Carl Rogers

 is widely regarded as one of the most eminent thinkers in psychology. He is best known for
developing the psychotherapy method called client-centered therapy and for being one of the
founders of humanistic psychology.
 Carl Ransom Rogers was born in 1902 in Oak Hill, Illinois. His father was a civil engineer, and his
mother was a housewife; he was the fourth of six children. Rogers was a high achiever in school
from an early age: He started reading before age 5 and was able to skip kindergarten and first
grade.
 When he was 12, his family moved from the suburbs to a rural farm area. He enrolled at the
University of Wisconsin in 1919 as an agriculture major. However, after attending a 1922
Christian conference in China, Rogers began to question his career choice. He later changed his
major to History with plans to become a minister.
 He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1924 with a bachelor's degree in History and
enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary before transferring to Teachers College of Columbia
University in 1926 to complete his master's degree.
 One reason he chose to abandon his pursuit of theology was a student-led seminar on religion
which caused him to question his faith. Another inspiration for his switch to the study of
psychology was a course he took at Columbia University taught by the psychologist Leta Stetter
Hollingworth.
 Rogers considered psychology to be a way to continue studying life's many questions without
having to subscribe to a specific doctrine. He decided to enroll in the clinical psychology
program at Columbia and completed his doctorate in 1931.

 After receiving his Ph.D., Rogers spent a number of years working in academia, holding positions
at Ohio State University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin.
 It was during this time that Rogers developed his approach to therapy, which he initially termed
"nondirective therapy." This approach, which involves the therapist acting as a facilitator rather
than a director of the therapy session, eventually came to be known as client-centered therapy.
 In 1946, Rogers was elected President of the American Psychological Association. Rogers wrote
19 books and numerous articles outlining his humanistic theory. Among his best-known works
are Client-Centered Therapy (1951), On Becoming a Person (1961), and A Way of Being (1980).
 After some conflicts within the psychology department at the University of Wisconsin, Rogers
accepted a position at the Western Behavioral Studies Institute (WBSI) in La Jolla, California.
Eventually, he and several colleagues left WBSI to form the Center for Studies of the Person
(CSP)
 Client centered theory

Important Theories
Self-Actualization

Rogers believed that all people possess an inherent need to grow and achieve their potential. This need
to achieve self-actualization, he believed, was one of the primary motives driving behavior.

Unconditional Positive Regard

For psychotherapy to be successful, Rogers suggested, it was imperative for the therapist to provide
unconditional positive regard to the client. This means that the therapist accepts the client as they are
and allows them to express both positive and negative feelings without judgment or reproach.

Development of the Self

Rogers believed that the formation of a healthy self-concept was an ongoing process shaped by a
person's life experiences. People with a stable sense of self tend to have greater confidence and cope
more effectively with life's challenges.

Rogers suggested that self-concept begins to develop during childhood and is heavily influenced by
parenting. Parents who offer their children unconditional love and regard are more likely to foster a
healthy self-concept. Children who feel that they have to “earn” their parents' love may end up with low
self-esteem and feelings of unworthiness.

Congruence

Rogers also suggests that people tend to have a concept of their “ideal self.” The problem is that our
image of who we think we should be does not always match up with our perceptions of who we are
today. When our self-image does not line up with our ideal self, we are in a state of incongruence.

Rogers believed that by receiving unconditional positive regard and pursuing self-actualization, however,
people can come close to reaching a state of congruence.

The Fully-Functioning Person

Rogers suggested that people who continually strive to fulfill their actualizing tendency could become
what he referred to as fully-functioning. A fully-functioning person is one who is completely congruent
and living in the moment.
Like many other aspects of his theory, unconditional positive regard plays a critical role in the
development of full functioning. Those who receive nonjudgmental support and love can develop the
self-esteem and confidence to be the best person they can be and live up to their full potential.

According to Rogers, a fully functioning person has some of the following characteristics:

 A flexible self-concept
 Openness to experience
 The ability to live in harmony with others
 Unconditional regard for the self

Contributions to Psychology
With his emphasis on human potential, Carl Rogers had an enormous influence on both
psychology and education. Beyond that, he is considered by many to be one of the most
influential psychologists of the 20th century. More therapists cite Rogers as their primary
influence than any other psychologist.

