Carl Rogers

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Carl Rogers

• Person-Centered Theory

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Carl Rogers - 1902-1987

• Born in Oak Park, IL, 4th of 6 children

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Family Background

• Family valued hard work, fundamentalist
  Christianity, following strict rules of behavior
• Family moved to farm to prevent children having
  close contact with others in city, suburbs

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Carl Rogers - 1902-1987

• Enrolled in ag program at UW, spent 6 months in
  China with YMCA program
• In China Rogers grew more tolerant of different
  customs
• B.A. History 1924, only one psych class

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Education and Early Adulthood

• Married Helen, a commercial artist, over
  objections of parents who recommended waiting
  until postgrad studies were finished
• Moved to NYC for grad school - entered Union
  Theological Seminary
• Took courses at Teachers College, Columbia
  decided on grad work in psychology

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Person-Centered Theory - The Actualizing Tendency

• Called all motivation the actualizing
  tendency--the urge to expand, extend, develop,
  mature, to express and activate all the
  capacities of the organism
• Very humanistic view

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The Actualizing Tendency

• We do not behave irrationally, as psychoanalysis
  assumed--we move with ordered complexity toward
  our goals
• This tendency leads to complexity, independence,
  and social responsibility
• The motivation intrinsic to each person is
  basically good and healthy

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Person-Centered Theory - The Actualizing Tendency

• A self-actualizing person is in touch with the
  inner experience that is inherently growth
  producing, the organismic valuing process--a
  subconscious guide that evaluates experience for
  its growth potential
• It draws people toward experiences that are
  growth producing and away from those that would
  inhibit growth

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Person-Centered Theory - The Actualizing Tendency

• A person who pays attention to the organismic
  valuing process is self-actualizing or fully
  functioning
• A person who is fully functioning has several
  characteristics openness to experience,
  existential living, organismic trusting,
  experiential freedom, and creativity

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Person-Centered Theory - The Self

• Many people experience discrepancy between the
  ideal self and the real self
• The real self contains a persons true or real
  qualities, including the actualizing tendency
• Incongruence - the experience of conflict
  between the real self and the ideal self

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Person-Centered Theory - The Self

• When a person is incongruent - experiences the
  real self as threatening
• To prevent this, defense mechanisms distort, deny
  experience
• Real self may be suppressed

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Person-Centered Theory -Development

• Adults tell children to be good - e.g., be
  good, be respectful, be hard-working, etc. -
  bad behavior is punished or ignored
• Rogers called this conditional positive regard
• As a result, children come to think of themselves
  as having only the good qualities, disown the
  bad

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Person-Centered Theory - Development

• Rogers thought better alternative would be to
  give child unconditional positive regard - loving
  the child regardless of behavior
• This allows child to explore all potentials
• Since he viewed people as essentially good, the
  outcome is the development of a fully functioning
  person

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Person-Centered Theory - Therapy

• Therapy could help a person reconnect with
  his/her organismic valuing process
• Direction comes from the client rather than from
  the therapists insights, so referred to as
  nondirective therapy, later client-centered
  therapy

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Therapy

• Unconditional Positive Regard
• Congruence
• Empathic understanding

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Marriage

• Mutual trust, tolerance of separate and shared
  interests, focus on uniqueness of each partner
  rather than roles
• Greater mutuality, equality, honest
  communication result

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Relationships

• Research - H.S. and college students have higher
  self-esteem if romantic partners, friends possess
  characteristics of unconditional acceptance,
  empathy, and congruence

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Carl Rogers - Summary

• People actively seek higher development
• Motivated by the actualizing tendency
• A healthy person is a fully functioning person
• Factors that contribute to successful therapy,
  relationships - unconditional positive regard,
  congruence, empathic understanding