1. The Humanistic Approach
Carl Rogers
The Humanistic Approach

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.”

5. Basic Premise
Humans are motivated through an innate potential to actualize, maintain and enhance the self
Sees people as basically good

6. Experiential World Phenomenology
The reality of our environment depends on our perception of it
Subjective perception of reality

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. Unconditional Positive Regard
Approval granted regardless of behavior
Conditions of worth
Conditional positive regard
Positive self-regard
Eventually grant positive regard to ourselves

11. 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).

12. 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 making it clear that their love is not contingent on the child’s behavior (even when such behavior is abhored).

13. Incongruence
Discrepancy between self-concept and aspects of experience
Experiences inconsistent with how we see ourselves cause anxiety
Psychological adjustment/emotional health

14. Basic Human Problem: The two needs are often in conflict
Basic Human Problem: The two needs are often in conflict. Satisfying one may mean giving up the other.
Effect on Personality: We get a false picture of who we are—our interests, motivations, goals, abilities.
Our Two Selves
Real Self (“Organism”): all our experiences (feelings, wishes, perceptions)
Self-Concept: the person we think we are (e.g., “I am...”)

15. Defenses Rogers identifies only two defenses:
1. Denial – keeping a memory or impulse out of awareness – similar to Freud’s idea of repression
2. Perceptual Distortion – reinterpreting the situation so that it appears to be less threatening – covers many Freudian defense mechanisms

16. Person-Centered Therapy
Represents a shift from medical model to growth model
Strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship

17. 3 Conditions in Person-Centered Therapy
Conditions are necessary and sufficient for change
Empathy
Congruence/Genuineness
Unconditional Positive Regard

18. Person-Centered Therapy: The Goal is Congruence
Incongruence has many harmful effects. One is that it prevents self-actualization. You have to know who you are to fulfill your potential.
The therapist tries to bring the self-concept closer to the real self:
Self-Concept
Real Self
Congruence

19. 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 that difficulties will inevitably arise

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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