Person-Centered Psychotherapies

In Person-Centered Psychotherapies, David J. Cain discusses the history, theory, research and practice of this seminal approach whose basic premises have influenced the practice of most therapeutic systems. Person-centered therapy, also called client-centered therapy, was created by Carl Rogers almost 70 years ago. In polls of psychotherapists conducted in 1982 and 2007, Carl Rogers was voted the most influential psychotherapist in history. His original approach gave rise to a number of variations on the original, all of which may be classified as person-centered psychotherapies because of their basis in Rogers' core therapeutic conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. This model emphasizes the client–therapist relationship, focusing on how the quality of moment-to-moment engagement between therapist and client can create optimal conditions for client growth. Person-centered therapies view clients as resourceful persons capable finding their own directions