Ch. 10 Person-Centered Theory Flashcards
person-centered theory
(Carl Rogers) outgrowth of his client-centered psychotherapy
- called for empirical research to support personality theory
Carl Rogers
developed person-centered theory
- disliked the idea of a “theory”
- never systematically reformulated theory of personality
- did not find labeling w/ diagnosis helpful (too much focus on categorizing, not enough treating)
Rogers important BIO
- interested in agriculture as a child
- briefly attends seminary w/ intension of becoming minister but turned to psychology
- wrote book on behavioral problems in children
basic assumptions
formative tendency
actualizing tendency
**everyone possesses these
formative tendency
tendency to increase in complexity
- present in all organisms
actualizing tendency
tendency to reach potential or completion
self-actualization
a subset of the actualization tendency
- not synonymous w/ actualization tendency
- psych development
self-concept
organized set of characteristics that the individual perceives as peculiar to self
- once formed, difficult to change
- largely based on evaluation from others
- not the ideal-self
- may lead to psych probs in personality
**the motivator
ideal self
how one wishes two be
- our best/ideal self
- healthy if ideal self similar to self-concept
awareness
how we interpret our experiences
- symbolic representation (not necessarily in verbal symbols) of some portion of our experience
level of awareness
ignored
denied (b/c does not fit self-concept)
accurately symbolized
distorted
**similar to defense mechanisms
becoming a person
process necessary to becoming a person:
- need social contact
- positive regard necessary in relationships
denial of positive experiences
deny certain experience b/c it does not fit self-concept
- judgments
(ie) low self-esteem
(ie) deny compliments when given - think compliment has implied judgment (cynical)
positive regard
the need to be loved, like, or accepted by another
- necessary in relationships
- prerequisite for positive self-regard
- becoming a person
positive self-regard
the experience of valuing one’s self
- goal
- becoming a person
conditions of worth
restrictions or qualifications attached to one person’s regard for another
- applicable to all types of relationships
(ie) I am only loved if I live up to other people’s expectations and approvals
incongruence
when self-concept differs from organismic valuing experience (OVP)
- vulnerability due to inconsistency
- anxiety + threat
vulnerability
a condition that exists when ppl are unaware of the discrepancy btwn their organismic self y their significant experiences
- often behave in ways incomprehensive to themselves y otros
- increase vulnerability if increase incongruence
anxiety
a state of uneasiness or tension whose cause is unknown
- increase awareness of incongruence, anxiety becomes threat
threat
feelings that results from perception of an experience that is inconsistent w/ one’s organismic self
- awareness that our self is no longer whole or congruent
- can represent steps toward psych health
- signal us that organismic experience is inconsistent w/ self-concept
- pleasant, uncomfy feelings
organismic self
refers to the entire person, including those aspects of existence beyond awareness
- a more general term than self-concept
defensiveness
protection of the self-concept against anxiety/threat by denial or distortion of experiences inconsistent w/ it
**similar to defense mechanism
distortion
misinterpretation of an experience in order to fit it into some aspect of our self-concept
- aware of experience but deny its true meaning
denial
refuse to perceive an experience in awareness
- keep some aspect of it from reaching symbolization
- not as common as distortion
disorganization
people behave inconsistently w/ their organismic experience + sometimes in accordance w/ shattered self-concept
- occurs when defense fail y behavior becomes disorganized or psychotic
- usually more severe psychopathology
condition
necessities for successful treatment:
- counselor congruence
- unconditional positive regard
counselor congruence
a complete human w/ feelings but they neither deny nor distort but flow easily into awareness and are freely expressed
- not passive
- not aloof
- not nondirective
congruence
the matching of organismic experiences w/ awareness y w/ ability to express those experiences
- 1 of 3 necessary y sufficient therapeutic conditions
- it makes sense
**real or genuine
unconditional positive regard
complete acceptance no matter the issue
- shows support
- do not condone
**I still accept you for you
empathic listening
trying to understand another
- putting self in their shoes to understand them
- communicate perceptions to client so they know that another person has entered their world of feelings w/out prejudice, projection or evaluation
process of psychotherapy
stages of therapeutic change
- motivational interviews
- theoretical explanation for therapeutic change
outcomes of psychotherapy
help move client toward self concept
person of tomorrow
the psychologically healthy individual in the process of evolving into all that he or she can become
characteristics of a person of tomorrow
more adaptable
open to their experiences, take them for what they are
live fully in the moment (existential living)
harmonious relations w/ others
more integrated (conscious + unconscious)
very optimistic
basic trust of human nature
greater richness in life
existential living
indicating a tendency to live in the moment
philosophy of science
- science begins/ends w/ subjective experiences
- need to work + experience the field
- scientists must be involved w/ phenomena being studied
- science beings w/ scientists perceiving patterns among phenomena
- scientists communicate findings
Chicago study
study that shows proof that client-centered therapy’s 3 conditions of psychotherapy are effective
mentality of person-centered therapy
everyone has the answers in us y the potential to do it ourselves, we only need to discover/rediscover it
- no pressure to resolve right away
- awkward silences in therapy are okay
