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Client-Centered Therapy

Client-centered therapy as a scientifically funded method was developed in the 1940s mainly by Carl Rogers (1902–1987) in the United States. In Germany it was made popular since the 1960s by Prof. Reinhard Tausch.

The term “client-centered” describes the following psychtherapeutic attitude:

• The focus of the therapy is on the client’s person with their subjective experience and behaviour patterns which is valued by the therapist without evaluating or judging it.
• The therapist relies in the person’s ability to heal oneself if appropriate conditions are created. The client is basically able to take care of oneself, their welfare and their further development.
• The therapist aims for authenticity by integrating their own feelings and attitudes into the therapy process.
• The therapist faces the client’s experiences and thoughts with respect and intuition, tries to see the world through their eyes and brings own knowledge and abilities into this encounter.
• Client and therapist aim for a trustful relationship. The session’s topic and progress are mainly defined by the client, speaking about what they find most important. As the therapeutical relationship grows stronger, the client can deepen their self-exploration.
• The goal of the concerted work is to encourage self-assurance, self-confidence and self-esteem and to unleash the organism’s development and growth processes.

When desire and reality (the ideal and the person’s real abilities) come closer, life is perceived more realistically. This is what Carl Rogers calls a “real person”. This client-centered therapeutical approach can be combined with other therapy methods.