The author argues that person-centered therapy in its pure form is too person-centered. An overly optimistic belief in the actualizing tendency and organismic valuing process has led to de facto passivity on the part of the therapist through an almost exclusive reliance on empathy and unconditional positive regard in the psychotherapeutic encounter. A solution is sought through a more interactive and developmental emphasis in the person-centered theory of personality and through a greater role for genuineness in psychotherapeutic and other important human interactions.
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