PD Groups

A big part of studying counselling is self-growth; the PD group (also known as a ‘process’ group) acts as a respectful and safe place to explore self.

Carl Rogers called the PD group an ‘encounter’ group; in his later career, he facilitated many such groups throughout the world, especially in societies experiencing conflict.

Rory and Ken explore the role of the PD group, some of the rewards and challenges that counselling students may face within such groups, and how to learn from any discomfort we face there to increase our self-awareness, personal growth, courage, and ability to apply the core conditions.

A useful formula is always to talk in terms of ‘I feel …’ – so that you are owning your emotions.

Critiques of Carl Rogers

Rory looks at the arguments against Carl Rogers' work, starting with the sociological critique that person-centred therapy is culture-specific. Other arguments are:

• that Rogers may be wrong in his belief that all humans are essentially good, especially if you look at the various atrocities carried out around the world
• that the notion of the core conditions as not only necessary but also sufficient may not be true for some clients, e.g. those who have suffered abuse and abandonment, substance misuse or psychopathy (who may need a more structured approach)
• that therapists may simply be putting on a professional façade rather than truly embodying the core conditions.

The last critique listed above is known as the ‘Masson critique’, after Jeffery Masson, a former psychotherapist who wrote a book, Against Therapy (Collins, 1988). This puts forward a number of criticisms of person-centred therapy – as well as other modalities.

Finally, Rory explains a new critique – a theological perspective – that claims person-centred therapy puts the self at the centre of a person’s existence, and so goes against the Christian view of the centrality of God and Jesus.