Transcript Rogers Rogers • Part of the “Third Force” in Psychology-human potential • Theory of personality change. • Rogers doesn’t have a stage model of development. •

Rogers
Rogers
• Part of the “Third Force” in Psychology-human
potential
• Theory of personality change.
• Rogers doesn’t have a stage model of
development.
• Personality growth can occur through out lifetime
of the individual. Individual is always in “act of
becoming.”
• When people are functioning well, Rogers says
people will feel free to act. Will behave as if they
are free. But it is a struggle to be yourself.
Meaning of Third Force
• Anti-deterministic- (-) unconscious and
environmental forces. Humans have
freedom of choice
• Ant-reductionistic- Stimulus-response
approaches don’t appreciate complexity of
humans.
• Anti-mechanistic- (-) control by drives,
schedules of reinforcement.
Underpinnings of Theory
•
Humanism- Humanism comes in many forms. For our purposes in
discussing Rogers it is defined as having creative freedom to make choices.
•
Actualizing Tendency: Rogers sees human nature is as basically positive
and humans are growth oriented. Natural predisposition to strive for
enhancement.
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Phenomenology: stresses the importance of individual’s immediate
conscious experience in determining reality
•
Concept of Freedom: Rogers felt that determinism was an important
concept in science and scientific analysis but that the notion of freedom was
important in the arena of interpersonal functioning. So he said regarding the
latter-It is important for person to understand that his/her behavior is being
influenced by conditions around him. Only then can one make the best “free
choice.” So in essence Rogers was a “fence sitter” on this topic.
Rogers
• Chapters 1 and 2, 3 and 8 Rogers talks
about the parameters of the counseling
relationship and the foundation of his
ideas about therapeutic change and
“becoming the self that one truly is.”
What he discussed…
Counseling Relationship
• Counseling and the Counseling Relationship-Rogers
stresses the uniqueness of counseling
relationship the therapist forms with each
client. For Rogers, the relationship is more
important than specific techniques. The
relationship becomes a means for the person
to “self actualize.” Can only actualize under
certain conditions.
• Self actualization is the primary motive for humans-not
sex and aggression or consequences as behaviorists
would say. Single most basic drive.
Sources of Data/Approach
• Developed ideas in the context of work with his
clients.
• Used term client rather than patient because it
emphasizes person’s active, voluntary
participation, and responsibility for participation.
Avoid the idea that person is sick. Rogers was
more interested in normal spectrum of human
behavior. Conscious over unconscious.
• Rogers does not offer advice to clients or “set
them straight.”
• Rogers compares himself to a “midwife”
helping the individual give birth to themselves
Client-Centered Approach
• Rogers talks about his approach being client centered.
The individual has the innate drive to actualize; the client
knows what is best; the therapist is merely there to
facilitate. Therapist is best off being non-directive
(doesn’t offer advice). Not counselor’s job to“set them
straight.”
• Used term client rather than patient because it
emphasizes person’s active, voluntary participation, and
responsibility for participation. Avoid the idea that person
is sick.
• There are also Humanistic philosophical ideas behind
this non-directive, client-centered approach- again
person has freedom and responsibility for making
choices
Three Attitudes Necessary for Change
• Out of personal experience with clients; however, Rogers developed
three notions about what he had to provide clients in the therapy
relationship to help them to change and grow… He talks about these
attitudes on the famous “Gloria” tape and in Chapter 1.
1)Therapist has to be congruent or genuine
2) By accepting my feelings( being real), I can be
better at letting client be who he is. I can then better
prize or care for client-accept the client. Close to the
notion of unconditional positive regard
3) Try to understand the inner world of clientempathy
Techniques Employed to Study Clients
• Rogers studied his clients by using tape
recordings (with permission).
• By using this technique, he discovered
that derogatory self-comments diminished
and self-accepting comments increased as
therapy sessions went on.
• He also used Q-sort technique (see page
102)
Self-Actualizing Tendency
• Single most basic human motive. Striving
for enhancement and maximum potential.
• Forward movement can only occur
however if conditions are favorable as we
have said.
• Person is moving toward self-actualization
Actualization
• Actualizing is different for each person although
there are some common features.
