When I first meet with clients, I often find it hard to capture, in just a few words, what person-centred therapy really is. I’ve tried saying things like:
“It’s a therapy where my main job is to really understand you.”
Or: “I won’t give you advice or tell you what to do — instead, we’ll work together to tap into the strengths and resources you already have, because you know yourself better than anyone else.”
And: “My aim is to create a space where you feel accepted, understood, and safe enough to explore things that might feel too difficult to say elsewhere.”

While these descriptions are true, the person-centred approach is actually a much deeper and richer way of working, shaped by years of research and development. There are whole books and studies on the subject, but I wanted to offer a straightforward, digestible overview here — something a bit fuller than I usually have time for in first conversations with clients, but not as overwhelming as the more academic texts!

This post is a bit of a whistle-stop tour of person-centred therapy. In future blog posts, I’ll explore some of these ideas in more depth, so if you’re curious, do keep an eye out.

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A Bit of History

The person-centred approach was developed by Carl Rogers, an American psychologist working mainly in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Alongside a team of researchers, Rogers listened closely to hours of therapy recordings and looked at what made therapy helpful and transformative for clients.

Through this work, they identified key ingredients in the therapeutic relationship that seemed to make the biggest difference.

Broadly, the theory breaks down into three parts:

• How we understand personality — how we develop, and why we might need support from a therapist.
• The conditions for therapy to be helpful — Rogers described six conditions needed for growth.
• The process of change — how therapy helps us move towards a fuller, freer version of ourselves.

Here’s a brief look at each.

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Understanding Personality: Why We Are the Way We Are

Rogers believed that all living things — people, plants, even potatoes! — have an inner drive to grow and thrive. He called this our actualising tendency.

If you’ve ever forgotten about a potato in a dark cupboard, you might have seen it sprout strange-looking roots, stretching towards any sliver of light. It may not look healthy, but it’s simply doing its best to survive in tough conditions. Rogers believed that people are much the same: we adapt as best we can to the environments we live in, even if the results sometimes look a little twisted or unhealthy.

But it’s not just about survival. Rogers also described something called introjected conditions of worth. From a young age, we start to absorb messages from the people and cultures around us about what makes us ‘good enough’. These conditions might sound like: “I’m only lovable if I’m successful” or “I must always put others first to be accepted.”

When we feel we’re not living up to these conditions, it can cause deep distress. Sometimes, to protect ourselves, we might even distort or deny parts of our experience — and this disconnect can show up as anxiety, depression, or other mental health struggles.

Even if it doesn’t feel like a full-blown crisis, many of us end up overly focused on how others see us (what Rogers called an external locus of evaluation) and lose touch with our own inner sense of what feels right or true for us.

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So, How Can Therapy Help?

Rogers and his team found that when certain conditions are present in the therapy room, positive change can happen.

Here’s what those conditions are:

1. Psychological contact: Therapist and client are aware of each other and able to engage meaningfully.
2. Client in incongruence: The client is experiencing some distress or inner conflict.
3. Unconditional positive regard: The therapist deeply values and accepts the client, no matter what they bring.
4. Empathy: The therapist strives to understand the client’s world from their point of view.
5. Congruence: The therapist is genuine and open about their own feelings, when appropriate, in a way that serves the client.
6. Perception of these attitudes: Crucially, the client feels and experiences the therapist’s acceptance and understanding.

When these conditions are in place, something important happens. Clients begin to feel safe enough to look at parts of themselves they might have hidden away out of fear or shame. With no threat of judgment, they can reconnect with their true feelings and values — not just the ones they’ve absorbed from others.

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The Process of Change

As clients start to explore these parts of themselves, they often move from having fixed, rigid views about who they are and how life works, towards a more open and flexible way of being.

They might start trusting their feelings and bodily senses as guides for what’s right for them, rather than relying so much on external approval. Decisions start to feel more grounded in their own experience, and life becomes richer and more self-directed.

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This has been a short introduction to the person-centred approach to therapy. In future posts, I’ll unpack some of these ideas in more detail — like what those six conditions look like in practice, and how the idea of ‘conditions of worth’ shapes our self-image. You might also like to check out my blog on how social media can impact our sense of self, which dives a little deeper into that topic.

If anything you’ve read here feels familiar or stirs something in you, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Whether it’s with me or another therapist, finding the right support can make all the difference.