Modern-day psychology is equipped with a wide variety of therapies, techniques and approaches based on different models and theories of human behavior and development. When it comes to counseling, it is useful to be armed with a selection of tools, so that a counselor’s professional arsenal allows them to be flexible and to apply different techniques based on the individual problems and situational needs of each client. But when it comes to most of the counseling models that a practitioner decides to set as the foundation of their work, both client-centered approaches and cognitive behavioral therapy are equally popular and widespread. Nevertheless, these theories are different, and their effectiveness comes from cardinally opposite sides of counseling.
The client-centered model, also sometimes referred to as person-centered, was developed by Carl Rogers around the middle of the twentieth century. “Carl R. Rogers is known as the father of client-centered therapy. Throughout his career he dedicated himself to humanistic psychology and is well known for his theory of personality development. He began developing his humanistic concept while working with abused children. Rogers attempted to change the world of psychotherapy when he boldly claimed that psychoanalytic, experimental, and behavioral therapists were preventing their clients from ever reaching self-realization and self-growth due to their authority’s analysis. He argued that therapists should allow patients to discover the solution for themselves. Rogers received wide acclaim for his theory and was awarded various high honors. Through Rogers extensive efforts in expressing his theory of personality through the publishing of books and lectures he gained a lot of attention and followers as well as those who strongly disagree with his theory of personality development” (Hothersall). Its main focus, as can be guessed from the name of the model, revolves around the clients themselves. Roger believed that it was...