Instead, I endeavor to facilitate t

Instead, I endeavor to facilitate the work of members so that they will fi nd their
own solutions. I am not leading them in a direction that I think they should go
but taking my cues from them in selecting interventions.
As you will see in Chapter 11, I favor the active style afforded by the Gestalt
approach, which involves creating experiments aimed at heightening the
awareness level of group members. This is what Cain (2010) refers to as integrative
person-centered therapy. I strive to pay close attention to the core conditions
that are an integral part of person-centered approach and, at the same
time, to use a variety of techniques to bring about cognitive, affective, and behavioral
change. I believe members can benefi t from leader intervention in
translating their insights into action programs, and I collaborate with group
members in designing homework assignments that will encourage them to do
diffi cult things. My style is to ask members to come up with their own homework,
but I may make suggestions for them to consider.
Concluding Commentary As with any theoretical orientation, there are limitations
to the person-centered approach to group counseling. However, the longevity
of the person-centered approach is certainly a factor to be considered
in evaluating its impact. From Cain’s (1990a) perspective, the most important
contribution of the person-centered approach to group work is that it challenges
group therapists to trust the resources of group members and to trust
the relational characteristics of leaders (and other members) to cultivate these
resources. In an age when practitioners are increasingly looking for immediate
cures and the techniques that produce quick fi xes, the person-centered
approach reminds us that it is people who heal people, not techniques
(David Cain, personal communication, July 11, 2001). Therapists need to evolve
as persons rather than being intent on expanding their repertoire of techniques.
However, it is important to remember that effective group facilitators
need to be therapeutic persons, and they need to have the knowledge and
skills required to assist members in reaching their personal goals in a group.
The scope and infl uence of Rogers’s work has continued well beyond his
death; the person-centered approach is alive, well, and expanding (Kirschenbaum,
2009). “It is a vibrant international movement with burgeoning publications,
organizations, research, theories, orientations, applications, and adherents. It
has signifi cant challenges to face if its renaissance is to continue, but clearly,
it has survived its founder” (p. 607). Today there is not one version of personcentered
therapy but a number of continuously evolving person-centered
psychotherapies (Cain, 2010). Although few psychotherapists claim to have an
exclusive person-centered theoretical orientation, the philosophy and principles
of this approach permeate the practice of many, if not most, therapists.
Other schools of therapy are increasingly recognizing the centrality of the therapeutic
relationship as a route to therapeutic change (Kirschenbaum, 2009).
Where to Go From Here
MAJOR ASSOCIATIONS: THE PERSON-CENTERED APPROACH
You might consider joining the Association for the Development of the
Person-Centered Approach (ADPCA), an interdisciplinary and international
organization. Membership includes a subscription to The Person-Centered