The Humanistic Approach covers several theories of therapy. Our focus today is on Person-Centered developed by Carl Rogers. Humanistic approaches focuses on the feelings and sensations of the client. The Personal-Centered approach promotes wellness, growth, and personal achievement while using the humanistic belief that feelings and sensations have to be the starting point for therapy. The therapist uses a variety of techniques to promote the clients growth. .
Person-Centered Theory is a phenomenological approach. (Seligman, 2006) It is important how people view themselves and the world. We must address the person's emotions and sensations in order to provide effective treatment. A person may show their feeling outwardly or keep the emotions hidden. People may go through difficult events in their lives that have triggered anxiety, anger, depression or other symptoms of distress. They may seek outward into society for direction and find themselves in an internal battle. However they are perfectly able to resolve their problems and make changes in their lives.
A clinician that must be able to facilitate trust and openness with the client. This is accomplished when the clinician is honest and genuine. Once a client feels relaxed and safe they can become open, honest and present in the moment. Personal growth is an ongoing process and the clinician needs to be aware of their growth process. When the clinician has their own self-awareness they can effectively use self-disclosure. This can help the therapeutic relationship by providing feed-back, relay empathy, and provide a different perspective of the common situation. Self-disclosure can also be destructive to the relationship. In order for a clinician to prevent destruction they must ask themselves is this relevant to my client? The self-disclosure must be a tool to guide the client towards self-actualization.
Developing an acceptance and understanding of the client's circumstances in an authentic way will allow the clinician to provide supportive, caring and trustworthy therapy.
