Carl Rogers was born in Oak Park Illinois, a suburb located in Chicago, in 1902 (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p .272). He lived a lonely childhood and dealt with a competitiveness between himself and his older brother. With strict religious parents, Rogers was forced to adhere to their beliefs rather than his own. Later in his life, Rogers received his Ph.D in clinical and educational psychology. Today, Rogers is known for his approach to psychotherapy known as client-centered therapy and his self-actualization personality theory (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p .271). This approach focused moreso on people achieving self-actualization and focusing on their self-concepts. Personally, I like Rogers’ optimistic view of human nature, and I can understand
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According to the book and Rogers, positive regard is acceptance, love, and approval from others; this is considered a universal and persistent need that all humans face. (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). Rogers pushed the importance of unconditional positive regard and how it is reciprocal in nature. If a person, or child, feels they are satisfying some else’s needs, in turn they experience satisfaction of their own positive regard needs (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). With time, a person whose positive regard needs are consistently met will eventually experience positive self-regard. Positive self-regard is when a positive regard is met from within rather than from other people (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). However, Rogers also discusses conditions of worth and conditional positive regard. Conditions of worth is the belief that one is worthy of approval only when they express desirable behaviors; conditional positive regard is approval granted by others only when a person expresses desirable behaviors and attitudes (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 278). According to Rogers, children who develop conditions of worth internalize their parents’ norms and end up viewing themselves as worthy or unworthy based on the terms their parents defined (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 278). Lastly, Rogers discusses the influence of incongruence and the characteristics of a …show more content…
Thinking back on my life, I was a completely different person ten years ago, and I know I will be a very different person ten years from now. When reading about incongruence, I easily understood what Rogers was referring to. Having anxiety myself, I can see how incongruence can be considered a factor why someone may develop anxiety. When you have a certain self-concept for a long period of time, and then that concept suddenly does not match up with reality and your experiences, you can definitely experience a great sense of anxiety. At this point in my life and looking at Rogers’ characteristics for a fully functioning person, I honestly can say that I’m not sure I fit all of his categories yet. Despite not yet having all of these characteristics, I find myself still striving to be a better person, have better self-acceptance, and live a better life. This may be what Rogers meant by the actualization tendency, but either way, I think it is important to keep this motivation. Carl Rogers left a huge impact on the psychology community with his work. Today, his person-centered therapy is still highly accessible and used by other psychologists and counselors. Something I, personally, learned from Rogers’ theory was that everyone is always growing, and everyone has the capacity to grow. I enjoy the idea that we are not bound by our childhood,
According to the book and Rogers, positive regard is acceptance, love, and approval from others; this is considered a universal and persistent need that all humans face. (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). Rogers pushed the importance of unconditional positive regard and how it is reciprocal in nature. If a person, or child, feels they are satisfying some else’s needs, in turn they experience satisfaction of their own positive regard needs (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). With time, a person whose positive regard needs are consistently met will eventually experience positive self-regard. Positive self-regard is when a positive regard is met from within rather than from other people (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 277). However, Rogers also discusses conditions of worth and conditional positive regard. Conditions of worth is the belief that one is worthy of approval only when they express desirable behaviors; conditional positive regard is approval granted by others only when a person expresses desirable behaviors and attitudes (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 278). According to Rogers, children who develop conditions of worth internalize their parents’ norms and end up viewing themselves as worthy or unworthy based on the terms their parents defined (Schultz & Schultz, 2016, p. 278). Lastly, Rogers discusses the influence of incongruence and the characteristics of a …show more content…
Thinking back on my life, I was a completely different person ten years ago, and I know I will be a very different person ten years from now. When reading about incongruence, I easily understood what Rogers was referring to. Having anxiety myself, I can see how incongruence can be considered a factor why someone may develop anxiety. When you have a certain self-concept for a long period of time, and then that concept suddenly does not match up with reality and your experiences, you can definitely experience a great sense of anxiety. At this point in my life and looking at Rogers’ characteristics for a fully functioning person, I honestly can say that I’m not sure I fit all of his categories yet. Despite not yet having all of these characteristics, I find myself still striving to be a better person, have better self-acceptance, and live a better life. This may be what Rogers meant by the actualization tendency, but either way, I think it is important to keep this motivation. Carl Rogers left a huge impact on the psychology community with his work. Today, his person-centered therapy is still highly accessible and used by other psychologists and counselors. Something I, personally, learned from Rogers’ theory was that everyone is always growing, and everyone has the capacity to grow. I enjoy the idea that we are not bound by our childhood,