The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

CARL ROGERS AND THE CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH

There is probably no single person more responsible for shifting psychology from a pathological, childhood-focused Freudian orientation to a present-day, positive orientation than Carl Rogers. A clinical psychologist with a PhD from Columbia University, Rogers began developing client-centered or nondirective therapy in the 1940s. He opposed the assumption that the therapist knows more than the client or has a more informed understanding of the client’s problem, and should therefore direct the progress of the therapeutic engagement. He objected not only to explicit forms of direction, such as offering a diagnosis or giving advice, but also to more subtle forms of control, such as asking direct questions. ...