Transcript Carl Rogers
CARL ROGERS Greg Myers 3/5/13 Intro (1902-1987) • Born in Oak Park, Illinois • Received his B.A from University of Wisconsin in 1924. • Master’s Degree from Columbia University • Ph.D. in psychotherapy from the same the same University in 1931. http://www.carlrogers.info/ Self Actualization • To fulfill one’s potential and achieve the highest level of “human-beingness” we can, • Rogers believed that every person can achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life. When they did so, what took place was self actualization. • Ex: Flower growing to its full potential if the conditions are right but could be constrained by its environment as well. • This was one of his most famous contributions to psychology. Self Actualization Cont. • But, unlike a flower, each human being is unique, and we are meant to develop in different ways according to our personality. • Rogers also believed that all people are inherently good and creative. People only become destructive when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing process. • Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence. • When their ideal self (who they want to be) is congruent with their actual behavior (self image) • He describes an individual who is actualizing is a fully functioning person. He also says that the main deterrent of whether or not self actualization will occur is our childhood experience. The Fully Functioning Person • He defines this as a person who is in touch with the here and now, hos or her own subjective experiences and feelings, which is continually growing and changing • Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as and ideal and one that people do not ultimately achieve. • Do not think of this a end or completion to one’s life’s journey, it is basically a process of always becoming and changing. • Rogers has identified five characteristics of the fully functional person: Characteristics • 1. Open to Experience: both negative and positive emotions are accepted. The negative feelings are not denied, but worked through. • 2. Existential Thinking: when they are in touch with different experience as they occur, avoiding prejudging as well, being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or forward to the future • 3. Trust feelings: feelings, instincts and gut-reactions are paid attention to. Characteristics cont. • 4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk taking are features of a person’s life. Person does not play safe all of the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences. • 5. Fulfilled Life: the person is happy and satisfied with life, and is always looking for new challenges and experiences. Personality Development • According to Rodgers, we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are constant with our self image and which reflect what we would like to be like, or our ideal-self. • The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. • There are components that are included with the self- concept. The Three components: • Self-Worth: also known as Self-Esteem. It is basically what we think about ourselves. He believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father. • Self-Image: How we see ourselves, which is important for good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. Selfimage also has an affect on how a person thinks, feels or behaves in the world. • Ideal Self: This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life. Self Worth and Positive Regard • Carl Rogers viewed the child as having two basic needs: Positive regard from other people and self-worth. • Our feelings of self-worth, basically how we think about ourselves have importance to both psychological health and to the likelihood that we can achieve goals and ambitions in life and achieve self-actualization. • According to Rogers, a person who has self worth has confidence and positive feelings about him/herself, faces challenges in life, accepts failure and unhappiness at times in life, and is open with people Self Worth and Positive Regard cont. • As well as people that have high self-worth, there are also people that have low self-worth. Those people may avoid the challenges in his/her life, they don’t accept that life can be painful and unhappy at times, and they will be defensive and guarded with other people. • Carl Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father. As a child grows older, interactions with significant others will affect feelings of self-worth. Positive Regard: • Rogers believed that we need to be regarded positively by others; we need to feel valued, respected, treated with affection and loved. Positive regard has to do with how other people evaluate and judge us in social interaction. He made a distinction between unconditional positive regard and conditional positive regard. • Unconditional positive regard: where parents, significant others accepts and loves the person for what he/she really is. • Conditional positive regard: where positive regard, praise and approval , depend on the child. The child is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in ways approved by the parent(s). Works Cited • http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/rogers.htm • http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html