wrote it in 1951 as a full account of practice rather than a summary; the material on the therapeutic relationship still reads as a direct description of clinical work.
About the author
Carl Ransom Rogers
Carl R. Rogers (1902 to 1987) was an American psychologist and one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Trained during the era of psychoanalytic dominance, he developed client-centered therapy, which located the work of change in the relationship rather than the clinician's interpretations. He argued that congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy form the conditions under which people grow. His writing shaped how many clinicians, across orientations, think about the therapeutic alliance and the practitioner's own presence in the room.
Details
- 1951
- English
- Robinson
- Robinson, 1951
- 560
- 9781780337067