CLIENT-CENTERED THERAPY
Client-centered therapy was developed by Carl Rogers in reaction to the Traditional, highly
diagnostic, probing, and interpretive methods of psychoanalysis. Counseling and
Psychotherapy (Rogers, 1942) was the first attempt to present his new approach, one that
highlights the experience of a client and the client’s subjective and phenomenal world.
View of Human Nature
When Rogers began developing his client-centered therapy, it was commonly thought that
people were by nature irrational, unsocialized, and destructive of themselves and others,
Rogers rejected this concept and promoted a view of as being rational, socialized, forward- of
people moving, and realistic. Rogers’ views can be organized into four basic areas:
(1) belief in the dignity and worth of each individual; (2) a perceptual view of behavior; (3) a
tendency toward self-actualization; and (4) belief that people are good and trustworthy.
1. Belief in the Dignity and Worth of Each Individual: Rogers is strongly committed to the
belief that all persons should have the right to their own opinions and thoughts and should be
in control of their destiny, free to pursue their interests in their way as long as they do not
trample on the rights of others. He also believes that a democratic society’s needs are best
served by social processes and social institutions that encourage the individual to be an
independent, self-directing person.
2. A Perceptual View of Behavior: Rogers clearly emphasizes that the ways individuals
behave and the ways they adapt to situations are always consistent with their perception of
themselves and their situation He even states that “man lives essentially in his own personal
and subjective world, and then his most objective functioning, in science, mathematics, and
the like, is the result of subjective purpose and subjective choice.” As a result, the individual’s
self-concept becomes the individual’s perception Since the self is the center of the
individual’s experiences with the environment, the individual’s perception of and interaction
with the environment change as the sense of self changes. In general, the experiences that the
individual undergoes are either (1) organized into the self-structure, (2) ignored because they
are inconsistent with the sense of self, or (3) perceived distortedly because they are not
harmonious with self-perceptions.
3. Tendency Toward Self-Actualization: Rogers has gradually increased his emphasis on the
inherent tendency of people to move in directions that can be described roughly as growth,
health, adjustment, socialization, self-realization, and autonomy. He calls this directional
tendency the actualizing tendency, and he defines it as “the inherent tendency of the organism
to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organism” 1959).
Rogers sees this actualizing tendency as applying to all life animals and plants as well as
people. Thus, the essential nature of life is that it is an active process in which the organism
interacts with its environment in ways designed to maintain, enhance, and reproduce itself.
Second, the actualizing tendency is a function of the total organism rather than of one or
more parts of that organism People do have specific needs and motives, but Rogers points out
that the ways a person seeks to meet these needs enhance rather than diminish self- esteem
Client-centered therapy was developed by Carl Rogers in reaction to the Traditional, highly
diagnostic, probing, and interpretive methods of psychoanalysis. Counseling and
Psychotherapy (Rogers, 1942) was the first attempt to present his new approach, one that
highlights the experience of a client and the client’s subjective and phenomenal world.
View of Human Nature
When Rogers began developing his client-centered therapy, it was commonly thought that
people were by nature irrational, unsocialized, and destructive of themselves and others,
Rogers rejected this concept and promoted a view of as being rational, socialized, forward- of
people moving, and realistic. Rogers’ views can be organized into four basic areas:
(1) belief in the dignity and worth of each individual; (2) a perceptual view of behavior; (3) a
tendency toward self-actualization; and (4) belief that people are good and trustworthy.
1. Belief in the Dignity and Worth of Each Individual: Rogers is strongly committed to the
belief that all persons should have the right to their own opinions and thoughts and should be
in control of their destiny, free to pursue their interests in their way as long as they do not
trample on the rights of others. He also believes that a democratic society’s needs are best
served by social processes and social institutions that encourage the individual to be an
independent, self-directing person.
2. A Perceptual View of Behavior: Rogers clearly emphasizes that the ways individuals
behave and the ways they adapt to situations are always consistent with their perception of
themselves and their situation He even states that “man lives essentially in his own personal
and subjective world, and then his most objective functioning, in science, mathematics, and
the like, is the result of subjective purpose and subjective choice.” As a result, the individual’s
self-concept becomes the individual’s perception Since the self is the center of the
individual’s experiences with the environment, the individual’s perception of and interaction
with the environment change as the sense of self changes. In general, the experiences that the
individual undergoes are either (1) organized into the self-structure, (2) ignored because they
are inconsistent with the sense of self, or (3) perceived distortedly because they are not
harmonious with self-perceptions.
3. Tendency Toward Self-Actualization: Rogers has gradually increased his emphasis on the
inherent tendency of people to move in directions that can be described roughly as growth,
health, adjustment, socialization, self-realization, and autonomy. He calls this directional
tendency the actualizing tendency, and he defines it as “the inherent tendency of the organism
to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organism” 1959).
Rogers sees this actualizing tendency as applying to all life animals and plants as well as
people. Thus, the essential nature of life is that it is an active process in which the organism
interacts with its environment in ways designed to maintain, enhance, and reproduce itself.
Second, the actualizing tendency is a function of the total organism rather than of one or
more parts of that organism People do have specific needs and motives, but Rogers points out
that the ways a person seeks to meet these needs enhance rather than diminish self- esteem
