Carl Rogers
The Humanistic Approach
Biography• Carl grew up on a farm in Illinois, developing an
interest in biology & agriculture. • Expressing emotions was not allowed in the
Rogers household & it took its toll on Carl who developed an ulcer at 15.
• Rogers went to the University of Wisconsin to study agriculture in 1919.
• He changed careers becoming interested in religious studies. He finished his degree and left for Union Theological Seminary in NY to become a minister.
Biography• Rogers view of humanistic psychology was at
odds with Freudian theory & behaviorism.• He gained recognition when he won the APA
award for distinguished scientific contribution in 1956.
• In 1963, he moved to LaJolla, California. Developed the Center for Studies of the Person.
• He continued his scientific efforts, writing, holding workshops, etc. until he died in 1987.
Basic Premise
• Humans are motivated through an innate potential to actualize, maintain and enhance the self
• Sees people as basically good
Experiential World
• Phenomenology– The reality of our environment depends on
our perception of it– Subjective perception of reality
Emergence of Self-Concept
• Self-concept: How I see myself
• As infants grow, they develop the need for positive regard
• Positive regard: Acceptance, love and approval from others
• Child does not receive positive regard: fails to develop actualizing tendency fully
Unconditional Positive Regard
• Approval granted regardless of behavior
• Conditions of worth
• Conditional positive regard
• Positive self-regard– Eventually grant positive regard to ourselves
Incongruence
• Discrepancy between self-concept and aspects of experience
• Experiences inconsistent with how we see ourselves cause anxiety
• Psychological adjustment/emotional health
Characteristics of Fully Functioning Persons (Self-Actualizing)
• Awareness of all experiences
• Live fully in the moment
• Trust own behavior and experience
• Sense of freedom in decision making
• Creative, flexible to change
• Recognition difficulties will inevitably arise
Personality
• No aspect is predetermined
• Actualizing tendency: Innate, but more influenced by social factors than biological
• Accounts for childhood, but later experiences are more important
• Optimistic, positive view of change as
possible at any point over the lifespan
Person-Centered Therapy
• Represents a shift from medical model to growth model
• Strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship
3 Conditions in Person-Centered Therapy
• Conditions are necessary and sufficient for change– Empathy– Congruence/Genuineness– Unconditional Positive Regard
Carl Rogers: Person-Centered Approach
• Rogers believed that humans are basically good.
• He argued that we have an innate drive to reach an optimal sense of ourselves & satisfaction with our lives.
• He felt that the process by which we do this, not the end result is what matters.
• A person who does this is what he calls a “Fully Functioning Person.”
Characteristics of a Fully Functioning Person
• 1. These people are open to their experiences. They strive to experience life to its fullest & are willing to take some risks.
• 2. These people live in the present (here & now).
• 3. These folks trust their own feelings & instincts. They aren’t held back by old standards or concern for what others might think.
• 4. These folks are less concern with social conventions.
Conditions of Worth & Unconditional Positive Regard
• Rogers argues that most of us grow up in an atmosphere where we are given love & support as long as we behave the way we are expected to.
• This is what he calls Conditional positive regard. The emphasis is that love is given conditionally (with a string attached).
If we don’t do what our parents want us to do?
• Rogers argued that in these cases, parents withhold their love from us.
• As a result of this, children learn to abandon their true feelings, wishes, & desires, for those of their parents.
• This paves the way for us to become alienated from our true selves.
Unconditional positive regard
• We need this to accept all parts of our personality.
• With this we know we are loved & valued for being who we are.
• Parents can do this, by it clear that their love is not contingent on the child’s behavior (even when such behavior is abhored).
Research in Rogers’ Theory
• Q-Sort Technique– Client sorts large number of statements about self-
concept into categories– Goal: Reduce the discrepancy between the ideal and
actual self
• Incongruence between perceived self and ideal self indicates poor emotional adjustment
• Failures to realize actualizing tendency can lead to maladjustment
Criticisms of Rogers’ Theory
• Ignores aspects of personality that client may be unaware of, but that still influence client’s behavior
• Ambiguous concepts: Self-actualizing tendency
Contributions of Rogers
• Research in psychotherapy
• Growth model
• Emphasis on developing self-concept in personality
• Conditions necessary for therapy accepted and used in many other schools of therapy
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