Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the strengths of person centered psychotherapies is the emphasis on unconditional positive regard, particularly in Carl Rogers. This unconditional positive regard, or something like love, can allow the client to expose his or her vulnerabilities, fears, flaws, secrets, and dysfunctions within the therapeutic setting without fear of being rejected. This allows the therapist to gain the necessary insights on the client's worldview and overall situation that enables the therapist to devise interventions, or make suggestions, that can help the client shift that worldview in a beneficial direction.
This unconditional positive regard is one sign of the generally positive nature of these approaches. Another strength of them is that they emphasize the potential of the client for growth, for positive change, for creativity, and for shifting what has been destructive. These therapies assume that the client has considerable wisdom which can be exercised in his or her own behalf. In Rogerian therapy, the client is seen as the core therapist, with the actual therapist serving as consultant, advisor, witness, and support system. Thus, the client is seen as possessing whatever is requisite for growth, rather than being totally dependent upon an outside expert who must interpret the client's experience appropriately.
This focus on the client's capacities tends to be empowering, which is another strength of the person centered psychotherapies. The client is assumed to be able to take on more and more of the leadership role in the therapy process, and in his or her own life. While psychoanalysis tends to vest power and expertise in the psychoanalyst, person centered psychotherapies, while still representing unequal power relations, moves more rapidly toward encouraging the client to regain, or reclaim, power.
There is a quote in the chapter that really captures these differ...