Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIII. Humanistic/Existential
Theories- Rogers:
Person−Centered Theory
© The McGraw−Hill^329
Companies, 2009will detect—though not necessarily consciously—any significant indicators of in-
congruence.
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 rela-
tionships outside the therapeutic process. One can be less than perfect and yet be-
come an effective psychotherapist. Also, a therapist need not be absolutely congru-
ent 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 suc-
cessful 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 re-
gardoccurs (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 evalu-
ations, and without reservations.
A therapist with unconditional positive regard toward a client will show a non-
possessive 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 restrictions. You are a sepa-
rate 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’ be-
havior. 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 re-
ject another. External evaluation, whether positive or negative, leads to clients’ de-
fensiveness 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” sug-
gests that the positive regard is no longer dependent on specific client behaviors and
does not have to be continually earned.
Empathic Listening
The third necessary and sufficient condition of psychological growth is empathic
listening.Empathy exists when therapists accurately sense the feelings of their
Chapter 11 Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 323