whether they stem from an earlier unhealthy home
situation. The therapist accepts the feelings in a
manner that transmits neither approval nor disap-
proval—just understanding. It is the understanding
and the occasional clarifications that permit the cli-
ent to move ever closer to a careful examination of
herself and of what she can do to change matters.
Only in an atmosphere of acceptance can this
potential for growth be cultivated and released.
The foregoing case illustration also highlights the
empathic statements made by the therapist, often
summarizing, almost inferentially, what the client
was feeling. The therapist, then, does more than
just accept the client’s feelings. By rephrasing and
inferring, the therapist reminds the client of what
he or she must be feeling.
Over the years, like any movement, client-
centered therapy has evolved and changed. Both
the method and the theory have been modified
and extended. A brief summary of these develop-
ments can be found in Greenberg et al. (2003).
Other Applications
The client-centered approach was developed pri-
marily in the counseling psychotherapy context,
and this remains its chief application. However,
the movement has found other applications as
well. For example, the client-centered orientation
is frequently used in human relations training. The
emphasis on relationship, acceptance, and warmth is
often an integral part of training programs for those
who seek to work in crisis centers, for parapro-
fessionals who engage in counseling, and for
volunteers in charitable organizations or agencies.
Thus, whether one is dealing with professionals
such as physicians and nurses, psychological techni-
cians, or Peace Corps volunteers, their training in
human relationships often contains a heavy dose of
the client-centered philosophy. When the client-
centered approach is applied to problems outside
the therapy room, it is often called the person-
centered approach.
As we shall see in Chapter 15, small groups,
encounter groups, and personal growth groups
make use of the client-centered framework.
Often, these groups are established to reduce ten-
sion between factions in conflict, such as racial
groups, labor and management, or students and fac-
ulty. In some instances, institutions such as
churches, businesses, and school systems use the
client-centered approach to foster improved
human relations or changes in institutional func-
tioning and goals.Some Concluding Remarks
The Positive. The client-centered approach has
produced many salutary effects. It provided a seri-
ous alternative to the traditional psychoanalytic
forms of therapy. In so doing, it offered an alterna-
tive focus on self-determination and inner directed-
ness rather than on the biological urges and instincts
of the Freudian view. The becoming, evolving per-
son replaced the victim of personal history. Free-
dom to choose was substituted for a mechanistically
determined set of behaviors.
Rogers demonstrated that it is not necessary to
dig up the past to conduct psychotherapy. Emphasis
was placed on the relationship between the client
and the therapist, and the application of“tech-
niques” became secondary. Even the wordclient
suggests something of importance. The role of the
passive patient in the context of the physician’s
demand for authority was replaced by that of the
client who actively seeks to experience choice,
equality, and freedom.
The general ahistorical stance of the Rogerians
also led to a form of therapy much shorter than
psychoanalysis. The move away from lengthy reso-
lutions of transference relationships, the detailed
reconstruction of the past, and cathartic experiences
considerably shortened the therapeutic process. In
addition, the less active role played by the therapist
required less training. Given the mental health
needs of the nation, any therapeutic discipline that
can provide personnel faster and more economi-
cally is to be seriously considered. However, it is
possible that client-centered therapy has become a
double-edged sword. Some feel that the client-
centered, humanistic axis has produced a whole
generation of therapists whose lack of training can378 CHAPTER 13