*Flexibility rather than rigidity
*Openness rather than defensiveness
*Automomy (self-control) rather than control by
others
*Immediacy of emotions over remote emotions
*Capable of experiencing in here-and-nowmoving from fear of relating to comfort with it
*willingness to explore personal attitudes more
deeply
Self-Theory
• Self-concept- refers to the way a person sees
him/herself. Most important factor in predicting
future behavior. How is this different than
Skinner?
• Self begin to differentiate after birth- the I-ness
or me-ness of the infant, so-called selfexperiences.
• Once the self emerges , the self-actualizing
tendency gets in to gear. It is a general
outgrowth of the general thrust to maintain
yourself.
Q-sort
• A method he employed to study the changes in client’s
concept of him/herself before during and after therapy.
• Assumption: At start of therapy there will be a large
difference between clients perception of what they are
like (the self) and what they feel they should be or want
to be.
• Q-sort measures this difference.
• Client asked to sort 100 or so statements on cards (I am
lazy, I feel guilty a lot) into piles ranging along a
continuum “very characteristic of me”…”not at all
characteristic of me.”
Q-sort
• Typically client can use 9-11 piles and might be told a
certain number of statements have to be placed in each
pile to increase discriminations.
• Sort first according to the way they see themselves (selfsort).
• Sort a second time according to how they would like to
be (ideal-sort).
• Correspondence between two sorts can be computed
using correlation coefficient technique.
• Any discrepancy should decrease as client-centered
therapy progresses.
Unconditional Positive Regard and
Organismic Valuing Process
• Organismic Valuing Process: the innate
ability of human beings to choose what is
good for them.
• Supplements the actualizing tendency.
Although people have an actualizing
potential, this is not enough to insure
growth.
• Unconditional Positive Regard needed.
Conditions of Worth
• Conditions of worth are stipulations on which
sense of self-worth depends.
Performing behaviors others think are good;
refraining from engaging in behaviors others
think are bad.
• Unconditional + regard: total caring or prizing of
individual for what s/he is. No reservations; no
conditions of worth; acceptance of positive and
negative feelings.
Gloria Film
• Carl Rogers's session with Gloria in the
training film titled Three Approaches to
Psychotherapy (Shostrom, 1965a) is
among the most written about in the
history of counseling and continues to be
used as an instructional model for the
helping professions (Glauser & Bozarth,
2001).
Presenting Problem
• In this session, Gloria, a 30-year-old
recently divorced woman, presented an
initial problem about "having men to the
house," wondering "how it affects the
children." Specifically, Gloria wanted to
know if she should be truthful with her
daughter about having sex since the
divorce or if such honesty would cause her
daughter emotional harm.
Gloria’s Comment
• There were several indicators that this session was meaningful and
life changing for Gloria despite its short duration. She later wrote
that…
• Something happened in those few short minutes which has stayed
with me ever since. He simply helped me to recognize my own
potential--my value as a human being. All the words couldn't
possibly express the importance of that for me. (Dolliver, Williams,
& Gold, 1980, p. 141)
• Gloria attended a weekend conference in 1965 featuring the film's
debut and maintained a written correspondence with Rogers and his
wife Helen until Gloria's death in 1979 (Rogers, 1984; Weinrach;
1990). Rogers (1984) described himself as "awed" by the session's
significance.
Assessment of Rogers Film
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Assuming the “3 conditions for change” in relationship are met,
Rogers expects…
Client to explore attitudes more deeply
Come to know aspects of self, s/he was previously unaware of
Senses realness in me, becomes more real
Feeling prized by therapist, comes to prize self
Manner of expression moves from being remote to greater
immediacy of experience
Move from self-disapproval to self-acceptance
Go from fear of relating to comfort
Locus of evaluation moves from outside to inside
Begins to view things in shade of gray rather than black and white
Issues from Film
• Should Gloria lie to her daughter to get her acceptance? Discuss
this solution from a Rogerian perspective?
• Rogers offers no advice. What is the theoretical reasoning behind
not providing advice?
• Was Gloria suffering from incongruence?
• Rogers makes the statement in the film, “Its an awful risky thing to
live.” Was this just a throw away statement or can it be tied to his
theory?
• What does Rogers do to make Gloria aware of her the internal
conflict and choices?
• Did Gloria experiencing a “positive transference” toward Rogers? Do
you think he would see it this way?
• Do you see any problems with using this counseling appraoch with
clienmts in 2003.
• Any legitimate diagnosis for Gloria?