Client Centered Approach

This empathic approach is based on the empirically proven fact that a safe, accepting relationship between the therapist and client is key to the process of client self-discovery and actualization.

Client-centered therapy was put forward by Carl Rogers in 1940 as an alternative to the existing orientations that relied on guidance or interpretation.

Using electronically recorded cases, citing a growing body of research, and eschewing diagnosis, Rogers provided evidence that an orderly process of client self-discovery and actualization occurred in response to the provision by the therapist of a consistent empathic understanding of the client’s frame of reference, based on an attitude of acceptance and respect. This was later refined into Rogers’ triad of the “necessary and sufficient conditions” of empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard, which were investigated in hundreds of research projects. Many of these research projects reported a correlation between these therapist-offered conditions and such client outcomes as the expansion of self-awareness; the enhancement of self-esteem; a greater reliance on self for one’s values and standards; and a more free, spontaneous, and open mode of experiencing one’s self and the world. (American Psychological Association, APA).

I have started to study and practice client-centered approach since my Ph.D. study at Kyushu University, Japan from 2002. The main principle of respecting clients and their own ability to heal is not only a beautiful humanistic belief but also a well proven scientific approach for me. I have seen so many clients did find the power to get better and be happy again. I also find this approach is empathic and warm which I find very aligned with my own style. I love to offer the psychological space for my clients to be themselves, to rest and to grow again.

It would be an experience to be yourself, try yourself and respect yourself with the help of a professional psychologist who can consult and support you.  I would quote Dr. Nathaniel J. Raskin in his Client-Centered Therapy DVD as he beautifully explains the whole process.

“I believe I can be of most help to you by offering you a relationship in which I try to understand, in your own terms, your problems, your feelings, your hopes and fears, the way you see yourself and others. As we go along, you will be able to correct me when I am off the mark. Working with you in this way, I hope to help you clarify the problems that brought you here and how you might resolve them, to come to know yourself more fully, and to become more of the person you want to be. I see myself more as a companion in this search than the traditional expert who figures out what is wrong with you. I won’t try to change you to fit my model of what you should be but will respect your values. I’ll look to you to bring up whatever you choose in each session, to decide how often you would like to meet, and when you would like to stop coming.”