![]() ![]() So how do we get back to relating to ourselves and others authentically, AS A PERSON, and out of our incongruent misery? This is where the skills of PCA come in. We might still want to change things about ourselves, AND we are good enough to be our true selves just as we are right now. Reality is that each of us IS good enough, exactly as we are right now, if we can just be that (as Carl is known to have said). And who wants to fully be a self that is not good enough?! The skills to relate authentically, toward being a fully functioning person, can be learned. It’s just that as we get older we have to contend with years of being told, and telling ourselves, that we aren’t good enough exactly as we are right now. The great news is that if we were ever able to relate as fully ourselves, and clearly we were, then we can still do it. I WANT ICE CREAM NOW!!! Or I DON’T LIKE YOU!!! What is going on inside a toddler is EXACTLY what they show on the outside. The ability to relate authentically, and as fully ourselves, is best seen in any child who has not yet started the process of editing themselves based on the feedback of peers or adults. In my personal experience, and in my experience working with others in crisis, incongruence may be the primary source of misery among human beings. When we lose five dollars, or a partner, we know IMMEDIATELY…where the loss of self happens slowly and goes mostly unnoticed. Soren Kirkegaard wrote in The Sickness Unto Death When we do this, we are not relating as fully ourselves and therefore not as a person, but just as a human being with some attributes judged positively or negatively. We change ourselves because we want to be liked, we label ourselves, or are stuck in victimhood, or for a million other reasons we are incongruent - what is going on inside of us is NOT what we manifest to the people and world around us. We ignore parts of ourselves that we don’t like, hoping they will go away. PCA is a set of skills by which a human being can relate as a person, to another person. It is not guaranteed that we manifest both our physical AND spiritual aspects when we relate to ourselves or others. What is a fully functioning person?Ī person with the ability to meet their essential needs both by themselves AND as part of a group. Elements of PCA Therapy What is a person?Ī person is the manifestation of the physical AND spiritual aspects of a particular human being. PCA is the basis for Encounter Groups among people with diverse backgrounds, or positions on various sides of an issue. ![]() He pursued PCA as a way to achieve world peace – he and his colleagues travelled to places where there was violent conflict, hoping to influence leaders to use PCA in relating to each other, so that they might see each other as a person first, rather than as “the enemy,” and find peaceful solutions to their problems. Rogers believed that anyone could learn and use these skills on their own behalf. In Client Centered Therapy, the therapist isn’t teaching the skills, they are using them in the presence of the client, and this works wonderfully! Shifting to Person Centered Approach Therapy & Conflict Resolution The Person Centered Approach (PCA) is a bit different, in that it treats the skills of Congruence, Empathic Listening, and Unconditional Positive Regard as teachable and learnable skills. Therapy ends when the client is authentic within themselves (Congruent). In Client Centered Therapy, the therapist employs these skills in the session with the client, and the client benefits. ![]() Rogers identified from those characteristics are Congruence, Empathic Listening, and Unconditional Positive Regard. Understood the client in the client’s words and model of the world Rogers observed effective therapists – therapists whose clients achieved the growth and change they were looking for - and he described their characteristics. ![]() What is the Difference Between Person Centered Approach (PCA) and Client Centered Therapy?Ĭlient Centered Therapy originated from the research of Carl R. ![]()
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