Psychiatria pre prax 3/2017

Person Centered Psychotherapy and Pre-Therapy – The application in psychiatry

This article summarizes the basic principles of Person Centered Psychotherapy introduced by Carl Rogers with an emphasis on the differences in relation with other psychotherapeutic schools, and prejudices that reflect this therapy. Furthermore, it focuses on the possibility concerning the psychotherapy with patients with severe mental illness resulting from method which is based on Roger’s philosophy – The Pre-Therapy. The last section provides two case studies to illustrate this approach in practice, with examples of therapeutic interviews.

Keywords: phenomenology, self-symbolization, incongruence, empathy, actualizing tendency, psychological contact, pre-therapy, contact work