The Nondirective Attitude in Client-Centered Therapy: A Response to Kahn

Abstract

This article rebuts Ed Kahn’s views of person-centered psychotherapy in his Journal of Humanistic Psychology article “A Critique of Nondirectivity in the Person-Centered Approach” published in Fall 1999. Kahn’s arguments are shown to be based on distortions and misunderstandings. The article shows that person-centered psychotherapists recognize the influence and thus “directivity” of all therapy and that nondirectivity in client-centered therapy refers to the therapist’s attitude and not technique. Kahn’s idea of a “one-person psychology” contradicts client-centered theory, and the basis for nondirectivity in Rogers’s theory is discussed. The article discusses a range of responses in client-centered work and shows the psycho-analytical premises in Kahn’s critique to be irrelevant to clientcentered nondirectivity. It discusses the humility of the therapist in relying on clients’ perceptions of their experiences and meanings as the basis for understanding. A segment from a person-centered session is presented as an illustration of nondirective process.