As described by his daughter Natalie Rogers, he was "a model for compassion and democratic
ideals in his own life, and in his work as an educator, writer, and therapist."1

Rollo May
  The existential psychologist, Rollo May was born on in Ada, Ohio on April 21, 1909.
Unfortunately, May did not experience a very happy childhood. Never getting along, his parents
got divorced and his sister suffered a psychotic breakdown.\
  As an undergraduate, May studied English at Michigan State and earned his bachelor’s degree
from Oberlin College in Ohio. After graduation, May taught English in Salonika, Greece, and
while there, he traveled to attend seminars presented by Alfred Adler. Back in the states, May
earned a bachelor’s degree in divinity in 1938, and served briefly as a minister before enrolling
at Columbia College to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology

 May served as a counselor, faculty member, and fellow, respectively, at the William Alanson
White Institute in New York City beginning in 1943 and he started his own practice in 1946.
From 1955–1975, May taught at the New School for Social Research, and in 1975 he relocated
to California. He is well known for many of his books, including Man’s Search for
Himself, Love and Will, The Meaning of Anxiety, and The Courage to Create.

 May helped to introduce existential psychology  in 1958, when he collaborated with Ernest Angel
and Henri Ellenberger to edit the book  Existence. May was heavily influenced by other
philosophical theories, such as humanism. His primary aim was to understand the underlying
mechanisms and reality behind human suffering and crises; he did this by combining elements of
humanism with existentialism in his approach to therapy

Like other psychologists of his time, May argued that development proceeded through specific stages

during which a person must deal with a specific crisis or challenge. These include:

 Innocence: an infant has few drives other than the will to live. 

 Rebellion: a developing child seeks freedom but cannot properly care for herself. 

 Decision: a transitional stage during which a teenager or young adult makes decisions

about his or her life, while seeking further independence from her parents. 

 Ordinary: the stage of adulthood. Overwhelmed by its demands, young adults tend to

seek protection in conformity and tradition. 

 Creative: this marks a point of productive, creative self-actualization  during which a

person moves past egotism and self-involvement. 

Although the stages are related to stages of child and adult development, any person at any age can enter

these stages. Some people skip stages or repeatedly return to a particular stage. May also placed a strong

emphasis on anxiety, arguing that anxiety is actually a major catalyst in human life enabling people to
make courageous decisions. Anxiety can also help people avoid danger while empowering them to find

ways to remain safe.

Reece May was born April 21st, 1909 as the second child of six to Earl Tittle May and Matie Boughton.
His father was a field secretary for the Young Men’s Christian Association. He moved the family to
Michigan when May was still a young child.

Reece had a rather unfortunate childhood, with parents who argued often. There was much contention in
the home One of his sisters was in an asylum diagnosed with schizophrenia. As a result of the family
situation he changed his name and his behavior became a little extreme and very political.

He began his higher education at Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, located in
East Lansing. While he was there he co-founded a magazine that took on the state legislature and was
causing negative press for the organization. He was asked to leave the college.

Rollo was accepted in Oberlin College, it was a small and liberal arts school. He graduated with his
English major and a minor in Greek literature and history. After graduation in 1930, May moved to
Salonika, Greece to teach.

It was during this time period that Rollo May began to attend lectures given by psychoanalyst Alfred Adler.
The has a great influence on his thoughts and theories.

In 1933 May returned to the states and went to the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. The
family situation changed as his parents divorced and he went home to help care for the younger children.
Oddly he picked up a job as a student adviser at Michigan State.

1938 was a year of big changes. He earned his divinity degree from Union, under the direction of Paul
Tilich. He married Florence De Frees in that same year and became a minister of a Congregational
Church in New Jersey.

Rollo and Florence had three children a son and twin girls. Rollo eventually decided that his truly calling
and interest in life lay in the field of psychology. He continued his education in that field.

In 1942, May was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He spent eighteen months getting care in a sanitaruim
and finally left with the theory that his own attitude and personal will would help his recovery more than
anything the sanitarium could offer.

May authored many books on dealing with psychology and the interest of psychology to the common
man. He is often given credit for ringing in what some people refer to and the “age of anxiety”.

