5 person-centered therapy techniques

What is person-centered therapy?

Person-centered therapy is also known as client-centered or Rogerian therapy, the latter because it was developed by psychologist Carl Rogers.

This approach places the client, rather than the therapist, in the driver’s seat. The client leads their own therapeutic process by directing conversations and working through their thoughts and problems as they see fit.

Person-centered therapists refrain from offering judgments, advice, or suggestions, instead focusing on offering an accepting and empathetic ear to their clients. One of the modality’s core philosophies is that everyone already has the tools needed to learn and grow, says Dr. Sarton Weinraub, a clinical psychologist who practices person-centered therapy in New York City. As a therapist, “you don’t need to teach [someone] how to grow,” he says. “You provide nurturing, healthy soil…in which that growth can be actualized.”

Person-centered therapy is effective for people with anxiety, depression, psychosis, and a number of other mental health concerns, research suggests.

Goals of person-centered therapy

Person-centered therapy doesn’t necessarily have explicit goals, Weinraub says, because it’s all about what the client wants to explore. But it can offer a number of benefits to people who are open to the experience, including:

Increased self-acceptance: By giving clients the power to explore their thoughts and define their own therapeutic process, person-centered therapy can increase self-esteem and acceptance.
Reduced negative feelings: Person-centered therapy gives clients a safe place to process and work through negative feelings without guilt, defensiveness, or shame.
Better self-awareness: Instead of relying on an “authority” figure to guide the experience, clients are empowered to make their own realizations.
Personal growth: By exploring themselves in their own ways, clients grow as people.

Person-centered therapy techniques

Just as there aren’t explicit goals in person-centered therapy, Weinraub says the style has core philosophies more than concrete techniques. These include:

Active listening

Person-centered therapists listen actively and without judgment, taking in and reflecting on whatever the client has chosen to share so they feel fully seen and heard. “There’s nothing more powerful in the world,” Weinraub says. “Every human in the world wants that.”

Avoiding giving direction

Non-directiveness is central to the philosophy of person-centered therapy. That means — to the extent possible — the therapist avoids giving suggestions or offering their own judgements, instead reflecting back what the client has said. “I’m not telling them things, I’m not guiding them, I’m not telling them stories from my life,” Weinraub says. “I’m just hearing them and witnessing them.”

Unconditional positive regard

Unconditional positive regard is about accepting and supporting clients no matter what they say or do. Offering this kind of unconditional acceptance helps create a safe place for clients to grow and explore.

Congruence (genuineness)

This tenet of person-centered therapy refers to the idea that therapists should be genuine. “They have to be real,” Weinraub says. “They have to be a human in the room,” rather than putting on an act.

Empathy

Since the client is guiding sessions, the therapist must work to truly understand their point of view and feelings, offering true empathy for their lived experience.

Clinical support