Carl Roger
I) Life History (19021987)
II) Professional
III) Development IV) Basic Assumptions
Activities and Awards of Theory
on Human Nature
V) Self Concept
VII) Person
VI) Fully Functioning
Centered
Person
Approach
IX) Core Conditions for
Personality Change
X) Therapeutic Process
VIII) Therapeutic
Goals
XI) Change in the
XII) References
Clients
XIII) Other Related Thoughts
I) Carl Roger's Life History (1902-1987)
Family
Close-knit, with strict religious and ethical standards
Adolescence
Rural setting, developed interest in nature and scientific attitude toward
farming
1919-1924
University of Wisconsin - Major :- Agriculture --> History
1922
Attended World Student Christian Federation Conference in Beijing
emancipated from the religious and intellectual ties with his parents
1924-1926
Married, Joined Union Seminary in New York City.
1926-1931
Questioned doctorinaire attitude of religious work, transferred to pursue
graduate study in Clinical and Educational Psychology. Got M.A. in 1928
and Ph.D. in 1931
1928-1939
Directed Child Guidance Centre in Rochester, New York.
1939-1963
Professor of Psychology and Psychiatrist at Ohio State University,
University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin respectively.
1964-1987
Worked at La Jolla, California, Western Behaviour Sciences Institute, then
Centre for the Studies of the Person.
II) Carl Roger's Professional Activities and Awards

President of American Association of Applied Psychology

President of American Psychology Association

President of American Academy of Psychotherapists

Gold Medal Educator of 70's

Scientific Contribution to Psychology Award

Distinguished Professional Contribution Award

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize shortly before he died
III) Development of Roger's Theory - Through 4 stages
1) Non-Directive Stage (1940-1950)

Clarification of feelings and non-directive techniques

Ref:- "Counselling and Psychotherapy (1942)"
2) Client-Centred Stage (1950-1957)

Emphasis on responsiveness to feeling

Client-Centred Therapy was fully developed.

Ref:- "Client-Centred Therapy (1951)"

Ref:- "Psychology and Personality Change (1951, with R. Dymond)"
3) Experiential Stage (1957-1970)

Emphasis on immediate experiencing by both client and therapist

Extensive research to test the underlying hypothesis of his approach

Ref:- "On Becoming a Person (1961)"

Ref:- "On Encounter Group (1970)"
4) Person-Centred Stage (Post 1970)

Preached the universal application of his Person-Centred Philosophy in Education,
Industry, Society and Nations

Ref:- "Freedom to Learn (1969)"
IV) Basic Assumptions on Human Nature
Human beings are basically

Rational

Realistic

Socialized

Trustworth
y

ForwardMoving

Cooperative

Positive

Full of Potential
Source: (Rogers, 1984)
Each individual has the Potential for Growth and Self-Actualization :
Inherently Good Human beings are inherently good
This is defined by Rogers (1959) as the "Inherent Tendency of the
Self-Actualizing organism to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain
or enhance the person" (p. 196)
Social
Human beings are social
Holistic
Roger (1954) explains, "The organism is at all times a total organized
systems, in which alternation of any part may produce changes in any
other parts" (p. 487)
Each individual perceives the world in subjective terms and his/her
perception or perceptual field is the reality to him/her. (Rogers, 1951).
Phenomenological
"It is the perception , not the reality, which is crucial in determining
behaviour." (Rogers, 1951, p. 492)
V) Self Concept
1) Nature

Self-Concept is the centre of the Personality Structure.

Self Concept is a differentiated portion of the Phenomenal field composed of a
series of Perceptions and Values about the 'I' and 'Me'. 'Real Self' and 'Ideal Self'
- always grow and changes through continuing interaction with the environment,
in particular, the significant others.

Need for Positive Regard (to be loved and accepted by others)
1. All persons have a strong desire to be loved and accepted by others
2. The child will do anything, even override his organismic valuing process, to
satisfy this need to be held in positive regard by significant others.
3. Incongruence between self and experience is the most serious obstacle in
the development toward psychological maturity and well-being. (e.g.
Incongruence beh and edu from his parent influencing him)
4. Emphasis on Unconditional Positive Regard as the ideal approach to child
rearing, for this would allow children to develop their own values and
satisfaction in accord with their real experience, independently of
'approving' others.
2) Incongruence and Defense Mechanism

Experience consistent with Self-concept are integrated;

BUT when experience is incongruent with Self-concept, anxiety, guilty, confusion
and threat will be evoked.

