Carl Rogers

Theorist Presentation

Kasiopeia West

Psy-2250-Spr22

Instructor: Emily Putnam

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Salt Lake Community College
 He later taught at several universities, all the while, developing his own

Personal
psychological perspective and formulating his approach to therapy. He
wrote a number of books proposing that therapists should seek to
understand and accept their clients, it is through this approach, clients

Background
can begin to change.

Born January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois, Carl Rogers was the fourth out of six
children in a religiously rigid household. Rogers went to college to study
agriculture, but soon changed to history and religion. After receiving his bachelor’s
degree, he moved to New York to become a minister. After about two years, he
became interested in psychology and left to study clinical psychology, completing
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both his M.A. and Ph. D. by 1931.
Over the course of his career, he performed studies on his therapy
methods and his ideas gained influence in the field becoming the founder
of Humanistic Psychology. Shortly after his death at 85 years old, Rogers
was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 (Carl Rogers: Founder
of the Humanistic Approach to Psychology, 2019).
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 Important
Theories
Rogers did not agree with the psychoanalysis and behaviorism of the time. Both theories suggest the lack of the person’s control over their motivations.
Rogers responded with his humanistic approach that people are motivated by higher-order needs, specifically the motivation to actualize the self.

• Self-Actualization

Rogers believed that people are driven to achieve their full potential.
Difficulties arise when they are held back by their environment and
can only self-actualize if the environment is supportive to do so(Carl
Rogers: Founder of the Humanistic Approach to Psychology, 2019).

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• Unconditional Positive Regard

Offered in a social situation where there is no judgement and

support regardless of what the person said or did. Therapists
must offer the client unconditional positive regard in client-
centered therapy (Wong, 2016).

• Personality Development
Rogers referred to who a person truly is as “self” or “self-
Concept”. There are 3 areas of the self-concept:
• Self-image: how individuals see themselves
• Self-worth: the value that the individuals place on themselves
• Ideal self: the person the individual wants to be
(Carl Rogers: Founder of the Humanistic Approach to Psychology, 2019)

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Congruence VS. Incongruence
Congruence Incongruence
• When a person’s ideal self is • When a person’s ideal self is not
consistent to their actual experiences. consistent with what happens in their life.

Self Worth Ideal Self Self Worth Ideal Self

Self-Image
Self-Image

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Fully Functional Person
Rogers labeled an individual who achieves self-
actualization a fully functional person who exhibits
seven traits:
• Openness to experience

• Living in the moment

• Trusts instincts and feelings

• Ability to make independent choices

• Creative

• Reliable

• Feeling fulfilled and satisfied by life “a direction, not a destination”

Fully functional people are congruent and have received

unconditional positive regard (Carl Rogers: Founder of the Humanistic Approach
to Psychology, 2019).
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 Leading Humanistic Theorists

Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow Rollo May

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• Person centered therapy • Hierarchy of needs • Existential psychology

• Fully functional person

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Modern Day Therapies Based
Upon Humanistic Psychology

• Positive Psychology
• Existential Psychology
• Gestalt Therapy
• Person-Centered Therapy
• Transactional analysis
• Phenomenological Therapy
• Transpersonal Therapy

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 Case Example
A School Counsellor has know Jason, a student, for over a year and has developed a rapport with him. Jason is facing a difficult decision in that
his parents want him to pursue Law or Medicine in college and Jason would rather take some time off after high school and travel with some
friends to do humanitarian work. As Jason confides in his counsellor, the counsellor uses a client-centered approach and believes Jason has the
resources to come to his own decision about his life. The counsellor pays close attention to Jason while he talks, making eye contact and
paraphrasing Jason’s feelings back to him. Jason feels relieved that he can talk openly to someone about it and that his counsellor has an
understanding about him and his needs, which builds confidence in him and strengthens his belief in his goals. If there are any genuine concerns,
the counsellor would address them and allow the client to resolve the concern with their own problem solving skills, facilitated by the counsellor.

This therapy focuses on the quality of the client/ counsellor relationship. Therapists contribute to the client’s growth by providing a warm,
positive, and trusting relationship with the client. There are not fixed techniques for client-centered therapy, but rather a set of principles. Some
include;
•The client is experiencing a discrepancy between the way they perceive themselves, the ideal picture of themselves and the reality of their
situation.
•The client may look to the counsellor for direction, the emphasis will be upon the client to take responsibility for their own decisions.
•The therapist should attempt to understand the client’s world through listening, empathizing, and respecting them.
•The therapist should try to experience genuine care and acceptance of their client.
•As clients experience the therapist listening to them and accepting them, they learn how to accept themselves.
(A., 2021)

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 Multiple Choice Question
What is an individual’s “self image”?

A. How they physically look

B. How their family sees them

C. The negative thoughts they have

D. How they see themselves

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Works Cited
A. (2021, July 31). A Case Demonstrating Person Centred Therapy. Explore Our Extensive
Counselling Article Library. https://www.aipc.net.au/articles/a-case-demonstrating-person-centred-
therapy/

Carl Rogers: Founder of the Humanistic Approach to Psychology. (2019, May 20). ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/carl-rogers-4588296

Wong, P. (2016, April 20). Humanistic Theories of Psychopathology (SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in
Psychology) | Dr. Paul Wong. Wordpress. http://www.drpaulwong.com/humanistic-theories-2/