Critically appraise the key concepts and principles of the theory and Essay

Critically appraise the key concepts and principles of the theory and practice of the Person Centred approach - Essay Example Carl Rogers (a major contributor of the person centred model) emphasized the humanistic perspective as well as ensuring healing relationships with clients promote self-esteem, authenticity and actualization in their life, and help them to use their strengths (Seligman, 2006). Person-centred model has two primary goals, which are increased self-esteem and greater openness to experience. Attempts are made to facilitate related changes and seek to promote in clients the following: closer agreement between the clients idealized and actual selves; better self-understanding; lower levels of defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more positive and comfortable relationships with others; and an increased capacity to experience and express feelings at the moment they occur (Rogers, 1980). Person-centred model here means research that focuses on the person as a core of the study. The person then becomes the main conceptual unit and also often the main analytical unit. Person-centred model can be contrasted to variable-centred model where the focus is on the variable as the main conceptual and analytical unit. Variable- centred model is far more common but is not the topic of this article. For example training can be classified into variable-centred approach where the main focus is on the content of course which is being trained while coaching is person centred where the main focus is the person being trained not the content of the training. Person-centred model does not need to be quantitative and can in certain situations be carried out by case-oriented model and by using a qualitative model. Obviously, the study of the single individual, studied quantitatively using the technique, is in one way person-centred, but is not normally so according to the definition given above (since the focus is usually then on relationships between variables within the individual). The perspective given in this paper is of