Carl Rogers

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Carl Rogers

• Humanistic Psychology

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I. 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.

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Biography contd.

• He changed his mind for 2 reasons
• --Intense study in religion made him question his
  own beliefs
• --He took a psychology course at Columbia
  University.
• Rogers left the seminary to study psychology at
  Columbia.
• He held faculty positions at Ohio State, the U of
  Chicago, U of Wisconsin.

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Biography contd.

• 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 to found
  the Center for Studies of the Person.
• He continued his scientific efforts, writing,
  holding workshops, etc. until he died in 1987.

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II. Humanistic Psychology

• personality depends on what people believe how
  they perceive the world.
•  
• Your interpretations of the events in your life
  influence how your personality develops.
•  
• People make deliberate conscious decisions about
  what to do with their lives.

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Where did humanistic psychology come from?

• Two principle sources
• 1. Existential philosophy- addresses many
  questions regarding the meaning of our existence,
  the role of free will, the uniqueness of the
  human being.
• 2. Rogers Maslow started writing about their
  personal transitions from traditional psychology
  approaches to a humanistic perspective.

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Key Elements of the Humanistic approach

• 1. Emphasis on personal responsibility
• Argues we are ultimately responsible for our
  actions. Our behaviors represent personal
  choices. Humans are active participants in their
  lives.
• (e.g., when we knew we have complete a task, we
  often say, I have to do this.)

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2. The Here and Now

• We should fully experience life in the present,
  rather than focusing on the future or ruminating
  over the past.
• To become fully functional, we need to live our
  lives as they unfold, not as we hope they will.
• Motto Today is the first day of the rest of
  your life.

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3. The Phenomenology of the Individual

• Argues that no one knows you better than you do.
  
• Therefore, a therapist needs to listen
  carefully to clients to see where they are
  coming from.
• Problem This view suggests that people are
  capable of understanding their own problems. If
  this is true, why would these people seek therapy
  in the first place!!!
• What about people who are incapable of
  understanding their own problems???

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4. Personal Growth

• There is more to life than having all your
  immediate needs met.
• This view argues that we need to growth, develop,
  progress toward some satisfying state of being.
• We strive to become a fully-functioning
  individual. This has also been called, self
  actualization.

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On average, Humanistic Psychologists

• 1. Do NOT conduct scientific research
•  
• 2. Study unique individuals
•  
• 3. Study growth experiences-when youve
  learned something significant.
•  
• 4. Study peak experiences which are moments in
  which a person feels truly fulfilled, content,
  at peace.

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III. 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.

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A. What are the 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 arent held back by old
  standards or concern for what others might think.
• 4. These folks are less concern with social
  conventions.

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If we all have the potential to become fully
functioning, why is there so much unhappiness in
the world?

• Rogers argued we often respond to anxiety with
  various defenses.
• The defenses do succeed in reducing our anxiety,
  but in the process we lose touch with who we are
  our ability experience lifes richness.

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When does anxiety result?

• When we come into contact with information that
  is inconsistent with the way we conceive of
  ourselves.
• You may believe you are a good student, tennis
  player, daughter/son, nice person.
• Receiving information that conflicts with your
  self-concept, is threatening creates anxiety.
• (Hey, not everybody likes me. Whats wrong
  with them!!!)

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What happens when people receive information
inconsistent with their self-concepts?

• Rogers argued we receive this contradictory
  information below consciousness. He called this
  subception.
• Information that is not threatening enters
  consciousness.
• The most common defense for anxiety is
  distortion, a process by which you convince
  yourself that the person was either in a bad mood
  or is just a rude person.

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What does distortion do?

• It does not contradict your self-concept
  reduces the anxiety.
• Most extreme cases call for denial.
• While distortion denial reduce the anxiety,
  they stop you from reaching your full potential
  experiencing life to its fullest.

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B. 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).

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What happens if we dont 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.

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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 childs behavior (even
  when such behavior is abhored).

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Are parents family the only source of
Unconditional Positive Regard?

• No other sources may come from close friends,
  coworkers, therapists.

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C. Person-Centered Therapy

• Rogers argued that a therapist cannot possibly
  understand a client better than the client can.
• The clients are responsible for changing
  themselves, not the therapist.
• The goal of the therapy is to provide an
  atmosphere in which the client can help
  themselves.

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How is successful therapy accomplished?

• 1. Therapists must create the proper
  relationship with their clients.
• --be open genuine with clients
• --therapists must be themselves
• 2. Therapists must have unconditional positive
  regard for clients.
• 3. Help clients understand themselves through
  reflection. This requires that the therapist
  tell the client what they hear the client
  saying.