ent viewpoints. While psychoanalysis tends to view the psychoanalyst as having the answers, and the insights, and the patient who disagrees as being resistant, in person centered psychotherapies, according to Rogers: "It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go in, what problems are crucial" (Rogers, 1961, p. 12).
Another important strength of the person centered approaches is the emphasis on present situations, present experience, and present skills. The focus is not on figuring out why a problem has arisen, but on what the problem is, what keeps the client stuck, and how the client can more creatively respond in order to move out of the stuck place.
The chapter makes an important point in connecting the person centered psychotherapies to the Roosevelt era, with its emphasis on an optimistic view of human nature. The person centered approaches are very optimistic, in contrast to psychoanalytic approaches. The difference in approaches represents a different view of human nature. For psychoanalysis, it is problematic and needs to be hedged in so that civilization can con
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