Carl Rogers

Person Centered Theory

Person Centered Theory

Carl Rogers’s theory

January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois

Carl Rogers was born on

Carl Rogers

• was raised in a close, warm, and religious family

• majored in Agriculture and later on shifted to Religion and studied for ministry

Otto Rank’s theory and therapy techniques

Rogers learned — which started him on the road to developing his own approach

heart attack

Carl Rogers died of —-

85

Carl Rogers died at the age of —

formative tendency

• this is the tendency for all matter, both organic and inorganic, to evolve from simpler to complex forms

• ex. snowflakes emerging from vapor, complex organisms evolving from single cells, and complex galaxies of stars evolving from less organized mass

actualizing tendency

this is the tendency within all human beings and other animals and plants to move toward completion or fulfillment of potentials

organismic self

is the core, innermost part of a person. It's sometimes referred to as the "true self" or the "experiencing organism" because it represents our innate tendencies and strives for growth and self-actualization

Phenomenal Field

• this is the locus of all experience, of the totality of experience

• The individual behaves depending upon the —-
  (subjective reality) and not upon the stimulating conditions (external
  reality)

Awareness

is the symbolic representation of experience

assymbolization and/or consciousness

awareness is also called —

1. ignore or denied

2. accurately symbolized

3. distorted

levels of awareness

subception

is the perception of unsymbolized experience.

the Self

• is defined as the organized consistent conceptual gestalt
  composed of perceptions of the characteristics of the I or me and the
  perceptions of the relationships of the I or me to others and to various
  aspects of life, together with the values attached to these perceptions

• constellation of impressions about yourself

• developed or differentiated part of the Phenomenal Field

ideal self

this is what the person would like to be

congruence

• this is the state when the symbolized experiences that constitute the Self
  faithfully mirror the real experiences of the organism/Organismic Self.

• When — the person is said to be adjusted, mature, and fully
  functioning

incongruence

between self and organism makes individuals feel threatened and anxious

actualizing tendency (2)

this refers to the tendency to actualize the whole organism/whole person—conscious and unconscious, physiological and cognitive

self-actualizing tendency

this refers to the tendency to actualize the Self as perceived in awareness

self-actualizing drive

according to Rogers: there is only one drive —

to become self-actualized

according to Rogers: there is only one goal in life —

self-concept

• comprised of all aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness (though not always accurately) by an individual.

positive regard

this is the need to be loved, liked and accepted by others

positive self regard

• This is the experience of valuing one’s own self.

• Receiving positive regard from others result into having —-.

• and once —- is established it becomes independent of the
  continuous need positive regard

conditions of worth

• they perceive other people love and accept them only if they meet their
  expectations and approval.
  - If we see that others accept us regardless of our actions, then we come to
  believe that we are prized unconditionally.

• are internalized rules we develop based on the conditional positive regard we receive from significant others

conditional positive regard

• Instead of receiving unconditional positive regard, most people receive —

• Ex. A boy has a self-picture of being good and being loved by his parents but he
  also enjoys tormenting his little sister for which he is punished.

  As result of self-punishment, the boy revises his self-image to one of the
  following interpretations:
  - I am a bad boy.
  - My parents don’t like me.
  - I don’t like to tease my sister
  

denial

is the falsifying of reality either by saying it does not exist or by perceiving it in a distorted way

projection

this happens when denied feelings are projected into the environment/other people

1. denial

2. projection

two possible ways distorted symbolization:

client-centered therapy

• Under certain conditions of complete absence of any threat to the self-structure,
  experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived, and examined, and
  the structure of self is revised to assimilate and include such experiences.

• The warm accepting attitude from the counsellor encourages clients to explore
  unconscious feelings and to bring them into awareness, and slowly and
  tentatively symbolize the unsymbolized

1. conditional positive regard

2. conditions of worth

3. incongruence

psychopathology is developed through:

incongruence (2)

• Experiences of the Self Image is far from the experiences of the Organism

• This is maintained through distortion, denial, projection.

q-sort technique

this is a clinical technique where the client is given 100 cards containing statements about himself/herself.

self sort

the client is asked to choose the statements which best describes himself/herself, creating the —

ideal sort

then the client is asked another set of cards that describe the person he/she wants to be, describing the —