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PERSON-CENTRED THERAPY VS. RATIONAL EMOTIVE
BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
The purpose of this paper is to present a brief comparison of the approach
to psychotherapy of Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis. I have selected Albert Ellis for
comparative purposes since he was one of the other therapists participating with
Rogers in the film “Three Approaches to Psycotherapy” , made in 1964, centering
on interviews with the client “Gloria”.
Person-Centered Therapy
Rogers first formulated the essentials of Person-Centered Therapy (PCT),
an approach to helping individuals and groups in conflict, in 1940. At the time it
was a revolutionary hypothesis that a self-directed growth process would follow
the provision and reception of a particular kind of relationship characterized by
genuineness, non-judgmental caring, and empathy. Its most fundamental and
pervasive concept is trust.
The foundation of Rogers’ approach is a human being’s actualizing
tendency towards the realization of his or her full potential; which he described
as a formative tendency observable in the movement toward 134greater order,
complexity and interrelatedness. The person-centered approach is built on trust
that individuals and groups can set their own goals and monitor their own
progress towards them. It assumes that the clients can be trusted to select their
own therapist, choose the frequency and length of their therapy, talk or be silent,
decide what needs to be explored, achieve their own insights, and be the
architects of own lives. Moreover, groups can be trusted to develop processes
right for them and to resolve conflicts in the group.
In Person-Centered Therapy, the therapist provides continuous and
constant empathy for the client's perceptions, meanings and feelings. The other
tools employed are congruence and unconditional positive regard. Rogers
believes it is important for the therapist to be appreciated as a person in the
relationship. This is facilitated by congruence or genuineness - the