May divorced his first wife in 1969 and married Ingrid Scholl in 1971. That marriage was disoved in 1978.
He married again in 1989 to Georgia Lee Mill Johnson.

He is one of the most quoted psycoanlyst in our time. He died of congestive heart failure in 1994. It
seems fitting that we end with one of his quotes.

“Depression is the inability to construct a future.”

Gordon Allport
 Gordon Allport was a pioneering psychologist often referred to as one of the founders of personality
psychology. He rejected two of the dominant schools of thought in psychology at the time, psychoanalysis
and behaviorism, in favor of his own approach that stressed the importance of individual differences and
situational variables.
  Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the trait theory of personality. In a review of
the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, Allport was ranked as the 11th most eminent
psychologist.

 Gordon Allport was born in Montezuma, Indiana, on November 11, 1897. He was the youngest of four

brothers and was often described as shy, but also hard-working and studious. His mother was a

schoolteacher, and his father was a doctor who instilled in Allport a strong work ethic.

 During his childhood, his father used the family home to house and treat patients.

 Allport operated his own printing business during his teen years and served as the editor of his high

school newspaper. In 1915, Allport graduated second in his class and earned a scholarship to Harvard

College, where one of his older brothers, Floyd Henry Allport, was working on a Ph.D. in

psychology.

 After earning his bachelor's degree in philosophy and economics from Harvard in 1919, Allport

traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, to teach philosophy and economics. After a year of teaching, he

returned to Harvard to finish his studies. Allport earned his Ph.D. in psychology in 1922 under the

guidance of Hugo Munsterberg.

Meeting Sigmund Freud

In an essay entitled "Pattern and Growth in Personality," Allport recounted his experience of meeting

psychiatrist Sigmund Freud. When he was 22, Allport traveled to Vienna, Austria, to meet the famous

psychoanalyst. After entering Freud's office, he sat down nervously and told a story about a young boy he had

seen on the train during his travels to Vienna.

The boy, Allport explained, was afraid of getting dirty and refused to sit where a dirty-looking man had

previously sat. Allport theorized that the child had acquired the behavior from his mother, who appeared to be

very domineering. Freud studied Allport for a moment and then asked, "And was that little boy you?"

Effect on Psychology
Allport viewed the experience as an attempt by Freud to turn a simple observation into an
analysis of Allport's supposed unconscious memory of his own childhood. The experience would
later serve as a reminder that psychoanalysis tended to dig too deeply. Behaviorism, on the other
hand, Allport believed, did not dig deeply enough.

Instead, Allport chose to reject both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and embraced his own
unique approach to personality.

At this point in psychology history, behaviorism had become the dominant force in the United
States, and psychoanalysis remained a powerful influence. Allport's approach to human
psychology combined the empirical influence of the behaviorists with the acknowledgment that
unconscious influences could also play a role in human behavior.

Career
Allport began working at Harvard in 1924 and later left to accept a position at Dartmouth. By
1930, he returned to Harvard, where he would remain for the rest of his academic career.

During his first year at Harvard, he taught what was most likely the first personality
psychology class offered in the United States.

His work as a teacher also had a profound effect on some of his students, including Stanley
Milgram, Jerome S. Bruner, Leo Postman, Thomas Pettigrew, and Anthony Greenwald.

Trait Theory of Personality

Allport is perhaps best known for his trait theory of personality. He began developing this theory
by going through a dictionary and noting every term he found that described a personality trait.
After compiling a list of 4,504 different traits, he organized them into three different trait
categories,2 including:

 Cardinal traits: These are traits that dominate an individual's entire personality. Cardinal
traits are thought to be quite rare.
 Central traits: Common traits that make up our personalities. Traits such as kindness,
honesty, and friendliness are all examples of central traits.
 Secondary traits: These are traits that are only present under certain conditions and
circumstances. An example of a secondary trait would be getting nervous before
delivering a speech to a large group of people.

Contributions to Psychology
Allport died on October 9, 1967. In addition to his trait theory of personality, he left an indelible mark on

psychology. Rather than focusing on the psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches that were popular during
his time, Allport instead chose to utilize an eclectic approach. As one of the founding figures of personality

psychology, his lasting influence is still felt today.