Defense mechanism follows in order to maintain the Self-concept and avoid the loss
of Self-Esteem
1. Rationalization or perceptual distortion
2. Denial

Personality disorganization and Psychopathology occur when a large degree of
incongruence between self and experience exists, and the person's defenses no
longer operate adequately, and the previously unified self-structure becomes broken.
VI) Fully Functioning Person

Experience Optimal Psychological adjustment and maturity

With complete congruence,

Develop his full potentials and talents

Possess Positive Self-concept
The Characteristics are:
All experience, whether originate internally or
Openness to
externally, are accurately symbolized in
No Distortion in reality.
Experience
awareness rather than distorted or denied.
Existential
Living
The Person live fully and richly in each
moment of existence, with the person's self
Live in current time, not
and personality emerge from experience.
pass, not future
Behaviour is characterized by flexibility and
adaptability, rather than rigidity.
Organismic Depend on his Organismic valuing process, Work in his life-span for
trusting (on to make decisions on what he should or
himself; not for the others
should not do, instead of acting out of fear
himself) /
Internal
Locus of
Evaluation
what others may think of him.
Possess Freedom to act as
Experiential Freedom is a sense of personal
himself on behalf of himself;
Experiential power that one has the freedom to choose his
not act to the will of others,
own actions and become Experiential
Freedom
especially the significant
Freedom and Responsible for himself.
others
Creativity
The person live Constructively and
Adaptively in his culture while at the same
time satisfying his own deepest needs
is a result of experiment
freedom
VII) The Characteristics of Person Centered Approach
The Characteristics are:
1. It is a set of tentative principles relating to how the therapy develop
2. There is no psychological diagnostic process
3. Focus on the conscious level and the phenomenal world (Perception) of the client.
4. Focus on the current inner experiencing of the client
5. Emphasis on personality Growth and Change rather than problem solving
6. Base on the Client's Responsibility and Capacity to Discover
VIII) Therapeutic Goals
1) Basic Goals

To encourage an openness to experience so that the client would become less
defensive and would become more aware of the reality. (c.f. Observation)

To encourage a sense of trust in themselves and in their own decisions. (C.f. ILOC
& ILOE)

To encourage looking more to oneself for the answer to the problem.

To encourage a willingness to continue growing
2) Ultimate Goals

To facilitate the client's Awareness to helping themselves to become a Fully
Functioning Person through Self-Actualizing process.
3) Important Components in Therapeutic Changes

Therapist's Attitudes and Belief

A Relationship characterized by equality

Client's Perception
IX) Core Conditions for Personality Change
1 Genuineness

Real and Genuine, being open to the feelings and attitudes flowing at any moment
without playing a role. (Patterson, 1986, p. 399)

"Freely, Deeply, and acceptantly himself, with his actual experience of his feelings
and rections matched by an accurate awareness of these feelings and reactions as
they occur and they change"

Not just sensitive to the client but to his/her own inner world

Involves the willingness to be and to express in words, behaviour, feelings and
attitudes inside.

Rogers (1984) asserts that it is "Only by providing the genuine reality which is in
me, that the other person can successfully seek for the reality for him" (p.33)
2 Unconditional Positive Regard

Prizing and warm caring for the client

Not Possessive which demands no personal gratification

Unpossessive love - An acceptance of and a caring for the client as a separate
person, with permission for him/her to have his/her own feelings and experience;
and to find his/her own meanings in them (Rogers, 1984, p. 283)

More than a natural acceptance ; but based on the positive respect to the individual.

Imperfections are accepted, along with mistakes and errors, are parts of Human
Condition.

Should distinguish between rejecting the behaviour and the client as a person.

