What is person-centred therapy?

Person-centred therapy is one of the most common therapeutic practices, accounting for almost 41% of therapies in the United Kingdom. This is second to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) at 47%, and it’s common for some counsellors to utilise both methods if deemed clinically appropriate.

If you’re discovering what psychotherapeutic practices may be right for you, or are simply curious about how they work, then you’ll have come across the person-centred approach at some point. The practice has influenced many therapeutic techniques and the mental health field, in general. Let’s explore the person-centred approach, how it works, how it can benefit employees and how it differs from other common therapeutic practices.

About person-centred therapy

Person-centred therapy (also known as Rogerian therapy) is a client-led, humanistic approach that deals with how individuals perceive themselves, rather than how a therapist may analyse them through subconscious thoughts or ideas. Through this, a person can reach their full potential and become their true self, which is termed as ‘self-actualisation.’

The American psychologist Carl Rogers founded it in the 1940s. He wanted a person-centred psychotherapy approach for counselling that focused on the clients' experience of themselves, as opposed to a counsellor forcing their expertise and telling them what to do, or what was wrong with them.

It’s classed as one of the most influential and fundamental therapeutic processes and is still applied almost universally in modern psychotherapy.

How does person-centred therapy work?

For this method to work, there needs to be a safe environment set, because the client, not the therapist, leads it.

Person Centred Therapy holds the quality of the therapeutic relationship (the working relationship between the counsellor and client) as one of the most important elements of therapy. It ultimately determines whether the therapy will be successful. The PCT therapist will work to establish genuine rapport and emotional safety in the therapeutic setting to create an environment where the client is able to explore their understanding of themselves and grow.

Therefore, there are key concepts and principles which encourage conditions believed to help achieve this environment, particularly in the therapy room.

These three key concepts in person-centred counselling are:

Empathic understanding: The counsellor will attempt to step into the client's world and look at their situation through the client's eyes rather than their own

Congruence: The therapist provides honest, genuine, yet caring responses to the client's situation, feelings, and actions.

Unconditional positive regard: The counsellor holds the belief that the client is fundamentally a good person, who is trying their best in difficult circumstances and will frame their responses from that perspective.

What are the benefits of person-centred care?

Here are some of the unique benefits that person centred counselling offers clients:

• A better understanding of their idealised self and actual self.

• Achieve better self-understanding and awareness.

• Release feelings of defensiveness, insecurity and guilt.

• Have a greater ability to trust oneself.

• Develop healthier relationships.

• See improvement in self-expression.

• Encourages the client to think in the present time.

One of our inhouse therapists had this to say about Person Centred Therapy:

*“My core training was in PCT therapy and even years later, having studied and used other forms of therapy I can still say that this modality and the three core conditions are fundamental to my practice. I have used PCT with a variety of client presentations including; people struggling with their identity, trauma, addictions, self-esteem issues, and neurodivergent clients. In all cases, where the client feels comfortable to explore their inner world without judgement, we have been able to find our way to the root of their problems and identify what needs to happen for them to heal and move forwards.

Client's report feeling more comfortable in their own skin, more easily able to identify their emotional reactions and stand back from them rather than being swept away in the moment and having greater empathy for themselves and others. I’ve seen clients learn to treat themselves with the respect they deserve and develop healthier relationships with those close to them. It is unbelievable how powerful this approach has been for my clients.”*

What is person-centred counselling used for?

Person-centred counselling is better suited for clients who prefer the freedom of talking about their problems in a supportive and facilitative environment. Rather than follow a more directive, structured approach with specific techniques.

It is ideal for individuals who are motivated by self-discovery and work towards solving their issues.

During a person-centred counselling session, the person-centred therapist will encourage clients to bring their own issues to the session. Here, the client leads the entire counselling session, instead of the counsellor.

Person-centred counselling is a flexible form of therapy, because of its individualistic approach. Therefore, it’s used to treat several issues or conditions like:

Relationship problems

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Bereavement

• Addictions

• Sexuality

• Anger

• Difficult transitions in life

Does person-centred counselling work?

By offering a safe, comforting environment, the person-centred counselling model empowers clients. They can understand how their experiences have affected the way they feel about themselves and take the steps towards positive change.

Person-centred counselling works more effectively when the client is open to taking initiative and is motivated to make a change.

One of our inhouse therapists had this to say about the effectiveness of Person Centres Therapy:

“In order for Person Centred Therapy to be effective, it does in large part rely on the client being willing to dive deep into their experiences, thoughts, and emotions to make connections and identify where we need to make changes. This is a big ask as many clients understandably find it hard to be that open and vulnerable. This is why the therapeutic relationship is so crucial for clients and for the therapy to be effective. Therapists work hard to create emotional safety with their clients, to make them feel comfortable and safe enough to be that vulnerable in their therapy. Clients can help us with this too, after all any relationship involves both parties. Feel free to ask questions and share your fears about therapy in general, how the process might feel for you, what your worries are about making changes in your life. All these thoughts and feelings a valid and your therapist will be happy to answer questions and offer explanations. If you are worried about how you will feel after a therapy session, remember that the therapist can help you to identify healthy coping mechanisms for the time between sessions and will take the time at the end of sessions to “bring you back down to earth” so that you can move on from the session and get back to your day. Person Centred Therapists have been where you are sitting, we had to go through extensive therapy ourselves while training, so we know it’s hard, but we also know it works from both personal and professional experience.”

Person-centred counselling vs CBT

Person-centred counselling and CBT differ in their approach to client therapy. The latter is more counsellor/therapist-led. They are the ‘expert’ in the counsellor-client relationship and guide the client to challenge unhelpful thoughts that are affecting their wellbeing.

Person-centred

Approach: Humanistic, client-led and non-directive. Role of therapist: Facilitator. Key foucus: Unconditional positive regard – encourages self-discovery, acceptance, growth and awareness. Goal of therapy: Self-actualisation.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Approach: Directive. Role of therapist: Active. Key focus: Cognitive restructuring - challenging thoughts and behaviours. Goal of therapy: Modify and challenge negative and/or unhelpful thinking.

How an Employee Assistance Programme can support your people using person-centred therapy

Pure Person-Centred Therapy is most suited to long-term therapy where the client has the space and time to explore a wide variety of experiences going right back to early childhood. Some workplaces offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP), where a different style of therapy – Solution Focused Brief Therapy or SFBT – is used. SFBT is designed to work in a shorter time frame than other modalities (styles of therapy) and to achieve this, we focus on problems that relate primarily to the here and now and use a more directive approach to help individuals to find their way forward.

That said, the PCT core conditions of empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard are still applied to the therapy to enable the counsellor to really understand the client and create emotional safety. Although PCT and SFBT have their differences, many counsellors approach SFBT methods with that PCT underpinning of the core conditions which can work well together on the helpline and in structured sessions.