d widely employed techniques in modern U.S. clinical psychology. The method was founded by Carl Rogers, an American psychotherapist born in 1902. Rogers developed his theories after receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1931. As a therapist and researcher, Rogers transcribed his therapy protocols for study, used a statistical method for studying self and ideal concepts before and after therapy, and employed both direct observation and psychological tests to measure psychotherapeutic growth: " . . . he consistently stressed the importance of considering the 'whole person,' including individuals' feelings and self-concepts, if humans were to be understood adequately" (Nye viii).
Person-centered therapy is essentially non-directive. Clients are empowered to determine their own agendas for their lives and for therapy. Therapists believe that this empowerment can only be accomplished in an atmosphere in which the client feels safe and uncensored. Thus clients are encouraged to live in the present and to develop confidence in their capacities for judgment: "The person must be open and responsive to inner experiencing (sensations, feelings, thoughts, and so on) as well as to the external environment" (Nye 109). In this sense, the person-centered approach to therapy is sometimes referred to as self-therapy.
Therapists in person-centered therapy value the freedom and potential of each client as a culturally diverse individual. This attitude creates the conditions by which self-healing of the client can occur. The relationship between the client and counselor in the person-centered approach is characterized by the meeting of two equals. The client and therapist have mutual faith and understanding in each other. Where the therapist does take action in this approach it is in terms of being a facilitator, motivator, and change agent. Carl Rogers assumed that healing is a natural process, with the therapist's role as a...