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Rogerian therapy or person-centered therapy relies on six different factors to help a person grow and arrive at self-actualization. Person-centered therapy focuses on the client’s perspective. The therapist is non-judgmental and allows the client to arrive at their solutions to their problems, guiding them along the way. The goal is that the client comes to accept themselves fully, their strengths and their flaws.
Six Factors
Here are the six factors in Rogerian Therapy that help people grow.
1. The therapist and client psychological connection
There’s a relationship between the therapist and client, and they need to connect for the real work to begin. The client needs to feel that the therapist genuinely cares about their thoughts and feelings in the session and for sessions to come. The therapist will demonstrate how much they care about their client in a variety of ways, but the most important thing is that there are vulnerability and honesty in the sessions. When the client feels like they’re safe, they’ll reveal more about themselves and come to a sense of peace within themselves.
2. Client vulnerability
The client needs to feel like they can be vulnerable in a person-centered therapy session so that change can happen. They have a perception of their self-image. They’re sitting in the therapy session, and they may be unaware of how vulnerable they are. This factor is also called client incongruence or vulnerability. What it means is that they’re aware of the fact that they’re expressing genuine emotions. That’s how they start to grow as a human being.
3. Congruence and genuineness on the part of the therapist
The therapist in Rogerian therapy needs to be genuine. When they express their commentary, they’re honest with the client. They’re true to themselves, and the client needs to feel like they can trust their therapist. They’re not going to be perfect (because no human being is), but they need to be trustworthy and candid. If their client is going to be vulnerable, the therapist has to meet them halfway. The therapeutic relationship is strengthened when the client feels that the therapist is honest and vulnerable. The honesty in the sessions will lead the client toward self-actualization,
4. Unconditional positive regard
Whatever the client says in Rogerian therapy, the therapist has to regard positively. They may not agree with what the client is saying, but they adopt a non-judgmental stance and are positive with their client. That way the client feels like they can be themselves and express their feelings even if those are difficult emotions. And maybe there are things that they’re not proud to admit in therapy, but they can say them because they feel understood.
5. The therapist has empathy
The therapist needs to demonstrate genuine empathy and concern for their client. They care about their client’s feelings, and they want to validate those emotions. When the client feels like their therapist is empathetic, they’re more apt to share deeply vulnerable information, and there will be genuine work in therapy. The therapist being empathy is a good thing.
6. Client perception
The client needs to perceive the therapist as having that unconditional positive regard and being empathetic. They need to feel like their therapist is non-judgmental and that their words and actions match. If the client perceives that all of these things are happening, we have a great example of Rogerian therapy.
Are you interested in Rogerian therapy?
If you’re interested in pursuing Rogerian Therapy, or person-centered therapy, you can find a therapist online or in your local area. If you’re the sort of person who wants to look inward and wants your therapist to care about who you are, person-centered therapy could be perfect for you.
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