Reaction Paper Carl Rogers

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

In counselling and psychotherapy, it is fundamental aspect for practitioners to use theory as a way of informing the way the work with a client.(McLeod). The goal of this essay is to explore the humanistic personality theory of Carl Rogers. The essay will begin by giving a summary

Humanistic therapy emerged in the 1950's as an alternative to behavioural and psychoanalytic therapy. Rogers is it’s

Freud’s view of human nature from a psychoanalytical stand point was he believed that the contents of an individual’s matters consciousness were determined by psychological, individual and biological motivations Freud, S. (2001).. His worldviews presented interpretations of who the individual was, where they came from, and what their destiny was. On the other hand, Rogers believed the psychoanalytical view humans as never free from primitive passions, childhood fixations, and only the product of powerful biological drives was not flexible enough. Rogers’s foundation of

Over the last 100 years, the underpinning concepts in the fields of psychology and counseling were wrought. Within this period, these concepts have transformed and evolved from somewhat crude conceptions of the psyche toward more holistic interventions and approaches. As the profession continues to move forward, adaptations of the original theorists regarding the nature of man and the development of personality continue to emerge. These adaptations, along with the integration of new concepts and ideas, continue to contribute to the field. The author describes his view of man and human nature, personality development, and explores potential implications for counseling.

Humanistic counselling is a process whereby the eventual goal is to facilitate the client in developing a personal understanding of self, and form a realisation of their own psychological needs and desires. It is, in essence, a route to empowerment for the client. Carl Rogers, father of client-centred therapy, described the client as an ‘organism’ whose natural tendency is a need to

“Rogers is seen by many as one of the foundational thinkers in the development of human psychology,

Before looking at the latter 3 in more detail, it is important to understand Carl Rogers’s view of the person and perhaps what is ultimately bringing the client to therapy. Carl Rogers believed that there is incongruence between the self that is the actualisation part, that has a desire to grow, is open to experiencing in the moment and ultimately psychological well being and the actual experience of the self. He believed this effect was caused

Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers are two psychologists who developed theories on personalities. Sigmund Freud was known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis” and his well known theory stated that nearly all psychological issues went back to a sexual problem. Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who researched the personality theory in the notion of the self or the self concept.

Carl R. Rogers constructed the person-centered theory by his influences of Elizabeth Davis and Frederick Allen who studied under Jessie Taft as well as Otto Rank and John Dewey (Patterson, 2007; Walsh, 2010). Influenced by Jessie Taft, Rogers adopted an optimistic view of people, individuals are capable of recreating themselves and are not the end products of their past (Patterson, 2007; Walsh, 2010). Otto Rank advocated that treatment of a client be centered around that client and that therapist be more emotionally involved within the process. Third Rogers was influenced by John Dewey who helped him understand and develop his position that self-actualized people live in harmony rather then conflict

In the 1940s Carl Rogers was well on his way to revolutionizing the state of traditional, directive psychotherapy and pioneering what would soon become the person-centered approach. Although Rogers strayed from the psychological mainstream’s view that therapists drive their clients recovery through such mediums as advice, direction, teaching and interpretation he still believed that the therapist’s role was crucial, and it was their attributes that paved the way to increased awareness and self-directed change.

Humanist Carl Rogers developed a theory that saw behavior motivated by what he called the actualizing tendency, the desire to preserve and enhance oneself through self-actualization. While persuing self- actualization we engage in the valuing process, where we go through various experiences that either enhance oneself and are valued as good, or, bad experiences not enhancing oneself which are avoided. Hence, how we handle this process relies on two interacting factors: the organism, our total perception of our experiences, and, the self, our image of ourselves. A major decisive factor is childhood experience and the positive regard that is engrossed. Rogers also developed a technique called client-centered therapy. In an accepting atmosthere the patient confronts inconsistent feelings and experiences, where self and organism are brought back into congruence. Now free from their troubles they can proceed with

It is inevitable that in psychotherapy there are numerous theories. Theories arise out of scholarly investigations of ideas on human behavior. Human behavior is an extraordinarily interesting subject and therefore produces a plethora of ideas from a variety of theorists. These theorists are influenced by their education, culture, and time period. One influential theorist is Carl Rogers. His contributions to human behavior have changed many of the theories that preceded him, and his theory contributed to many theories that followed.

The Feiner Points of Leadership is one of the interesting and application oriented books I have read. I would recommend the book to my friends and colleagues who aspire to be a good leader. This book should be read by all the leaders and managers to be successful. It exemplifies some of the important skills manager or leader should practice at the same time it explains the mistakes one should avoid being a successful and effective leader. Michael Feiner’s experience in PepsiCo, given examples and instances in his tenure makes it easier to understand the facts in detail. These examples also helps retain all the points and laws explained in the book.

Moving to Wisconsin was in many ways a disaster. Rogers’ vision of psychology and psychiatry holding hands was never fulfilled and he was quickly at odds with several of his new colleagues, especially in the Psychology Department. So great were the conflicts that in the end Rogers resigned from the department, although he continued to work with the Psychiatric Institute. The powerful desire to be more influential which took Rogers back to University of Wisconsin was in no way fulfilled by the work he did there. Yet it was his fifth book, On Becoming a Person, published in 1961 that, almost overnight, he became more famous and influential than he had ever hoped for. The book broke free from the professional world of psychology and showed that client-centered principles could be applied in almost every facet of day-to-day living. He went to Wisconsin to make an impact and failed, but then he wrote a book and discovered that he was suddenly influential beyond his wildest dreams. In 1963 he resigned from the University of Wisconsin. The extraordinary success of On Becoming a Person gave him the confidence to set out on a riskier path. When Richard Farson, one of his former students, invited him in the summer of 1963 to join him and others at the recently created Western Behavioral Sciences Institute Rogers initially hesitated. Rogers later accepted the offer and set out for La Jolla in California to join WBSI, a non-profit-making organization concerned chiefly with humanistic