Glossary
Unconditional Positive Regard
What is unconditional positive regard?
Unconditional positive regard (UPR) is Carl Rogers's term for accepting a client as a person without making that acceptance depend on particular feelings or experiences. A client can express something painful, conflicted, or difficult without losing the therapist's regard.
Its role in person-centered therapy
Rogers's 1957 paper distinguishes this attitude from empathy and congruence and includes it among six proposed conditions for therapeutic change. It permits clients to have their own experience, rather than requiring them to feel the way the therapist prefers.
Acceptance and approval
Accepting a person does not mean approving every action or pretending that harmful behavior is harmless. The distinction allows care for the person alongside honest discussion of what they do.
Example: unconditional versus conditional regard
Imagine a client admitting feelings of resentment. Unconditional regard allows the therapist to take those feelings seriously without withdrawing acceptance of the person. Making acceptance depend on the client reporting only agreeable feelings would make that regard conditional.
Why it matters
Someone can be treated with respect while their choices are examined honestly. Unconditional positive regard names the accepting attitude in Rogers's account, rather than a requirement for indiscriminate praise.