Chapter 10 Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 305awareness. A person may be feeling angry, and the anger may be obvious to others; but
the angry person is unaware of the feeling. “I’m not angry. How dare you say I’m angry!”
The second source of incongruence is a discrepancy between awareness of an experience
and the ability or willingness to express it to another. “I know I’m feeling bored by what
is being said, but I don’t dare verbalize my disinterest because my client will think that
I am not a good therapist.” Rogers (1961) stated that therapists will be more effective if
they communicate genuine feelings, even when those feelings are negative or threatening.
To do otherwise would be dishonest, and clients will detect—though not necessarily
consciously—any significant indicators of incongruence.
Although congruence is a necessary ingredient in successful therapy, Rogers
(1980) did not believe that it is necessary for a therapist to be congruent in all
relationships outside the therapeutic process. One can be less than perfect and yet
become an effective psychotherapist. Also, a therapist need not be absolutely con-
gruent in order to facilitate some growth within a client. As with unconditional
positive regard and empathic listening, different degrees of congruence exist. The
more the client perceives each of these qualities as characterizing the therapist, the
more successful will be the therapeutic process.
Unconditional Positive Regard
Positive regard is the need to be liked, prized, or accepted by another person. When
this need exists without any conditions or qualifications, unconditional positive
regard occurs (Rogers, 1980). Therapists have unconditional positive regard when
they are “experiencing a warm, positive and accepting attitude toward what is the
client” (Rogers, 1961, p. 62). The attitude is without possessiveness, without eval-
uations, and without reservations.
A therapist with unconditional positive regard toward a client will show
a nonpossessive warmth and acceptance, not an effusive, effervescent persona.
To have nonpossessive warmth means to care about another without smothering
or owning that person. It includes the attitude “Because I care about you, I
can permit you to be autonomous and independent of my evaluations and restric-
tions. You are a separate person with your own feelings and opinions regarding
what is right or wrong. The fact that I care for you does not mean that I must
guide you in making choices, but that I can allow you to be yourself and
to decide what is best for you.” This kind of permissive attitude earned for
Rogers the undeserved reputation of being passive or nondirective in therapy,
but a client-centered therapist must be actively involved in a relationship with
the client.
Unconditional positive regard means that therapists accept and prize their
clients without any restrictions or reservations and without regard to the clients’
behavior. Although therapists may value some client behaviors more than others,
their positive regard remains constant and unwavering. Unconditional positive
regard also means that therapists do not evaluate clients, nor do they accept one
action and reject another. External evaluation, whether positive or negative, leads
to clients’ defensiveness and prevents psychological growth.
Although unconditional positive regard is a somewhat awkward term, all three
words are important. “Regard” means that there is a close relationship and that the
therapist sees the client as an important person; “positive” indicates that the direc-
tion of the relationship is toward warm and caring feelings; and “unconditional”