"We cannot change, we cannot move away from what we are, until we
throughoutly accept what we are. Then changes seems to come about almost
unnoticed" (Rogers, 1984, p.17)

The Greater the caring, prizing, accepting, and valuing the client in a nonpossessive
way, the greater the chance that therapy will be successful.
3 Accurate Empathic Understanding

Understand the inner world of the individual from the inside (Roger, 1964)

Sense the client's private world as if it were his/her own, but without ever loosing
the "as if" quality. (Rogers, 1984, p.284)

Be able to both communicate his understanding of what is clearly known to the
client and can also voice meanings in the client's experience of which the client is
scarcely aware. (Rogers, 1984, p.284)

"Hearing the thoughts, the feeling tones, the personal meaning, even the meaning
that is below the conscious intent of the speaker". (Roger, 1964)

"The better integrated the therapist is within himself, the higher the degree of
empathy he exhibits" (Holdstock & Rogers, 1977, p.146)
X) Therapeutic Process
1 Therapist Belief and Attitudes

To have a strong Trust in Potential of individual i.e. believes in the forward
moving tendency of human organism.

To possess a personality of Genuineness / Congruence so that they are able to
express and accept positive and negative feeling and attitudes

To have Accurate Empathic Understanding so that they are able to share the client's
subjective world

To have Unconditional Positive Regard and Acceptance to enable him to
communicate with the client.
2 Relationship

To be characterized by Equality through which client experience therapeutic
changes.
3 Client's Perception (Therapy's aim)

To seek possibilities for changes

To experience the exploration of the hidden aspects of their personal world

To have the Responsibilities to gain better self-understanding.

To accept denied attitudes, so that we can Change.
4 Procedures of the Therapist

Establishing rapport throughout the interview


Manifesting Positive Regard and demonstrating the Positive Asset Search in order to
gather data


( "How would you like thing to do...?" )
Giving Chance to generating alternative solution


( "You feel sad..." )
Giving Opportunities to determine Outcome.


(Using statement beginning with 'You'. E.g. "You want to talk about")
( "You feel that's something deep and strong ...... and at the same time, you
feel as though you cut yourself loose from the support as you say it ..." )
Giving Chance to generalize

( "You feel that your being angry at him in some way was responsible for
killing him" )
XI) Change in the Clients
1. Feeling senses of equality in the therapeutic relationship
2. loosening of feeling
3. experiencing the acceptance of the therapist
4. Changing in the manner of experience
5. Shifting from incongruence to congruence
6. Learning to accept themselves
7. Feeling of caring and being valued
8. Seeing Worth and value in themselves
9. More open to experience
10. Become less defensive
11. Less bound by the pass
12. Increase in trusting themselves on managing their life (c.f. Internal Locus of
Control)
13. Changes in the way of perceiving their own problems.
XII) References

Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Axline, V. (1964). Dibs: In search of self. New York: Ballantine Books

Evans, R. (1951). Carl Rogers: The man and his ideas. New York: Dutton.

Rogers, C. (1951). Client-Centred Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Rogers, C. (1970). Carl Rogers on encounter groups. New York: Harper & Row.

Rogers, C. (1977). Carl Rogers on personal power: Inner strength and its
revolutionary impact. New York: Delacorte

Rogers, C. (1983). Freedom to learn in the 80's. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.
"Thus, Person-Centred Therapy is not a set of techniques or a dogma. Rooted in a set of
attitudes and beliefs that the therapist demonstrates, it is perhaps best characterized as a way
of being and as a shared journey in which both therapy and client reveal their humanness
and participate in a growth experience" (Corey, 1991. p.209)
XIII) Other Related Thoughts
1. What is Important is Giving out (Output); NOT Getting in (Input)
2. Half glass of water
3. The only thing unchanged is CHANGE.
4. Internal Locus of control
5. Self-Efficacy (If you do not believe that you can do; how can others believe that
you can do)
6. humble
7. Taught by others is not as good as Learn from other
8. Observation
9. Only learn things that are useful.
10. Don't think yourself is too imp to others; Others have no time/energy to care
much on you.
11. Feel Vs Judge
12. Human Being have unlimited potential power - C.R.
13. Slow is Beautiful.
14. Lose -> Learn -> Grow (c.f. Quality=Continual Improving)
15. There is NO Perfection.
16. Don't over-Generalization