On Encounter Groups

Carl Rogers coined the term, ‘The Basic Encounter Group’ to identify encounter groups that operated on the principles of the person-centered approach. It is the contention that the person-centered Basic Encounter Group is quite unique and, in fact, offers a different paradigm for group therapy. Indeed, the application of the premises of the person-centered approach in group therapy requires a re-examination of many of the usual presuppositions about group function. This includes presuppositions about leader target population, size of group, establishment of goals and ground rules, and facilitator behavior. This contention is contrary to the conclusion that the client-centered basic encounter group ‘ . . . is in the mainstream of approaches for working with groups because of its eclectic nature and its lack of distinguishing features to set it apart from other process models (Boy, 1985, p. 210).