Unconditional positive regard, a concept initially developed by Stanley Standal in 1954,[1] later expanded and popularized by the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers in 1956, is the basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does, especially in the context of client-centred therapy.[2] Rogers wrote:
For me it expresses the primary theme of my whole professional life, as that theme has been clarified through experience, interaction with others, and research. This theme has been utilized and found effective in many different areas until the broad label 'a person-centred approach' seems the most descriptive. The central hypothesis of this approach can be briefly stated. It is that the individual has within him or her self vast resources for self-understanding, for altering her or his self-concept, attitudes, and self-directed behaviour—and that these resources can be tapped if only a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided.[3]
- ^ Standal, Stanley. The need for positive regard: A contribution to client-centred theory. Unpublished PhD. thesis, University of Chicago. 1954.
- ^ Rogers, Carl R. Client-centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1951.
- ^ Rogers, Carl R. "Client-centered Approach to Therapy", in I. L. Kutash and A. Wolf (eds.), Psychotherapist's Casebook: Theory and Technique in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass