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Client-centered Therapy vs. Gestalt Therapy

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Compare and contrast client-centered therapy with Gestalt therapy in terms of the goals of therapy, the role of the therapist, and therapeutic effectiveness.

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Solution Summary

This solution compares and contrasts client-centered therapy with Gestalt therapy in terms of the goals of therapy, the role of the therapist and therapeutic effectiveness. Supplemented with an article on Gestalt Therapy.

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Let's take a closer look through discussion ad research, which you can draw on for your final copy. I also attached a supporting article for further reading.

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Carl Rogers developed client-Centered Therapy (CCT) in the 40's and 50's. It is a non-directive approach to therapy. A non-directive approach is very appealing on the face of it to many clients, because they get to keep control over the content and pace of the therapy. It is intended to serve them, after all. The therapist isn't evaluating them in any way or trying to "figure them out". This is as opposed to "directive" meaning any therapist behavior that deliberately steers the client in some way. Directive behaviors include asking questions, offering treatments, and making interpretations and diagnoses (1).

Somewhat similar to CCT, Gestalt Therapy was co-founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s-1950s and is also considered client-centered. Specifically, Gestalt Therapy is a humanistic, existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship (like CCT), the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation. It also emphasizes personal responsibility (2).

Goals of Therapy

In CCT, the goal of therapy is to deal with whatever the client brings to the session. The foundational belief of CCT is that people tend to move toward growth and healing, and have the capacity to find their own answers. This tendency is helped along by an accepting and understanding climate, which the CC therapist seeks to provide. So, the CC therapists do:
· Listen and try to understand how things are from the client's point of view.
· Check that understanding with the client if unsure.
· Treat the client with the utmost respect and regard.
· There is also a mandate for the therapist to be ...

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