Carl Rogers

Presented by: Symon Carpiso

Who is Carl
Rogers?
 Born on January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois.
 He became interested in scientific agriculture.
 Received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1924
 Attended Union Theological Seminary
 Received his M.A. from Columbia University in 1928
 Received his Ph.D in Psychotherapy from Columbia University in 1931
 Intern at the Institute for Child Guidance.
 Director of Rochester Guidance Center
 Wrote 16 books and many articles about his theories.
 Began his Personality Theory while working with abused children
 Psychology professor at Ohio State University and in University of Chicago
 Died on February 4, 1987
Honors and Awards:

 First president of American Association for Applied Psychology.

 President of American Psychological Association (196-1947).
 First president of American Academy of Psychotherapist.
 Co-winner of the first Distinguished Scientific Award presented by APA
 Winner of Distinguished Professional Contribution Award
The Organism and the Self
Organism-totality of experiences going on in the whole
individual at a particular time
-Out of this totality, the SELF emerges. Roger defines
the self or self-concept as follows;

“the organized, consistent, conceptual gestalt

composed of perceptions characteristic of “I” or “Me” and
the perceptions of the relationships of “I” and “Me” to the
others and various aspect of life together with the values
attached to these perceptions”

SELF-a portion of phenomenal field gradually becomes

differentiated.
The Client-Centered
Theory or Person-
Centered Theory
 Basic Assumptions of Client Centered
Theory
FORMATIVE TENDENCY-believed that there is a tendency for all mater, both
organic and inorganic, to evolve from simpler to more complex forms.

ACTUALIZING TENDENCY-tendency within all humans to move toward completion

or fulfillment of potentials.

Need for maintenance-similar to the lower steps on Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs.
Need for enhancement-to become more, to develop, to achieve growth.
The Self and the Self-
Actualization
According to Rogers (1959), infants begin to develop a vague concept of self
when a portion of their experience becomes personalized and differentiated in
awareness as “I” or “Me” experiences.

Once infants establish a rudimentary self structure, their tendency to actualize

the self begins to evolve.

Self-actualization is a subset of actualization tendency.

Actualization tendency refers to organismic experiences of the individual while

Self-actualization is the tendency to actualize the self as perceived in
awareness.
2 sub systems:

SELF-CONCEPT-includes all those aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences

that are perceived in awareness by the individual

IDEAL SELF-one’s view of self as one wishes to be.

Levels of Awareness

“symbolic representation” of some portion of experiences

1. Some events are experienced below the threshold of awareness and are
either ignored or denied.
2. Some experiences are accurately symbolized and freely admitted to the self
structure.
3. Experiences that are perceived in a distorted form
Becoming a Person
An individual must make contact-positive or negative- with another person.

As children or adults become aware that another person has some measure of
regard to them, they begin to value positive regard and devalue negative regard.

POSTIVE REGARD-need to be loved, liked, or accepted by another person.

POSITIVE SELF-REGARD-experience of prizing or valuing one’s self.

Fully Functioning Person
 Absence of unfortunate defenses.
 Expresses unconditional positive regard-experiencing a warm, positive and
accepting attitude towards individual.
 His or her self-concept remains congruent with the totality of experience.
 Poor choices are quickly corrected.
 One accepts mistakes openly so that self-actualization tendencies can operate for
one’s innate potential.
 They trust their inner experiences and live in accord with their inner values.
 They accept and like others and able to form successful interpersonal
relationships.
 Live in the present and not in the past.
 Life is a process and not a static situation.
Barriers to Psychological Health

CONDITIONS OF WORTH-perceive that their parents, peers, or partners love and

accept them only if they meet those people’s expectations and approval.

INCONGRUENCE-we do not accurately symbolize organismic experiences into

awareness because they appear inconsistent with our self-concept.

DEFENSIVENESS-is the protection of the self-concept against anxiety and threat

by denial or distortion.
Criticisms

 Lacking structure and having no scientific basis.

 Does not constitute therapy at all, but rather a friendship.
 Emphasis on non-judgmental acceptance.
 Difficult for a therapist not to express his or her views using this approach
 Therapists cannot ask questions so it impedes his or her understanding of the
client.
Contributions

 A number of continuously evolving person-centered psychotherapies.

 The philosophy and principles of this approach permeates the practice of
most psychotherapists.
 Rogers willingness to state his concepts as testable hypotheses and to submit
them to research.
 Rogers presented a challenge to psychology to design new models of scientific
investigation capable of dealing with the inner, subjective experiences of the
person
 Emphasize the importance of empathy in facilitating constructive change in
client.
References

 Theories of Personality (Seventh Edition) by Jess Feist and Greggory Feist

 Theories and Systems of Psychology by Robert W. Lundin