The Seba library treats Positive Regard in 9 passages, across 7 authors (including Alexander, Bruce K., Welwood, John, Ogden, Pat).
Positive Regard. The therapist respects and honours the client as a person of inherent worth. This basic human regard is enduring, and not conditional on what
Alexander, via Miller’s operational definition of agape, situates Positive Regard as the capstone of a five-part therapeutic stance grounded in unconditional respect for inherent human worth.
, The Globalisation of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit, 2008thesis
I used to be intrigued, intimidated, and puzzled by Carl Rogers’s term ‘unconditional positive regard’… The Buddhist counterpart of unconditional positive regard is loving-kindness (maitri in Sanskrit, metta in Pali).
Welwood argues that Rogers’s concept only becomes practically intelligible when grounded in a contemplative understanding of intrinsic goodness, finding its structural equivalent in Buddhist loving-kindness.
, Toward a Psychology of Awakening Buddhism, Psychotherapy,, 2000thesis
many people hold limiting beliefs that prevent them from accepting positive regard from others. When positive moments have been absent or invariably followed by abuse or humiliation, then compliments, praise, or positive attention of any kind may engender dismissal, fear, or shame
Ogden demonstrates that for trauma survivors, the therapist’s Positive Regard is not automatically received as healing but can activate shame and fear responses rooted in adverse relational histories.
, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Interventions for Trauma and, 2015thesis
The need for positive self-regard, as it is currently conceptualized, is not a universal, but rooted in significant aspects of North American culture.
McGilchrist challenges the assumed universality of Positive Regard by showing that self-regard is culturally constructed, with Japanese subjects finding self-worth through social contribution rather than high individual self-estimation.
, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, 2009supporting
cohesion, positive regard). Because of such problems, the statistical relations between the relationship and outcome cannot always be trusted.
Norcross situates Positive Regard within the empirical common-factors literature as one of several relational variables correlated with outcome, while noting methodological difficulties in isolating its specific contribution.
, Evidence-Based Therapy Relationships: Research Conclusions and Clinical Practices, 2011supporting
Empathy, a complex process by which an individual can be affected by and share the emotional state of another, assess the reasons for another’s state, and identify with the other by adopting his or her perspective, is thought to be necessary for the cooperation, goal sharing, and regulation of social interaction.
Wampold’s meta-analytic framework positions empathy — closely allied with Positive Regard — as a core common factor with robust effect sizes across therapeutic modalities.
, How important are the common factors in psychotherapy? An update, 2015supporting
The therapist relates to the patient in a genuine caring fashion and strives to achieve moments of authentic encounter. The therapist should be selfless in this endeavor — that is, concerned with th
Yalom’s existential framing recasts the therapist’s caring stance as ontological ‘meeting’ rather than technique, converging with but distinguishing itself from the Rogerian idiom of Positive Regard.
, Existential Psychotherapy, 1980supporting
Marcus Aurelius emphasised the importance of accepting the humanity of miscreants of all sorts… Instead of punishment, he advocated gentle persuasion: Teach them better, if you can; if not, remember that kindliness has been given you for moments like these.
Alexander traces the philosophical lineage of unconditional acceptance — a precondition of Positive Regard — through Stoic ethics and Vipassana meditation as historical antecedents to Rogerian clinical practice.
, The Globalisation of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit, 2008supporting
Positive client outcome is also correlated with group popularity, a variable closely related to group support and acceptance.
Yalom links group-level acceptance and support — conceptually proximate to Positive Regard — to measurable therapeutic outcomes in group psychotherapy research.
, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Fifth Edition, 2008aside