Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIII. Humanistic/Existential
Theories- Rogers:
Person−Centered Theory
© The McGraw−Hill^331
Companies, 2009Stages of Therapeutic Change
The process of constructive personality change can be placed on a continuum from
most defensive to most integrated. Rogers (1961) arbitrarily divided this continuum
into seven stages.
Stage 1is characterized by an unwillingness to communicate anything about
oneself. People at this stage ordinarily do not seek help, but if for some reason they
come to therapy, they are extremely rigid and resistant to change. They do not rec-
ognize any problems and refuse to own any personal feelings or emotions.
In Stage 2,clients become slightly less rigid. They discuss external events
and other people, but they still disown or fail to recognize their own feelings. How-
ever, they may talk about personal feelings as if such feelings were objective phe-
nomena.
As clients enter into Stage 3,they more freely talk about self, although still
as an object. “I’m doing the best I can at work, but my boss still doesn’t like
me.” Clients talk about feelings and emotions in the past or future tense and
avoid present feelings. They refuse to accept their emotions, keep personal feelings
at a distance from the here-and-now situation, only vaguely perceive that they
can make personal choices, and deny individual responsibility for most of their
decisions.
Clients in Stage 4begin to talk of deep feelings but not ones presently felt. “I
was really burned up when my teacher accused me of cheating.” When clients do ex-
press present feelings, they are usually surprised by this expression. They deny or
distort experiences, although they may have some dim recognition that they are ca-
pable of feeling emotions in the present. They begin to question some values that
have been introjected from others, and they start to see the incongruence between
their perceived self and their organismic experience. They accept more freedom and
responsibility than they did in Stage 3 and begin to tentatively allow themselves to
become involved in a relationship with the therapist.
By the time clients reach Stage 5,they have begun to undergo significant
change and growth. They can express feelings in the present, although they have not
yet accurately symbolized those feelings. They are beginning to rely on an internal
locus of evaluation for their feelings and to make fresh and new discoveries about
themselves. They also experience a greater differentiation of feelings and develop
more appreciation for nuances among them. In addition, they begin to make their
own decisions and to accept responsibility for their choices.
People at Stage 6experience dramatic growth and an irreversible movement
toward becoming fully functioning or self-actualizing. They freely allow into
awareness those experiences that they had previously denied or distorted. They
become more congruent and are able to match their present experiences with
awareness and with open expression. They no longer evaluate their own behavior
from an external viewpoint but rely on their organismic self as the criterion for eval-
uating experiences. They begin to develop unconditional self-regard, which means
that they have a feeling of genuine caring and affection for the person they are be-
coming.
An interesting concomitant to this stage is a physiological loosening. These
people experience their whole organismic self, as their muscles relax, tears flow, cir-
culation improves, and physical symptoms disappear.
Chapter 11 Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 325