Person-Centered Approach in Addictions

This paper proposes a review of the approach to addictions from the Person-Centered Approach (PCA) developed by Carl Rogers, as an alternative and an expansion to traditional substance-centered models.

For decades, many addiction interventions have been organized around the control of consumption, abstinence as the primary objective, and the identification of the individual with a diagnostic category. While these approaches have provided valuable tools, they have often relegated the subjective dimension of suffering and the complexity of the person’s relationship with substance use to a secondary place.

From a person-centered perspective, substance use is not initially understood as the problem itself, but rather as an attempt—often costly and unsuccessful—at self-regulation in response to emotional pain, inner fragmentation, or difficulty sustaining one’s own experience. In this sense, the focus of treatment shifts from the substance to the meaning it acquires in the life of the person seeking help.

The therapeutic relationship thus becomes the condition that makes change possible. Deep empathy, unconditional positive regard, and the congruence of the professional are not techniques applied to the process, but relational attitudes that create a psychologically safe climate where the person can explore ambivalence, review coping patterns, and gradually recover their capacity for self-direction.

This approach does not deny the seriousness of problematic substance use nor minimize its risks, but it avoids reducing the person to their addictive behavior. Instead, it proposes a form of support that encourages genuine responsibility—not through external control, but through trust in the individual’s actualizing tendency.

Clinical experience shows that when the therapeutic relationship is based on trust rather than coercion, motivation for change ceases to be imposed and begins to emerge as an internal and sustainable decision.

BREVE RESEÑA PERSONAL/BRIEF PERSONAL REVIEW

He is an Argentine professional psychological consultant specialized in the treatment of problematic substance use and addictions. He was born in Buenos Aires on May 8, 1968, and currently resides in Spain. He is the father of a daughter named Camila and the second of six siblings.

He graduated in 1999 from the School of Humanistic Psychology and Counseling HOLOS, Argentina.

He qualified as an Addictions Counselor in 1996 at the University of Miami, USA.

He is also a Social-Therapeutic Practitioner, graduated from Universidad del Salvador, Argentina.

He is certified by the NBCC (National Board for Certified Counselors) and by FLACT (Latin American Federation of Therapeutic Communities) together with CICAD-OAS.

He is the Founder and Executive Director of the CHOICE Counseling Center for Mental Health and Addictions.

He serves as Director of the Group Coordination Area at Zerenly, an emotional support app for the Spanish-speaking community.

He is Co-founder of Mundo Counselling, an educational school in Spain dedicated to training in counselling.

He is a professor and trainer of counsellors, specializing in addictions.

He is the author of the book Counselling: Central Notions of Addiction Consulting (Ed. Gabas, 2007).

He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of FONGA (Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations of Argentina) and as a member of the National Council for Children and Family.

He is a member of the International Advisory Board of IRCEP (International Registry of Counselling Educational Programmes).

He is currently the President of the Spanish Association for Person-Centered Counselling.

He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of PCE Europe.