Carl Rogers : Fully Functioning Person

Carl Rogers (1902-87) was the founder of the client-centred or person-centred approach to counselling and therapy. (McLeod 2001)

Rogers used the symbolism of concept of self, being like a plant given water, soil, sun, and fertilizer. In these optimum or ‘facilitative’ conditions the client concept of self can grow and unfold like the plant. The client would

The main focus of this essay has to be on the three ‘core conditions’, as utilised by the counsellor to promote a positive movement in their client’s psychology. They are intended for maintaining a focus on the client’s personal growth, and detract from the therapist’s own outside world. The three core conditions are the professional apparatus or tool-kit of the therapist, and the use of each is a skill in itself but the combined forces of all three in an effective manner requires an abundance of skill or experience. These are, as have already been mentioned, congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. They are separate skills but are intrinsically linked to each other. If used correctly, they can guide the client to a state of self-realisation, which could lead to the development of a healing process.

“Life experience is richer than discourse. Narrative structures organize and give meaning to experience, but there are always feelings and lived experience not fully encompassed by the dominant story” (White & Epston, 1990, p. 20). Effective therapy is seen as an enjoyable experience presenting options for dialogue, rather than monologues, about the problem.

What goes wrong, thus bringing a client into therapy? Rogers considers the problem to be lack of

At the same time, we have a need for positive self-regard - to develop a sense of trust in the accuracy and reliability of our own inner experienced, it is on this we must depend if we are to become independent from and able to make good decisions about life and how we are to be in it.

These correct conditions which are required within person centred therapy in order that the client can achieve self actualisation and personality change were outlined by Carl Rogers and he believed that if this 6 conditions were met, it would facilitate change within the client: Two persons are in psychological contact- both client and counsellor are present physically and psychologically. The client is in a state of incongruence, (which will be discussed in more detail) the communication of the counsellor’s empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard is met at a minimal level. The last condition mentioned involves 3 other conditions, which are essential attitudes and qualities necessary for the counsellor to posses for successful therapy; empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard and congruence. (Rogers C, 1957).

     Today many people seek professional therapy or counseling for a limited amount of time in order to deal with different life crises. Others seek professional help for the majority of their lives in order to deal with a psychological disorder. After reading this chapter on Therapy, I learned that this was not always the case, and that the way our society views therapy, and the meaning of therapy, has changed dramatically of the years. This chapter not only explains the evolution of therapy, it explores the different therapeutic approaches.

I am on a life-long path as a Skilled Helper (Egan) with some training in Integrative Psychotherapy. I am currently striving to integrate Carl Rogers’ ideas and practices into my existing knowledge framework whilst attempting to see previously identified phenomena through new eyes. My aim is to use this knowledge to influence my practice as co-creator of therapeutic relationships. My principal aims in this essay are to define some of the basic ideas of Rogers, to then describe how this links and informs his notions of a joint therapeutic endeavour through his Core

However, any person who is motivated to become fully self-aware can do so thorough life experiences, including those experiences achieve in a therapeutic milieu. Ultimately, each person is responsible for their own lives and the opportunities that are perceived by individuals are often stunted because of an individuals life experiences, perceptions and feelings. While people seek to be connected to others as they are innately social and through these social experiences shape their own personalities, lives and the world around them. Ideally, people can work toward achieving their lives in ways that are integrated and fulfilling. It is thorough personal freedom and understanding of the self that this occurs (Corey, 2013).

Carl Rogers’s belief was that the clients have the ability to see their own growth potential and can get there with only guidance from a therapist (Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian Therapy), 2015). His thought was if therapist helped clients with empathy

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The person-centered theory is also referred to as the client-centered theory. It is presently a popular theory for therapy and counseling. Rogers believed in clients helping themselves so that they could empower themselves with a self-actualizing motive to improve their lives. He did not believe in the concept of treating people as patients that had mental issues and needed to be diagnosed. His ideas continue to be relevant in modern psychology (Cervone & Pervin, 2010).

Rogers, C. (1959). ‘A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships, as developed in the client-centered framework’, Psychology: A Study of a Science. vol. 3, pp. 184-256

Importantly, the fully functioning person is completely congruent and integrated. Such a person, Rogers believes, is able to embrace empirical living. By this he means they are able to live fully in the here and now with personal inner freedom, with all its accompanying exciting, creative, but also challenging, aspects. “Such a person experiences in the present, with immediacy. He is able to live in his feelings and reactions of the moment. He is not bound by the structure of his past learnings, but these are a present resource for him insofar as they relate to