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Using Developments from the Broader Field of Psychotherapy (E.G. the Ideas of Bowlby, Stern, Stolorow) Explore the Person Centred Approach to the Development of the Self in Relationship

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Using Developments from the Broader Field of Psychotherapy (E.G. the Ideas of Bowlby, Stern, Stolorow) Explore the Person Centred Approach to the Development of the Self in Relationship
USING DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE BROADER FIELD OF PSYCHOTHERAPY (E.G. THE IDEAS OF BOWLBY, STERN, STOLOROW) USING DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE BROADER FIELD OF PSYCHOTHERAPY (E.G. THE IDEAS OF BOWLBY, STERN, STOLOROW) EXPLORE THE PERSON CENTRED APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF IN RELATIONSHIP

Word count excluding front sheet and references: 4816

Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to explore the development of the self in relationship within the person centred approach through drawing on developments within the broader field of psychotherapy. My principle intention is to explore intra-psychic and intersubjective understandings of self and form a view of a person centred understanding of self in relation to this dichotomy.

I will argue that person centred theory was an original, if not revolutionary, approach to psychotherapy, the origins of which are found in phenomenological and existential thought rather than the scientific and medical roots of the psychoanalytic theory dominant at the time.

I will describe how the person centred view of the self grew from the experience of how people changed and achieved growth through the therapeutic relationship. As such it was a truly relational theory from its inception and moved toward more clearly defined intersubjectivity through the development of therapist congruence, subjectivity and the wider systemic applications of the person centred approach. By contrast, the importance of relationship in psychoanalytic theory emerged over many years through a long revisionist path which led ultimately to a sharing of values between these two paradigms in respect of subjectivity and genuine encounter in which the subjective frame each participant is acknowledged. Nevertheless I do contend that both traditions inform and enrich one another and further suggest that this process is enhanced by recent developments in neuroscience.
I will draw on the work of Carl Rogers in particular and contrast his work with



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